Gallery Update

Hello, everyone, and happy fall!  Here's the news from Rome...

Last Friday, November 9th, our studio opened a new exhibit, featuring the work of one of the new journey guys, Caleb.  Since he finished language classes Caleb has been looking for ways to engage with other artists in Rome, several of which came to the opening.

Caleb did something really interesting for his self portrait- he wrote "morirò" (meaning, "I will die") repeatedly on the canvas to create the picture.  The exhibit as a whole was created to get viewers to reflect on life and mortality.  Caleb has truly been gifted with a talent to communicate the gospel through art!

Amazing, right?
God has blessed him with serious talent!

Check out our gallery website to see a few more pieces from Caleb's exhibit! While the site is all in Italian, I'm confident you can find the pictures at the bottom of the main page ;)

http://accendere.org

In other news Taylor and Jason are in full swing at the university, Jason as my replacement.  This summer Jason tried out for the semi-professional Rome rugby team and made it (on his first time playing!) so that opened a huge door for relationships with some guys.  He was badly injured a month ago, but hopes to pick up with the team in the spring and still meets up with the guys.

Manuela is growing in her walk with Jesus, and it is beautiful! I cannot wait to hear her stories about Silvia, Sara, and Claudia as they see the changes of the Spirit manifest in her life.

One month from now a few of the UGA college students who hosted Veronica, Silvia, Marta, and Marco in August will be heading to Italy for a week, so prayer for opportunities during their time there are encouraged!

If my stories from the past year have sparked an interest in missions in Rome, you can check out these two blogs

http://calebdowbooth.wordpress.com
-his updates are always shorter than mine were, promise!

http://karrsinrome.blogspot.com
-Kyra writes more about daily life in Rome (so anyone can read), then saves the spiritual updates for newsletters.  The Karrs are currently stateside in America, but their blog gives you a good idea of assimilating a family to Italy!

As for me, I'm almost done with my first semester of law school.Strangely enough (except not so, because the Lord knew) my time in Rome prepared me in big ways for the social scene and relationship building in this stage. Thank you again for all your love and support.  God has blessed me through you!

Exchange 2.0

Hey, friends!
Surprise, surprise, the second Italian-American exchange was wonderful.  It's pretty amazing to see the bridges God can build in just ten days!  Four Italian students came this year, and each absolutely loved his/her time in Athens.  The Lord provided some great host students and families, and not only created friendships among each pair but unified the group as a whole.  From skeet-shooting to shopping, bon-fires to World of Coke, soul food to American desserts, Italian classes to campus experiences, the group had a lot of fun!

post-skeet shooting

When I asked each student individually about the best part of the trip during their final weekend, the responses were all unanimous- the people.  Just like in the year before, these four had never been exposed to a large group of authentic Christ-followers, and couldn't get over the way they were honored and served.  Even more, each student really loved going to church- even the two who initially said they would not like to go, then changed their minds.  It was neat to see how God orchestrated timing, because the students actually got to go to worship the Sunday they left, on a day the set list covered songs all about salvation and God's love for us.  The goodbyes after a time singing were tearful in the church parking lot, but so incredible to see the way the Lord brought people together beyond the cultural, personal, lingual, and spiritual barriers.  One student recognized that God brought him to Athens for a reason, and he is now going to the bilingual Bible study my teammates in Rome have started!  The others all brought up various spiritual questions throughout the exchange and left pondering a gospel they had never heard before.

Please be in prayer that God would continue His work in them until completion, and that one day the Italian nation would worship Him in spirit and in truth!

Final Days

     Hey, everyone...this time, from America.  The last month has been a blur, between sleepless nights in Rome maximizing time with friends, coming back to Georgia, physically recovering at my parents' house, slowly seeing a few friends who encouraged me while abroad, organizing for the second Italian-American exchange, moving to Athens again, and preparing for law school.  Until now I haven't been able to even think about updating, though not from the craziness of the reasons listed previously.  I've been trying to wrap my mind around being in the States for the indefinite, immediate future, readjust my thinking to life here, and it's been extremely difficult.  Glory to God for taking the hardest, most taxing and frustrating year of my life and turning it into the most beautiful, fulfilling, challenging, and wonderful year I have experienced yet, with relationships far deeper than I could have imagined possible.

     One day I'll sit and try to articulate for you a glimpse of all the Lord taught me and did during my time in Rome, but for now I'll just share a few updates from my last week and the happenings since.  One might think in the last week prior to an international move life would slow down for those who are timely in preparing to return, or for others on the opposite end speed up to such an extent you can't see God, but praise the Lord His Spirit moved in marvelous ways despite the chaos.  As the last post showed, Manuela was brought to our family in my last week!  She is still so excited to be a child of God, and before I left our team had a "welcome to the family" breakfast for her.  Her decision for Jesus alone blew me away, yet God was not finished working.

     Three days before I left, several of us returned to our favorite beach in a city called Sperlonga.  My English friend Pippa was in town, and came with us.  (Funny how the Lord has a way of bringing things full circle, she was in Rome my first and last weekend there, none between).  Pippa had just come from an American road trip with Cristina, where things she saw or heard in conversation revolved around Jesus.  God provided a few hours for us to talk alone at the beach, and her questions to me showed the evidence of the Spirit tugging at her heart.  While she is not yet my sister, I am thankful to see His pursuit of her, and to have been a person she felt comfortable talking to about issues so serious that she typically keeps to herself.

    Two days before I left, Wayne and Matteo accompanied me to revisit my favorite city near Rome, Bracciano.  We had planned this trip for a month, and I was worried we'd be too busy to make it happen.  However, with those sweet boys that wasn't a problem- Matteo refused to let anything come between our time together.  Sharon joined us for the morning, then had to return to Rome for work.  It turned out to be a mixed blessing though, because over lunch our conversation turned to Jesus.  Crazy to think now how I felt so strongly the need to be available to the two boys before I left, and even more, to tell Matteo "Gesù ti ama," or, "Jesus loves you."  I was wondering how to bring it up, when Wayne started asking me questions on my faith.  I think, as I saw with several friends my last week, they wanted to really explore and hear from me all I believed before I left...it almost gave a sense of urgency, which was pretty cool.  While Wayne was asking me questions from an intellectual, curious standpoint (in English), Matteo would be really quiet and listen.  If he didn't understand something and Wayne translated too infrequently, Matteo would start hitting him and demanding an immediate translation.  As I was watching Matteo, I saw the intensity of emotion in his eyes and knew that the Lord was working.  Prior to our trip to Bracciano, Matteo had spoken with Taylor on some of his concerns with things his mother or priest had (falsely) told him of God, like how God could never love him.  Wayne had also shared a long conversation about faith with Jason.  We talked for over three hours- after lunch, Matteo did not want to stop.  The whole thing was surreal, and God more than made up for my elementary Italian.  Wayne translated the bulk of what I would say, which caused him to really have to listen, process, and repeat it to Matteo.  When he would leave at sporadic intervals, I got to speak to Matteo in very simple Italian and present the love, acceptance, and doorway to relationship with Jesus.  Though I was worried of not communicating well, it was actually better because I couldn't use 'churchy' language-only short, simple truths that I know the Lord wanted him to hear.  Now, these two boys are on my heart stronger than ever before, and I pray the Spirit will continue drawing them to Himself and His freedom.

Wayne and Matteo, such dear friends

      Saying goodbye to the exchange girls, Claudia, Silvia, and Manuela, started the long steps of actually leaving.  They met me for gelato, and surprised me with two gifts for departure.  One is a book in Italian, called (translated) "Jesus, Buddha, and Socrates."  That made me laugh, though also glad that when they thought of what I might like, it had something to do with Jesus!  Claudia picked out a picture frame of a ladybug, (not) coincidentally the same symbol the Lord gave me a year and a half ago when I was praying about going to Rome.  The picture they selected has all five of us, Sara too, and now sits in my room to remind me to pray for them often.  Another fun thing, is Silvia created a facebook group for the five of us to share updates, pictures, and other random things.  So far, it's been a fun way to stay in touch!

full circle: our last photo in a gelateria in Italy
after our first was in a frozen yogurt shop in Athens

     My last day in Rome felt like one of the longest in my life, though it might have been replaced by the day I had to leave.  People dropped by my apartment throughout the day to say goodbye, so pretty much I cried on and off the whole time I was trying to pack.  A few friends wrote me letters for the plane, and Sharon's specifically will always be so special to me because what she saw the most in me was truly the Lord, though she doesn't know it yet-love.  While the series of goodbyes over those final days were absolutely miserable, in a weird way, I'm glad they were among the hardest I have ever had to do- that reflects all that Christ did to grow and deepen relationships over short periods of time in a supernatural way.
    Kyra cooked one of my favorite meals for dinner, and the team members still in Rome for the summer all came over- Dudley and Janet, Taylor and Cristina, Jason and Caleb.  After sharing about our weeks, typical house church style, and eating delicious food together, Cristina led us in worship.  To finish our team night off, my family surrounded me and covered me in prayer for this next season in my life.  Those moments struck me as strongly as my commissioning one year ago, and I hope I will always remember them.
    The singles on the team, those who I was with the most and share many of my friends, stayed with me most the night.  We walked through San Paolo together, just kind of passing time until the next morning when they would all take me to the airport.  Taylor, Caleb, Cristina, and Jason are now the ones carrying Christ to our group, and they are in the process of starting a bilingual Bible study for Manuela that several of our friends have also expressed interest in trying (including Matteo and Marco).  Please join me in prayer for them as they begin this venture of creating a relevant time of worship and discussion; today was the second meeting.  I am so thankful I know the Lord has placed each of them specifically in Rome for a purpose, and that I had the blessing of serving with them to advance His kingdom in Europe.

my last night with my teammates and family,
in front of our zone's trademark welcome sign

    Now....now what? That's the question!  Literally, now I am getting ready to go meet our four Italian students arriving in Athens in an hour.  Marco, Veronica, Marta, and Silvia- these are friends and former conversational students of mine, here for the second year of our exchange program.  After seeing all the Lord did last year, we are excited to see what He has in store for these four! Please be in prayer for them, their host students, and host families...pray that they may see Jesus in a new way, so one day they too will know Him.  They will be in Athens for 10 days, so check back later for a recap :)

Brooke's sweet gift to me upon returning,
 with a heart for Rome...always.

God is SO good!

Friends, God is faithful!!  On Thursday Manuela and I got together for another Bible chat session, and the Spirit completely worked in our time.  We started reading and discussing different books together at the end of April, roughly meeting once every 1-2 weeks.  Each time we've met I've been so encouraged and amazed by how the Lord was speaking to her, even when she didn't see it herself.  It was awesome to see how she had underlined, starred,or question marked passages that stood out to her, and Manuela would always ask pretty difficult, developed questions reflecting a grasp of Scripture that surprised me for a seeker.  Over the weeks our conversations and her vulnerability would grow deeper, so the amount of prayer for her by others increased to ask God to continue to reveal Himself to her and give her the courage to take the leap and turn everything over to Jesus.

Well, in His infinite goodness, God responded to our prayers.  While we were in our most common spot, a picnic blanket in San Paolo park, Manuela told me she wanted to accept God's grace to follow Jesus with her life, and asked me to pray with her.  The bits I understood in Italian were so beautiful, and to see a glimpse of how God transcends cultures to be a relevant and personal Father for all peoples was incredible.  Manuela is now a child of God, our sweet new sister in Christ!!!

"In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nie others who are righteous and haven't strayed away!"
-Luke 15:7

Blurbs

Well, goodness....the last month has felt a bit like falling into a time warp, and I'm just now given a chance to breathe.  Now that I'm down to my final days in Rome I'm trying more than ever to pour as much of myself and my time in here as possible daily, so forgive my lapse in stateside communication!

Here's a run through of the last month, in reader-friendly bullet form to alleviate the lengthy recap:

• Overall, our retreat was awesome.  We all needed a break from Rome, and the region we went to (Umbria) was absolutely beautiful.  The Lord really blessed us with rest and time together before splitting up indefinitely.  Unfortunately, the last night was pretty crazy...but certainly has been used as a bonding experience! Three thieves broke into the cabin where myself, Taylor, Cristina, Jason, Caleb, Dudley, and Janet were staying.  Jason ended up surprising and fighting with one, though fortunately when Caleb went out to help they all scattered and no one was severely injured.  Thanks to the boys, the only things that were taken were from the thieves' first stop- our (the girls') room.  Everyone else on our team was okay, and now I definitely have a new understanding of what the Scriptures mean when they say the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night (1st Thessalonians 5:2).
• Caleb made a video showing the area, you can see it here.
• On May 15th our gallery opened a new exhibit, my friend Francesco's art show.  The inauguration went very well, with over 200 people passing through.  He's working on an English translation of the poem that accompanies the photographs- once it's complete and online, I will post the link.  The exhibit is really incredible- unique technique, yes, but even more it gives a picture of the search one undergoes in life to find meaning....we pray God shows Francesco and the others that the answer is Himself!



flyer for the show

• 
  
• Taylor and I hit crazy land with exams at the university.  There was a big misunderstanding with the professor among students, and they came in droves to meet us for the oral exam substitution requirement (3 hours of conversation, broken up in 3 appointments each).  Needless to say, for those few weeks the two of us practically moved into the studio for lessons for the 70ish students we could cram together in the short time span.
• My dad and Brooke came to visit for a weekend! That was fun, though super short.  It was great to see Brooke here for a few days, I'm very fortunate to have a family that's supported me so  much during my time here!

• 
  
• Since I'm leaving soon, the exchange girls have really banded together to find opportunities for us to hang out- it's been fantastic! We celebrated Manuela's birthday party with some hilarious karaoke, went to a strawberry festival in Nemi for a day, and miscellaneous other activities.  I'm so glad they are planning several things for us in the next three days, and pray the Lord will continue to work through our friendships!



Manuela wanted us all to wear red for the festival-
it's all about the photo opps with her!

• 
  
• God has been doing some really cool things on our prayer walks down the Colombo (the highway near our apartments).  Cristina, Kyra, Taylor and I fit in one last outreach before we were split up, and it ended with us seeing very vividly what goes on in the darkness of the illicit sex industry.  While that occurrence affected us all greatly and will be an unforgettable image, we are thankful for the affirmation of the need for prayer and spiritual intervention in the hearts of those involved.  Also, God has given us favor with two of the girls, Paola and Bianca, who actually turn down clients who come up when we are visiting!
• The long series of goodbyes has started among our international friend group...very sad.  Cristina was the first, and we have someone leaving every few weeks.  The upside of that is we (whoever is in Rome) tries to spend as much time as possible together, to make the most of these final weeks.  I have a feeling a few of these friends will be asking me some last minute, intense spiritual questions before I leave, so please pray the Spirit will give me the words to say when it's time. 

• 

  our new tradition, late night monument walks

• On top of everything going on here, there have been some big changes for me stateside.  A few weeks ago I decided to move my law school enrollment from Mercer to UGA, well after the deadline of course. It's been a flurry of emails, arrangements, Skype conversations, etc, but I know when it's all said and done I will be excited to see what the Lord has in store for me in Athens since He so clearly redirected me!
• Saving the biggest update for last...Manuela and I have been meeting on a weekly basis to talk about the Bible! Yáll, she is so, SO close to choosing a life with Christ...please be in prayer for her.  She comes to our lunches together with many things underlined in her Bible, difficult questions, and topics for discussion.  God has done a marvelous work in her to this point, so now we need to pray He carries it through to completion for her to make the leap of faith!

"...Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel."

-Ephesians 6:19

More, Jesus, More

I just love the late spring/early summer season...life always seems to be craziest here, but it's tipped in a positive direction, as always!  Something about the weather getting warmer and people being outside makes a difference...Vitamin D, maybe?  Same as the last post, there are a lot of exciting things the Lord is doing here now!

Last week started off incredibly encouraging for me.  Two Sundays ago I went to a lunch the Karrs and a member of their local church, Julia, were hosting in our area for a short term team of students coming to work in Rome for a week from Holland.  The group was from Athletes in Action, a ministry that uses sports as a common language all over the world and a chance to meet people in new places.  Myself, Cristina, Jason, and Caleb (the journeyguys) joined the Karrs and Julia to welcome the four Dutch students in our area.  After a fun lunch getting to know each other, they wanted to worship.   These sweet students started singing with us, and I was unbelievably thankful to have a chance to worship in English for the first time in over 8 months.  Music is so special to me, and corporate worship is at the top of my list for things I miss from my life in Athens-these four, and the rest of their team, actually reminded me a lot of that fantastic SWAT community I've missed.  That Sunday afternoon with those four Dutch students is one I will always remember.  I went with the Karrs to their hang out time in a park the next Wednesday evening to see them one last time before they left Rome and join them in connecting with locals through volleyball, soccer, and frisbee.  At the park I got to meet the rest of the team, and after saying bye to random park friends collected throughout the day we had a fun time eating with the Karr's local church (Breccia), talking about God's movement in Rome, and learning about the "crazy Dutch," as they say.  Hanging out with them, the Dutch team and the tiny Italian evangelical church, was such a neat glimpse of the body of Christ!

me and the "crazy Dutch" from lunch..beautiful people
I'm looking forward to seeing again in heaven!

Last Thursday, Manuela and I met in the park for our first time talking about the Bible after she's read.  I thought we would discuss maybe the first chapter of Romans, but she read through chapter 8!  She had a ton of questions, many very difficult, but the Spirit completely guided the conversation and it was awesome.  We talked about grace (our main topic), the justness of God, His Sovereignty, how He reaches individuals in different nations, and much more.  Today I gave her a new Bible, since her old one is a Catholic Bible and she calls it a dictionary (it's massive), and she was quite excited to start underlining.  Get this, she's also talked to her mom about grace and her mom was interested and came up with many questions!!  Please be in prayer for not only her, but her family and friends she is starting to tell about Jesus as she is considering the decision to follow Him with her life and heart!

Right after that incredible afternoon with Manuela, Sharon and I headed to Ireland for a long weekend.  It's pretty cool that Dublin was the one city I wanted to make sure I saw this time in Europe, and the Lord brought me a wonderful friend who lives there.  While I was excited to see everything, really it was a fantastic opportunity to spend time with Sharon.  The entirety of our first day (Friday) we spent with her family, in honor of her brother's confirmation.  Since Sharon was in Dublin for a confirmation ceremony, religion came up often in passing and the Lord provided opportunities here and there for me to share pieces of what I believe or what's different in the evangelical church than the Catholic church.  This trip strengthened our relationship, since we got four solid days together and I spent significant time with either her family or boyfriend as well.  I'm looking forward to seeing doors the Lord opens from here...and praying frequently that even though she seems so far off, the arm that is never too short to save will lead her to Him.  

Sharon and I in front of Newgrange, the oldest building structure
(older than the pyramids!).  Newgrange was one of many enclosed
tombs for hunter gatherers 5,000 years ago.

Tomorrow morning (or since it's post-midnight, later today) our team is leaving for a much-needed retreat.  We have all been waiting for this ever since Steph surprised us with cute hand made invitations a few months ago, and it really is at the perfect time.  Cristina will be leaving at the end of the month, the Coopers go stateside in June, then I have to leave in July, so we are all glad to have a weekend resting in our God, encouraging each other, and growing together before the summer splits.  Life has been fun lately, full of people time and students that all of a sudden want to be around us often, but breaks are necessary.  We'd love if you would pray for our retreat this weekend, that we would be drawn nearer to Jesus and return to Rome rested and ready to go!

Break Ins & Break Throughs

Hey, friends!  I know I just updated recently, but there are two new areas where I would love for you to join me in prayer!

In the last few weeks there have been several break ins in our area.  We started hearing about the robberies in early April, then in the last week our team has been either directly or indirectly affected.  First the woman who lives above the Coopers was robbed, then Cristina's next door neighbor woke to two men trying to open her balcony door.  Sunday Jason and Caleb couldn't get into their apartment, and after a locksmith came to help we found out the reason was because someone had tried to crack the lock on their door.  Obviously stuff is just stuff and doesn't matter, but it is something to pray about and take precautionary measures toward since you never know when something could turn violent.  Also, this weekend after leaving Taylor's birthday party and walking home, our friend Marco was surrounded by a few guys and threatened in an area we all frequent regularly.  He got away with just a few scratches, so we're thankful and now he has fun telling his story of pulling a Chuck Norris in defense.

Now on to the really awesome part of this post- Monday afternoon the Lord blessed Manuela and I with an incredible conversation.  We met for lunch and ended up running into the boys, so we all ate together and it was good for Manuela to meet them.  Afterwards, she and I went to McDonald's (the rooftop terrace is so far where we've had our biggest spiritual conversations, believe it or not) for sundaes.  God did not disappoint this tradition, for we ended up talking about grace, prayer, making decisions, the Holy Spirit, having joy and peace in hard times, and so much more.  Through that, and her sharing that she prays but feels like something is missing, the Lord gave me a chance to share the gospel in entirety, complete with how it is on us to decide if we will accept the gift of salvation through Christ.  Huge!!  She wanted me to write all the verses we talked about, so I sent her back with them to read in Italian.  I offered to help her start reading through the Bible, beyond the gospels she's read in her father's Catholic church, and she's deciding.  Even more, she's wrapping her mind around the idea that it is a choice that we are given on whether or not we will follow Jesus with our lives through a real relationship and embrace the Holy Spirit.  Please, please join me in prayer for her as she seeks God and asks Him to show Himself to her...He is SO good, and she is so close!

precious Manuela

Scusa?

After 7 months in Rome, I have finally had a full Italian immersion weekend! Goodness, with all the language practice and late nights over the last few days, I was very thankful to have a true Sabbath today. The Lord is so good, for He answered a prayer of mine immediately from last weekend with the opportunities that He provided for this weekend.  Sometimes we wait for His answers to see more of Him in the waiting, yet others He graces us with immediate affirmations of asking in faith!

Wednesday afternoon I met with Beatrice for our third conversational lesson, and her friend Giorgia.  At the end of our time together, Giorgia offered us a coffee (exciting after the first meeting, to have a student want to extend time).  I was already pleasantly surprised with just that, so the invitation from Bea to join her and a few friends for her boyfriend's birthday celebration this weekend was shocking.  Taylor and I had just been talking on Monday how we really hoped for more chances to "be uncomfortable," as in joining a group of students who are already friends, making ourselves the outsiders and ones to overcome the language barrier, rather than having to invite new friendship prospects into our group of English speakers.  That idea of becoming the outsider, going to the darkness, has been dominating my thoughts and prayers the last two weeks, so this instant invitation from a new student was truly a gift from the Lord and affirmation He had already started preparing me for the experience.

Thursday afternoon I went out with another student, Benedetta, for our first hang out time outside of direct conversation practice.  She took me for a walk down her favorite street in Rome, and we spent several hours of the afternoon together looking in shops, a museum near the Colosseum, and chatting.  That evening as I was returning to my apartment, I received a surprise dinner invitation from Wayne.  Naturally I accepted (who turns down a free meal?), met Taylor, and we headed to his apartment where Cristina met us later.  It was such a fun night, because Wayne introduced us to two of his Italian friends (Matteo and Luigi) and the six of us hit it off as a group.  That started my spree of Italian practice, since dinner conversation was in Italian, but fortunately in a small group setting I was able to follow along most of the talk and contribute stories of my own.

our new friends, thanks to Wayne! Luigi (awesome, I know)
is center and Matteo is on the right

Friday night we had a Black & White themed birthday party for Taylor at the boys' (Caleb and Jason) apartment.  The party went on for over 7 hours, which gave lots and lots of time to talk intentionally with all who came.  I left (late late) that night feeling so excited and thankful for how the Lord worked during that time, because I got to follow up with Matteo and Luigi (fortunately my Italian was smoother the second time), got to know Lorenzo (a friend of Francesco's), have some quality time with Franny, met a few new people, and also hung out with the English speakers-Corbmac, Sharon, Alyson, Jacoba, Caleb, Jason, Cristina, Marco, Wayne, etc.  As if the night wasn't eventful enough, Corbmac and I put together a surprise for Taylor and 8 of us did a mini flashmob to Michael Jackson's "Black or White."  Needless to say, Taylor loved it and the Italians viewing determined we (Americans+Irish+friends) are in fact crazy.

flashmob group, and of course all photo attempts show
character rather than "serious" faces (way better)

Saturday night was the big night for meeting Beatrice's group, and Taylor and I left with the "we hope they like us!" attitude.  While normally I love chatting and getting to know new people, Saturday was a challenge...my dominant question became "Scusa?"  I saw how spoiled I've been with Italian friends that have decent conversational English when I was thrown in the mix of a group of Italians speaking mainly the Romano dialect for a night that didn't start until 11-clearly, when my brain is operating at its best..not.  The good news is I've become accustomed to the "smile, nod, occasional 'si'" bit when I can't keep up with most of the conversation, and Taylor has strong Italian after living here almost 4 years so she could more or less keep up.  Somehow I got through the night picking up on about 30% of the content and contributing my own in very elementary side conversations.  A big helpful factor to language lostness is the group dynamics in Italy; guys typically dominate the conversations and girls are not expected to say much, so that works great for me when I can't understand much being said!  After we (Bea, her boyfriend, brother, Taylor and myself) separated from the group, they took us to a great overlook of Rome you can only see by car.  Bea is so sweet, and sent me a follow up message today saying the group liked us and wants us to join them again soon-yes, we got the casual callback!

Rome @ 3 am 

While last night ended up being okay, it is really frustrating to work so hard to understand and simply not be able to do so.  I felt like I was in one of those driver's ed simulations where they throw in cheesy distractions - first Bea picked us up with loud house music playing in the car, then we met a large group in a pub, then it got later and later..etc etc, all factors making comprehension tougher as the night progressed.  Please pray for me, that the Lord would multiply my time so I have opportunities to study more, and simply have favor in His eyes to have what I need with language abilities provided in each scenario!

Thanks for your prayers! The Lord is really opening up some doors in Rome and drawing several people to us all of a sudden from different directions; pray His name is magnified through everything we do and His light shines!

April Antics

Well hello, mid-April, I wasn't expecting you so early!  Even though I was lacking in the blog updates last month, since I sent out a March newsletter yesterday I'm just going to recap the last two weeks.  (If you are not on my Rome listserv and would like to see the monthly newsletters, please send me your email address!)

A super-eventful March closed with the first of many coming goodbyes.  Sara, one of the girls who did the exchange program back in August and became one of my first friends in Rome, left to go to Spain for a 5 month work-study program.  I'm glad for her she has this opportunity, but we are both sad we don't know when we will see each other again!  One upside of Sara's departure is it inspired all the other girls to try to arrange many little events for us to spend time together during her last month, which was great after not being all together in a while due to winter finals (Jan-Feb) and a new semester.  In one month we had dinner at Silvia's and a salsa night, several lunch gatherings, a museum exhibit, a fried chicken/Southern food dinner at Kyra's, a bar Sara wanted to visit called Latte Piu (and the Spirit made a way for a gospel conversation there!!), and to cheer ourselves up after Sara left,  Silvia, Claudia, and Manuela came to my apartment to learn how to make American chocolate chip cookies!  I'm telling you, that's a record number of hangouts for one month!

salsa night, Sara center

All of us together for the last time :(

quick shot in Capri before boarding the ferry back to Napoli

April started with a bang, because my family minus one came to spend a week with me.  Since they wanted to see as much of Italy as possible (understandably so, Italy is awesome), we flew through Naples, Capri, Rome, and Florence in 6 days.  While we had a good time traveling together, my favorite part of them being here was simply having an opportunity to introduce them to team members and show them a tiny snapshot of my daily life.

After a great day in Florence I said bye to my parents and Anna Claire on Friday night, then went into a crazy Easter weekend.  Our team has been waiting for months for our two Journeymen to arrive through the long training and preparation process, and they finally made it to Rome right before Easter!  They lucked out, since we had a weekend of fun celebration already planned to graft them right in to both our team and friend groups.

with our new Journeyguys (Caleb-back, Jason-right)
after the first Easter picnic

 Saturday evening Kyra set up something special for our team- we celebrated the first half of the traditional Passover meal together.  Only the first half, since we believe Jesus is the Lamb that fulfilled the waiting but we also wanted to honor the Jewish tradition.  Sunday morning our team went out for a picnic in a huge, beautiful park so the Karr and Cooper kids could have an Easter egg hunt and we could enjoy more time together.  [Note- picnic to "enjoy more time together?" We are so assimilating to the Italian culture, they are all about picnics when the weather is nice to pass the hours with friends]. 

The primary chefs for the dinner, with Italian style
gnocchi al forno (gnocchi bake) as the first course
and the Irish traditional roast lamb for our second.

Easter dinner was unlike any I've had before.  One of my friends, Alyson, is an au pair here and hosted our crazy group for the night since her 

family was out.  It's always difficult finding space for large groups in apartments!  We had 6 Americans (visitors and new boys included), 2 visitors from Milan, 2 Romans, 2 Irish, 1 German, and 1 French visitor in attendance...the accents were hilarious.  We ate a lot (naturally), and enjoyed the chance to introduce the new guys to our little collection of international friends so quickly.  The Monday after Easter is also a holiday in Rome, called Pasqueta.  While Easter is the day you celebrate with family, Pasqueta is the day you celebrate with friends.  So, true to cultural custom, we all went out for...what? A picnic in Appia Antica!

2 of our students gave us Kinder egg baskets!

Now I'm finally settling back to normal life...a little too normal, since I got hit with some brutal allergies in this week after Easter.  They've told me Rome is one of the worst cities in the world for allergies, and I believe it.  Since we have to keep our apartment windows open for air and walk everywhere, there's really no escaping the pollen.  Another glamorous element to spring in the big city is the mosquitoes..they come into your apartment and attack you in your sleep.  Oh well, it always opens up a conversation with Italians to complain about the bugs together!  With all the lessons starting up, Taylor and I had a pleasant surprise from two of our students- they gave us Easter baskets! It's a huge custom in Italy to give Kinder eggs (this special kind of milk chocolate in Europe), and when Marta and Veronica heard we never had Kinder eggs on Easter, they took it upon themselves to remedy the situation.  Marta and Veronica are also 2 of 4 of my students who signed up to go on the Athens exchange in August!  Please be praying for them, Silvia (a different one, a new student of mine), and Marco...we saw last year the power of being exposed to a growing church and loving community centered around Christ!

One Year Later...

Hey friends, tonight's post is going to be a little different.  Rather than focusing on the stories in the last week and a half (they'll make the March newsletter, no worries), I thought it'd be neat to write about something the Lord's been reminding me of the last few days.  He is faithful.  Always.

One year ago exactly, I was wrapping up one of the most incredible SWAT weekends I was blessed enough to coordinate.  It was in East Ellijay, and boy, the whole week leading up to the weekend was crazy.  I had several leaders drop out 1-2 days before, and through talking with leaders on the weekend I saw how almost every one had experienced severe spiritual warfare in that week.  I was no different.

Last March could be classified as a month of storms for me, and ironically so can this March.  Both have been marked by death, frustration, uncertainty, anxiety over the future, loneliness, discouragement, sickness, and even small daily inconveniences adding up.  Both were months I felt robbed of joy, months where God was quiet and I was waiting.  Both months still had good days and brighter points, but overall they've been months where I just really needed to see the Lord in the waiting.

Back to East Ellijay...last March I still did not know that I was going to be in Italy this year.  Plans after graduation were at the forefront of my prayer life, but God had things He was teaching me in the waiting. With the two options at that point I was feeling pulled towards, Italy and staying with SWAT, I knew I would need to raise support for this year.  Independent, self-sufficient Chelsea did not want to raise support.  I was fighting God pretty hard on that one, struggling with unbelief and running scenarios through my head on different ways I could make enough money to live on solely by working over the summer (completely unrealistic).

When all the leaders finally arrived in East Ellijay on Friday afternoon before we went to meet the students, our meeting was terrible.  Various circumstances cut into our allotted time for corporate prayer, the most important thing to do before going to love teenagers like Jesus.  There was a spirit of discouragement hanging around the room, and it was by far the least peppy send off into a weekend I've ever seen..my fault, as the coordinator.  I remember feeling so frustrated that the enemy was still interfering with my precious SWAT leaders, and in turn, the hungry students on that weekend.  That night I fell asleep praying that the Lord would not allow Satan any more room into the weekend, that all the opposition was only a sign of the greater things God had in store for us...

That Saturday night, March 26th, 2011, is a night I hope I will remember the rest of my life.  Saturday morning and afternoon went smoothly, normal as far as SWAT weekends go.  Leaders had started bonding with their groups, programs were close to schedule, the youth pastors were happy...it was good.  Or so we thought, until we saw what God means by GOOD.  Saturday night, after the speaker finished, the Holy Spirit did not.  The meeting room with over 400 people was on fire.  It was one of the closest pictures I think I will ever see of heaven while I'm on earth.  I still remember each leader I encountered during that time of worship, the worship that extended far beyond when students were "supposed to" return to their homes.  I still remember the looks on faces of all ages, everything from amazement to thanksgiving to repentance to humility to awe to sheer joy.  There was a time I thought the floor might collapse from the weight of people dancing, jumping, falling to their faces all over the place.  Without a doubt, Satan had been giving his all to disheartening all of us and attacking our students in his best attempt to undermine what God wanted to do, but God is bigger.  "God," I wrote in my prayer journal that night, "You are alive, and You are moving....It's almost laughable now, all the warfare before-You always win!!"

The next morning, it didn't stop.  One on one times with students after that service were wonderful, from the stories I heard.  The Sunday morning service we attended at a Southern Baptist church yet again, was met by the Spirit...and I loved how the worship pastor stepped back, and allowed the students to listen to Him and keep going as they were moved.  I'm so thankful they did, because God met me yet again that morning, and broke me free from my fears about provision for the next year.  I committed to the Lord that morning, March 27th, I would live off support.  I didn't know what I would be doing, where He was leading, but I knew He would raise support, He would do the work, and He would provide, because I am His child and He loves me.

After church most of the SWAT leaders went to a local Zaxby's, oh how I miss it.  As I was saying goodbye to Jona, a dear friend of mine, I told her I was going to live off support next (this) year.  She gave me $10, and said God would multiply it.  Well Jona...you were right.  He did, and He is still.  That $10 bill is now in my room here in Rome.

a beautiful reminder, every time I see it!

So here's the thing: I'm in Rome, a year later.  A year later, I'm uncertain yet again what I'm doing after this point right now.  A year later, I'm praying for breakthroughs with the Lord.  A year later, I'm asking God to make a way, wherever and whatever that way may be.  The difference?  God has shown me over the last year that He is always faithful.  He's provided for me in every sense.  He's given me the desires of my heart over this year, including desires I didn't even know I had until they were placed in my hand.  Now, God has been taking care of me for a long time, years before that weekend in East Ellijay.  I was just too doubtful to believe He would keep doing it, and even more, that He wanted to give me the things I asked for in accordance to His will (1st John 5:14-15).

Yesterday afternoon I went to a nearby park for some time alone and away with my Savior, as my sweet friend Melissa suggested.  A change of scenery really does help, especially when that change puts us in the midst of His creation.  I laughed when He led me to this verse in Numbers:

"God is not a man, that He should lie,

nor a son of man, that He should change His mind.

Does He speak and then not act?

Does He promise and not fulfill?"

-Numbers 23:19

No Lord...no, You do not.  You speak, then act.  You promise, then fulfill.  You delight in giving good gifts to Your children, the best gift of all being Your presence and Your voice.  

Just as a closing encouragement, whatever it is you need now...guidance, financial provision, companionship, wisdom, patience, the list could go on and on...bring it our Father.  He's a good Dad, and He loves to provide for His children (Matthew 7:7-11).  He likes when we ask Him for what we desire, even though He knows better than us what we need, because He wants us to be honest in our relationship with Him.  He likes when we ask, so He can be glorified all the more when He answers! He is faithful, always faithful.

English, Music, & Baking...Such Simple Gateways!

This spring is going to fly by.  Since finals have ended and life is back to 'normal' (though really, when is it ever normal?), everyone has been coming out of the woodwork.  The good news is that word must be spreading throughout the students in the jumbo class of first years Taylor and I work as TAs for, because all of a sudden we've had a large influx of people who want to meet with us for conversation.  It's great because now when we go to (the excruciatingly boring) class, we feel like we finally have a large number of students we know as opposed to the slow trickle from the fall.

What I like about conversation lessons is that it's the perfect opportunity to get to know someone or share ideas- all we do is talk.  Since my first conversational student in the fall (Marco) brought matters to faith questions and is now reading the book of John, it's exciting to think of the way the Lord might use these hours of English practice.  One of my new girls is really shy in class, but opened up to me immediately in our first private meeting by telling me far more than I expected about herself and insecurities, to the point I felt more like I was in the cliche psychiatric setting than a "teacher"/student relationship.  For whatever reason the Lord has given me favor with her in the way she trusted me from the get-go (very shocking in this culture), so for her specifically I'm praying our language appointments transform into a true friendship...she really seems to be seeking one.

With Sharon (center) after her show!

In the last week and a half two of my friends have shown off their awesome voices and I've been able to see them shine.  Last Thursday (National Women's Day) my Irish friend Sharon blew us away at a jazz club, and since then I've been asking her more about her background in music.  Turns out she was part of a female trio a few years ago, signed by Universal Studios, and toured the UK for a few years.  Who knew?  I loved hearing her story, and why she ultimately walked away from the path the group was going down.

During our coffee date the afternoon following her Roman debut, I was almost robbed.  Two gypsy women approached us with their babies, asking for something about coffee.  Sharon and I were trying to figure out if they wanted us to buy them coffee, or wanted our cups, etc...the words were random and nonsensical.  While one was blocking my vision (really in my face), the other tried to slip some items from my purse under the blanket with her baby.  Fortunately my ipod headphones were still dangling out, so we were able to get everything out.  It surprised Sharon and I both, but it was quite funny to see yet another side of her as she jumped to my defense. Needless to say, we're both going to be more on guard in the coming months!

ours looks just a bit different
 than the picture...

This weekend was pretty much a "Sharon weekend" because to celebrate her birthday, my friend Wayne and I combined our baking skills to make her a cake.  From finding the right ingredients for a deluxe cake all in Italian to making a three tier cake when only one can fit in my tiny oven at a time, this turned into quite the baking adventure.  Well with more time always comes...more creativity! Wayne and I decided to make our cake unique to the one pictured in our book, throwing the idea for elegance out the window and going with "childlike creativity."  Also, we may or may not have improvised to make a three layer cake out of two pan so that we could eat the third layer that night with Taylor to test it out....Our tower cake made quite the impression when we surprised Sharon though, she was ridiculously excited to have her own birthday cake.  She celebrated her actual birthday in Ireland and didn't have cake at all! I'm seeing more and more how American desserts are a huge hit with all my European friends, regardless of nationality.  Maybe it's the massive amount of butter we use, or the heaps of sugar, or how we combine salty and sweet...whatever it is, I'm totally okay with using baking as a way to love on friends here.  Tonight Kyra and I are cooking a Southern dinner for the exchange students, and you know that means we're going to end the meal with something sweet.  Sharon had a funny story about the huge cake and one of her (Italian) roommates the day after.  She said she came into the kitchen and saw him eating the cake while waving his hands wildly and repeating in between bites "e una bomba! Una bomba, una bomba!"  In Italy any really good, really sweet dessert or pastry is called "a bomb," and Sharon was laughing because she had never seen him so excited about anything before as he was about this cake.

The Happy Birthday hippos are really what inspired the
deviation in cake styles...you just can't put
multi-colored hippos on a cake and expect it to look sophisticated.

Cristina, Francesco (bass), & the rest of their band

Last night I went to see Cristina, Francesco, and the rest of their band perform at a pub where one of the guys works.  He's about to leave to drive around Europe living out of his van, so the bar let all of them be the first to try live music.  It was a really good opportunity to reconnect with some of the people I met at Francesco's birthday party back in December, especially since in Italy your mere presence in the same vicinity as others supporting the same friend makes you part of the group.
Cristina's cousins, who are both very hostile to the gospel like many of the others there, were apparently asking about some people Taylor and I were hanging out with most of the night since they hadn't seen them before.  When they found out that one of the guys, a good friend of ours, is gay, they were absolutely shocked.  "Doesn't the Bible say you can't do that too?" "They're really friends?"  Apparently visible proof of our friendship in an area that countered the cousins' former exposure with "religious people" took them by surprise, and for once left them speechless instead of the usual knocks against Christianity.

I know all these things sound so simple, so 'normal life' rather than 'missionary life'...but really, that's what being a missionary in a city like Rome is all about.   We were talking about this a bit as a team this morning, how our ministry is truly relational and doing life with our friends.  The gospel is not a presentation, not something we can push here in one meeting and expect people to change all their prior beliefs immediately, not even something to say all the way through because most of our friends would walk away from us mid-sentence.  It's a lifestyle.  Every person I have met here, once we get to a point where they see I am genuine about my faith, has started to absolutely scrutinize all parts of the way I live.  As Taylor was saying, the majority of these people have never even met a believer before.  They're going to be curious. If we're sharing bits and pieces of our love for the Lord and truth with them, before we can hope that they will start to think about Jesus Christ in a Biblical light, we have to know they will want to know absolutely everything about what being a follower of Christ looks like in all arenas of life.  From the daily routine to behavior to future decisions, questions will be asked and observations will be made.  The research is important if they're considering investigating our God.  In some ways that's really scary, because we really do feel like each little thing we do or say is under a magnifying glass.  Thank goodness God is sovereign, and His grace and love shines through our humanity.  He brings people to Himself through all different avenues...He's big enough to use English lessons, musical appreciation, and even cakes to magnify His glory.  May it be so!

Playing Catch Up

Well, to state the obvious I'm a bit behind on updates.  My intent and goal before leaving for Italy was to write at least once a week, but now I've joined the ranks of what I hear happens to everyone the longer they're gone and a month later I'm trying to play catch up.  Although, if anyone could tell me what happened to February and if it even occurred this year, that'd be great...how we're already in March is beyond me!

February has been a wonderful month, full of the Lord's goodness.  The start of March has already been difficult, though full of the Lord's goodness.  Thankfully His goodness never depends on our circumstances, for He is always constant, always good, and always love.  Since it's been so eventful (hence the lapse in posts), I'll go for the brief recaps here:

• February started with a legendary snow for Rome.  For the first time in 26 years, Rome had snow that stuck to the ground in the first weekend.  Needless to say, the Italians were freaking out and it was quite amusing.  We didn't just get one weekend of snow, we went through the "crisi di neve" ("snow crisis", as quoted by the mayor of Rome) the second weekend too.

true to Italian style, of course this random
sidewalk snowman is smoking

• My language partner (a friend from the exchange) and I have started meeting for lunch fairly regularly.  At one of our more recent lunches, the Lord opened a door for a spiritual conversation and she started talking about what she believes, doesn't know, and how she wants to decide something for herself.  We are starting to read and discuss Matthew together, and as we made that decision she said "Maybe this will give me the answers I'm looking for."  Yes, Spirit, may that be!

Dad & I in Orvieto

• We had a few weeks off from classes and appointments since the semester at the university ended in early February.  The given break worked perfectly for me, because this month the two most important men in my life came to visit me and I took a mini-vacation.  My dad landed the weekend of the second snow, and we took a day trip to a small medieval town outside of Rome, Orvieto.  He also treated me to my first real burger since leaving the states (good ol' Hard Rock Cafe), and we had a great daddy-daughter weekend.  A couple days after he left, my boyfriend made the trip.  Long distance isn't the most fun thing, so it was wonderful to have a week actually together at my halfway point in Italy.  We had great time going around Rome, Florence, San Gimignano, and Bracciano. 

Jonathan & I in front of Castel Sant'Angelo

• The day before Jonathan left, my computer started dying that slow and painful Mac death.  This is the main reason I haven;'t been able to write in so long, I've spent a good deal of time trying to revive it.  Thankfully my team leader is a Mac guru and God will even perform technological miracles, so at the moment my computer is holding out!

• We finally had our sex trafficking awareness seminar last weekend.  Originally we had it scheduled for February 4th, but the Lord through the snow changed those plans.  We had a great turnout, and after giving basic info about sex trafficking and showing the Candy Shop (dubbed in Italian), the attendees engaged in a discussion about this problem and how we can help combat it.  Since the seminar we've had interest from a few of those who came about joining our outreaches to the women and transvestites, and we are so excited.  Even better, not all of those who want to help are believers, so we're praying the Lord will use this to bring freedom also to them!  

• March 1st brought some sad news from the home front.  After a long, full life, my Granddaddy passed away.  While ultimately I'm praising God for bringing him home, reuniting him with his wife, and giving him a new, restored body, being away from my family now is extremely difficult.  The last couple of days have really given me a picture of what it feels like for full-time missionaries...sometimes you just get so frustrated being so far away.  You can only go through trials and sadness with loved ones at home through prayer, same as you can only celebrate joyous occasions with a Skype call or email.  I'm thankful the Lord has given me this experience away, for now I have a better idea how to pray for missionaries who are geographically separated from family and friends indefinitely.  

Good Soil

     For the last couple of weeks, the parable of the soils has really been on my mind.  In the last few days the Lord has started revealing why.   Ministry in Italy is slow going.  Everything is slow in Italy (aside from the crazy drivers), so that shouldn't be a surprise.  Many lies have been sown into the lives of my friends here, so every time the Lord brings an opportunity for a spiritual conversation a great majority of it is correcting false teachings against the Word of God.  One example is how a friend told me she used to pray when she was little, then when she asked the priest about it he said she wasn't allowed to talk to God..that God was too busy to concern Himself with her life.  He told her if she wanted to ask God for something, she needed to go through him (the priest)...heartbreaking, and a direct contradiction to Hebrews 4:14-16.  Things like that contribute to the widening gap between Italians and the Lord, yet one I see that Jesus desires to fill.
    Monday was a fantastic day, because Silvia (my friend and language partner) and I had our first spiritual conversation!  She told me her background of faith/no faith, and how she's at a point in her life where she wants to decide what she believes for real.  The Spirit completely guided our conversation, and I was so thankful that our friendship has grown to a point where she trusts me to talk through such matters.  We're actually going to start reading the book of Matthew together, which makes me so excited.  After we made that plan she said, "maybe this will show me what I'm looking for," to which all I could think was "ohhhh yes, you have no idea!"  Please be praying for her in this time, that the Lord makes Himself known to her in a clear way.  For me also, that He gives me the wisdom I'll need to answer her questions and guide her through learning about Jesus.
    Between Monday's conversation and Taylor sharing at house church last week how she's been praying that our friend Marco will be good soil, I know the Lord's given me this story for a reason.  Now I know of three friends who are either directly or indirectly seeking God and coming to us for help, and now it is so important to pray pray pray that Silvia, Marco, and Manuela are good soil.  They're on the brink, in that I know God is bringing them to Himself in ways they can't even see yet, so please join me in prayer that the enemy will not take away the word, that the seeds of truth will take root, and that my friends are not choked by distractions or lies.  We want good soil, Jesus!

"As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience."

-Luke 8:15

"Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them."

-Hebrews 7:25

     How powerful is that verse? So powerful that God gave it to in our time together the morning after I met with Silvia, when I was thinking of and praying for her.  Let's claim it as His promise!  

Highlights of the Exchange

     Those of you who receive my newsletter saw a bit about the second half of our Italian-American exchange program, but I thought it would be fun to elaborate on some of our activities here and share some cultural pictures of Italy.  The five Italian students who participated were so sweet and planned unique activities for us every day for 8 days.  Several of the things we did were also firsts for some of the Italians, so it was fun to adventure all together.
     Easily my favorite day of the exchange was when we went to a little medieval town an hour outside of Rome called Bracciano.  It's known for a huge volcanic lake that is so beautiful, and also for this massive Odescalchi castle that has now become a popular wedding site...unfortunately, probably out of my budget :(

Yes, castle. Apparently Tom Cruise got married there.

Six of us went that day, 3 and 3, and it was perfect.  God blessed us with beautiful weather and a fun day exploring.  I really appreciated how by this point in the exchange (day 3), we were all hanging out as friends rather than as part of a program or obligation.  The ride up to Bracciano was really pretty, I saw plains of grass, sheep, and horses for the first time since I left.  I don't think I've ever considered myself a country girl, but the longer I'm living in the city the more I appreciate seeing and being in nature.  We all hiked down to the lake, which was quite entertaining going back up because Italians tend to walk incredibly slow and do not engage in much physical activity other than walking the city.  We also ate at a cute lunch trattoria, where the food was super cheap because it was all local.  Travel guide push here, if you're ever in Rome I definitely recommend the day trip!

The group above the lake

     New Year's Eve in Rome was...ridiculous, fantastic, semi-dangerous, covered in the Lord's protection, hysterical, and highly entertaining.  After a feast of a dinner at my apartment, we all went to the Colosseum to bring in the new year.  All of December Italians have been practicing their fireworks at random points in the day; Taylor and I have long been used to the sounds similar to gun shots going off outside our window.  NYE the noise poppers and fireworks were everywhere, from street corners to cars to inside the metro to in the massive crowd packed from the Colosseum to Piazza Venezia (a distance that takes about 10 minutes to walk).  There were no rules for safety, and at one point we did see a thatch roof of a restaurant catch on fire after someone shot a flame gun.  At midnight champagne was flying everywhere, so we were all sufficiently misted in it and looking out for corks.  It became my new favorite NYE memory, and even though some of our Italian friends were unnerved by the fireworks the hours leading up to the actual shows (it was their first time for the big celebration too), they were all happy we went to the chaos!

     The third highlight from our exchange that I'll end on is our last day, the day that we "went to the snow," as the Italians kept putting it.  Reid took us up to a mountain two hours away from Rome in our team van, and we spent the day admiring the Lord's creation, sledding, trudging through a foot of snow, making snow creatures, laughing, and sliding down the mountain like penguins.  One of the funniest things about Italian winter fashion (in my opinion) is how they wear these massive, marshmallow puffer jackets once it has been designated 'winter time'...even if it is still 60 degrees.  Since neither Jordan (Reid's sister and one of the American students) nor myself had snow clothes, our friend Silvia brought the full equipment and we got to wear the awesome puffer jackets for a day.  Manuela went down a sled for the first time that day, and I'm pretty sure we all set a new personal record on highest point climbed in snow/longest sled run.  Overall, it was a great getaway from the city and way to end the exchange!

the girls making snow angels :)

    Please keep praying for these friendships!  New Year's Day I was just so excited when journaling, thinking about all the potential for this year and the rest of my time in Rome. Near the top of that list was the continuation of these relationships, getting to know all five students better and seeing how God continues His work chasing after their hearts...I'm looking forward to seeing what He does!