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Day two.  We finally finished our two weeks of language school, wrapped up our strategic planning, and took the first steps toward a regular weekly schedule.  Which for the first few days begins with team prayer at 9, followed by a bus to campus, where we’ll stay until around 4 or so.  We also meet in the middle of the day to pray for the campus.  Hopefully soon students will be able to join us.  So far there have been a lot of awkward situations, but also a lot of very interested students.  We havent’ been able to meet all the new believers from the summer project, but we’re having a party tomorrow night just like they did this summer, and hopefully we’ll be able to connect with most of them.  But we keep running into several randomly (providentially).  The first two students Katherine and I initiated with happened to be among the summer project contacts.  Actually, Katherine had called one of them the week before to tell her about the party. 

The biggest news of the week so far would be that the number of believers from the summer project is officially 40.  One of the guys who heard the gospel was an Iranian student that seemed to disappear after the first conversation.  But this week, Nathan called him when he got on campus, asked him if he had thought any more about the Gospel, and he said that he had prayed to receive Christ a few days after their first conversation.  And then he took the 4 Laws booklet home to share it with his family in Iran.  Nathan is meeting with him Friday to do follow up.

It’s clear that God is moving on campus.  My favorite way to initiate so far this year has been to walk up to random groups of people and tell them that I just arrived and I work with a student organization on campus and I’m trying to meet people.  And then I meet them.  The first day, I was able to have a lengthy conversation with 3 Chemical Engineering students that I met this way.  I shared with them the full Gospel and they were very interested.  The one who seemed most opposed at the beginning was most eager to take the 4Laws booklet with him at the end.  I’ve really been impressed with how interested most students seem this year.  

We’ve set for oursevles a pretty fast pace here at the beginning.  From 10 to 4 initiating with students every day can become pretty tiresome.  But we only have about 6 months out of our year when students are on campus, so we have to take advantage.  Right now I’m exhausted.  But it’s so great to be on campus.  The team is doing an exceptional job being bold and ignoring their fears and hesitations, walking through the entire Gospel with students, attempting to do so the first time every time.

here are some things to pray for.

The Gallo’s apartment situation.  Basically their sink smells like sewer (overwhelmingly, knocks you down when you first walk in the door)  but we haven’t been able to convince their landlord that the problem must be fixed, and we haven’t been able to find a new place comparable.

Our permesso di soggiorno situation.  Permit to stay.  We have a lawyer.  No, we’re not going to sue the Italian government.  We just needed clarity on what our rights are and what we need to be doing.  Apparently the Questura in Salerno is one of the most strict in all of Italy.  But it’s become an extremely complicated situation for us.

Please pray that our team would continue to experience good community, vulnerablility and safe fellowship, and protection from spiritual attacks.

 In Ministry

Please pray that the University campus would be set apart for the Lord’s work.  Pray that we and students would sense the presence of the Lord when they arrive on campus, and that it would be protected from any evil or opposition or spiritual warfare.

Pray also for Marco, Antonio, and Isidoro, the three ChemE guys who heard the Gospel yesterday. 

This morning I finally unpacked my suitcases.  3 weeks and 2 days after I got here.  It’ feels good.  But our apartment is missing a few things.  I need to run to Wal Mart.

Our new place is really nice.  It’s just been rennovated, and all the bathroom and Kitchen furnishings are brand new.  The rest of the apartment is one room, with a loft on one end where all 3 beds sit.  We’re about 18 inches of gap space from sleeping in one really big bed.   Should be great for roommate unity.  Or roommate conflict.

Tonight we’re actually going to Carrefour, which is the European version of Wal Mart.  There’s one just outside Salerno in a town called Pontecagnano.  We went once as a team a few weeks ago.  It’s about a half-hour bus ride, basically along one road.  As soon as you get on that road, there are advertisements every 1/4 mile or so pointing to this place.  Apparently, there’s also a sign indicating a detour around the center of Pontecagnano if you’re interested in avoiding traffic.  This story could get really long, but basically, I led our team off the bus about 8 stops too early, followed a long route around the outskirts of this town, only to end up back on the same road after nearly an hour of walking, and we still had another 30 minutes to go before we made it to the store, which ended up being about 5 minutes away from the bus stop we should have used.   I feel confident none of the rest of my team will go to Carrefour during this year without making some kind of joke about that trip.  They’ve found several things to give me a hard time about.  But that one, I think, will stick the longest.

I think we’re making progress. Some days it’s hard to tell. We still live out of suitcases. Most of us anyway. Actually, we signed a contract today on an apartment for the 3 guys. That means by Thursday when we move in, the 8 of us who have remained in transit this entire time will finally be able to unpack. The sad news is that the Gallos, the only two of us who have been able to settle into a place, will soon be moving again because their landlord has decided that he’s uncomfortable with our current visa status. That’s a really long story, but it worked out well because there were some issues with the apartment that had us trying to think of ways to get out of the contract. Just when those issues reached a breaking point for us, their landlord, Giuseppe, came in with the news that he would prefer that we look for another place to live. It’s probably one of the most direct and clear anwers to prayer I’ve ever experienced. But that leaves them in need of finding another place. We thought there was one available right accross the hall from the one we claimed today, but by the time we realized we wanted it, it had already been rented. So please be praying that the Lord would provide a new place for the Gallos.

Connected with this story is another interesting journey we’ve had in applying for our “permits of stay” so that we can be legally registered with the government. But I’m afraid it would be either really long or really confusing for me to relay the entire story. Maybe an analogy. Picture a big gated city park, open during the day for people to come in and out as they please, some locals sit on the benches and enjoy the day, there is the group of old men who always sits and tells stories, probably the same stories each day… there’s a goldfish pond in one corner with a fountain in the middle, and there is a man nearby feeding the pigeons with yesterday’s bread. Around mid morning things are probably at their busiest, with pedestrian traffic taking the scenic route to the caffe’, a small crowd is gathered around the old men’s card game (something like half of all Italians are retired and spend their days in this sort of activity), and the guy feeding the pigeons is running low on bread.  That’s a general description of life in Italy, especially southern Italy.  Everything is calm and relaxed, no one is in a big hurry or seems anxious.  Just like this park.  Well, except the pigeons.  All fighting for the same tiny piece of bread, climbing on top of one another…  And at the place where we apply for our permits, the Questura, we foreigners are the pigeons. It’s an insane push to get the attention of the government employees who, at their leisure, come outside to greet the masses and give instruction or pass out documents while we bargain for attention with our eagerness and our elbows. Some are merely seeking an appointment to come back at a later date for the same memorable experience. Others are there for their scheduled appointment and are hoping to be called before the next guy so he can get back to work. I don’t really know how pigeons smell, but I do know that many cultures dont’ value cleanliness or deodorant the way we do. And I have all the evidence I’ll ever need. But eventually (usually after several hours) we get what we came for, maybe we get our appointment to come back and do it all again, or maybe we go back and fill out documents, get fingerprinted, listen to people yell in all sorts of languages, wonder what to do with the ink on our hands, and leave just grateful to be done with the process.

It’s not something I enjoy on any level. But it may be the most diverse crowd of people I’ve ever been in. People from northern Africa, the Middle East, central africa, asia, eastern europe. All with their unique appearances, their unique language. All speaking accented Italian, and all in Italy for their own reasons. I like the picture once I’m finished with the process. Other than all the frustration and the somber faces (no one enjoys the Questura) — I think this is a glimpse of what it will look like when people from every tongue and tribe and nation are gathered before the throne of God. Just a glimpse - the comparison breaks down quickly. But picture the diversity, the eagerness… Obviously there are significant differences. Before the throne there will be rejoicing, and there will be worship. Any shouting will be shouts of praise. No one will want to be anywhere else but there. No one will ever want to leave… And there will be Italians. Praise the Lord, there will be Italians! Thank you for playing a part in making that happen.

In the main cathedral here in Salerno is buried the arm of Matthew, the disciple, Saint Matthew, or San Matteo. Each city in Italy has a patron saint and Matteo is that for Salerno and tonight there was a big parade and festival all over the city center celebrating his commemorative day. To celebrate there’s a big parade around the city beginning and ending at the cathedral. And everyone prepares the traditional dish for this day, milza. This morning I found out what that means. It’s spleen. They didn’t specify what animal. I didn’t ask.

Please continue to pray for an apartment for the guys. We made an offer the other day on a place that is literally 100 yards from the girls place, and it’s above a restaurant on the main strip of pubs and restaurants that students frequent on the weekends. It’s a little more than we’d like to pay, but we offered a little lower than they’re asking. So we’re praying that it will work out. We should know something soon.

We started language school on Tuesday. Our team is spread between three classes. In my class we haven’t worked on any grammar, we just talk. I’m the only guy in a class of 10. The first day we talked about sewing and pregnancy. I learned a few words I’m confident I’ll never use. But yesterday we moved on to ethics, and today we covered movies. Mostly I just sit and listen.

Our team also began our strategic planning process this week. The hard part was putting into words our vision statement and team covenant. I think it was the first time some of our team started to not like each other. But no significant conflict yet. When that happens, we’ll know that stint has become a reality, and is no longer a dream world. Until then, we’re too inammored with the food and gelato. Reality will set in soon enough. I think we’ll be ready. One more week of language, and the next week classes begin for the Italian students.

I was thinking today that it can be a strange concept to need someone. I think I often don’t realize what that means. Or maybe more accurately, I don’t want to know what it means. For the past two weeks I haven’t grasped what it means to need my team. I’m the expert, right? I’ve done this twice already, once following a great leader, and once attempting to lead myself. I know the language well enough to get by and serve as team translator in most situations. I even own some Italian jeans and some shoes that look Italian. It’s also easy for me to feel confidence in my spiritual leadership. I am on staff, after all. And I’m nearly 30, compared to most of my team who are fresh out of college. It just seems so much simpler to not depend on anyone else. But I really need my team. Sadly, I don’t recognize that as I should. And it just occurred to me that some of them might be reading this. I know the truth from Scripture that we were created to live in community, as a body, each part dependent on another, rejoicing and suffering with each part in turn. I just feel so accustomed to everything being centered around an individual. It’s hard to make that truth stick. But I have really enjoyed this team. Although at times I haven’t wanted to because it’s not like either team I was on before, or my staff team in Auburn. And maybe I enjoy them so much now, because the excitement of being in Italy is still fresh for all of them and that makes them more enjoyable to be with, but I think it’s more than that. We put in our team covenant that we recognize that each member of this team is God’s unique provision for me this year. I don’t have to understand that now, but I have no doubt it is true. I need them. And I’m thankful that I need them. Trying to do everything alone has never really worked out for me. Please continue to pray for our team unity, and for protection against division and spiritual attacks.

10 days and I still haven’t unpacked.  No one has.  We’re all waiting on a 4th apartment.  The Gallos actually are getting settled in their place, and I’m really thankful for the way that has worked out.  They’ve had some problems, but their landlord has been very helpful.  The rest of us, however have squeezed into the remaining two apartments which are just across the hall from one another.  And when I say we’ve squeezed, I mean the girls (5 of them) have piled into a 2 room/ plus large closet bedroom/ one bathroom apartment while the guys (3 of us) are much more comfortably enjoying the brand new, just remodeled apartment next door.  the explanation for why we set it up this way is long and uninterestsing, but I assure you that’s the best way for us to live for now.  All of us are still searching our suitcases each morning for clothes for the day.  It was especially challenging this morning when we needed stuff to wear in the rain on the way to church.   My greatest frustration is that I packed socks pretty much wherever I could fit them in my suitcase, and now if I can find a pair, I have no idea how many I have left for the next day.

But tomorrow we’ll look again for a fourth apartment for the guys.  Money has become a big issue with this search.  We’re responsible for security deposits (2 months’ rent) realtor fees (1 month’s rent) and summer rent (varies) for 3 new places, plus september rent for all of them… unless we’re still in suitcases until October.  It comes out to about $1400 apiece right off the bat.  But we might be able to trim that back a little if we find a cheaper place to live.  So we would really appreciate your prayers for that.

It’s been tough not being settled.  Especially since we’re about to become pretty busy. This week we’ll begin language school in the mornings, and planning for the ministry in the afternoon.  We’ll have 2 weeks of language, and we’ll be transitioning during that time from full time planning to full time on campus by the end of next week.  This week we’ll also start contacting all the students from the summer, including the 39 new believers.  So please pray that our conversations go well, and that we are able to get in touch with all of them.

Oh, and I’m really sorry I haven’t replied to anyone’s email.  I feel like I get about 10 minutes each day on the internet.  Hopefully I’ll be able to reply soon.  But I really appreciate all the emails and phone calls.  But I do have one request.  Since we’re sharing the two adjacent apartments, the phone is in the girls place (but it will remain our phone when we move out).  But a few people have called in the middle of the night for me.  PLEASE don’t call after 5 pm central time.  That’s midnight for us.

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.

Sadly, that’s about how long it’s been since my last update. Doesnt’ feel like that long. July couldn’t have been 30 days ago… THis month has flown by. Good time at home, brief time at Auburn, then Briefing in Colorado (nice trip into the mountains where it was 40 degrees at night — I almost forgot what I was missing at home until the weather channel popped up on my computer still set to announce the weather in Tupelo and I saw that it was 97, feels like 105). That was followed by more meaningful time in Auburn, then Tuscaloosa, Huntsville… I got home Saturday afternoon and felt more tired in every way that I could be tired than I’ve felt in a long time. The two weeks previous really left me exhausted. But a few days at home, some very therapeutic ultimate frisbee, mom’s meatloaf, and I think I’m ready to do it again. It’s a good thing because my travelling still isn’t over. Tomorrow I’ll take a trip that I’ve anticipated for quite some time. 7 pm kickoff for the only football game I’ll watch live this next year. (Unless, of course, I follow in the footsteps of Tim who STINTed in Salerno last year and played for the Salerno Seagulls Football team (American football - not soccer)) A Bulldog win would be nice. Regardless, I’ll just be happy to be there. Then I head back home for a few hours before driving to Memphis for my 6 am fliight to CA for my friend Jim’s wedding. Sunday I’ll come home, then Wednesday I take off for Italy. So tonight was one of my last nights at home.

Some of you will be getting little prayer cards in the mail from me. A friend of mine calls them Missionary trading cards. You’ve probably all seen some like it on someone’s refrigerator.. a solo shot of a person or a family with some nature background, reminding us to pray for them. Well, I finally have my own. My home church in Tupelo helped me print them up to raise support there, and I have been sending out the extras to current supporters and friends. Many of you will get one in the mail soon. If you don’t, and you would like one, please let me know soon, and I’ll get it in the mail before I take off. They also have a small description of how you can support me financially. Support wise I’m ok to go, but not where I’d like to be ideally — it could get tight toward the end, so if any of you would like to give and become a financial ministry partner, I would really appreciate it. I’m having trouble updating the biographical information on this giving site, but everything else is accurate https://give.ccci.org/give/0544692

Thanks. Hopefully the next update will come sooner. Drew

In addition to being a support coach, my other official assignment for the summer is to raise support. Often I talk to people who know that’s one of my summer objectives and they ask me how that’s going. My responses vary, but always the same thoughts go through my head. “You know I really ought to start working on that…” I think I’ve grown quite comfortable with the reliable consistency of the Lord’s provision over the past few years. And knowing that my task is so much smaller this year than it was last year, I feel very tempted to put off support raising until… well, that’s another problem — I don’t even have an until for putting it off. Even as I type this, my anxiety level is still very low. But it raises a little as I remember the challenges I faced both years in Italy as my support waned significantly towards the end of my time there. And noting that many supporters have been less than consistent over the past few months (I say that not to criticize, but to observe… I definitely understand how hard it is to stay consistent… I have no choice but to set up automatic drafts for people I support), I see that there is a fairly significant need for me to raise additional funds.

So here’s where I am. Additional one time expenses should be around $7,000 between plane tickets, various conferences, travelling costs and other small items. Also since January I’m averaging about $5-600 short of my original monthly goal (not including annual gifts that I count as monthly contributions), so I’d like to be able to raise that amount while I’m still in America. It will be especially needed since I’ll lose about 20% to the exchange rate.

Right now I’m trying to plan out my summer. Most of the time I’ll be in Auburn. For two weeks I’m hoping to be able to take two seminary courses in Orlando through Crusade, but that will depend on my support raising schedule. I have one week of training in Colorado to attend, and my leave date is sometime around the first of September. I’d like to be able to meet with as many people as possible, and I’ll most likely need to meet new people who can join my support team. Some good friends in Nashville have offered to host a dessert one night for me to meet some of their friends and share about what I’m doing. If anyone else in Tupelo or wherever is willing to do the same, it would help me tremendously. Otherwise, you can visit www.give.ccci.org/give/0544692 to give online, or to find information on other ways to give.

I have truly enjoyed raising support for ministry. Sharing with others about the privilege of being called by God to this ministry is always encouraging for me. But also knowing that I have a team of supporters who are excited about what I’m doing, and excited to be a part of it with me, and most importantly praying for me as I serve in the field is an amazing blessing. Thank you to all of my current supporters, and thank you to everyone else who would consider joining my team of ministry partners in reaching Italians, or Auburn students, or whoever else for Christ.

I read an article tonight on the wars in Uganda (Christianity Today). Many of you are probably already familiar with it, but hearing stories about how this LRA group routinely kidnaps children between ages 7 and 14, tortures them and forces them to fight in a war, killing and torturing other children for the sake of this one guy’s desire to overthrow the government of Uganda. Anyway, apparently it’s been happening since 1986 and over 30,000 children have been kidnapped during that time, many of them killed. You can read more at www.seekjustice.org, or farreachingministries.org It’s unfathomable to me how evil this world can be. It makes my stomach hurt thinking about how corrupt some people have become. We weren’t created this way. But this is the potential for sinful man. This is the sort of thing the Enemy is willing to do - the same enemy with whom we most often encounter when we feel discouraged or lazy or lack boldness, or don’t believe we’re forgiven. I think it’s encounters like those with the enemy that make me think he’s soft, and more like an opponent who acknowledges understood rules of sportsmanship or civility. But its’ when we don’t recognize those attacks as being rooted in the same evil as the inhumanity in Uganda that we fail to recognize the absolute depravity of the Enemy who attacks us daily. This enemy seeks to destroy us, and looking at the situation in Uganda, he shows no mercy or restraint, and will torture and corrupt and destroy in ways unthinkable to most of us. That’s our enemy. We are at war. And I’m so grateful the victory is ours in Christ. But the battle still rages. And we still must fight. Please pray for this country.

I realize it’s been a long time since I posted anything here. I dropped some pretty big news last time and then stayed silent for about a month. Still processing, I guess. I’m preparing to go to Italy. Sort of. I feel like the Lord has been showing me a lot lately. I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed but the Proverbs speak often about the sluggard. Solomon wasn’t too fond of him. But unfortunately, having a completely open schedule for the summer, and tasks that have no timeline or deadline, makes me quite sympathetic towards sluggard. I guess I haven’t been that lazy. But I do feel like my days could use a little jump start in discipline. I have whole days to sit in the office and study and read. Ok, considering the fact that I dont’ usually make it to the office until 10 or 11, I guess it’s a little liberal for me to say I have whole days there. But it is almost 9 and I’m still here, finally taking the initiative to accomplish some of the goals I set for today… ok, goals I set for yesterday. What was I saying about the sluggard?

I do feel like I should clarify for the sake of those of you who are financially responsible for my well-being at this stage of my life, that I’m not really wasting my time. It’s true that I stay in the office most of the time, and don’t come in until mid morning. But I have been getting up at a decent hour, and spending some time in the Word before (most days) riding my bike for an hour or so since I’m unable to run because of my injured knee. And I’m making plans for the upcoming year in Italy, and connecting with people on my team about how they’re doing raising support (support coaching). I’m also spending time with my Iranian friends and a few other students. And I”m reading a lot. I just read a book about college ministry called The Fuel and the Flame and really feel challenged by it. I’ve also purchased the Qu’ran so that I can better understand my Iranian friends. Allegedly I’m spending a little time studying Italian as well.

I also just joined a church here. It probably sounds strange that I would join a church in Auburn, when I’m about to leave in a few months, but it’s mostly because I have to be a member to be allowed by the insurance company to drive the church vans to pick up international students on Friday afternoons to take them to Wal Mart. I like this church, but they seem to be pretty aggressive in getting new people involved. Within two days, a lady had contacted me asking me to drive vans for Vacation Bible School, and to potentially share about my time in Italy during one of the sessions.

Some of you know that after my time in Russia, I was able to take a trip to Italy before coming home.  Thanks to RyanAir, I was able to afford a round trip ticket from Germany during a brief layover on returning from Moscow.  It was a great trip, but with the cheap airline came a lot more travelling stress.  Joy from my staff team was travelling with me for part of the time.  Between shuttles to airports, flights, trains, more shuttles… no method of travel functioned as it was supposed to.  It was a great reminder that I was back in Italy.  But strangely, as exhausted as I was when I finally flew over the border, I just had a good feeling knowing that I was back in Italy.  I still have a strong desire to return there to do ministry, and I think part of me feels at home there.

It was great seeing old friends.  I didnt’ see as many students as I wanted to, but my priority was to visit with Jim and Angela, Scott and Tracy, Ryan and Karli in Pisa, then Nathan and Katy and the rest of their team in Salerno, which I was able to do between long legs of travel.  I was travelling over 70 hours during the 6 day period between leaving Russia and arriving in Auburn.  But it was well worth it.   Good time with friends, good conversations with students during the two days I was on campus in Salerno, good time at a church service in Naples where we watched 15 Italians get baptized… great confirmation that Italians are coming to Christ, and we’re not fighting a hopeless battle over there.

Change of Plans

So most of you probably read the title of this post and thought, “Oh, he’s going back?” then read the first paragraph and concluded that I was only referring to my brief stopover over spring break.  But as it turns out, you were right the first time.  It came as a shock to me, and I’m still a little in disbelief.  But while I was in Pisa, I got a call from the regional office (SE Region within Crusade… they make all the important decisions like staff placement for ministries in MS, AL, GA, and FL).  They have asked me to go back to Salerno next year to lead the STINT team again.  This was completely out of left field for me.  I didn’t understand, and initially I actually thought, “No, thank you.  Please find someone else.”  And while I didn’t say that, I did continue to feel that way for the next several days, simply waiting for the Lord to confirm that I should stay at Auburn.  It’s still very strange to me that I’m actually in a place where I would prefer to stay here than go back to Italy.  Strange because I have such a strong desire to be in Italy, and also strange because I had such a tough period of adjustment to being here.  But God has confirmed the calling to be here, he has blessed me in ministry and in fellowship and in growth here, and I had simply assumed that would continue into next year.  But surprisingly, that’s not the case.  It seems clear now that God’s plan is for me to return in the fall for another one year commitment.

I’m growing more excited about it.  I think honestly the biggest reason I’m hesitant is because this will be the 4th consecutive year, (and a guarantee of a 5th to follow) that I’ll be in a new location with a brand new team.  And emotionally, thinking about investing in those relationships, pursuing deep community with brand new people again makes me very tired.  It makes me tired because I know how challenging it is, and how much effort it takes, and sometimes I just want to feel like there’s some consistency and that the fellowship around me doesn’t have to change so frequently.  But this is my calling.  And one potential blessing from it that I can anticipate is that I will find deeper satisfaction in the constance of my fellowship with Christ.  I also see the value in learning more about relationships and fellowship and community.  That’s something I feel like I’ll be learning about the rest of my life.

So I covet your prayers as I mentally and emotionally adjust to the thought of leaving Auburn and going on STINT one more time.  Pray that this change will feel like a calling and not like a burden.  And pray that as God confirms this direction for me, that he will fill me with a vision and excitement for my new team, and for Salerno.

Thank you all.

So in the shadow of Paul’s death, our staff team plus 4 students took a vision trip to Moscow, one of Auburn’s overseas partnerships, and my summer project assignment.  Good trip.  Moscow is big.  And cold… though not as cold as we expected, and everyone there was so excited about how warm it was.   I really like they way their ministry functions, and the good relationship they have with the universities there.  But overall I would say it’s a very challenging place to be a missionary.  I didn’t realize this before I went, but Russia is very similar to Italy in that most Russians claim to believe in a faith that they don’t really know much about, and cling more to their traditions in the Russian Orthodox Church than they do to Christ.