A time of retreat...

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of fellowship! First, we met with other pastors and workers from the Fellowship of European International Churches (FEIC) in Caorle, Italy. Here are a few glimpses of our time there. It was so wonderful to meet people (some missionaries, others workers from different churches) from all across Europe. I also got to see Terry & Ruthanne Hoggard, missionaries that my home church has supported for many years.

Those of us at the FEIC retreat enjoying gelato in Caorle!

 The beach in Caorle

So glad Terry convinced me to try this frozen coffee drink. I never drink coffee, but I really enjoyed this!

Here we are with Ulla May (from Finland) getting ready for a bike ride!

 Part of the city

 The rocky coast

 You never know what color the houses will be here :)

Or what material they will be made of! These are thatched fishing huts on the edge of the city. People still live in them today.

 This reminded me of home!

I love stopping to smell these flowers wherever they are!


This past week, we headed to Tuscany for our Assemblies of God field meeting...where all the A/G missionaries in Italy come together for meetings and fellowship. I was blessed to meet these missionaries this past November at our last field meeting. It was such a privilege to see them again before I leave Italy. I had the opportunity to talk a bit about my time here and they prayed for me. It's hard to believe I have just 15 days left before my "term" here is over and I head back to America. God has done so much!

San Casciano, a town outside of Florence where we stayed

The beautiful Tuscan countryside

Part of the old city wall

Preparing to enjoy some dinner! This is AJ, Warren & Laura's son (so sad I didn't get a picture of the Van Dolsens). In the background you can see the Trementozzi's...our area directors.

Kurtis Denton and Rick Forker...lone rangers for the time being since their wives weren't able to join them. We missed you, Amy and Angela!

Randy & Diane McGehee, missionaries in Florence, who organized the field meeting! They even had bread, olive oil, chocolate and flowers waiting for us in our rooms! Bravo McGehee's! :)  Harvey Skinner is in the middle of the McGehees...he and his wife are missionaries in Milan.

Bob & Lynne Rose, missionaries in Rome

And of course the missionaries I'm serving with, Steve & Patti Gray

A town we visited called San Gimignano

A city of towers

I'm so glad I got to see the Peretti's again before I left Italy!

And the McGehee's...I miss you guys already!!!

Now, vacation bible school/english summer school classes started this week in full force! Packing every day pretty full before my departure at the end of the month! The Lord is faithful to give us strength when we need it. Hallelujah!