Pictures from my "Farewell Dinner" :)

I am SO GRATEFUL for my missional teammates--- all the hard, hard work they put in to a Farewell Get-together for me on Thursday, June 17.

Several of my dear Italian friends were able to get together for a really fun barbeque-style party that we had on the lovely terrace of the guys' apartment in Rome. It was an incredible opportunity for me to be truly encouraged by my teammates and my Italian friends, as they shared ways in which God has used me in their lives over the past 2 years, as well as one last opportunity for me to share the Gospel with everyone. It was such a blessing to say "ciao ciao" one last time to a lot of my best friends here in Rome!

Enjoy these pictures of the night, taken by the one-and-only Lauren Roeper (soon to be Lauren Dixon!-- Congrats L & Andy!) :)

the lovely "ARRIVEDERCI ELLA" sign that lauren made!

Paolo :)

feta-stuffed tomatoes & eggplant slices!

Noemi :)

Ilario :)

getting a chance to share about Jesus :)

Francesca :)

Sara :)

Giusy :)

Maria & Giuliana :)

Betta, Maria, me, Domenico, & Giuliana :)

Lucrezia :)

Cristina :)

Late in May, Lauren and I went to our good friend Cristina's dress rehearsal for a play she had been working on for several weeks. It was SO FUN to get to watch her act (even though it was all in Italian and OH MY!--- most of it was *very fast Italian!). I think Cristina felt super-loved by us entering into her life and something that was important to her.

Please continue to pray that Cristina would know that we love her by and through the power of Jesus!-- and that she would come to know Him personally!

Would you please pray for...

Hey y'all-- my recent prayer letter for the month of April said "check my blog for more prayer requests"... so, thanks for checking. :) Here they are. :) Please pray for...

• my missional team (Steve, Alyssa, Andy, Lauren, Beth Ann, & me) that we would have intimacy in our walks with the Lord, as well as receiving much favor from Him in our ministry, as only He can create time, energy, & motivation for our Italian friends to connect with us and engage in conversations about the Gospel
• for our friends: Chiara, Maria, Paolo, Davide, Veronica, Margherita---- these students are believers and we'd love to help them grow in their faith... as well as empower & encourage them to share their faith with their friends & family... Please pray that God would give us wisdom in knowing how to enter into their lives.
• for friends like: Deianira, Cristina, Rachele, Amira, Federica, Barbara, Maria Teresa, Maria, Isabella, Martina, Giulio, Salvatore, Alessandra, Francesca, Adriano, Ilario, Matteo, and more...that they'd have faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord & Savior.
  
• for me— That I could continue to have FUN living life in Rome; & continued prayer that the Lord would give me much wisdom & discernment to know which Italian friends to pursue & that He’d give me favor and opportunities to share truth with them

Thanks for praying!
Email your own requests to me--- I'd LOVE to pray for you!

Rome meets Narnia

Do you know C.S. Lewis' masterpiece series of books-- The Chronicles of Narnia? I had an "Ah-ha!" moment the other day as I was thinking about how I feel in this season of ministry. Please read the following excerpt from Lewis' The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe:

"Here we are, Mrs Beaver," said Mr Beaver, "I've found them. Here are the Sons and Daughters of Adam and Eve" -- and they all went in.
The first thing Lucy noticed as she went in was a burring sound, and the first thing she saw was a kind-looking old she-beaver sitting in the corner with a thread in her mouth working busily at her sewing machine, and it was from it that the sound came. She stopped her work and got up as soon as the children came in.
"So you've come at last!" she said, holding out both her wrinkled old paws. "At last! To think that ever I should live to see this day! The potatoes are boiling and the kettle's singing and I daresay, Mr Beaver, you'll get us some fish."

In the story, Mrs. Beaver was very excited to see the four human children because there were no humans left in Narnia; they had been experiencing the terrible White Witch's winter for a long, long time. They were longing for springtime, 4 humans to sit on the thrones of Narnia & end the Witch's reign, and for Aslan (the lion) to return and make all things well. To see the 4 children in Narnia was quite the sight for the Beavers-- they had been enduring the terrible winter of Narnia and longing for that day to come for a very long time.

Above is Circo Massimo- a large, ancient race track. My missional teammates and I used to go there every Wednesday and pray for the Lord to connect us with believers-- we prayed that people would come to know Jesus and that He would also connect us with people who already had a relationship with Him & we could help these believers grow in their faith, and also challenge them to see their friends, family, classmates, etc. as their very own mission field. All that to say, last year, we didn't know very many believers.

However, my "Ah-ha!" moment came when I realized that I feel exactly like Mrs. Beaver did in the story, when she said, "So you've come at last!" she said, holding out both her wrinkled old paws." At last! To think that ever I should live to see this day!" I shocked and awed that the Lord has provided us with BELIEVERS... the Lord is continuing, in His steadfast faithfulness, to bring people toward Himself, as people from the nation of Italy are "glad and sing for joy" (Ps. 67:4) at the transformative beauty of a relationship with God through Christ Jesus.

Thank you for rejoicing with me, and please pray for the following people we know who walk with Jesus... that "the LORD would bless them and keep them; that He would make His face to shine upon them and be gracious unto them; and that He would lift up His countenance upon them and give them peace" (Num. 6:24-26).

Luca, & Maria

Virginia

Davide

Paolo (on left)

Veronica

It takes me... it takes you.

Click here. Please watch this.

This is the newest video that our staff team has created to talk about what is going on in Rome now, and also the vision we have for what we are trusting the Lord with in the next three years.

God is moving in Rome.

We are praying, every day, for Him to transform, redeem, and restore the people of this city.

Please join us in praying...
For Romans.
For more laborers to come alongside us.
In asking God what He would have *you* do to continue being a part of what He is doing in this city.

Know that I am praying for you, too.

New Believer in Rome! :)

GOOD NEWS: A girl recently put her trust in Jesus! A student named Valentina recently responded to the Good News by accepting Jesus as her Savior. Please pray for Valentina-- that she will grow in her new relationship with Jesus, and that the Lord will make lots of divine appointments for my teammates (who are currently doing ministry on her specific university campus) to meet up with her!

Fun Distractions :)

for a fun way to distract yourself for 5...10..15...+ minutes, click here:
www.sporcle.com

this website contains TONS of fun, trivia quizzes that you can do by yourself or with friends! (I think it is always more fun to do with friends because we always get more answers right when we put our heads together!)

hope you have a blast with Sporcle!! :)

Chocolate Truffles for Valentine's Day! :)

My sweet friend Laura Smith (on staff here in Rome) had a Valentine's Day party tonight for all of her friends. It was so wonderful to get together with Italian & American women, from all different walks of life, to enjoy a night of togetherness and great food! We were all each supposed to bring something to share, and I chose to bring yummy chocolate truffles that my sweet friend Stefanie always used to make at Miami. I included the recipe below so that you can surprise your sweetheart or sweet friends with delicious and easy Chocolate Truffles! :) Enjoy them!, and above all else------ I pray that the Lord Jesus Christ romances your heart, and you experience His steadfast love and faithfulness this weekend-- and always! He loves you very much! I pray you'd experience that!

Easy Chocolate Truffles

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) package Oreo chocolate sandwich cookies, divided
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 2 (8 ounce) packages semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted
• 1 bar of white chocolate & red food coloring (not necessary, only if you want!) :)
  

Directions

1. Crush the cookies to fine crumbs in a Ziploc bag using a rolling pin (or in a food processor if you have one!) Place the cookie crumbs in a medium bowl. Add cream cheese; mix until well blended. Roll cookie mixture into 42 balls, about 1-inch in diameter.
2. In a double-boiler OR in the microwave, melt the chocolate, and dip balls in, carefully, either by using your fingers (messy but this is what I did!) or you can use a couple spoons to help you. I think using toothpicks was too hard- the truffle balls got the most "messed up" when I used toothpicks. Place dipped truffles on wax paper-covered cookie sheet.
3. Let stand until firm; if needed, refrigerate. Store leftover truffles, covered, in refrigerator.
4. To add an extra step-- note that I said you could purchase white chocolate & red food coloring--- and I melted it, dyed it pink, put it in a Ziploc bag, cut a small hole in the corner.. and used the melted chocolate to pipe designs on top of the truffles.. to make them look a little more like Valentine's Day. This step obviously isn't necessary, but it's fun! :) Check out the finished product below! :)
   

"Nerja" song :)

click HERE to watch a video of my friend Alex Priebe & I singing our re-worked version of Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash's song-- "Jackson." We re-wrote the lyrics to be all about "Nerja" -- the city in Spain where our staff's annual conference is held. Hope you enjoy! :)

Barcelona & Nerja, Spain

Recently, we went to Barcelona on the way to our annual staff mid-year conference in Nerja, Spain. Here are some photos from Spain!...

This is one of the massive sets of doors for the giant church in Barcelona: La Sagrada Familia. I love how the doors are all about JESUS-- and you can see in gold on one side "Who is the truth?" and on the right, "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews."

I loved how the light reflected through this stained glass window!!

Roma interns at La Sagrada Familia.

One of the neatest things about La Sagrada Familia is that they are still constructing it as time goes on! You can see a woman, here, constructing a huge piece of a column!

The outside view of the "Nativity" side of the cathedral. There are three different facades on La Sagrada Familia: the Passion, the Nativity, and the Resurrection/Glory. They are still working on the Resurrection/Glory side--- and I'm sure it will be SWEET when they finish it!

The world's longest bench at Park Guell. :)

in Nerja-- where our staff conference is held.

Sweet Carrie Dougherty-- who I got to meet with for a coaching appointment. What a wise and amazing woman! :)

Love my roommates! :)

Vegetable Tortellini Soup

My roommates & I made this great soup yesterday-- check it out! :) It will be warm & comforting for your belly in the cold days of February! Feel free to add any kind of meat you want if you desire-- but we made it as is-- without! :)

*Vegetable Tortellini Soup*

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste (optional)
1, 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 15-ounce can vegetable broth or reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups hot water
1 teaspoon dried basil or marjoram (or both?) :)
1 6- to 9-ounce package fresh or frozen cheese (or meat) tortellini or ravioli
2 cups zucchini, diced (about 2 medium)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add bell pepper & onion, garlic, and cayenne pepper (if using) and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add tomatoes, broth, water and basil (or marjoram); bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Add tortellini/ravioli and cook for 3 minutes less than the package directions. Add zucchini; return to a boil. Cook until the zucchini is crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Season with pepper.

Perfect Pancakes :)

We really enjoy this pancake recipe and think it makes wonderful pancakes every time! Feel free to add whatever you want to make them more to your taste--- bananas, cinnamon, fruit, chocolate chips... etc!

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 Tablespoons white sugar
• 2 Tablespoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil or melted butter

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center, and pour in milk, egg and oil. Mix until smooth.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.