Our daughter Brittney and her husband, Stephen, came to visit us in May.  This is the first time family has been here and we had a great time!  Our son-in-law is an avid soccer fan and attended 2 AC Milan games.  Brittney enjoyed the shopping and the beach but most of all she said she loved Valvasone.  We picked them up in Milan and spent the day sightseeing.  The rest of the week we spent in our region traveling from Venice, to the mountains, and to the beach...all within an hour's drive of Valvasone.

We must brag about God else the Rocks will cry out!  

We started a Ladies Bible study on Esther a month ago.  We have 4 women coming every Monday.  Initially I told them that it would be a 4 week study as I was afraid they wouldn't commit for longer.  After week two, they started asking if I would extend it as we do a chapter a week and Esther has 10 chapters.  So, of course I agreed.  (Ha, Ha!)  Today we did chapter 4, an amazing chapter.  I print out 1 chapter every week, so they don't know how the story ends.  They are chomping at the bit for the next chapter each week.  Amazzzzzing!  God is so at work in this group.  I could write a three page email if I was to share it all.  Suffice it to say that I'm enjoying watching God do his thing!  The most exciting thing that happened today was at the conclusion of the Bible study, I had the courage to ask them if someone other than me would close in prayer.  After a minute of silence, Clara said she would pray....and she did an awesome job.  This is major.  They have no idea how to pray other than the rosary. 

My prayer for this Bible study is that at the conclusion these women will know and feel comfortable praying directly to "The Great I Am".  Will you pray with us?

It has been a busy week.  On Monday we began a women's Bible study of Esther.  Three Italian women attended which is a huge success.  They said they enjoyed it and will be back next Monday.  We're excited!

Tuesday we celebrated St. Patrick's Day with our ESL students sharing the history of St. Patrick, the symbol of the shamrock, and scripture verses.  We served them cabbage with bacon and taught them the Irish Jig.  It was a lot of fun!

Thursday night we held a Christian concert at Saints Bible Institue.  A group of high school students from North Carolina sang, shared testimonies, and performed mimes.  A clear gospel presentation was presented at the end.  We had 27 ESL students attended.  We now prepare for the many questions that will be asked in class next week and pray for wisdom in our interactions.  Above and below are pictures from the concert.  We praise God as we see him moving in our midst.

Beginning March 16th, Maureen will be holding a weekly Bible study on the book of Esther.  She has been inviting specific women in the ESL classes that she hopes will have an interest in learning something about the Bible.  Please pray that some of these women will attend with open hearts.

Chiara, our local librarian, has been meeting with Maureen and helping her translate a Bible study, "Apples of Gold" into Italian.  Progress has been very slow as the Lord has used this time for many sidebar conversations into different aspects of the Bible...all good stuff.  Chiara has recently been asked to be a curator at an art show of paintings depicted the common theme of fire and religion throughout Biblical history.  She has asked Maureen to help her as she has very little knowledge of the Bible.  It is amazing to us how God uses 'all means' to draw someone to himself.  We are so excited to see the end result of all these conversations.  Please pray for wisdom!  Below is a picture of Chiara in the library.