I’m here
Posted by Drew | Filed under General
I arrived 4 days ago, but it feels like about 2 weeks. It’s strange how changing environments so dramatically can make home seem like such a long time ago. 4 of us arrived early, the rest of the team (6) came Saturday, but it feels like we’ve all been together for much longer than 48 hours. It’s been really busy for all of us. Mostly because we can’t really settle down since none of us are sure yet where’ we’ll be sleeping. Well, the Gallos are settled in their place, but we’re still searching for a place for the 3 guys to live, and until then we’ve taken over one of the girls’ apartments while they squeeze into the other. Here’s a little summary of who’s on our team.
Francine Previte: 2nd year STINTer, first year being in Barbados. FSU grad and Italian by heritage. She has a passion for Italian culture and ministry and has planned to do ministry here for the better part of a decade.
Nathan Shideler: Also a 2nd year STINTer, re-upping his commitment here in Salerno. A fellow Bulldog, and Kappa Sig. We’ll be watching the bulldogs, hopefully, score their first points of the season this saturday on Maroon to the Max.
Kat Schofield: Our final re-STINTer, and the other representative from last year’s group. She finished at UCF, another partnership school along with State, and more recently, Ole Miss. We call her Kat because there are two Katherines and we needed some kind of distinction.
Justin and Gayle Gallo: Gayle just graduated from UCF, Justin earned his degree a few years ago. They’ve been married for 3 years and Justin has deep Italian roots on both sides of his family. His last name means ‘Rooster.’ He also is responsible for perhaps the greatest first night on stint horror story I’ve ever heard. I’ll send you the link to his blog when he posts it.
Adam Hill: The final UCF alum for our team. Those guys down there are great about supporting the partnership. Adam graduated in December and basically abandoned a personal business venture with good potential to spend a year serving the Lord in Italy.
Sarah Love Bickerstaff: That’s Sarah Love, not Sarah. She’s from Ole Miss, and like my first STINT team, I have no doubt we’ll get along great once football season is over. At least this year I don’t think they’ll win 10 games while we win 2. And this time I’m not outnumbered 6 to 1.
Morgan Hughey: Alabama alum, recruited by Christina of last STINT team, the pioneering Salerno team. Great voice that we’ll no doubt exploit at every opportunity.
Katherine Clements: Most likely she’ll be the happiest at the end of football season. She went to Florida. It will be nice to have someone from the school of both of my roommates from my last team, Mike and Andrew.
That’s it. 10 of us. 5 people from the South and 5 from Florida. Some would call that a mixed culture team. Maybe I’ll explain that in a later post. I hope someone is keeping track of all the things I promise to explain later. I might need some reminders.
Feel free to send some encouraging emails. It’s always good to hear from home. And feel free to call. Our vonage number is 601 427 0266.
Prayers. PLease pray that we find an apartment soon. Pray also for our team to adjust well to the city and to each other. And of course, continue to pray for the ministry, for the 39 new believers as we begin to dream of how we can connect with them when we get on campus next week. Francine and I will travel to Florence to meet with the rest of the STINT team leaders in Italy. Pray for clear vision and direction for our ministry and our team.
Personally, I’m tired. I’m excited, but very tired. I feel like I need rest. But I’m so thankful for my team. And I’m thankful for your prayers, which better enable me to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.
