Italy

I've been absent from the blog-sphere for nearly 2 weeks, but this time my reason is totally legit. Rachel and I had the incredible privilege of traveling to Italy to train and equip youth pastors and leaders from all over that great nation. We were gone for 8 days, and every single day was action-packed! I ate pasta with every meal and was kissed by more men than I could count...Italian culture gives new meaning to the Biblical concept of greeting each other with a holy kiss!! It's difficult to put into words the amazing experience we had there.

Have you ever met someone and it was instant friendship? When Rachel and I met Scott Steelman and his wife Vicki, we clicked immediately. They've been serving the next generation in Italy for 6 years now, and we had a blast partnering with them at this Youth Impact Leadership Conference. Some 85-90 people journeyed to the coastal community of Bari, many of them making great sacrifices to participate. Some traveled over 14 hours by train, took time off from their jobs, paid their own way to get there, gave up time with their families...the atmosphere was raw with a hunger to learn and grow. We did our best to download all of our ministry experiences into 3 days of intense training workshops, and the people devoured everything. Our passion and desire to reach the next generation was matched with theirs, and the chemistry between 2 different cultures was ignited. After the conference was over, we ministered to a local church that Sunday night. At the end of the service, 3 adult men came forward to receive Christ--amazed, the leaders later told me how significant it was for men to step forward, since most of the people involved in church were women and children. One older gentleman requested prayer for healing in his legs. But he made it known that even if God didn't heal his legs, he still wanted to give his life to Christ...how cool is that!

Before we left, we had a couple of days to hang out in Rome. I was blown away to see the architecture and to think of the history of the city. We saw the Coliseum, the Forum, the Vatican, the Pantheon...so many landmark works. But the highlight for me was when we went to the underground dungeon known as Paul's prison. What was it like to live as a prisoner there in that cold, dark cell? What kind of courage does it take to spend your final days locked up because of your allegiance to the crucified Savior? We shared a spiritual moment in that underground bunker and prayed that God would strengthen our resolve and our commitment to Him!!

When it was time to return to the States, we were heartbroken. The people, the pasta, and the passion had captured our hearts. God is definitely at work...all over the world!

P.S. I am really sorry there are no pics posted yet. I have been trying for the last few days but have run into technical problems. I am still working on it, so keep checking back!