This is Not the end

This is Not the End is a track from Gungor's latest album, Ghosts Upon The Earth. If you've never heard of Gungor, get thyself to the iTunes store. Quick.

Those words can also be used to describe my feelings of Italy and this life-changing summer.

In a little less than a week, I'll be back in the States for at least another eleven-months.
In years past, that thought, the thought that I won't be out adventuring around the world, has depressed me. However, a friend and fellow summer project-er Catherine, gave me some good insight a night ago.

She said, "Don't think of heading home as leaving the mission field but rather think of it as going on a year-long mission trip to America."

What wisdom. For once, I intend to do just that. Words cannot express how excited I am to see my family and friends, church families and youth kids.

Not only will I be able to share with them of the numerous places I've seen and foods that I've eaten, but more importantly I will have SO MANY opportunities to share the Gospel, the reason that I've been conversing with random strangers all summer, with the people that I love most.

So. So. Excited.

Though I have loved Bologna and would love to come back long-term in the future, I know that Beebe and then Conway in the fall is where I need to be right now. In fact, it's where I want to be right now.
I want to complete my Senior year of college. I want to be an RA and love my floor well. I want to be the best daughter, granddaughter, niece and friend possible. I want to write in order to give His name praise and to show the campus of CBC that God is still relevant.

I want to love God with all that I am...and to share that experience with others.

As my team and I finish ministry in Bo, please pray for the following names. Though they may be merely words on a screen to you these people are our dearest Italian friends.

They are the people that we have spent the past 6-weeks pouring-into and doing life with.
They are the ones that we love and will miss.

Virginia
Simone
Silvia
Luisa
Melissa
Sara
Giada
Imma
Mateo
Igon
Leonardo
Marco
Fedro
Laura
Carolina
Stephen
Diego
Gail
Johnny
Shirley
Claudia
Chiara
Michael
Vlad
Georgia
Jiacomo
Anjelica
Ester
Peter
Kevin
Julie
Soraya
and Guilia

Thank you always. I look forward to seeing you soon.

Love in Him,

Brittney

Bones

On Friday, our group headed to Rome. We had quite the adventure and saw many of the eternal city's beloved sights such as the Collesium, the Roman ruins, the Parthenon, the Roman Forum, the Vatican City, St. Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel and the Trevi Fountain.
Yet, something random that we saw was the catacombs of San Castillo. This catcacomb, built right outside of the Roman walls, was Rome's first official Christian cemetary. It is four levels deep and we went down to two of them where we got to see the former tombs of over 500,000 people.
However, before you get too grossed out, please know that the bodies are no longer down there. They were moved by their owner, The Vatican City, because years ago their tombs were opened and raided in search of treasure.
As our tour guide explained, those criminals were out of luck.
"Christians bury only with bones," said she.
This statement has resonated with me since.

Christians bury only with bones.

It keeps repeating itself over and over in my head. A slightly morbid but lovely sound.

The more I think of it, the more two intertwined concepts come to mind.

They buried only with bones because their bones were all they had; Christ was all that could be found in those dry bones.

"And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, "If anyone would come after me, let him take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it." -Mark 8:34-35

They buried only with bones because their treasures were not of this world. Their lives were hid with Christ on high.

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."-Matthew 6:19-21

O how vast the differences between present-day American Christianity and the Roman Christianity of the past...

Oh, the places you will go and the people you will know

Ciao, amici. I hope that all is well back home, be it Beebe, McRae, Conway or some other random, beautiful place.

What a week it has been. Since posting last Friday a lot of traveling has been done and a lot of people have been met. Hence the name of this update.

For starters, you all should know that my team and the rest of the folks here in Bologna are alright despite the earthquake scares. I felt my first one ever on Tuesday morning and it really wasn't bad....definitely not your stereotypical walls-shaking, things-breaking kind of ordeal.

Last Saturday, we visited Verona, the home of Romeo and Juliet. Yesterday, we traveled to Venice and it was absolutely gorgeous. Hands down, my favorite of the places that we've been to so far.
Trust me, I have photos and they will be posted when I get home.

My favorite day of this week has probably been Tuesday. God keeps showering me in little, surprise blessings and I am so, so grateful. He is sweet to me when I deserve it the least.
You see, Tuesday I didn't really feel like being here. I couldn't focus in our group devotional that morning and I did not want to go out and meet Italian students. I was paired with a friend, Paige, and we decided to try to meet students at a coffee shop called ITIT (This place is so much like Starbucks that it's not even funny. The funny thing is that Italy dosen't have Starbucks because they hate chain places.) Before approaching someone to chat with, we prayed a lot and asked God to take away our apathy and to use us despite our unwillingness. Then, Paige tapped the shoulder of the girl behind her...and the rest is a wonderful history.

The girl's name is Carolina and later we met her boyfriend, Diego. They are both from Mexico City (Anyone who knows me, knows that I love Mexico.) and are here studying art and film making. We hung out with them for the rest of they day and got to share our testimonies.
Carolina said that she wants to believe, but dosen't know what to believe in and Diego wants to start reading the Bible. She also said that our testimonies were beautiful and that she had never heard people talk so truthfully and honestly about God. Carolina came to our weekly aperativo (pretty much a free buffet with the purchase of a drink) on Thursday and came to church with us this morning.
Meeting them truly made my day.



Then, on Thursday, I was out sharing with another friend Lauren. We had been rejected three times in a row, but I still wanted to keep trying. As I approached two girls, Lauren said, "Brittney, what are you doing? I don't think they want to talk." I responded with, "Until the whole world hears" and walked up to them. At first they were hesitant to speak with us, but by the end of our conversation we had made two new friends. Then, though they don't believe in God, they came to aperativo that night.

Out of at least 30 people that I invited last week it was those three, Carolina, Luisa and Melissa who came to hang-out with us on Thursday night.

I think that Oswald Chambers says it best in My Utmost for His highest, "What makes God so dear to us is not so much His big blessings to us, but the tiny things, because they show His amazing intimacy with us-He knows every detail of each of our individual lives."

I am so thankful that He knows me intimately and that even on this trip I have started to know Him more intimately. I'm slowly realizing that intimacy with God is priceless.

Tomorrow begins our second week on campus and I have some specific prayer requests for you guys:
Carolina-the opportunity to study the Bible with her
Diego-the same opportunity for one of the guys
Luisa and Melissa-that they will do well on their exams this week and that we will be able to hang-out with them more in the weeks to come

Personally, pray that I would speak wisdom into the lives of my teammates and that we would be able to grow closer together as a unit.

Also, we have some specific outreaches planned for Italian students:
A hike on June 5th @ 2 p.m.
A picnic on Wednesday, June 13 @12 p.m.
A dessert exchange/party on Friday June 22 @ 9 p.m.

Prayer in any capacity for these things would be greatly appreciated.

Love always,
Brittney