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!