Why Italy?

Here are some fun tidbits as to how God led us to choose Italy for this summer and why we think it will be a good fit for us.

• We have both had a heart for Europe for quite awhile. It seems like sometimes it gets written off as "reached" and put to the side. But that is just not true, quite the opposite in fact. There is a long and rich history of Christianity in some of Europe, but the actual presence there today is quite small. (Keep in mind I am making generalizations here...) There is definitely many changes that have taken place and many needs there.
• As we were thinking and praying about Italy, we knew we would need a good organization to go with. Looking through a list, we found out that CrossWorld was working in that country. We know CrossWorld because we took a random road trip last year to their main base in Pennsylvania. Yes, a random cross-country road trip... (don't we just sound like the missionary sort :) I was talking with a few friends from SIL (the Summer Institute of Linguistics), one of whom is a CrossWorld MK (missionary kid). She was talking about a conference she was going to that was an introduction to CrossWorld and also discussing their future with linguistics. She half-jolkingly asked if we wanted to come, and we half-jolkingly said yes. But one week later, Corey and I were on a bus to Chicago, where we met up with another friend to drive to Philadelphia. We were impressed with CrossWorld as we spent time there, and kept in contact. So when we saw them on that list, we emailed and soon were on our way to being accepted!
• Corey was a chef at an Italian restaurant here in Bemidji, Tutto Benne, for five years before he came to Oak Hills. So he already knows some about the culture and of course, the food!