This morning I had the privilege of praying in a park grown up around the Roman aqueducts. Our small church leadership is trying to get out once a month to pray together. We'll spend an hour alone, and hour together. Reading and praying. We didn't meet last month so it was an especially refreshing time, and the sun shone bright.
I meditated on Matthew 2 where the magi go to Herod thinking they've "arrived" only to find no one has heard of the prophecy they are following, and they are sent to find this "king" off the beaten path as it were. I found myself imagining--for the first time--what that shorter trip must have been like. I think of the trek across the desert. But this one? How deluded and confused I would have been. Thinking myself crazy for following a star. And then to find a poor BABY? But these men were wise enough to know they didn't know everything. They needed something. Their faith helped them in this shorter SECOND trip, perhaps even more than the first, and caused them "with great joy" to throw themselves off their camels, prostrate on the floor, gifts in hand, to adore a Baby King. I thought about Abraham. I thought about myself. I thought about our church here. I thought about the feeling of being so close but so far. We desire many things. And faith and hope must be our companions from beginning to end (even when the end doesn't land where we imagined) if we are to have that JOY in following.
CHURCH
This said, please pray fervently for our church. Spiritual growth, maturity, leadership, reconciliation. Pastor Robert told me this morning that Franco, a man who comes to our church with his wife and 2 daughters (who moved to France but are moving back now!) came to Biblestudy last night even though his wife stayed home. He said he brings his Bible to work and can't get enough of it on his breaks! This is the kind of growth our hearts long to see. Commitment. We are seeing this also with Barbara, a new member. I hope to have time to disciple her a bit. Please pray for our day retreat coming up JUNE 29--we are really excited about it! And the New Zealand rock band Red Rain coming to us at the end of July. We are in desperate need of a location to hold the concert.
WORK
May has been a very stressful month for problems of administration and my particular students having a lot of issues while I have no assistant. I am nearly burnt out. I just ask that I can be calm and enjoy students this last month. Please pray for my parent-teacher meetings next Tuesday and Wednesday. I need to be able to communicate well in Italian--in some cases, things that are difficult to hear. Pray also for Raffaella--I am hoping to invite her to our retreat in June. We talked last week about God and what real love is. Good things!
SCHIAVITU' MAI PIU'
After taking a break for the month of May, I will be heading up to Turin next Thursday for an international conference training my "team" in anti-sex-trafficking causes. Pray that we are given fresh vision and tools to reach the sexually enslaved with the hope of Jesus.
Thanks for all of the love and prayers. I am still behind on my driver's license. Would like prayer for that. Strength. Joy. Peace. Continue to pray for my friends Fation, Roberto, Livia, Olga...and new friend Alessandro (that we met getting lost in Rome!)...who need Jesus.
xo, Allie
