Well, family - I am ridiculously and undeservedly blessed. As I'm sure most of you know by now, I was accepted to the summer session at the American Academy in Rome. That will be from June 22-July 31ths, and will consist of making all sorts of trips all over Italy to see the material remains of Rome. It's going to be wonderful. Well, in ADDITION to that, one of my professors, Bronwen Wikkiser, has asked me to be her TA for the Maymester program she's teaching of Ancient Religion - in Greece! The program will consist of two weeks in Athens seeing the sights, and two weeks traveling all over the Peloponnese. Needless to say, I'm going! What is so great about this opportunity is that she is quite open to see me try my hand at lecturing if I want. And there will be quite a bit of material on early Christianity in the program. The interplay between Judaism and Christianity with the Greco-Roman world has really become the focus of my independent work this year, so it will be great for me. And a trip to Greece on Vandy's bill isn't so bad either. Bronwen really just wants someone to help the students feel comfortable in Athens - finding their way around, finding restaurants, banks, etc. - and someone to lead discussions. Leading discussions is a strong suit, as is having a lot of fun while traveling! :) I'm just so excited.
And while I'm not happy about two and a half months away from Daniel this summer, I am encouraged by the fact that he's so very genuinely excited for me and appreciates how unique these opportunities are. So I'll be gone the month of May, coming back to TN around June 1st, then Daniel and I will turn right back around to fly to Paris on the 3rd. We'll travel until my program starts on June 22nd. Brief itinerary:
June 4th (our one year anniversary!!!!) - 9th: Paris
June 9th - 12th: Innsbruck
June 12th - 16th: Vienna (with a day trip to Prague, methinks)
June 16th - 19th: Venice
June 19th - 21st: Rome
Daniel will leave on the 21st to go home. Then he has about two weeks before he leaves for Ukraine. He'll be going with a team from our church, Midtown Fellowship, to help out with Christian camps organized by Radooga Ministries. Our church has gone to Ukraine twice before, and last summer (the second trip), Radooga asked the team if they would be willing to put on a camp for an orphanage, and it was a great success. So this year's team will be doing the same thing. I would ask you all to pray along with us that Midtown's team gets permission to return to the orphanage they went to last year. The founder of Radooga, Oleg Vasilevsky, desperately wants to see consistency and follow-up in their orphanage programs. The gospel message is clearly presented, and they have many children come to know Christ, and he has a heart to see discipleship in these children's lives as well. So let's pray for these children - they told Daniel he wold be working with ages 10-17 - that those who don't know Christ yet would have hearts open to the gospel, and that those who have accepted Christ would be see the need for a growing, continuing relationship with Christ post-camp! And let's pray for strength and encouragement for Daniel. The team has very few men, so they were thrilled when Daniel decided to go. The team will have just tons of one-on-one time with the kids, and they are wonderfully supported by English translators. It's gonna be a great time, I think! I'm sad I can't go, but I have a feeling we might both be there next summer. :)
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