Life Update

The whole goal of writing here once a week has been sadly neglected and I sincerely hope to do better at this. Please forgive me for the time being. There is so much to catch you up on so I will try make this as detailed yet brief as possible. Let's rewind to last weekend; I went on a retreat with my "Archo", which is really a group of people that gets together for community, wanting to walk together towards following Jesus which will result in our ministry being more fruitful. The more we become like Jesus, the more we "abide" in him, we will bear fruit. SO acknowledging this, I showed up at a train station at 9:30 AM and got on a train, having no idea where I was going, just knowing it was an overnight with fun people. We headed off to Castel Gandolfo and Lago Albano, which is where the Pope's summer palace is. It was my first time at a lake in Italy and while not as beautiful as Muskoka, Canada, it was pretty spectacular.
That Saturday was spent getting to know each other better by each getting to share about our lives, experiencing life together, swimming in the Lake and wrestling with the Patterson boys. It wasnt really buisnessy at all but was a good break from Rome and really inexpensive. I has some great time with God, just enjoying the beauty of his creation. For me, this is a great way to connect with Him... spending some time in his Word, looking over the Lake Sunday morning was pretty fantastic. Here are some more pictures from the weekend.

We spent a lot of time chilling, talking...

While I really wanted to moon the camera, wisdom made me settle on this...

I love lakes... and flips...Me upsidedown over Giacamo

Some of the Patterson boys checking out the view..

Giacomo Campobello looking pensive... I like it.

This past week was a week of ministry diving in and spending time on campus. I loved it. This is what I have been missing. I had some great conversations with students, both that I knew and that I didnt know. It is great to begin to share truth and just get a small taste of someones life and where they are coming from. At times it seems a little overwhelming for me... there are literally tens of thousands of students here that I will never meet. How am I supposed to make an impact? One of the things I was reminded of this week was 2 Cor 2:14-15. My good friend GV reminded me that when I go onto campus, it is "God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; ". GV told me that when we step foot on campus, that even before we say anything, the spiritual atmosphere changes because it is God going before us. And that isnt just the reality for me here in Rome. That is the reality for every Christian, wherever they go or work. That was a huge encouragement to me... thanks GV.

Last but not least in this update is this weekend, Amanda was in town and it was so good to hang out with her and others. We hung out with the lady from the Post Office for appertivo which was pretty sweet and then made dinner for a bunch of friends. Dinner was quite the occasion, with conversations happenining in Spanish, Italian and English at the table. I was really encouraged by my conversation with my buddy Daniele about reaching his friends... I like guys like Daniele and am eager to see how God uses them. After dinner we hopped on a metro to the Colosseo and just hung out there until 1:00 AM.... strange how the Colosseo is 20 minutes from where I live. Wild. Well thats it... peace... oh and check out THE DROP (link on the right) for some quality music from Jon Foreman (of Switchfoot).