We got a late start this morning. Maybe it was because we walked around until after midnight looking for a nightclub, bar, or pub to hang out in. That’s what the church planting team here does, by the way. They meet people and spend time with friends in these “third spaces” throughout the city. We didn’t have any luck, though- the places we tried were either full, closed, or pretending to be so the loud and obnoxious group of Americans would just go away.
We went to the Vatican. For those who may not know, Vatican City is technically not a part of Rome, though it’s in the center of the city. It is the center of the Catholic universe, and home to the largest Catholic church in the world, St. Peter’s Basilica. It’s a beautiful building, if a bit intimidating.
We waded through a sea of shops selling Pope-themed trinkets; everything from John Paul II ties to Benedict snowglobes. We ate a quick lunch (pizza, what else?) and split up for the afternoon. We met up with Kyle Anderson, a friend of the Collective who leads student trips to Europe through Joshua Expeditions.It was great of her to take the time to race across town just to meet us for a few minutes. We look forward to working with her in the future.
We were booked on an overnight train to Marseille, so we met at the Termini train station at 5:00. Poor Steve Miller has been very sick, so he was sprawled out on the floor waiting for our train to arrive. He had just fallen asleep when a police officer walked by, “nudging” Steve with his foot in oder to get us to get up off the floor. “Pastor Kicked by Italian Police Officer” would have been a great title for this post.
The train ride was, well, long. Luckily, we had sleeper cars, each complete with six beds and large picture windows. We shot a video with Ed Stetzer interviewing Rick Gibson in that little room. It was tight, but the backdrop was an amazing sunset over the Italian countryside.
As we trundled away from Rome, we tried to process all that we had seen and heard about ministry there. I’m not sure we left with any solutions, but I know we all saw the tremendous spiritual need there. Please join us in praying that God would provide access into the community there and that His church would be built there.
