Rome Trip: Day 8

Today Caleb and Steve visited the colosseum.  This cross stands where the emperors would sit and be entertained by fighting and killing, many whom were believers.  through the dark and lonely days of the Roman Empire the cross stands as a symbol of  a Kingship that can never be de-throned.  

Andrew stayed behind and worked on a mural that is in the children's classroom at Danielle's church.  We had to pry him away to go get dinner!  Please pray for continued health and energy.  We are having a blast but we are ready be back with our families!

Rome Trip: Day 7

We were so grateful to sleep in today!  Church started at 10:30 and we really enjoyed the service even though it was in Italian.  Everybody was friendly and very welcoming.  We then spent the day sightseeing and exploring Rome.  Rome truly is beautiful with so much history.  Our night ended with Danielle cooking us a pasta dinner which was amazing.  Please pray for our time tomorrow as we join Danielle and her English class tomorrow evening.  Pray we will have opportunities to share Jesus with them.

Rome Trip: Day 6

Day 6 began with us meeting Danielle's English class.  Danielle teaches English for free at the church she attends.  We had an amazing time helping Danielle's students with conversational English.  The pictures are folks who come to the class.  They are sweet people with all different backgrounds desiring to learn.  We then went to the center for a 2nd day of interaction with the refugee's.  Steve got to share the Gospel with 2 refugee's and hear the struggle of the journey of leaving their homeland.  Caleb and Andrew provided lots of encouragement and laughs to those hanging out.  Please pray for continued energy as we passed the half way point of our trip.

Rome Trip: Day 5

Today was a long day of fun.  We started our day at the Vatican with the highlight of seeing the Sistine Chapel.  We hung out at Saint Peter's Square and then spent some time exploring the city.  We ended the day with Danielle cooking us an amazing pasta dinner.  It's been a blast to see Danielle in her element.  We are truly blessed to have her as one of our missionaries!

Rome Trip: Day 4

Today we went to the Salvation Army and helped fold clothes.  We separated summer and winter clothes so that they could get them in their shop for those that need them.  They were are very friendly and we are looking forward to worshiping with them Sunday morning.  After the Salvation Army we went to Danielle's center.  We played lots of card games with the refugee's and hung out.  Steve along with another missionary from Campus Crusade was able to share Christ with a refugee.  Keep praying for strength as our days are long and our sleep is minimal.  Also pray for patience as the bus and metro can be frustrating at times. 

Rome Trip: Day 3

We had a great day today!  Our day began visiting another center for refugee's that is friends with Danielle's center.  We spent the morning serving about 150 refugee's a meal and got to meet several refugee's.

We then spent the afternoon at the open market to buy ingredients for dinner. Our refugee friends then came over to our apartment and cooked us an Afghanistan dinner.

After dinner we went out to see the city at night.  Though beautiful you can't help but feel that there are so many people far from God.  What Danielle is doing is bringing light in the midst of darkness.

Please pray for continued health and energy.  Tomorrow begins Ramadan where Muslims fast between sunup and sundown for 30 days to receive forgiveness for there sins.  Please pray that our friends will come to see that forgiveness does not come by what we do but rather through the grace of Jesus.  

Rome Trip: Day 2 - Meeting the Refugees

After another long day of travel we met up with Danielle and got our accommodations squared away.  After some legit Italian pizza we headed to the park to meet the people Danielle ministers to.  We hung out with 7 refugee's playing volleyball and talked and got to know one another.  What is quite clear is that they have very little hope for a future.  Please pray that we can share that hope that comes from Christ in a clear and simple way.  We are off to bed as you can see how tired Caleb is.