Things are going so well. I continue to love my time back in Rome and the Lord continues to surprise me with blessing after blessing. The ministry it growing and relationships are starting to form! So as the year wraps itself up and our time here comes to a close…I can’t help but think about the future. I love that I get to spend my time telling people about Jesus. I love sharing the Gospel and teaching people more about the Word and how to grow in their relationship with Christ. I really feel called to remain in full time ministry…I am not sure if that means in the states or over seas. However, for now I feel that it is stateside…so I plan on joining staff with Campus Crusade for Christ for at least a 2 year commitment. I start training in Jan. 
I’ll fill you in on details as they come!
Future Plans! Sunday, May 6 2007
Uncategorized 7:53 pm
Praise the Lord…. Friday, Apr 6 2007
Uncategorized 7:45 am
So I know that I promised updates, so I am sorry at my lack of informing. The past month has been a whirlwind. Over 80 students came over on their Spring Break trips and we have been hosting them non-stop since the day we got back ourselves. It has been such an encouragement to watch them share their faith on campus and such a blessing to have that many more people helping out in the ministry here. During the course of these 4 weeks we saw 7 people come to Christ, we pulled off 2 outreach events for students to have a place to hear the gospel, and we also started our weekly meetings and English Clubs back up.
For me, one of the largest blessings, has been the ability to meet with several different girls on a weekly basis. I have really enjoyed investing in their lives and being able to dig deeper into the Bible and their understanding of God’s word. They are so sweet and I value my short amount of time with them. Also, we met the best friend of a Fede, a girl that has been involved in Agape for several years. This girl told us about how last week, Fede told her about Jesus and her need for a Savior and TOGETHER they prayed. This means that FINALLY an Italian student understands the importance of sharing the message of Christ! We are so excited to finally break this mark after 6 years of ministry in Italy! Thank you Father for all these amazing things!
I know that this info has been a long time coming, and so I am sorry for the lull in time! I will try to do better at this!
Just Dufour of Us! Thursday, Mar 1 2007
Uncategorized 5:56 pm
I feel like I have been living in luxury the past 6 weeks and I wanted to share it with you. Since I have been in Oxford, Ohio working at Miami University, I have been living with 4 girls that are on staff with Crusade; Jenny Lichtenheld, Julie Lusser, Lindsey Parrott, and Allie Templeton! Jenny has been blessed with this brand new house on Dufour Ln (thus the nickname). One of the girls (Allie) has been out of town working on raising more support for her ministry and so I have been priviledged enough to join them! They are great girls and I have learned so much from them and had so much fun with them. What a blessing and encouragement they have been to me!! Here are some pictures of the house! (click on the picture for a larger image!)
GOOD NEWS :: bad news Thursday, Mar 1 2007
Uncategorized 5:55 pm
The good news is that we are returning to Rome! Five of us (Dan, Lauren, Amos, Joel, Chris, and Myself) fly out from Detroit on Sunday (3-5-07) at 6:50 pm. We will then be arriving in Rome on Monday at 12:30 pm. We then have a week to get settled into our new apartment (Yes, I said new apartment!) and to prepare for the Spring Break teams that will be coming on that next Saturday!
The bad news is that we were misinformed by the Italian Consulate. We were not issued visas and so we can now only go back on a tourist visa. Unfortunately this visa only lasts 90 days and so I will be returning to the states June 2nd.
I know that God is working in and through this, even if it is in ways that I can not understand. He is faithful and I trust Him for that.
Now I remember… Wednesday, Jan 31 2007
Uncategorized 4:28 am
I am falling in love with ministry all over again! I have had the opportunity to meet with girls and talk to them about the journey that the Lord has brought them on as well as where they are at spiritually. There is nothing more exciting and thrilling than sharing the gospel with someone! I love talking about how God loves people and has a wonderful plan for their lives. With the past few months being so hard, it was easy for my vision to be clouded on my purpose for being in Rome. I feel that the past few weeks have reminded me of why I chose to go on STINT in the first place. That to me is so exciting!!!
I have loved being at Miami! I feel so welcomed by the STINT team and continue to receive the Lord’s blessings daily. Everyone has been so friendly and I have had so much fun hanging out and getting to know everyone. However, it is really hard that my whole STINT team isn’t here. I miss Holly, LeAnne, and Amos and really wish we could all be together right now!
WE ARE FAMILY! Wednesday, Jan 10 2007
Uncategorized 5:05 pm
Needless to say, the last month has been quite interesting. Being home has been such a blessing. I adore my family and it has been so nice to be with them over Christmas. This Christmas was a little different since we no longer live in good ole Leo, but it was still fun!
It is funny how the Lord knows each of us so well and provides for us in the most mysterious ways. When we went “homeless” a few months ago, I thought nothing could be worse…now what a blessing to not have to pay rent on a flat in Italy that we are not living in at the moment! He also knew that I needed this time at home to refresh my mind and process the past month. I am so blessed to have 2 parents who love the Lord with all their hearts and are devoted to him, and to have a brother, sister, and brother-in-law who listen, love, and pray for me. I am so thankful for all of them and love them all so much! Not to mention my shadow, who sometimes goes by the name Rachel! What a delight she is. She brings so much joy to my life and the Lord always uses her to show me the importance of the simplest pleasures in life like S’more and red Kool-aid!
my bags are packed, i’m ready to go! Sunday, Dec 3 2006
Uncategorized 9:51 pm
“I’m leaving on a jet plane, don’t know when I’ll be back again! Oh Rome, I really hate to go!” After all the craziness, I really never thought I would be sad to leave, but when the rubber hits the road, I am. Things here have been really hard, but I can still see the Lord’s provision through things. I am ready to get this visa thing figured out and get my feet back on campus telling those students about why I am here! So in my attempt to not suffer from jet lag, I am going to try and stay up all night. We ran out of coffee, so its not like finals week in the states. We’ll see how I do! I’m sure we’ll have fun in the mean time. Maybe I’ll see those of you reading this…very, very soon! If this was a surprise to any of you…that I am coming home…well…SURPRISE!
Living in a van… Saturday, Nov 18 2006
Uncategorized 10:13 am
Who would have ever thought life in Rome would be so crazy? Certainly not me! I obviously haven’t jumped on the “update your blog daily” train, since my posts don’t accurately depict my day to day life. However, I will try to let you in on as much as possible when I have the time fill in missing pieces of my so called life!
So the most recent news would be our living situation. The apartment that we originally lived in was apparently not under a legal contract and owned by a money hungry landlord. We had to get out as soon as possible, and so we have been looking for a new apartment all year. We have had 3 apartment deals fall through already and so the process has been long and somewhat frustrating. Needless to say we never knew when we would move and so we continued to live out of our suitcases all year. We again found another apartment, our bid was accepted, and we told our landlord that we would be moving. We rented a moving van, and spent all day loading up our stuff. All that was left to do was pick up the keys and sign the last round of papers. Needless to say, the new landlord got sick and he would not agree to the original deal and so this apartment too fell through.
There we were a moving van full of stuff and literally homeless! So Dan and Lauren went to Jason and Laura Smith’s to discuss what to do. (The Smiths are a staff couple that live in Rome and have been such a God send for our team! They have been such a blessing and encouragement and comfort to us!) In the meantime, the rest of us parked the van, waited, and prayed! It was decided that the best option was for the five girls to move into Jason’s office. One room, two double beds, 12 suitcases, and 5 girls later we were all settled in! So we became one big happy family: Jason, our dad who like to refer to us as the sorority and also enjoys good natured teasing at the dinner table; Laura, our mom, who has dinner ready for us every evening and watches Friends with us every night; Everett, the stint baby, their 23 month old son who wakes us up every morning just in time for our day with his animal noises and baby talk Italian; the 5 of us girls, and Cinnamon, their cat who fell 4 stories out of the dining room window while sunning herself one day and now has two broken legs as a result!
The Smiths have been SO great and it has been such a blessing to live with them. They have gone back to the states for a month, so we now have the place to ourselves and it gives us time to do some more apartment shopping!
up~and~up Thursday, Oct 19 2006
Uncategorized 5:37 pm
After a somewhat rough start to the week, I am seeing things on the up and up! Tuesday morning I was pick-pocketed on the metro. I would consider myself an intelligent person, and something like that does not happen to intelligent people! So I thought..but those guys are good! I didn’t even realize my wallet was gone until 3 hours later when I was home. Somehow, within the 15 seconds that my bag was at my side and not to the front of me, a man reached his hand down into the bottom of my bag, grabbed my wallet, and disappeared! So if something like this has happened to you, I can relate! I love my credit/debit card, 50 Euro, my license and the most important thing…my Subway Club Card! (yes they still have these in Italy!) The good news is that everything has been canceled and cleared, so the only real loss was the cash!
After a month of getting to know each other we are starting to know how to mesh and gel as a team! This has been a good learning process and though its been hard, I am hopeful of the end result and learning through the process! I am also very encouraged by the ministry this week. I ha my first successful student meeting. Miranna and I hit it off right away and I had so much fun talking to her! She isn’t a believer, but is so open to talking about spiritual things and I am really excited to continue meeting with her! (You can be praying for her as well!)
So after a rough start, I am beginning to see how/why the Lord has placed me here and look forward to see how the rest of the year plays out!
Casa Sweet Casa Sunday, Oct 15 2006
Uncategorized 3:54 pm
I am a visual person and so I thought I would give you a little photo shoot of my new apartment. These pictures were taken right before our first weekly meeting; so it is all nice and clean for your viewing pleasure! As many of you know…we are in the process of finding a new home…but until that glorious day comes…we are here at via Corvisieri! I am truely grateful for a roof over my head and a bed to sleep in at night, but I am very excited to find another place due to the increasing number of semi-important things breaking! Some such things include our washing machine, a toilet, our oven, and hot water in the kitchen! We have been adjusting and eating lots of pasta since we lack any other sort of heating method!
(Living room, kitchen, dining room, bathroom (3), laundry room with broken toilet and washing machine!, and my room!)
However, I really can’t complain! Being the troopers that they are….the guys on are team had much worse living condition…including not enough beds, rooms, and dealing with bed bugs! I am very happy to report that they have found a new apartment and are enjoying clean sheets and a nice
place to stay! This is a picture of Christ standing in the “pedestal shower”…no curtain or glass door… you simply stand on a platform in the middle of the
room and shower as quickly as possible!
