Now the big stuff!

After my previous post about God using "small things" in Italy, I realized that I should probably clarify something:

God did big things in Italy, and answered big, outrageous prayers.

It was my faith that was puny that morning, seeing only smallness. I was insecure, focused on my efforts instead of God's power.

That other post was not a trip summary. It was just a personal reflection on something I was learning--something that I needed to know just as much here in the states as overseas.

THIS post, however, is a report! :)
Because of the mixed crowd that reads this blog, I can't share personal details about friends' names and specific conversations. Just respecting my friends' privacy here. However, I'm excited to give a bullet-point update of how God answered some of your prayers!

• Three Salvations!
  Three of our friends decided to begin a relationship with Jesus, trusting that His death is the only way to be saved from the death penalty we all deserve. Technically, I now have two new sisters and a brother. "Thrilled" isn't a big enough word to describe how excited we are!
  
• Continued friendships & awesome conversations
  As I wrote in a previous post, I love returning. I love catching up, reuniting, re-hashing old jokes and making new ones. Thanks to Facebook, many of the friends we made last year returned to English Clubs to see us! 

  

  Team plus students at the beach of Santa Margherita, Ligura

• Hubby's allergies were fine!
  The land of pizza, pasta and cheese is a hard place for the gluten and dairy intolerant, but these supplements made life so much easier.
  
• Team unity
  Without unity, a team flops. Most of the team members were at the acqaintance level when we boarded the plane for Milan. Add this to the fact that we had a patchwork of ages, personalities, and mission trip experience, and you can understand why unity was at the top of our prayer list.
  I personally felt God connect me to the team during a fun lunch with the other girls. Some appointments fell through, so was only team members--a disappointment turned blessing.
  
• Minimal jet lag
  One of the girls on the team has a history of HORRIBLE jet lag. I'm talking konk-out-for-fourty-eight-hours horrible jet lag. We prayed that she wouldn't experience this, and she barely felt tired!

So once again, THANK YOU all for praying, for giving, and for being a very literal part of our team even if you didn't leave your home. We couldn't have done it without you.