august
Posted by Drew | Filed under General
I made it back to Italy safely. This news is a little late getting to you, and I apologize. I hope no one was worried. I long ago tried to condition my mom not to worry if I don’t call upon arrival. I usually just forget. Though I have done much better in the last few years. She already knows I’m here, don’t worry.
It has been a wild month, though. I left the US on July 28th, landed in Rome on the 29th, trained up to Florence that afternoon, then the next day took a 10 hour train down to Calabria where the Reconciliation church hosted a summer campeggio on the beach for Italian “youth” (age 18-30). Being in a part of the country we dont’ see much, several of our staff took advantage of some free places to stay and a friend with a car to do a little extra traveling, And since about 80% of the Italians in Florence move to the beach for the month there was no reason for us to hurry back. So I just got back to my apartment a couple days ago, and was able to sleep in my own bed for the first time since June 1.
My cure for jet lag was to dive into a service team for the Settimana Biblica, the week preceding the youth Campeggio. My main duty was to wash dishes, which took between 5 and 8 hours each day since meals are so important, and feeding 120 people creates a lot of dirty dishes.. especially since every meal is 3 to 4 courses. We started each morning at 6:30, and the day’s schedule ended at 12:30 a.m. The next week was the same, except I was placed in a room with 12 Italians. That might have been an oversight because anytime someone in charge of the camp found out who my roommates were the responses were always either great surprise, or deep compassion. So my cure for jetlag was to create for myself a stronger reason to feel tired so that jet lag had no room to influence me. Thankfully, the folks running the camp made espresso in abundance each morning and again every afternoon after lunch.
From a ministry perspective, I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say this was the best week I’ve had in Italy. 90 Italian college students gathered for worship and teaching and fellowship, under the theme Passione per la Nazione. Passion for the Nation. Reaching Italy for Christ. These are the type of Italians we are praying that God would raise up, and here they are. The camp director really wanted us there so that we could be an example for the students to see that there are people who are qualified to be much more successful in the worlds eyes, but have chosen to follow God’s call and serve Him full time. He really wants to see these youth make the same commitments. We would love to see that too. It’s a little humbling to think that the greatest impact we can have is just showing up. But if that’s what is most helpful, then we’re happy to do it and let God work.
More about the camp later
One Response to “august”
-
Christy Says:
August 24th, 2008 at 11:28 amWelcome back to this side of the pond Drew.
