Tuesday: Understanding

When we first arrived in Turin we were told that there is a lot of spiritual warfare that goes on here because of the occult worship that goes on here. There is even a statue of satan, the dark angel within the city. I half expected to feel this presence and half expected not to.

Today, I understood what they meant by that. In the morning, we went to breakfast and then spent some time planning the day. We were rushing around, trying to make time for food, planning, and time together as a team. It felt pretty overwhelming and more like a whirlwind. When we were able to meet as a team, I just felt like all I wanted to do was to go and be alone and pray; I definitely did not want to be in community. It was really hard to focus, I had a hardened heart towards the people and it was really for no reason at all.

At the end of the time, I withdrew from the group to go pray over the chairs of the people that I knew would be coming. Candice asked me if I was okay and I said yes. I was okay, I just didn't want to be around people.

English clubs definitely refreshed me. Rudy and I taught the music, entertainment, and sports vocab and idioms. At the end of the first half, we had Entertainment Afternoon and had our students perform. It was really awesome!! And a ton of fun. The second half of the day, we talked about our talents and whether or not they are a gift. Many people said they were from God but some disagreed. It was really cool to see one particular student go from not wanting to have anything to do with a biblical discussion to actually reading a verse from the bible! Totally a change in heart! And only a work The Lord could have done.

We had a really incredible discussion about the final question, "Why do we tend to worship the creation rather than the creator?" Domani had a really beautiful answer when he said that the creation cannot exist without the creator; they exist in the same space. It was really cool because its so true! Hello! God exists in his creation. You can't worship his creation, you must worship the one who created it.

Well. After dinner, we went to get gelato because none of us were hungry. So we walked all around the city since the first place we went to was closed. We went to a place called Grom. I got the flavors Baccio and Crema di Grom. They were fantastic! Erin and I danced to some jazz music that two guys were playing on the streets on the way there. It was a fun time. The Chinese students came with us.

After that we went home and started getting ready for bed and for the next day. I told Rudy that I felt what they were talking about with spiritual oppression. I also got to talk to Mike for a while which was so nice.

I feel so blessed to be here and to do this work. I'm excited to continue to see what God will do.