Sept & Oct '21 ~ A Trippin' Start

Our Expectations and God's Purposes

Slow September Days...

September began with much enthusiasm over the start of the semester and then great disappointment with the contracting of Covid-19. Looking back at the two weeks spent in quarantine, sick and even completely alone for the last five days of recovery, I can confidently affirm that God was in the midst of it, preparing me in ways I could never have foreseen. As believers, we so often have a strong desire to make a difference through our ministry, but we can easily get lost in our own ideal of how we think it should pan out. The verse that comes quickly to mind is Proverbs 16:9 – “The heart of man plans his ways, but the Lord establishes his steps” (ESV).

I firmly believe that this planning we do as Christians is often well-intentioned. We even firmly believe that all we are doing and preparing for has to be right because it is for God’s glory and other’s good, not our own. Yet, so quickly our hearts can begin to make an idol out of the ministry, and our eyes fall from Christ. At the beginning of the semester, my heart desired wonderful, godly things – to create a grace-filled, loving environment for these girl students to enter into so that they could feel safe to grow in Christ. I wanted to be able to pour out the love of God into their lives, through the gifts He has given me, and to simply make an impact on them that pointed them to the Lord. Yet, God had other plans – lessons for me to learn.

The preparation began in the extended waiting of Covid and quarantine. So much time alone gave my head and my heart time to worry and begin to doubt. God began peeling back layers and opening doors, revealing fears and burdens I thought I had dealt with yet still had not entirely surrendered to Him. After fully recovering and officially testing negative, I switched to the new apartment with the girls and other staff member. It was a difficult transition. Life hit me full force, and I found it hard to balance the integration of my expectations with other people’s expectations, even when we were verbally all on the same page. Yet, I prayerfully moved forward, holding onto my plans to be a gracious, loving, and effective servant.

All Roads Lead to Rome:

After just one week to get oriented, several of us staff members packed up to take our students on their Footsteps of Paul trip. Our destination – Roma. It is always an incredible trip for the students as they get to learn about the life of Paul and church history while walking through the places these events actually took place. Seeing these monuments, such as the Arch of Titus, truly brings the Word of God to life in new ways. As the students study the passage of Matthew 24, where Jesus predicts the destruction of the temple, they do so while looking at the very tribute of victory that historically commemorates this event. The grand arch bears on it carved images of conquered Jews carrying the menorah to Rome. It is a sobering experience that grounds one in the reality of what took place and in the reliable, inerrancy of Scripture.

Another incredible aspect of this trip is the fellowship with the Calvary Chapels in Rome. The students were able to attend services for Calvary Chapel Roma and Calvary Chapel Acilia. They even got the opportunity to serve at CC Roma’s youth group and to build relationships with the students. A few of the CCBC students shared their testimonies with the youth and ministered to them through what God has already done in their lives. It is so refreshing to get to see the body of Christ come together across ages, cultures, and languages and simply pour into one another. Our differences do not divide us because Christ is the center of it all. He has created such beautiful diversity and variety and yet given us commonality founded on the One Spirit of God.

Of course, there was also lots of gelato, pizza, and adventuring amidst the details of the trip:

Home Again

Since the Rome trip, the students have immersed fully back into their classes. They have kept quite busy with their homework and ministry areas. Through the activity of the days and weeks, there has been an incredible amount of growth in relationships between the girls and successful struggles through differences. Dorm living can be difficult at times, but it is an excellent way to live out who God has called us to be.

For their Chapel course, we have been going through 1, 2, and 3 John while simultaneously progressing through ten characteristics of God that we are to possess and live out. I have been utilizing the book In His Image: 10 Ways God Calls Us to Reflect His Character, by Jen Wilkin, as our resource for the characteristics we go through each week. The girls are to identify which characteristics they see within our scripture passage for that week and to write about how to apply that in their lives. Then, each week we focus on one particular characteristic, praying over it before the Lord and seeking how to practice it within the home. It has been wonderful to hear their thoughts on how we are to live out these characteristics and then to witness them actually live it out among each other. They have blessed me as I see them practicing love, mercy, grace, goodness, etc. in their relationships with one another. It’s never perfect – we are all human – but, it is a beautiful work in progress.

Listening to the Call of God

Another incredible part of settling back in at home has been watching the students build relationships with the people at the church and in the community. A few of our students this semester have expressed a desire to serve God abroad. Thus, it has been a joy to see them really make the most of their short time here to connect with people in Italy and in other countries. There has been such evidence of God’s call in their lives to make this step. Not only are they passionate about serving God, but they have a clear love and passion for the people, not just the places, they want to serve. It has been a refreshing inspiration to not let the daily busyness of life take our eyes off people and place them on tasks.

Calvary Chapel Western European Pastors and Leaders Conference:

For the past few weeks, the staff has been slowly preparing for the CCA Western European Pastors and Leaders Conference. This conference is to be a time of filling and refreshment for those who attend. As we all know, these past two years have been highly exhausting in the face of Covid-19. Thus, we are thrilled to get to hold the conference this year and to have these pastors and leaders come and receive some rest in the Lord. There are many details to be finalized over this past week, and so much of our concentration is focused on that.

For the students, this will be their Outreach Week, as most service opportunities are still unavailable due to Covid. However, we are excited for them to be able to take this week to serve those who so faithfully serve God around Europe each and every day. I am praying that it is also a beautiful opportunity for some of them to meet these pastors and leaders from all over and to ask them questions about serving here in Europe. It is a unique occasion for them to make connections for future missions and service themselves.

Prayer Requests:

• The Students - as they have one month left of their studies here. Pray for their endurance and their direction from the Lord on what He has for them next. Please lift up the ones that are seeking God's direction in serving in Europe.

• The CCAWE Pastors & Leaders Conference - Please pray for good health for everyone serving and attending the conference. We would love covering for this time to truly be a blessing to those who come and for us holding the conference to be able to do so well! There are many details left, so pray for us to be able to finalize everything and be ready for the conference to start on the 8th of November.

• The Staff - Please pray for us to be able to finish the semester well. We can use prayer for health and spiritual energy to continue ministering to this group of students. These students are incredible, and we are so blessed to be able to teach them and spend this time investing in them.

• The Calvary Chapel Montebelluna Students and Young Adults - Please continue to pray for these ministries! These students and young adults are growing incredibly in their walks with the Lord. We just ask that you pray for new individuals coming in that they would be able to connect well into the church body. Pray that those in the church would be able to continue to reach out and help these new believers to connect and start growing in their relationships with God.