I made it back to Ancona safely from the convention near Rome. It was an incredibly stimulating week and a great chance to reconnect with old friends while meeting new ones. The theme for the week was “Exploring the Bible: reading, communicating, and applying the Word of God for today.” It was a great week for reflection and bouncing different things off of different people for feedback. I wish I could be at next year’s convention, but I am afraid I will be in the states on furlough.

I was up this morning at 4.45am to go with the interns to the airport. They are on their way back to the states now. Usually you get jet lag from flying, but I seem to have this jet lag from just stepping into the airport. Anyway, I am trying to get my sleep cycles back on schedule. August is here and the Italians are scattering for vacation. They should be back around September. Right now, I am reading a fantastic book on prayer by Stanley Grenz. If you need a good book on prayer, I would recommend this one to you: Prayer: the cry for the kingdom.

The only request for prayer that I have at the moment was voiced a while back by another missionary with a higher sense of things than myself, so I will let his request speak for mine

“As for other matters, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone has faith. But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.” (2 Thess 3.1-5)