Italy: Stepping into Discomfort

Ashley Howell
Sep 17, 2016
2 min read

Hello! Nathan and Ashley here! We are very excited to share our FIRST blog post with you :)

Some of you may be wondering, how did ya'll decide to go to Italy. Well, it was a long process! We both attended Harding University which advertises the Avanti Italia program and other similar programs! Nathan and I have been on mission trips separately and together. We love working together and with other people. We obviously want to share the Gospel with those we came in contact with. Avanti Italia provided us with that opportunity. We will be sharing the Gospel with those who want to practice their conversational English... and other things!

While we are very very excited about this journey we are embarking on, it's SCARY! We have truly stepped out of our comfort zones, and into discomfort! I like the idea of "discomfort" rather than saying "I'm stepping out of comfort." It makes it seem like we are leaving something behind, which we are. We are leaving our families, our "home", everything we've ever known, to go to an unknown place with unknown people. Saying we are stepping into discomfort kinda gives me a comforting feeling (ironic right?). This discomfort means we are doing what we are suppose to be doing. As the verse on our page says,

Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! For great is the LORD, He is most worthy of praise!

That is what we are going to do. We are glorifying His name, not just because it is a command we are to do, but because God deserves praise. We are stepping out. Maybe you could even say we are radically changing our lives for Jesus. We are, but it doesn't feel that hard. We've decided that it's safer to walk with God than to be walking anywhere else without him!

We hope that you can see this is a dream of ours and we are EXCITED!!! We are so thankful for the people who are supporting us, encouraging us, and praying for us! We feel you are on this journey with us, and YOU ARE! This adventure wouldn't be possible without you :) We are able to travel 5000 miles away to spread the Word. Maybe you can't, and that's cool! But we want you on our team! As Paul says in Romans 12, we are a body of Christ. We spread His Kingdom together. If you think you'd like to be on our financial team, please look at our "Partner with Us" page or donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/28wpyj8

THANK YOU!

Ciao!

Ashley and Nathan