Back to normal after a crazy month
I'm back in Portland for a while, hopefully, after a month of being all over the place. I had a really good Christmas holiday with my family. I had really been missing them, and my time with them was very good.
It's raining here in Portland, as usual. At least it's not as exciting as this weekend, we had freezing rain that created a half-inch layer of ice over everything on Saturday and Sunday.
Speaking of exciting, the international summer project leaders training I went to in Denver last week was excellent. I haven't been to such a good conference in quite a while. Going there I had a ton of questions and uncertainties about going to Italy. Many of those have been answered or addressed. The conference was not only very informative, but very motivational and refreshing. Derek Lester and Shannon Steiner are my co-leaders. We spent a lot of time together, I'm really looking forward to spending the summer with them.
When I had to choose my preferences for summer project, I was really undecided. I felt God calling me to something overseas, but beyond that had no idea where. It seemed like Italy just ended up being the default choice, I could have been happy at any of the international summer projects. However, since then I have felt a real peace and even seen how God has been preparing me for ministry in Italy.
Probably the biggest confirmation for me was to learn what outreach will look like to the Italians. The Italian culture us very social and conversational, much more so than here in the U.S. Therefore, conventional, initiative evangelism toward strangers is poorly received over there. Time must be spent to establish relationships before the gospel is broached. Friendships are made, of course, with the purpose and intent of sharing the good news to the Italians.
Looking back, God has totally changed my heart for evangelism over the past year and a half because of the relationships He has brought me with non-Christians. With this group of friends, I have engaged in relational evangelism. God has broken my heart for my friends that are dying spiritually.
So, as I learned more about ministry in Italy, I realized that this was the perfect summer project all along. Even though I didn't know why at the time, God was in control the whole time.
It's raining here in Portland, as usual. At least it's not as exciting as this weekend, we had freezing rain that created a half-inch layer of ice over everything on Saturday and Sunday.
Speaking of exciting, the international summer project leaders training I went to in Denver last week was excellent. I haven't been to such a good conference in quite a while. Going there I had a ton of questions and uncertainties about going to Italy. Many of those have been answered or addressed. The conference was not only very informative, but very motivational and refreshing. Derek Lester and Shannon Steiner are my co-leaders. We spent a lot of time together, I'm really looking forward to spending the summer with them.
When I had to choose my preferences for summer project, I was really undecided. I felt God calling me to something overseas, but beyond that had no idea where. It seemed like Italy just ended up being the default choice, I could have been happy at any of the international summer projects. However, since then I have felt a real peace and even seen how God has been preparing me for ministry in Italy.
Probably the biggest confirmation for me was to learn what outreach will look like to the Italians. The Italian culture us very social and conversational, much more so than here in the U.S. Therefore, conventional, initiative evangelism toward strangers is poorly received over there. Time must be spent to establish relationships before the gospel is broached. Friendships are made, of course, with the purpose and intent of sharing the good news to the Italians.
Looking back, God has totally changed my heart for evangelism over the past year and a half because of the relationships He has brought me with non-Christians. With this group of friends, I have engaged in relational evangelism. God has broken my heart for my friends that are dying spiritually.
So, as I learned more about ministry in Italy, I realized that this was the perfect summer project all along. Even though I didn't know why at the time, God was in control the whole time.