First Full Day of Sweating (oops! Ministry)

Amy and Hank reporting for blog duty. 

Ciao! Buongiorno!

After 23 hours and 9 minutes of traveling (approximately), our rag tag group arrived in Bologna happy, tired, and safe. Sleeping 6 to a room with fans and minimal clothing we got a well-deserved night’s sleep. 

Today we woke up late and had a quick breakfast consisting of croissants and fruit. Traveling in a caravan with our lovely leader, Mark Brucato, we toured on foot an ancient fortress city called Ferrera.  With a boiling temperature of 41 degrees Celsius (105 degrees Fahrenheit) we sweated our way through the beautiful city.  

We enjoyed historical lessons from Mark including the statue of Giorlamo Savonarola, a reformation patriarch.  We then proceeded to eat lunch, walk around the city freely in small groups, and eat our fill of gelato. We learned how to order gelato like a true Italian would, “Vorrei una gelato cone chocolate, per favore.” 

Exhausted, soaked, yet content, we journeyed back to our bungalows (our unairconditioned happy homes) and intend on feasting at the Brucato’s on a delicious barbeque tonight.  Everyone is currently on a partial energy high, and henceforth greatly enjoying themselves.

Shoutouts!

Sarah: “Hi mamaaa (and Dad)! Don’t worry we’re safe and I have a zipper on my satchel. So I have not been pick pocketed yet, Love youuuu.”

Nata: “Hey mom, Great News!!! I met a guy, his name is Fernando. Ha, just kidding… Italy’s great! Love you!”

Almost there . . .

Who knew that 10 minutes of rain in Chicago would delay us by . . . a lot? We got delayed in Chicago by about 3 hours, then missed a connecting flight in Munich.

Ah, the joy of international travel!

So now we're hanging out in Munich for about 6 hours. We'll leave here around 9:30 p.m. and get to Bologna late tonight.

Since we haven't provided you with a group photo yet, here is one of us in Munich.

It's really not as bad as this picture makes it look. We're bonding over German food and getting to know each other much better. Plus, this just makes us even more excited to get to Italy and do the work we're here to do.

More tomorrow . . . 

Tomorrow We Leave

It's hard to believe, but these months of preparation and planning have led to tomorrow when we finally take off for Italy. We have a few specific prayer requests to share with you.

• For safety as we travel tomorrow and Friday. Specifically, please pray that six in our group who got bumped to a later flight (meaning a nine hour layover) from Munich to Bologna would be able to get seats on the earlier flight with the rest of the group. This is huge because getting in earlier will give us a few hours more to rest and get over jet lag before we hit the ground running.

• For Mark and Ruthie Brucato as they and their team in Italy prepare for the camp in Bologna. Ruthie has been very sick lately, so please pray for a full recovery for her.

• For strength and stamina in the heat. The schedule during our time in Italy is pretty intense, so pray that we will be focused on the purpose of our trip. Also, I (Shelly) checked the weather this morning, and it looks like it will be in the 100s for the first few days that we're there. We will not have air conditioning in our hostel, and most of our days will be spent outside with the kids.

• For the Italian youth who attend the camp. Pray that their hearts will be open to hear the message that Jesus loves them and that lives would be changed this week.

Last Sunday, Todd Augustine gave a challenging message from Philippians 1:12-19, and it has stayed with me all week. He talked about the difference between the words "paramount" and "tantamount," and he said that "paramount" means above and beyond everything else as opposed to "tantamount" which means on equal footing. In this passage, Paul shows that the gospel is paramount to everything else in his life because even in his suffering in prison, Paul desires that the gospel go forth. Pastor Augustine challenged us to make the gospel paramount in our lives--that is, the overarching reason for everything we do.

That is our prayer as we go to Italy--that the gospel would be paramount. That we would not worry about our own personal discomfort, but that we would be most concerned that the kids with whom we play games and teach English next week would see Jesus above everything else.

Thanks for praying!

T-minus 17 Days!

In just 17 days, the World Impact Italy team will board a plane and head for Bologna, Italy. Over the past few months we have been preparing by getting to know one another, spending time in the Word, practicing our mime, and thinking through our testimonies. We are excited to share our enthusiasm, our energy, and our creativity with the Italian youth we will meet.

Why are we going? This is a question we've been asked many times, and it's a great question to ask ourselves before we leave. What's the point? It's expensive, for sure. It's time-consuming (nearly two weeks away from family and summer jobs). It's draining in every way imaginable. So why go to Italy?

The answer is Jesus. He gave His life for us, and we want to share that good news with others. He loves us, and we want to share His love with others. He sacrificed for us, so we can sacrifice for others.

The evangelical church in Italy is very small--less than 1% of the population. The missionaries we will work with, Mark and Ruth Brucato, have a very difficult job, so we also go to encourage and help them in any way we can.

This is the third year that College Church has sent a group of students to work with Italian youth through sports camps, English classes, and street evangelism. Mark Brucato has been able to continue some of these relationships through a Bible study this year, and he reports progress with some of the kids. Two of the students in our group are returning to Italy for a second and third time and are looking forward to reconnecting with some of the Italian kids they met in the past.

Thirteen high school students, four adults, and one great and powerful God will be headed to Italy in just a few days. Please pray for us as we prepare over these next couple of weeks that we would be able to learn the mime we will perform as street evangelism. Please pray for our hearts that we would be prepared to serve and to love those God brings to us. Please pray for the Italian youth who will be coming to our camps that their hearts would be prepared to hear the gospel and to respond in faith.