Pilgrimage to Italy

2009-06-06T10:14:00.002-04:00

This is a shot from "Il Duomo" in Florence.

This is a painting of Jesus that was significant to me on our journey.
In the Pantheon, this is a old sculpture of Jesus. Note the stone you see is the original from the first century AD.
From Santa Maria in Trastevere, an early depiction of Christ.

Back Home

2009-06-06T09:57:00.003-04:00

We are back home safely and are excited about the work that God is doing in Italy and in our lives. I will try to post some pictures and a wrap up post for this journey and all of you who have been praying and following this journey with us.

One week from Tuesday we gather for our final class together and soon after this website will disappear, but stay tuned for the next two weeks as we process the trip through this blog.

Palermo

2009-06-02T10:12:00.002-04:00

Wow, friends.

I am lucky to be able to update this while I am away, and it must be short.
The trip is going well, we have experienced more than any of us is able to process at the moment. The country is beautiful, the people hospitable, and the churches are gracious to us.
Please continue to pray for us as our pilgrimage continues.

We love and miss our families. Thanks again for your many prayers!

Final Pre-Trip note

2009-05-25T21:58:00.003-04:00

Before we leave tomorrow, I wanted to write a quick note to say thank you for coming this far in the journey with us so far. As with all pilgrimages, there comes a point when the pilgrims have to leave their world behind to enter a new one.

Just because we are away does not mean that the ones we leave behind are forgotten. As you can imagine, our hearts and minds will often if not continually be with our families and closest friends. We hope that similarly, we will not be forgotten by you over the next few weeks, but that your prayers will increase for us. Maybe even become a part of your daily prayer time.

Since we are uncertain of our ability to access the Internet, there is a chance that this could be our last entry until we return. However, check back periodically as it would be a joy to update you from the journey if possible.

Ciao!

The Schedule

2009-05-23T09:41:00.003-04:00

Well, we are just a few days away from departure. In some ways I think the holiday weekend fell nicely for those of us who are worried about leaving family behind. One extra day to be together is truly priceless.

All team members are a go for the trip. And asking for your continual prayers. There is much we are going to learn, do and see over the next few weeks; without God's guidance I fear there is much we could miss.

Here is a sketch of our trip, so you can know how to pray each day. In each place, there are cathedrals, churches, missionaries, and other Christian movements that we will be visiting and engaging.

Tuesday May 26 - Newark to Rome
Wednesday May 27 - Rome
Thursday May 28 - Vatican & St. John's Lateran
Friday May 29 - Florence
Saturday May 30 - Train to Palermo (12 hours)
Sunday May 31 - Worship with Sicilian Mennonite community
Monday June 1 - Palermo
Tuesday June 2 - Agrigento
Wednesday June 3 - Cefalu
Thursday June 4 - Palermo to Rome
Friday June 5 - Rome to Newark

A Prayer for Pilgrims

2009-05-05T22:12:00.007-04:00

This is a prayer from a book we are reading in preparation for our trip. The book is called "The Road to Emmaus: Pilgrimage as a Way of LIFE" by Jim Forest.

As we prepare for this trip, we have been encouraged to meditate on this prayer. I want to invite you to do the same. When you do (once, twice, or more) come back here and share what you think, or maybe even some God is revealing to you through the prayer.

Lord Jesus, you traveled with the two disciples to Emmaus after the resurrection and set their hearts of fire with your grace. Travel also with me and gladden my heart with your presence.

I know, Lord, that I am a pilgrim on earth, seeking citizenship in heaven.

During my journey surround me with your holy angels and keep me safe from seen and unseen dangers.

Grant that I may carry out my plans and fulfill my expectations according to your will.

Help me to see the beauty of creation and to comprehend the wonder of your truth in all things.

For you are the way, the truth, and the life, and to you I give thanks, praise, and glory forever.

Amen.

Graduation

2009-05-05T20:12:00.003-04:00

I know this is dedicated to letting you guys know about our trip to Italy, but this past weekend was graduation. We are semi-graduates... semi, because we all still have this trip in front of us.

The good news is... every one of our team members has his/her sights clearly set on this trip. We are committed fully to the preparation of ourselves physically, mentally, and spiritually.

We are 3 weeks away, and we are needing your prayer support to be in full swing if you haven't already begun to do so.

This is a picture of our cohort a graduation. (minus Joe, he was out the door!)

Welcome!

2009-04-22T17:46:00.002-04:00

Wow, within the past week, a number of people have been invited to visit this website to find out more about the "Pilgrimage to Italy" adventure.

For those of you who might be new to the website, let me say thank you for coming and I hope you enjoy reading and commenting on this page as our cohort prepares and travels to italy in just about 1 month.

Hopefully, you will also be seeing some more frequent posting, as well as an updated sidebar, including some fellow team members names and prayer requests.

Praying for Italians.

2009-04-07T20:57:00.003-04:00

As I am sure many of you know, Italy has been hit hard this week with an earthquake.

In the words of our trip coordinator... "I invite you to consider a prayer of safety, mercy and grace as the country and the region near L'Acquila faces a long road to recovery." As we pray for the Italians, I want to invite you to do the same.

As I am sure you have noticed, I often use the BBC as an international news source. I will try to keep you updated on what is happening in Italy as this event continues to play out... but if you want to find information yourself, check http://www.bbc.co.uk/topics/italy.

Halfway!

2009-03-31T09:38:00.003-04:00

I just got word from our trip coordinator that financially, we are halfway to our class goal for our trip.

Exciting Times!

Fighting for Freedom

2009-03-24T13:54:00.002-04:00

I was reading an article this past week from the BBC, I was reading it for one reason... because it concerns Italy, and I am trying to keep up on current events in that area while preparing for this trip. But I found myself intrigued by the article for another reason... because in it, there are people fighting for freedom.

Freedom has been the cry of the church since the beginning. Freedom is at the core of who we are as Christians. In Galatians 5, Paul speaks of freedom in very unique ways, but in the end he says that we have been set free so that we can live in step with the spirit, and as such we will produce a life that there is no law against... a life marked by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control.

The Italians are right now involved in a fight for freedom. I am wondering what the role of Christians looks like in this very unique fight.

Check out this article and let me know if you have any thoughts of how the Church, being Christ's representative on earth should engage in this specific fight for freedom.

Italians Versus Mafia

Praising God

2009-03-03T18:13:00.002-05:00

We are sitting in class tonight talking about this experience for a few minutes.

The GREAT news is that we as a class has raised One-Third of the finances that we need to go on this trip at this point. (Personally, I am on par with the overall class as well).

I know that the financial scene of many people, our country as a whole, and from the sounds of it... the world, is not pretty. And I cannot say thank you enough to the many of you who have made sacrifices to invest in me and my Cohort team.

I am praising God and thanking you all at the same time.

Money problems!

2009-02-26T13:19:00.003-05:00

Alright, so this might not be so much about our trip in particular, but I thought it was an interesting tid-bit on our current American culture especially the economy.

I wonder if this is the message that our culture needs to be hearing from our churches. Its pretty intersting to study what Jesus says about money... Luke was pretty interested in the topic if you want to check it out.

But instead of the church, this comes from a rather unlikely finanical advisors. (Note that this is not the source I generally take financial advice from, but they seem to be on to something.)

Enjoy this short clip: Don't Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford!

Firefighters

2009-02-21T20:05:00.002-05:00

I don't do a lot of "blogging" nor do I look through a lot of "blogs."

Through the advice of a classmate, however, I was reading a blog about a week ago that originates from a local guy. He had just posted some thoughts about Firefighters & how they are a good metaphor for the church.

I can't stop thinking about the analogy as it is quite thought provoking on the role of the church in the local community. Since, this is part of the idea behind the type of mission trip we are taking, I wondered if you guys would want to be challenged by it as well.

Check it out, and feel free to let me know what you think.

http://www.jrbriggs.com/missional-outposts-7/02/

Preparation - HELP!

2009-02-05T15:06:00.004-05:00

The start of February means that we are less than 4 months away from our trip.

Many of you who I have asked to be a part of this journey with me have been extensively involved in missions for many years. Some of you as career missionaries, others serving on leadership boards for missions organizations, some short term missionaries, and others have supported global missions virtually as a career.

If there is only 4 months before our journey, from your experience what would you recommend as appropriate personal preparation for the road ahead? How do you prepare?

Culture Shift? & the Inauguration Speech

2009-01-22T09:22:00.006-05:00

Maybe you have heard people talking about a culture shift, maybe the letter you received from me about my trip is the first time you have ever heard anyone using language like that.

Either way, I was struck by some of the words of our new president in his inaugural speech, because of how similar they are to the discussions that are happening in many different disciplines of study concerning our shifting culture.

And I think this President has captured the hearts of many young people because he is speaking a language that makes sense to them. Here is how he part of the task that is before his administration.

"What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. Those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government."

Do you hear it... A shift has occurred, and the arguments that have stalemated our government (i.e. big vs. small government, democrat vs. republican) are no longer the pressing issues, and that by continuing to dwell on these issues the government has lost the trust of her people.

In essence, he is asking for people to put aside some of the most important things in their entire political career... why? For the sake of the American people. But isn't that what the arguments were about... taking care of her people? Sure, they were. But because the arguments are so divisive, moving forward has stalled because both sides want so badly to prove they are right. In the meantime, trust has been slowly eroding because public opinion is that the government is not acting in the best interests of her people.

Right about now, some people reading this are fuming because they are firmly entrenched in the arguments of policy and have strong feelings and long term investments in these arguments.

While on the other side, many people see this President as a figure of hope, because of his pronounced detachment from the argument, so that the interests of the people can be addressed.

My intention in this post is not politics, nor is it meant as an endorsement or in opposition of our new president. What I am hoping to do is simply articulate what I hear in this portion of the presidents speech. A clear articulation of a shifting culture... and his solution to move forward: Unity is more important than winning the argument!

In Christian circles there are plenty of people crying out for a similar solution to the divisiveness that plagues "the Church." The argument follows the same pattern as the one above.

Different Church Parties (denominations,etc), have become so focused on being right in regards to divisive issues, that the church is no longer acting in the best interests of the Gospel.

For example, an issue like "Can a believer lose his/her salvation?" Answers that divide us vary from: Yes to No to Maybe, and all the answers have fairly good arguments from scripture for why they are right. And this argument, in particular, has created numerous divisions in the church.

Sadly, it seems that these division have hindered the progress of the Gospel. While churches have been concerned about getting the answer right, the world is looking back at the church and calling her irrelevant as this issue is not relevant to the needs of our culture. And what is the need of our culture... The gospel. So, inside the church, you are beginning to hear a similar plea for Unity as you hear President Obama's speech.

As a part of this Pilgrimage to Italy we are hoping to learn how to embrace unity centered in the common vision to advance the Gospel in our rapidly shifting culture.

Your Thoughts?

Preparation

2009-01-09T11:08:00.002-05:00

One of the ways we are preparing for this trip is by reading together.

There are 4 books that we are going to read before we embark on our actual trip. The first is, "Exiles: Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture." by Michael Frost.

I am currently reading it and will make some comments about it soon. If you have read the book or if you want to grab it and give it a read, I want to invite you to post your thoughts/comments below. Maybe we can learn something together?

The other thing I have found to be helpful is that many websites that you can purchase books online from acually provide an exerpt to give you a feel for the book like this one found at Amazon.com. Maybe that will be enough to spark some ideas you wanna post, or even better... encourage you to read it with me!

Why Pilgrimage?

2009-01-09T10:58:00.002-05:00

It's an interesting word, and one that isn't used much in our current cultural context.

Generally, when we hear "pilgrim" with think of thanksgiving and those funny hats with the buckles on the front.

Our class chose to not only refer to this trip as a Pilgrimage, but also named our cohort by the same name almost 2 years ago.

At its core, the word, pilgrimage refers to a trip, generally a long trip taken for religious purposes. For our class, this is the way we have viewed our seminary experience, as a trip or a journey.

None of us wanted to simply have more information in our heads at graduation time, we wanted to be different people, more Godly men and women, more spiritually attuned leaders, better equipped students and teachers. A classroom wasn't going to be sufficient to accomplish these goals... so we committed to taking a journey together. Similarly, we have made the same commitments for this trip we are taking to Italy. Our prayer is that God may use this experience to transform our lives as we bring our seminary experience to a close.

In many ways, we are asking you to take this journey with us... hopefully this blog helps you feel a part of this Pilgrimage.