Viva Italia

Tomorrow morning around 8am a team of 17 young singles from our ministry will be leaving for Florence, Italy to serve alongside some of our global ministry partners there. They'll be doing the first known Vacation Bible School ever in Florence, and helping a ministry called Agape Italia as they serve university students in Italy.

I couldn't be more proud of these 17 young singles. We talk all the time about being externally focused - they put their hands and feet where their mouth is. A leadership team of 4 individuals (Laura, Betsy, Erick, and Sarod) have been tireless in their praying and planning for this time.

If you think about it, pray for their mission. A mission in Italy seems like a pretty swanky place to suffer for Jesus. In reality, it's an extremely dark place. There are massive churches in every town, but they stand simply as ironic monuments to a faith left behind. The culture is extremely wealthy, and reminds you of Jesus' words that it is easier for a camel to enter through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. Italians believe that God is simply a tool of the Roman Catholic church to be used in the oppression and manipulation of power and government. Needless to say, they're pretty hostile to the Gospel.

My dream for this trip is that our team would come back different. I'm praying they'll get a larger view of who God is, a larger view of how He can use them, and a larger view of what God is doing in the world. I'm praying that this would be just the first of many trips for each of them; that it would give them a heart for the world.

The young singles at McKinney are the cream of the crop, and we're sending 17 of our very best to Italy this next week. I'm proud to be their pastor and hope you'll join me in praying that God will use them for something significant this week. (If you want, you can follow their progress here).