Missionary Conference

The second weekend in May we went to Avellino to attend a conference involving VMM missionaries from the Mediterranean.   There were missionaries there from Italy, Albania, and Montenegro, as well as a local Italian pastor and his wife.  We thoroughly enjoyed the fellowship, food, and spiritual refreshment during the sessions.  We had as a speaker a former Italian missionary, whose wife had been a missionary in France.  We had fantastic food all weekend and were able to relax and all speak English, which was very nice for those of us trying to learn new languages.  We had the opportunity to swap stories and even a day to go sightseeing.  The hotel was located up in the mountains, not far from a local sanctuary.  The view was incredible.  One of the missionaries in our group did find a little surprise in his shower when he checked in though, a small black scorpion.  He was very calm about it and alerted the hotel management after snapping a couple pictures.  Glad it wasn’t me or everyone would have heard the yell.

Our speak gave advice from the book of First Peter which was encouraging and relevant to working in ministry. Each person also had a chance to share about their ministry and where they were working.  It was neat to see how God is working in other areas of the Mediterranean.  We also had a chance to recognize a couple who was returning to the US after 10 years in Italy.  They will definitely be in a stage of transition.  We finished the weekend relaxed and refreshed.      (Pictures include: the tilted glasses at our table for dinner,  me working the projector for the songs, the terrace outside the hotel, the musicians, recognition of 10 years of service, fun in the hotel garden, one of the mirrored columns in our meeting room, and our presentation – complete with hand motions.)