Pictures from Florence

07.03.25 Italy Vision Trip

We're back from Florence! We had a great time getting a taste of ministry in Florence and seeing Italy. We visited three of the different campuses of the university in Florence (the departments are separated into different campuses, called Faculties), Engineering, Architecture, and Novoli, the Law campus. Novoli was the nicest campus, architecture the coolest, but at engineering students were the most open to talking.

One of the best parts of the trip for me was the time I spent with Gary Runn, the campus director and national director of development, and the Stint team. Because they are all in the same place I was while in East Asia in terms of having to make a decision about what to do after this year is up, it was encouraging to me and to them to be able to talk about their options and what the decision process was like for me. I told them all at the end that while my heart still beat for Asia, it had grown room for Italy too! You can see some of it for yourself by checking out some of my pictures from the trip by clicking on the picture above.

Vive Firenze!

Two students and I are leaving for Florence, Italy tomorrow! We'll be there for a week helping the long term staff in the city with ministry on the University of Florence campus. It should be a great time to encourage the staff there, to get a taste of the ministry, and to gain vision for how God could use Oklahoma Catalytic staff and students to help reach Italian students in Florence for Jesus. Please pray for safe and smooth travel and transition into Florence, for energy and dependence on God to work through us, and for the two students, Brad and Becky, to grow and be equipped to share their faith and have a global perspective for the rest of their lives.

Also, the rest of my team will be going to New Orleans to continue the relief work down there. There will be hundreds of students from across the country there to help, both those that know Christ and those that don't. Please pray for God to use this week to bring healing and restoration to the city and people of New Orleans and growth in following Jesus in the lives of those involved.

"Back to you Steve..."

Last week our students at SWOSU had an opportunity to be part of a video conference with Campus Crusade for Christ president Dr. Steve Douglas, the national campus director Mark Gauthier, and several others from the national office. It was an invitation to and informational for considering a future with Campus Crusade. It was as good as video conferences can be. There were three other campuses that were in on the video conference, so it was great to for our students to see other students just like them. It was also an incredible opportunity for them to hear from and interact with Dr. Douglas and others from the national level leadership. At one point, Dr. Douglas really got going as he was giving vision for what God is doing in the world and how students could be a part of that. It was awesome! One of the humorous aspects of the time was when Dr. Douglas got something in his throat as he was speaking and had to pass it off to someone else, who did an amazing on-the-spot job of covering for him for a minute, before passing it back over with a "Back to you Steve." It was just like News at 5!

Also, this weekend I somehow lined myself up for a part in an evangelism training time at SWOSU, as speaker for their Monday night meeting, and as the point person for our team's trip to Chickasha that Monday to launch a new ministry at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. It was quite a weekend, but I think that everything went well. We made a few contacts with some students, a member of the school's administration, and one guy from a church that is seeking to minister on campus. Please pray that the Lord would use these contacts directly or indirectly to start a spiritual movement to reach the entire campus so that everyone would know someone who follows Jesus!