Hello from Brussels!

Right now Brett and I are in Brussels, Belgium for our "Connect 09" (formally known as CSM) annual student training. We are having an amazing time and really experiencing God and learnign so much! There are around 90 of us here and it is so exciting to reconnect with staff who are doing student ministry around Europe and gather with students who are around the continent and world.

I thought I'd briefly just share what are days are like here and ask if you would be praying for the days ahead with us. That students would continue to experience the love of God in even greater ways, that they would get a hunger to go deeper in their faith and commitment to Christm gain a passion for reaching out to their universities and that the Holy Spirit would be leading and guiding us every step of the way. Thank you! We truly believe this time to be precious and huge part of building the momentum for the year ahead. God wants to use these students to reach Europe!

The conference is for 10 days which allows relationships to be more fully developed and an opportunity to really dive in and get a better idea of the SFC (Studetns for Christ Europe) community, be encouraged, and be empowered to go back to where we are all from and implement what we have learned.

Here is a breakdown of the schedule:

8-8:30 breakfast

9-9:30 Worship

9:30-10:30 Class (students have signed up for a specific themed class that they will attend the entire 10 days. 1st time students are enouraged to attend the one entitled "Reach the U" but other classes offered are about Adventurous Faith, Life in the Spirit: Living the intimate life, Unraveling the Mystery of the New Testament (Kelly, Brett, and I are taking this one- it is so great and we are learing so much!) and Acts...I may be missing something, but you get the idea. :)

10:30-10:45 break

10:45-11:45 Class again

11:45-12:00 Break

12:00-1:00 Elective (can choose from differnent relevant topics that pertain to living as Christian in this world) or Coaching= gathering in our country groups to pray, talk, and plan for reaching students in our specific cities and universities)

1:00-4:00 Lunch and free time

4:15-5:15 Small Groups (students are mixed together in a group they have througout the conference to discuss how things are going, what they are learning, and pray for oneanother, Staff meets together to discuss, evaluate and pray for our SFC Europe ministry)

6:30-7:15 Evening meal

8:00-9:30 Evening meeting (worship, speaker, group interaction,etc.)

So there you have it! It is a full 10 days!! We try to make it not only listening to teaching, but interactive and participatory as well. It is a really powerful week for everyone who attends. So keep us in your prayers and we will update you when we return and have some photos to share as well!

This time is bittersweet for us with the knowlege that, at least for a time, we will be leaving Europe, but it is truly a blessing to again be a part of this. It is amazing to be a part such an incredible Europe-wide community (with plenty of Americans in the mix as well!)

Thank you for your prayers- they make a difference! You are in our prayers as well.

Some Snapshots of our trip to Italy (June12-27)!!!

So, I know these are a lot of pictures, but considering we took over 800, this was the best I could do at narrowing them down to some of the highlights! The picture above was our first night in Italy, in Rome. It was Brett's birthday, so I had made reservations at a well-known, pretty fancy restaurant called Piperno's in the old Jewish quarter of the city. It was great! Not often that we sit down to a 4 course meal at a place like that! It was true Roman cuisine complete with the highly recommended Jewish-style fried artichoke for an appetizer.

Our first full day we spent a large amount of time in Vatican city, visiting the Vatican museum including the Sistine chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. Incredibly interesting and a little bizarre at the same time. What a different world!

Michealangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling and wall of The Last Judgment- quite impressive!

We climbed the 300+ stairs to the top of St. Peter's basilica and overlooked St. Peter's square, Vatican city, and Rome

The next day we visited the Colosseum, Palentine Hill, and the Roman Forum. Makes you realize how the things we create on this earth and build up for ourselves truly don't last! Erie to think that these places were once the center of Roman civilization. Little could they know that one day throngs of tourists would be lining up to pay admission and take photographs of what little is left in piles of ruin. But definitely an experience to remember!

Of course we also visited the Pantheon, Rome's oldest and best-preserved building from antiquity. The inside was beautiful.
And of course there was lots of Roman-style pizza to be had! Got to be the best there is!

After 2.5 days in Rome, we were ready to move to quieter places and went to our place for 5 nights in the town of Corniglia in Cinque Terre (5 villages along the northwestern coast). Absolutely breathtaking with an amazing view from the private balcony (see 3 pictures below the next) of our very nice apartment. Memorable and would gladly go back again!

Had the chance to swim in the ocean and it was great! Until of course, right after the picture above when Cortney sliced open her hand on a rock and had to hurry to the hospital in another town to get stitched up. Little scary, but we didn't let it take away from the rest of the trip!

We were really looking forward to the many hiking opportunities available along the Cinque Terre and were not disappointed. Here we are on the easier path between all the villages and this spot overlooking the village of Vernazza. So picturesque!

We also went on a longer, more difficult higher path and it was one of the highlights of our trip- 5.5 hrs. of beautiful views of the coast, mountains, forest, and vineyards. A bit treacherous trail in parts, but well-worth the challenge!

Another village, Monterosso known for it's stretch of beach.

Some more village scenes- there were Italian cats everywhere- Cortney was in heaven!

Next stop was 7 nights in the countryside of Tuscany where we had a rented car. Another diversely beautiful part of Italy. In every direction are rolling hills of forest, vineyards, olive groves and cyprus trees.Another surprise- an incredible 180 degree view of the countryside from our own private balcony/patio. We were so blessed!

The lovely hill town of San Gimignano. Only 15 of its original 72 towers are remaining. The only place on the trip we visited twice!

And of course we made the trip to Florence which was not far by car. Neat city, but by this part of the trip, less than a day was perfect for us!

Stopping for lunch on another hiking adventure. We followed a book Cortney got from the library entitled Walking in Tuscany because there was a 4hr. route near where we were staying. Well, long story short, 8.5 hrs. later and a hitched ride from an nice Italian family the remaining 7km and we were finally back at our car, completely exhausted! Makes for a competing TV series, don't you think? Lost: Tuscany Forest. Needless to say, won't be using that book again! But we did see some amazing parts of Tuscany that you just can't experience from a car or being in a city. And got a good work-out besides!

View while lost of San Gimignano

Cortney looking quite tired wandering in someone's vineyard
Also made it to Sienna (yes, we were everywhere) and enjoyed the atmosphere of what is considered to be Italy's loveliest square and sight of the infamous Palio bareback horse race- too bad we were just a few days too early!Cortney is very excited about yet another gelato-tasting experience

Thought this was great- two very Italian older men

And how amazing to see large fields of sunflowers

Phew! Well that just scratches the surface of our trip- we saw so much!- but it was amazing and thank you for your prayers and well-wishes! It was truly a trip of a lifetime and a wonderful experience to share together. Now we are taking a little time to relax from the vacation (you know how that is, I'm sure!) and to prepare ourselves for the transition ahead and our Students for Christ conference in Belgium July 28-August 8 (which we have 2 Norwegian students and 1 alumni coming with- woohoo!).
We can still use your prayers for all of this as it is as thinking about and preparing to leave Norway is incredibly difficult! Returning here from Italy reminded us even more how incredibly beautiful it is here and how this has truly become our second home.
Thank you and more updates soon!