Buongiorno, benvenuto a tutti!
Or, for all you English speakers, welcome!
This is the first of a few blog posts that I am going to be making to highlight the experiences that will be arising in the coming week when I leave the United States for the SECOND time in my life and land in the land of my ancestors (well, some of them anyways): ITALY! And no, I'm not kidding. Though I'm predominantly Polish in descent, I'm also a fifth Italian. :)
So, to get the ball rolling, I simply want to give a HUGE shoutout to all of the people that supported me through this preparation process, both financially and emotionally. As anyone of you could probably guess, the preparations for the trip (primarily, support raising) has not been all gumdrops and rainbows. Over the last couple of months, I have been dealing with a lot of anxiety and quite the emotional roller coaster. When I decided to go to Italy, I took a real leap of faith. But in that time, I also have seen God do some amazing things.
Despite my greatest fears (and the constant anticipation of future events), I was able to raise full support, and I have ALL OF YOU to thank! I can't tell you how incredibly exciting it was to reach that final total and make that final payment to the staff. Once again, the Lord provided. And once again, I was floored by just how faithful the Lord is in his promises to His children! And apart from financial support (which I can't express enough thanks for), I have also received a lot of emotional encouragement through the whole process. Really, I am surrounded by blessings that I can't even count or fathom. It's been an amazing ride despite the difficulty. And this is only the beginning!
Last spring I had the opportunity to go to Spain to study Spanish language and experience Spanish culture head on. While there, I got to experience a bit of Italy. And by "a bit", I mean I had a layover in Rome's airport. I never even saw the outside of the city. But THIS time however, I'm ACTUALLY GOING TO ITALY. WHAT?! Is this real life? Though it's close, it hasn't really sunk in quite yet.
But this trip is not a vacation necessarily (though there will be some sightseeing and down time). For those of you that don't know, this trip is a mission with my church at Ball State. Along with 17 other college-aged individuals, they and I are heading across the Atlantic to partner with one of our church's sister congregations in Turin, Italy. Turin is located in the northwestern corner of the country near the Alps bordering France.
While we are there (SO PRETTY ISN'T IT?!), we will be collaborating with this church (Il Refugio: the Refuge) to work with various Italians in small group English clubs. So, we will not only be conversing with them and teaching them about various aspects of English grammar, but we will be connecting those ideas to activities related to the Bible. Apart from teaching, we will also be spending time simply interacting with the culture and the people, forming relationships and sharing not only our faith in Jesus but also our experiences as Americans (people in Europe surprisingly find us to be very interesting in ways). And yes, we are also going to be doing some sightseeing. And we're going to Venice for a day at the end, just for fun. I mean...we're only human after all.
But the main reason we are traveling there is not just for kicks. We're going there to challenge ourselves and be more understanding of not only another culture, but also be more understanding of who we are and what we are called to do as followers of Jesus: "Go and make disciples of ALL nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." (Matt. 28:18-20)
Alright, I think that's where I will make take my leave. I want to end with this: I am really looking forward to everything that the Lord has in store for this time we will have in Italy. And I also can't wait to share all of it with you. I will be sure to keep everyone up-to-date with all that happens. And yes, there will be photos!
Until the next post, arrivederci! (See ya!)
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