The shade of chaos once again tinges Rome’s aura as people return from vacations and schedules steadily fill. There is a lot going on in this season for both individuals and groups. Here are my Top 5 Current Events for my Rome City Team.
- Team growth with new staff and interns. Heather returned last week to work long-term in a variety of our ministries, including English! I’m so grateful for her friendship, wisdom, and hard work. Next is Esther, who arrives in two weeks and will work with our community’s initiative connected to helping the women enslaved by trafficking and prostitution.
- Speaking of combatting this human trade system, the EU Anti-Trafficking Day occurs mid-October, shortly preceded by a religiously affiliated Freedom Sunday (creators of this post’s video). Italy has the highest number of trafficking victims in the European Union, but it is not a particularly large country. From 2013, the number of sex and labor slaves has seen an increase of about 750% to 50,000 people. (I would link the article, but it’s in Italian).
- Awareness is a great step towards change. Conversations are a great step towards awareness. My team and I focus much energy on growing relationships and engaging these difficult topics. As I meet new people and reconnect with returning friends, this and many other meaningful topics are being addressed instead of sidestepped. The power of taboo cannot be allowed toovercome truth and justice.
- Jesus modeled working within a community when seeking justice. Knowing the vitality of a strong and active church, ReachGlobal has a "Church Multiplication Institute" weeklong training. Developing, empowering, and releasing local believers is essential to our mission! Most of the team, myself included, will go to be equipped through these discussions towards the beginning of October.
- Traveling for a week will briefly interrupt my teaching schedule. I’m continuing to collaborate with various groups to offer classes and meeting with individuals for conversations. However, one of our partnering churches is still looking for the desired number of teachers. Please pray for people to substitute for my absence at the conference, as well as semester-long volunteers!