It’s over. They left saturday night. It was a great week. 13 students 1 volunteer and 2 staff. All from Texas. They all seemed to have a great time. But we got our money’s worth from them. They looked exhausted by the end of the week. So did our team. But it was a good week of meeting new students and engaging them in conversations about the Gospel, casting vision to the american students about continuing to be involved in the ministry here, and promoting our summer project in Malawi. We’re hoping to take a group of Italian students, and we are praying to raise half of the support from the States. Several students pledged to give.

It was a full schedule, going on campus for several hours each day. For the first 3 days we went to campuses where Agape doesn’t have a presence. The next two were spent on our 2 most familiar campuses in Florence. At night we made sure they were well fed, and got a taste of good Italian food, followed by some of the best gelato Florence has to offer. Optional sight seeing was squeezed into the free periods between campus and dinner, and a couple of early mornings. And one unique event was to have small group dinners in some of our homes so they could see how we “do life” here as missionaries, and so they could ask questions in a more informal setting.

Overall, the feedback was great. Our team really enjoyed it, and the students’ evaluations were all very positive. Suggestions involved ways to keep students from dozing during the morning devotional times. My theory is that they just haven’t learned to drink the Italian caffe yet.

Now it’s time to rest. We have a break coming up with the Easter holiday. Students will be with family and friends for most of the next week and a half, so our team will be taking this as our vacation time. But with the exchange rate soaring so high, I don’t think any of us are doing much traveling.