ciao, italia!!!

So Rome was amazing in all of the ways that we expected it to be, and also in some smaller ways. There is the monumental ruins of a still impressive Roman civilization, the pomp and granduer of the historic Papacy, and the picturesque peace of the fountains and piazzas where artists still sit and sell paintings ( as they paint them) as they have done for hundreds of years. We loved the streets and buildings of Rome, and were humbled by the tour of the Christian catacombs, just outside of Rome. Its hard not to be awed by Rome, old and new, and we count ourselves lucky to be one of the millions who have experienced it. Also, our whole trp could be considered a tour of Rome, since at no time in our travels from Cairo, to Jerusalem, to Istandul, to Athens, to London (we will stop there for a 12 hour layover and pop over to Big Ben), were we ever outside the reaches of historic Rome. It makes it all the more amazing to think of a group of dedicated men from a small jewish area that took on the power of Rome and eventually won by losing thier lives for a message worth living and dying for.

We are excited about heading home: First stop: DFW, where we have some exit counseling with Mission Resource Network and some visits with friends, then Tulsa to visit family and say hello to our Park Plaza family, and then Nashville, where we are moving back to.

Thanks for your prayers and love-

TJ and Holly