A Month in Italy 2018!

Just a few weeks ago, we were praying and asking the Lord for direction and guidance in whether or not a trip would be made this spring. It really didn't look very good in our own human minds, but we continued to ask. This year especially, we really wanted to take a trip as a family. It had been three years since our last ministry trip together.

AMAZING, but Dave is now in Rome and for the whole month of April! and even more AMAZING is that the girls and I will be able to join him for a week. No matter the details in how we arrived at all this, we are pressing forward with the expectation that God will use us for His glory. That is our hearts desire!

Dave has had a great start to the trip. Both of his flights went well and he was able to get 12 hrs of sleep his first night there. This is a huge praise!

Today was Dave's first full day in Rome and he texted with all kinds of prayer requests. Here are some of the stories he sent. We share them with you in the hopes that you will pray specifically, and if possible, by name. God knows each one and each need, but perhaps by praying by name, we are reminded on a more meaningful level, that each of these are souls who are in need of salvation.

• Lucca, from Sicily, sat next to Dave on the flight to Rome. Dave was able to talk with him and give him an Italian John/Romans. This is a direct answer to prayer as those of us at home prayed that Dave would be able to share Christ with the person he sat next to on the plane. Praise the Lord! 
• Moshtaba is from Iran and practices Islam. Dave has met him on previous trips and saw him again today. Dave purchased a Persian Bible and we are bringing it when we fly over. What else could penetrate through a false religion better than the Word of God? "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Hebrews 4:12
• After missing a bus, and waiting for the next, Dave met an older Italian lady. He shared an Italian tract with her and they continued to the Main Bus Station together.
• A young Catholic couple from Kansas City are in Rome to get married. Dave talked with them for a while and she was curious as to why Dave came to Rome. He tried to explain that he meets people from all over the world, places that he would never be able to go. People are also more open to talk there. She agreed that she probably wouldn't have talked with him had they met in the States.

A day is done, but God is still working while we sleep! Please pray that those who received a tract or Bible today would ponder the words that they read. Words that come from the Holy Spirit himself.