I wanted to share with you an exciting project that my sister, Krista and I are working on. (she is working, I am enjoying) For those of you who don't know I have two sisters and Krista is the one who is 2 years younger than me. She spent the last few years in Burkina Faso (that's a little tiny part of Northern Africa, if you weren't sure) with the Peace Corps and is hoping to return soon on her own. Krista and I both enjoy taking pictures (if you had not noticed) so she has taken the time to set up shop on Etsy.com an online community of handmade items for sale.

From her online shop called Dots on a Map, she will be selling pictures that each of us have taken during our travels. Mostly images from Burikna Faso and Rome, but as we see more of the world you will see more and more places pop up on that site. She has determined to donate half of the proceeds from the sales of our images towards my Rome Fund. I tell you this because many of you have commented how much you have enjoyed my pictures from my Vision Trip, and now you have the opportunity to own them, if you so choose and half the proceeds will also go towards my ministry in Rome while Krista will use the other half to get herself back to Burkina Faso to work and live there.

So when you have a moment or two take some time to browse the selection she has up so far, with more to come in the future you can bookmark the page and comeback again and again.

Happy shopping!

Pray

Last night around 7:30pm West Coast Time (3:30am Italy) a 6.3 or so earthquake rattled people in the medieval city of L'Aquila awake as their city began to crumble around them. L'Aquila is the capital of the Abbruzzo mountain area about 60 miles (95 km) northeast of Rome. The quake was felt in Rome as well, but as of yet no reports of damage, or life's lost in Rome.

In and around L'Aquila it is a different story. News reports are claiming as many as 90 people have died in the quake, and tens of thousands have lost their homes.(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7984867.stm) There are reports of many of the ancient buildings having collapsed including a dormitory many churches and apartments. One four story apartment in this video is compacted into no more than a pile of rubble, with people believed to still be trapped within. Rescuers are working to save as many lives as possible.

Many of the surrounding structures while still standing are damaged with large cracks and holes. L'Aquila is a city of about 70,000 and with so many people experiencing loss and displacement, please join me in praying for them as they deal with this devastation.

Road to Rome

I am back from my Vision Trip to Rome! I had such a great time getting to know my Team Leaders, Brian and Sarah, living in what will be my new neighborhood, and learning more about the city and the people that God has invited me to do life with.

Allow me to share a few of the highlights of my time in Rome. I spent much of the time with Brian and Sarah, over meals in their apartment or wandering the city as Sarah offered her abundant knowledge of the city with me. We also spent time hashing out our vision as a team, and sharing our hearts with each other.

One of my favorite days was Sunday, we went to church, which was such a great service and then we spent the remainder of the day with three ladies from the States who had come to Italy to see how their church at home might partner with the Church here in Italy. They took us to lunch and then we spent the afternoon exploring Rome together. It was so neat to see how God is moving all sorts of people to impact this country in different ways.

I got the chance to attend language school for the day, which was an experience. I was thrown right in, but by the end of our four hour class I had not only met people from all over the world also struggling to learn Italian but I was able to share with them about an imaginary Italian family in Italian! My teacher said, “Brava” which, in case you do not know means I was not horrible. That same night I got to help teach English in a local English speaking Italian church, another great experience that I look forward to doing again.

On my last day I was able to meet with a lady who is a leader for Campus Crusade in Rome, and I had great time talking to her about what it is like to be single and living and doing ministry in Rome. There is an elementary school, high school and college all in the neighborhood I will be living, so many opportunities to put my Young Life, youth and children’s ministry experience to good use! It is so cool how God is continuing to pull all the pieces together.

After Rome, I headed to Colorado, where I was able to catch up with old friends from college and Crescent City and attend a two day workshop on Support Team building. While I cannot claim to be a huge fan of CO, I did have a good time there and I learned a lot of useful things.

Thank you for all your prayers!

Prayer Requests and Praises:

• Praise God for my great Vision Trip! And for a good time in Colorado with friends and at my workshop.

• Pray that my new online course on Intentional Living will help me as I balance two jobs.

• Pray for the potential new Team Members that may be joining our Rome City Team!

• Praise God that I am being blessed with a Jeep to use while I am here!










Following Him,

Trinity

Ps. Check out Facebook for all the pictures of the time in Rome and Colorado!