Wow, it's been a minute since I wrote a blog. Actually 3 weeks now but who’s counting? Before I begin telling you about my current situation, let me back up a little bit to where I last left you off. 

For the first two weeks of my time in Italy, I spent it in a region called Macchia D’isernia. I lived in a host home just outside the town with 8 other girls in a villa in the countryside. But we spent most of our time either at the church in town or at schools where we shared the gospel to high school students. 

There were many ups and downs over the two weeks. We were told before arriving that we would be VERY busy. Back in Albania, at least for my group, we hadn’t been pushed very hard in terms of ministry. All we did was play volleyball and soccer. But in Italy, everything changed. We were now expected to evangelize and share our testimonies in front of classes as well as answer questions that they had about our faith and stories. 

Coming in on our first day, none of us had any idea what we were doing. A big group of us went into a class and began sharing who we are and what we do, but we were all nervous. For many of us, it was our first time attempting to share the gospel in front of a big group of people like them, especially people our age. 

But as the days went by and as we got in more practice, it became easier and easier. We all became more comfortable sharing our testimonies of how we found Jesus and how he changed each of our lives for the better. We also grew in our faith with the challenging questions that students asked us. Some examples of questions we came across were “How do you feel the presence of God?” and “Why do you believe in something that you can’t see?” and “Why should I believe in a God that allows bad things to happen to good people?” 

Answering tough questions like these was the thing I was the most nervous about coming into the ministry. “What if I don’t know the answer? How embarrassing would that be?” I thought. But at the end of the day, I knew that God had my back and that He would give me the words. All I had to do was trust him. 

Matthew 10:19-20 says “When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speaks but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” 

There were multiple times when I would begin answering a question and I honestly had no idea what point I was trying to get at and what I was going to say, but as I kept talking, the words seemed to roll out of my mouth effortlessly and I KNEW that God was working. That God was speaking through me. Thank you Jesus! 

Something that I admired about the Italian students was how curious and hungry they were for answers about God, the Bible, and Christianity. They asked question upon question and even from the look on their faces, I could see how invested they were in the answers we gave them. I’m continuing to pray for the students that we reached, that they would hold onto that curiosity and that they may continue diving into our religion and following Jesus. Our group was able to reach 2,000 students! How amazing is that! I hope to hear about and see the change in Italy, from moving to knowing the basics about God and Jesus to wanting to have a deep, loving relationship with him. 

For the first week we were there, that is what my group did: woke up early, went to ministry at the schools, and came back to the church to hang out. But during the second week, our classes we were supposed to go to got cancelled and instead, we joined other people’s classes or did ATL, which is Ask the Lord. That involved going up to strangers on the streets and asking if we could pray for them or simply just talk with them. This has been something I had been wanting to do for a while. Listening to the Lord and the words he gives me and going out and acting upon it. 

At first, this was really hard for me. I felt like no words, images, or phrases came to mind. No matter how hard I prayed and listened, I felt like I couldn’t hear or see anything, until I did. Three words/phrases came to mind: a person walking a dog, a red car, and a tan and white flannel. “What combination of words is this?” I thought, but I went with it. Once we hit the streets and began walking, I saw more people walking dogs than I ever had before the entire time we had been in Italy. I went up to many of the people with my translation and asked if I could pray for them, but many of them brushed me off and told me they didn’t need prayer or just walked away. It was a little discouraging to be completely honest, but after we received encouragement from our leaders, I didn’t let that stop me. 

On that day, a girl named Jayna and I were paired together to do ATL. We kept walking until we got to a deeper, quieter part of town. We reached a square where there weren’t many people at all besides the people that lived nearby. We sat down to rest after much walking and talked with each other until we saw a lady walking her dog. It was a black and white dog, which in that moment, I realized was the type of dog I had envisioned in my mind. I looked at Jayna and then immediately sprung up to go talk to her. She had a bubbly personality and seemed very happy to talk to me! She spoke English and I asked her if I could pray for her. She asked me “Why?” like many other people had. I told her because I want to spread the love of Jesus and bring anything on her heart to him because he cares for her. She told me she felt like she didn’t need prayer because her life is already going good and she had everything she could ever want. I told her I still wanted to pray for her even though her life is going well, but she denied. 

Her saying that was a good reminder to me that even when things are going good in my life and God continues to bless me in many ways, that doesn’t give me an excuse to stop praying to him and talking to him. A goal for me on this trip was to GROW in my relationship with Jesus and one of the steps to doing that is talking with him more. Not just talking with him to ask for things, but also just talking with him to talk. To thank him for the things he has blessed me with and to give him my heart and how I am TRULY feeling. I have been working on talking to him like I would with any of my best friends and it feels freeing to be able to speak to him in that way. Not only am I working on speaking with him like my best friend, but also talking with him more. Back at home before I came on the trip, I probably prayed about 2 times a day, but now I find myself praying 10 or more times, even if they are short, simple prayers. This has helped me to keep Jesus at the center of my day! 

As you can see, there were many fruitful things that came out of the two weeks in Macchia D’isernia, but I will admit, it was also a very challenging two weeks. I lacked sleep immensely and that made it hard for me to function well in ministry and with my peers. We woke up early and then went to bed late due to not having rides back to our host homes until 10:30-11 at night. I also wasn't able to get much alone time which is something that I really need to be at my best, so all of that together was difficult. But it made me realize the aspects of my life I need to prioritize more to be able to pour out to others and make an impact in the kingdom. 

By the end of the two weeks in Macchia D’isernia, we were all sad to leave the place that we had learned to love so quickly. In only 14 days, we had learned and grown in so many ways: in evangelism, in our faith, in our relationship with God, and with each other. So to have to leave so fast to go onto another place was hard. But we knew the time would come eventually. 

A week ago was when we officially arrived in Sorrento. We are currently staying at a campsite in cabins split into groups of 3. The cabins are a little small, but cozy and big enough for us to get around in. The location is BEAUTIFUL! It is right outside of town and has a great view of the ocean and houses stacked on top of each other. Every morning, I wake up to the waves crashing and seagulls flying overhead. How blessed am I to be able to have a view such as this. Everytime I see it, I thank God for his wonderful creation and how much detail he put into each and every thing he made. 

The purpose of this past week was for debrief, rest and restoration. We had lots of time to talk about the past 3 months and everything we had experienced and went through. There was more to process than I thought and I began remembering things that I had pushed away or forgotten about. I realized as we talked and brought up past memories how important it is to talk through things like this because if you leave them as they are and don’t process them, they can end up hurting you in the long run and make you hold a grudge. It also allowed me to recognize what I REALLY needed to regain my energy and perform at my best. 

So before more than half of our crew left to go home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, we all hung out together and spent our last moments together. Everyone had grown to be like family, so to see them go after spending day after day with them was pretty difficult. But I also know I will see them each again and that it's not truly the end, it’s just another chapter and another beginning of something greater. 

Now, for the current reality. It's just the 10 of us, the Christmas crew, and that is how it will be for the next month, plus 2 leaders. Many of us have a vision for this next season together, that we will grow closer together than ever, and that we will be united and on fire for Jesus together. That was our initial goal with the big group, but we never really ended up fulfilling it, so with this smaller group, we are hoping to keep each other more accountable and fully pursue it. 

So yeah! Our days consist of getting together for a Bible study at 10 am, spending time going for a walk to town, in the word, doing school, or anything else we would like, and getting back together at night for dinner and community building. It has already been such a peaceful week for me and I feel so re-energized and at ease. I’m excited to see what this month will bring in terms of ministry efforts and growing together. 

To end, I would like to share some prayer requests per usual. Please pray that God would light each of us on fire for him. That all 10 of us: Addy, Reese, Layla, Grace, Alyssa, Emmersen, Jameson, Ethan, Holden, and me, would strive to learn and grow more in our relationship with Christ. That we would want to tell each and every person we come across about Jesus and what he did for us. That we would spread his love and kindness to all and be good stewards of him. That we would have joy in chaos and trials. That we would push through temptation and evil and allow Jesus’ presence to empower us. Please pray for protection against sickness as well. Many of us have not been feeling well and need Jesus’ healing powers to restore us. Pray for vulnerability, that we would feel comfortable to share personal things to each other that we may never have told anyone else before, and that we would open up to each other more. 

Thank you Jesus for bringing me to Italy to live with these amazing people. I am forever grateful for this opportunity that you have given me. It may not be what I expected and it definitely isn’t perfect, but I have learned more about myself and grown in ways that I never thought possible. Thank you for healing me in areas where I need healing and continuing to show me what it looks like to lay down my life for you and pursue you. Thank you for blessing me with nutritious food, clean water, shelter, nature, your word, and community. I love you Jesus, eternally and always. 

Amen, Hailey