pirate day

Today I had fun with my studenti. We discovered a bottle with an ancient map and followed it to buried treasure. We did a glowstick dance in the dark. We made "I love you" cards for Simone, my precious autistic student who transferred from our school today. We danced and sang along with 20 disabled adults from the L'Arche community here in Rome who blessed us with an exquisite concert. We showed off our portraits of Marilyn Monroe at the Art Exhibition. All of this dressed as pirates, of course. Throughout the day I had little faces smooshed against my own saying, "Ahhh you smell like Miami Miss Allie!" or "Thanks for the nice day Miss Allie" or "I'm sad Simone is leaving, he is my friend"...all mixed with lots of shouting and whining and chaos. And I can only say I am blessed. So blessed to have had the honor to know the lives that I know. So blessed to have had their imprint on my heart forever.

SO. WORK.
Please pray for my situation at work. I leave on "sabbatical" in the sense that they would like to offer me my position should I return in one year's time. I leave an incredible staff, although no job is perfect. And I would need to arrange for less hours. I want to be open to anything, so please pray for my months in sabbatical that I could have CLARITY and make the right decision. Either way, pray for the days leading up to JUNE 19 when I will finish, that they would be filled with less shouting and more love. That I would be a patient teacher and solidify deep bonds with my colleagues that would outlast the workplace.

CHURCH.
We have an outreach the weekend of JUNE 6-7. We are collaborating with a church in the town next door, bringing over a soccer "cage" with a team from Ireland. Anyone can come in the piazza and play one-one or two-two matches of 4 minutes in the cage! Then we will share testimonies during the breaks. We pray that it gives us good contacts, new members, and above all is a faithful proclamation of Christ.
Tuesday Bible Study is going well. PRAISE JESUS FOR THE SALVATION OF ALESSIA! Please keep her in prayers as she just lost her beloved aunt.
Pray for my transition out: hosting, sunday school, event/outreach planning, website and newsletter, accounting....I leave a big hole and our church is quite fragmented at the moment.

FLAT.
Please pray I can resolve my moving out with my landlady who is being a bit evasive and difficult. Thank you.

SCHIAVITU MAI PIU.
We started back again after a 2 month break! So good to be on the streets last night. Met up with mostly old "friends." I was particularly moved by R who has dreams of finishing school in September and being a teacher, and L who is pregnant and hopes to leave in 2 months to be a mother. C achieved her goal of opening a pizzeria (of which I hope to visit!) and should leave the streets in one month she said. One girl that was very hard to reach, finally admitted she was Albanian and spoke in Albanian with our Albanian team-mate. We just love these girls so dearly and are confirmed in our presence in this zone! Lots of changes nation-wide for sex-slavery work, please keep this ministry in prayer. We are losing 4 of 6 women this year to sabbatical (myself included). Pray that we can raise up at least 2 or 3 new team members this month so the work can continue! Preferably Romanian or Italian or Albanian people!

FRIENDS.
I am continuing at full-speed investing in relationships here. Even hoping to use my departure as an excuse to see people more often and perhaps say things I couldn't say before. I ask the Lord to fill me and guide me and teach me. I pray for the salvation of: Olga, Livia, Simone, Fation, Roberto, Michela, Claudia, Raffaella.... And the opportunity to encourage in the faith some girls at church and my colleague Annick, a devout Catholic.

God bless you this week!