Wednesday: Viaggo Meraviglioso

These past few days have been amazing here in Italy. We have gone to native Italian family's houses for several meals and each time I learn something new. Every day is a learning experience. I have learned so much more about Italian culture just by being immersed in it rather than just visiting the wonderful sights of Italy. 


Monday we had a "getting to know you/ workshops" session, Tuesday some of the youth took us to see Roma (so much to learn there as well!) and yesterday we did another session of "workshops" for the youth group. That time was filled with so much laughter my sides hurt. Our relationships are growing more and more by the day which makes the thought of leaving even harder! I love these people and the community they have here. It is so wonderful to see how God places different people into a community and fills it with His love and spirit. This community is made up of Americans and Italians, yet they are all family. I love that. 


Today is going to be a full day of workshops. We are making an "American breakfast" for the youth and their families and then having two sessions of "workshops", one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Later on tonight we are putting on a little "showcase presentation." :) We want to show the youth's families what we have been doing all week! Our team will also perform a gospel presentation in the form of drama. We are very excited about today and I think the youth are too. Please be in prayer for our team as we are finishing up our mission and continue to make lasting relationships with the Italian AND American youth here. I love them all so much and will hate to leave them. Thank you for your prayers thus far! Dio benedica! (God bless!)


From, Brianne

Monday: A Full Day!

Wow, what a full day!  It’s already after 11:00 p.m. here and we’re heading to bed soon, so here are some highlights from the day…

… We had a typical Italian breakfast at our hotel this morning: croissants and mini toast with jelly and Nutella.  Yum!  Then, we had personal and group devotions before meeting with the leaders of the Italian youth group to plan details for our evening workshops.  Plans for the week's activities are coming along well.

… Around 1:00, we headed to two different homes of Italians in the church.  Yum!  We were so full after eating multiple courses: pasta, meat, salad, and dessert.  It was great to get to know some of the Italians better.

… We had a little bit of down time before the evening workshops, so some of the students played volleyball or sat and talked.  I even got to help Brianne run some soccer drills!  She is a dedicated athlete. :)

… Soon enough it was time for the workshop event to begin!  We started off with some fun games to break the ice, then had two workshops prepared to share.  Four of the students (John, Grace, Emmalee, and Sunshine) ran the dance station, which taught Cotton Eyed Joe, Cupid Shuffle, and Cha Cha Slide.  Marshall, Andrew, and Lois ran the other station, “Lavoretti Manuali” (hand crafts).  The participants there made paper airplanes and origami animals. 

… We were fed well again for dinner tonight!  Don’t worry, we’re all eating plenty!  It was also especially fun for me to have dinner at the home of the Faulkners, a missionary family that my home church supports.

Now we’re heading to bed because we have an early wake-up for our Rome day trip tomorrow.  Five of the teens from the youth group are going with us, so we are really glad to have that opportunity to get to know them better on the trip.

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement! 

For His glory,

Heather (for us all)

Sfeugatell’ (from Emmalee and Andrew)

After a delicious Italian lunch (and Andrew learning his first Italian word in Italy, Sfeugatell’) our team settled in to our rooms, and we began to explore our new home for the next week. We continued bonding as a team by wandering through abandoned cabanas, and the scrap piles of metal. We also played pickup games of soccer, and climbed surrounding beach structures. Another great activity was swimming in the deserted Mediterranean waters. Later on in the night we learned from the youth group that the reason the beach was so empty was because a mile down the shore is a sewage plant! This means that we were swimming in the fantastic freezing cold Mediterranean waters of human waste. Yay!

After we all showered (thank goodness) we met as a group to pray about the night to come. We talked about being outgoing and trying to connect with this youth group that we will be working hand in hand with for the next week. So with our spirits up, we meandered over to the church excited to meet the amazing “Jars.” To our utter disappointment no one was there. So we did what any foreigners would do, and took some cheesy group pictures!

A few minutes later Jars began along with a night full of icebreaking and enjoyable community games. We played “Never have I Ever”, and “4 on a couch” to learn all of their names, and to teach them ours. We shared laughs and old stories in order to get along like old friends. To conclude our night, we ate some fantastic Italian pizza (Yum) and went up on the roof to blog!

Ciao,

Emmalee and Andrew

We're Here!

We made it safely to Italy!  We had a great morning of worship at the International Baptist Church here, and we are looking forward to participating in youth group activities this afternoon.  More of an update from some of the students coming soon... but for now, we wanted to let you know that we made it safely and some have even been in the Mediterranean already!  (Guess who?!  Not me...)

Please continue to pray for opportunities to connect with the teens in the youth group and for our team to bond well together.  We're excited to see what God will do this week!

-- Heather

Packing Our Bags!

It's hard to believe that we only have 3 full days before we leave for Italy!  We've been thinking about and praying for this week-long trip for months... and now it's finally here!

Please join us in praying for these specific requests:
-- Pray that our team would be unified.
-- Pray that we would have servant's hearts and open eyes to see needs we can meet.
-- Pray for God to work through the truths presented in the workshops and dramas we present.
-- Pray for our hearts to be changed as God leads us outside of our comfort zones.

Check back throughout the week next week to find student blog posts about what God is doing on our trip! Thank you for your prayers!

Sia Drammatico!

Yesterday we met with a drama instructor and another mission team to practice one of the dramas that we will perform on Good Friday.  It was the first time that we were all in the same place at the same time, and we enjoyed getting to know one another a little better through the drama practice.

This mime, "Hands," depicts how God created our hands (for building, loving, protecting, giving) and how we misuse them (tearing down, hating, hurting, being selfish).  Contrastingly, Jesus' hands were nailed to a cross for our freedom and redemption.  We now have the opportunity to respond... to reject Him or to accept and believe.

Join Us in the Journey!

Are you interested in joining us as we journey to Italy?  You can participate in what God is doing in the Naples area by meeting the needs of our team members!

1.  Give -- The staff and students are raising money to be able to take this trip.  Would you consider participating by giving financially?  Visit this site to learn more about giving online.

2.  Pray -- Please pray that God would provide ample funding for each of the team members!  We hope to purchase plane tickets soon, so we don't have much time.  Pray that the funds would come in quickly and abundantly.

Thank you for your support as we prepare to serve Jesus in Italy!