Bringing it all together.....

I have been trying to upload pictures of our time in the four cities whenever I have Internet access. Below is a list of links to see the pictures that I have posted.

To see where all the current and future albums are go here:
http://public.fotki.com/mcrosser/2007/

City #1: Treviso; Day One:
http://public.fotki.com/mcrosser/2007/prayersurvey-trip--/

City #1: Treviso; Day Two:
http://public.fotki.com/mcrosser/2007/prayersurvey-trip-c/

City #2: Venezia-Mestre; Day One:
http://public.fotki.com/mcrosser/2007/prayersurvey-trip---2/

City #2: Venezia-Mestre; Day Two:
http://public.fotki.com/mcrosser/2007/prayersurvey-trip---1/

City #3: Verona; Day One:
http://public.fotki.com/mcrosser/2007/prayersurvey-trip---3/

City #3: Verona; Day Two:
Coming Soon!

City #4: Parma; Day One:
Coming Soon!

City #4: Parma; Day Two:
Coming Soon!

And the Trip Goes On

We arrived in Mestre last night and checked into our hotel. I had a very interesting conversation with Mauro, who ran a newsstand. He is around 25 and thinks the mafia created the Catholic Church. He does believe though, but just doesn't go to church. Then the team went out into the city, where we saw where all the people gathered at Piazza Ferretti. Then we had dinner and as well as gelato and headed back to our hotel, where we prayed before going to bed. Mestre is the opposite in many ways of Treviso. It seems less safe, more graffiti, dirtier, the people more open and poorer (but Treviso is one of the richest in Italy, so that is not a huge thing).

This morning we headed out for surveys and prayer. After our time in Mestre we had to head to the train station to depart for Verona. There was a misunderstanding on the time for the train departure so we ended up having to practically jog with all of our luggage over a half of a mile through city streets to make out train in time. I literally took one step onto the train platform as it pulled in and a minute or so later we were on the train and on our way to Verona.

Once we got to Verona, we took a bus to our hotel and walked several streets to arrive at a great hotel, four stars, which coincidentally is the best hotel we have stayed in so far and is by far cheaper than the others ($39 per person per night). We have some time here at the hotel before we go out into the city to rest our legs and our minds. I'll write more later.

Here is another picture links...

Mestre (Day 2 - Day 1 Mestre Pictures coming later)
http://public.fotki.com/mcrosser/2007/prayersurvey-trip---1/

Download our Prayer Guide

Hey if you want to pray with us through the cities this week, download our prayer guide. View it by clicking here, http://www.thecrossers.com/gonorth/gonorthprayerguide200704.pdf. If you want to download it right click the link above and choose to "save target as" and choose somewhere on your computer where you want to store it.

Prep Work For The Prayer and Survey Trip

So, we are getting closer to the Prayer and Survey trip through the four cities we are considering for the next church plant. I have been working on the schedule and accompanying resource booklet for the participants. I am including maps of each city's downtown area (the area usually most frequented by Italians), phone numbers for emergencies, survey questions, items to consider as we walk through each city, as well as places to journal and evaluations as we leave each city. After the trip we plan on compiling the information and sharing with prayer partners and supporting churches, so that we can pray together for the city in which we will be ministering next. I will close now, so that I can get further along on the materials I am preparing.

Prayer and Survey Trip

From April 25-29, we will be leading a prayer and survey trip through the four cities that we have been researching and praying over to be the site of the upcoming church plant. Here are some tools for praying with us as we go from city to city. Thanks for your prayers as we go forward with this project. Email us if you have any questions (or comment below). mcrosser@teamexpansion.org.