San Lorenzo, Italy

Hello, my friends!

I've decided to bring back the missions blog that I used for last year's missions trip. Last year, I went on an amazing trip to Chicago, Illinois with a group of 13 students and leaders as a group from Xtreme Impact based in Liberty University to share the Gospel to people in the streets of Chicago through a program called "Hope for the Hood". This was an incredible experience for me, and I learned more than I could have imagined with this trip. And now I'm coming back!

For this trip, I'll be going with Xtreme Impact to San Lorenzo, Italy; which is about an hour East of Venice. This year, the team I'm going with has 36 students and leaders.

Though Christianity once thrived in Italy, only 1% are now evangelical Christians. Post-modernism and atheism have become the predominant world views. We'll be spreading the Word through open-air evangelism and drama.

The reason I have chosen to go on this missions trip with Liberty University is due to my interest in the college. I am hoping to achieve a major in Elementary Education and a minor in Theater there in the future.

The trip will be July 3rd-24th, which includes pre-trip training and debriefing camp at the end.

Prayers will be appreciated as I'm preparing for this trip.

If you're curious about what types of ministries we did last year in Chicago, I have a few stories about my experiences there.

Craft Table:This was the most important part of the trip to me. I wasn't with any of my other team members, I was working by myself, at the festival.

We had gone around the Hood for the past few days handing out flyers for people to come to a festival with free games, free food, and free music. In this poor area, this was a huge hit. The weather turned out to be a windy disaster. We had some middle schoolers from a church in TN helping us, but they left within the first two hours (it lasted 8 hours). They had come late, and left early, abandoning around 7 booths full of games and prizes; how they could leave us like that, I don't know.

My circumstance- I was in charge of the craft table. The reason I signed up for this was because I love crafts, and I had pictured three tables in a 'u' shape with stickers, papers, and markers. I didn't think there would be that much of a chance for witnessing, but I was open to whatever would happen. I ended up with one small table, about 5 chairs, and about 6 boxes full of supplies. I'll admit, the supplies were wonderful, but the glue and paint got a bit crazy. Anyway. At first it was alright, and throughout I had a good system going for keeping things organized. But the wind took over. The wind started blowing the tent away, and a lot of the crafts. At one point, I was holding the leg of the tent with one hand, a box of supplies with the other, and sharing the Gospel at the same time. I prayed so hard during the festival that the wind would stop.

What happened- One women came up to my table within the first half hour, and she stayed during the entire festival. She had a hat on her head that she decorated, she had a paper that she covered with glitter, stickers and glue. She must have been in her 50's at least, and she was the sweetest women there. She made one craft for me that said "Hannah Montana" or something rather on it, but it was lost. One part I did keep was a heart shaped craft that was a favorite that said "love" with flowers and fun stickers. It looked like a small child had made it, but she gave it to me in the most precious way, and I will never forget her. I still have that heart with me. I shed tears now because I miss her, and the other people from Chicago that I had to leave behind. I don't know how many people I led to Christ, I don't know how many people I prayed with or witnessed to, but that doesn't matter. What does matter is that I'm still praying for them. I also prayed with two other girls (I believe they were sisters). I remember one of them was doing a craft, and she didn't know what to spell out with her letter stickers. I made a suggestion that seemed rather cheesy, "How about 'Jesus Loves Me'" I said. She just kept staring at the page. "He loves you very much, you know that?" She looked up at me, a bit confused. I knelt down beside her chair, so I could talk to her closely. "I know you've been through a lot; and I can't imagine what you've seen. Your life is hard, and I know at some point or other, you've felt hurt. I'm here to tell you that I know someone who will always love you no matter what." She gave another look of confusion, but with a hint of hope. Just a few moments later, her and her sister (who had listened in) were praying with me.
I 'lured' another girl in the same way, with the 'Jesus Loves You' hook. It seemed silly, but it worked. This one girl was a bit harder to snag. I got her pretty well, until we got to the 'He forgives your sins' part. She didn't believe she had sinned...let me rephrase; at the moment she didn't admit to it. I asked her, "Have you ever lied before?" she shook her head. "Listen, in the Bible it says that ALL have sinned. I've sinned before many times, you've sinned, everyone has." there was a brief pause. "So have you lied and sinned?" She nodded her head slowly. I simply had to tell her how these sins were forgotten and we prayed.
The only other praying I remember there was when there was a little boy who was doing a short craft. I don't remember what I told him, but I know it had to do with love. That's what these people needed the most. They needed someone to tell them, that there is a God that loves them no matter what they've done, and who will protect them no matter what they've seen. That was my job, and I think it went spectacularly.
May God be with them.

VBS: Now, I had originally wanted to be on the same team as Julia, but that didn't work out. We ended up going to different locations. But, this worked out fine. We were stationed in a park that was fairly small, a small swingset, and one slide station thing. We didn't have too much room to play games, but we made the most of it. I was in charge of the crafts for a while, and I helped with the snacks, and they also had games and then free time. These were all pretty enjoyable activities to help with.
The thing that stuck to me the most about this VBS was that there was a drunk women that stayed at the park through the first two days of the three day program. She was pretty calm during check-in, but she was as bossy as ever. Most of our team lost patience with her, I was the only one that stuck through, and tried to figure out how to help her. During the games it was the worst; she wanted all the little kids to play by the rules exactly. These kids didn't need harsh rules, they needed to have freedom. And we really didn't appreciate having a drunk person in the midst of what we wanted to be a healing time. She calmed down after a while though, so it could have been worse.
I was pushing one kid on the swing. He and his older brother were both there. His older brother had already received Christ, and supposedly only because he was old enough. His younger brother wanted to, but didn't know how and wouldn't be told until he was older. I didn't know what his parents were teaching him, but I prayed with him and talked to him for a while just to make sure.
Also, someone fixed the swing set on the second day of VBS. We didn't ask anyone. It wasn't just recast either, they were brand new, shiny chains. In a run down park! It was an unexpected, amazing blessing. Thank you, Lord.

Cleanup: Now I'm afraid of germs, and I can get grossed out really easily. So the streets of Chicago, wouldn't be the first place you'd think I'd be. But that's where God called me. I knew people would be watching as our group moved up and down the streets with trash bags picking up countless tiny drug bags, cups, and trash. We approached a house, asked if we could clean up their yard, and as we were, a 5 person gang came walking down the street cussing like no tomorrow. We thought they were going to walk right through, but they came right up to the house that I was clearing the yard of. And they were screaming at each other the whole way there, and something about money. I decided not to ring their doorbell, and just leave them a flyer.

There was one time, though, that we were approaching a house that had a huge gang surrounding it, so we cleaned up till we were about a yard away from them, then we walked back. But while my team was working on the pick-up, I decided to talk to the ladies sitting on the porch. One of them said they already went to church and had faith; the other said she hadn't heard of God before. I shared the Gospel to her and later we prayed. It was such an encouraging, wonderful time. God bless her.


Church: The Church Services at New Hope Bible church were incredible. The love, joy, and fire for God they had was unbelievable. Our missions team was accepted with hugs and smiles, and the worship was amazing. The Lord filled the room, and as we all raised our hands in praise we could feel God's presence.

We went to Pastor Andy's house, where we had great fellowship with his kids and Miss Nancy. Miss Nancy is an amazing cook, but she was much more; she was beautiful, outgoing, enjoyable and caring. She has made me laugh, smile, and think harder than ever. I will never forget her. Oh, and I'll never forget the first thing she said to me after hearing my name, "Ah, Hannah. Like Hannah Montana!". Love you, Miss Nancy!

I feel horrible for forgetting one of the dear girl's names that was at the church. I only talked to her on the last day I would see her, which was a mistake. She told me about some of the church's history, she told me about the youthgroup, and the people that were there, what they had been through, some of what she had been through. In the end she made me cry a bit; after about a 15 minute talk. We had an instant bond. I will never forget her either.

Shootings: One of the first things that Pastor Andy explained to us, was the dangers of the area. He explained how violent the Hood was, how many shootings, drug deals, and crimes occurred. The stories were devastating. He explained that we shouldn't wear black and red, blue, gold, or purple; these were gang colors, and could get you into trouble if you wear them. Everything from hand gestures to putting on your hat a certain way were part of the list of things you must be cautious of.
This all made me scared. The first night, I was scared to go outside to get back into our van. The other team members seemed fine, and I just couldn't stop thinking about all that could happen. I was praying very hard.
When I went out into the streets, and when I started talking with people, and praying with them, God showed me His love, and He showed me that He was protecting me.

One tragic situation that occurred started when we were cleaning the streets. We had a three person group: Trinity, Tyrone, and I. We noticed that police were around one house, so we cleaned up the house next to it, then continued without bothering anything on the scene.
I didn't think much of it, until later that day, when we were back at the church. Pastor Andy explained that there had been a stabbing. A young man had been stabbed ten times. We soon went to that house, and prayed as a group with the family and friends of this young man. It was the same house we had seen the police at earlier. It was the most touching experience yet. We saw what pain these people go through, and we saw the sadness in their eyes. We went around and prayed, hugged those in need of comfort, and offered to host the memorial.
Only one lady allowed us to get close enough to let us talk with her, pray for her, and give her a hug. May God bless her.
The next day, we learned that there had been a shooting. In the same area, a retaliation that was gang-related.

All in all: I was both frightened and blessed incredibly during this trip. I had to step out of my comfort-zone and do things that I never thought I'd find myself doing. Originally we were going to go to D.C. While that may have been a great experience, I truly learned more about myself, and how God works in lives when I was in Chicago.

Lessons Learned: Give God your all. Do whatever you have to. Always trust in Him.