I wondered if the room would work for our training in Florence, Italy. (In this photo, Anne Marie explains the creative process—processo creativo in Italian.)

The day before we started, ten Italians, a British couple and five Americans, including us, met for lunch. As we briefly got to know each other while eating, I was distracted by how small the room felt.

When we teach, we like to move around and talk to students as they practice. This room felt small, but it was the best space available.

The next day, we found the space was tight (see photo below). But it worked. It allowed us—maybe even forced us—to strongly connect with the 10 Agape Italia (as Cru is known there) staff members in the class. Translators helped with the formal part of each session. But as the Italians tried each skill, we were soon trading ideas and even jokes with them. Sometimes, translators helped, but our new Italian friends often found the right English words.

The training, along with the work to find English words, will benefit them. In Italy, the church operates differently from how it does in the U.S. Because many evangelical pastors are bi-vocational, having a job outside the church, Italians are reluctant to fund staff members and other full-time Christian workers. Staff members thus reach beyond Italy for funding in order to serve Jesus full-time. That means they need to communicate stories in English about what God is doing.

Let me tell you about a few of the staff members. Mateo serves with the campus ministry in Rome. Since Italian students are hesitant to listen to a verbal explanation of how they can follow Christ, he employs art to connect with them. (If you’d like to see a short video of Mateo, go to Mark’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/mark.winz/posts/1764435260238429?notif_t=like&notif_id=1496948252143619.) Rosaria works with children and teens, inviting them to bring their friends to learn more about the Bible.

The highlight of the week was when Franco, the director of Agape Italia, spoke up the last day of the training. He said this event was an answer to his prayers. He had grown weary of seeing young Italians join the staff team, but lose heart in a few years when they couldn’t raise the needed funds. He felt this training would push this group forward to stay active in ministry into the future.

This was especially good news for Gianluce (pronounced John-Luke) and Simona. This young couple just applied to join Agape Italia as staff members. They planned their first newsletter during the training and found about 300 friends on Facebook who they could connect with.

We are grateful for your prayers. Our travel went well and we felt healthy during the trip.  The notebooks and presentations were successfully translated before we got there.  As we spoke, our translators, Sarah, an American who’s been in Italy for 11 years, and Maria, an Italian staff member who speaks excellent English, were great. And overall, our travel went well with only minor problems along the way. We used planes, trains, buses, taxis and even boats to travel in Italy.

Now, we’re back at work in Orlando. As you think of us, please pray for these things:

• Mark’s team continues to work on a new email newsletter, which will replace the magazine. Pray that we will finish the design of our first issue soon and complete our collaboration with a lawyer to assure our new title doesn’t infringe on an existing publication’s title.
• Anne Marie’s team completed this year’s Prodigal Prayer Day on June 2. Please pray for the parents who love a child who is making destructive decisions, and for those prodigals to encounter God and reconnect with their families.

Thank you so much for your prayers for and generosity toward our ministry.