Last Week in Salerno :-(

Ciao regazzi! Aspeta tutto bene.
(Hey friends! I hope everything is well.)

Well...I haven't written a blog in FOREVER. I have been having computer problems and it is difficult to bother people here to borrow theirs, haha. Alot has happened though! Our team is still bonding and growing in Christ, and it is so beautiful to see. I have made friends that I will definetly keep for the rest of my life and it's insane that none of us knew each other before this trip. I have learned alot about the Gospel and about what it means to devote every aspect of your life to God. We are reading this book by Tim Keller called, "The Prodigal God" as a team and it has been really powerful. It discusses the parable of the lost son in depth, and I find that the Gospel is SO new to me now. I always read this parable with the mindset that Jesus was trying to show through this story the love of the father towards his younger son and the element of forgiveness. But it's so much deeper than that. This parable shows how the older brother is so self-righteous and while he did love his father, he obeyed him out of "duty", rather than love. Now if that doesn't open a can of worms, I don't know what does. I go to church and even lead worship, but why? I admit it- sometimes it is to make myself look good and bring glory to myself, but it's not about that! It's about bringing glory to God. And that is something that I have thought alot about this summer- bringing glory to God EVERYDAY. I have also come to terms that nothing within me is good. Nothing. Anything remotely good in me is 100% Christ. And that is pretty humbling. I have a deeper appreciation for God's creation and especially for the Gospel. I think all too often we neglect the power and real-life application of the Gospel and as a team this summer, we have been focusing everyday on the Gospel. I know that all of that was pretty scatterbrained, but when I return to the States perhaps I will be able to explain it better.
I am dreading leaving Salerno. I know that my work here is not done, and I hate that I have to leave. So many great things are happening here and I want to be a part of it. I don't pretend to know what God has in store for me in the future but being here has really revealed to me that I have a heart for missions in some aspect.
This is the last week in Salerno. I have made some amazing Italian friends and it's been surreal to share the Gospel with them. Please continue to pray as we all finish up some work here and please pray that our friends will be able to plug into evangelical Christians here. It's so sad to see this much progress and have to walk away, so please also pray for us as we are all emotionally torn.
We will be leaving Salerno on Sunday morning to catch a 7 HOUR BUS RIDE to Florence. Here we will do our debriefing and officially ending the project (here come the tears, haha). Monday we will sightsee in Florence and Tuesday we have the options of Venice, Tuscany, Pisa, or Cinquatera. And no, I have NO IDEA which place I will chose to go. On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we will go to Rome to sightsee too! Then on Saturday we will catch a plane to Germany followed by a plane to Atlanta. So next week will be VERY busy but a great way to celebrate an amazing summer. Please pray for safe travels.
I love and miss you all and cannot wait to see you soon!

I have attached a website concerning the state of Italy...go to the site and click on either of the "VIDEO: The Condition of Italy" options to see why I chose to came here!
http://www.goucf.com/videos/