Today Paul, Jason, Grace and Cortney went to the engineering school close to our house to help the Gruppo Biblici Universitari do a survey. The GBU is campus ministry and for information on what they do you can visit http://www.gbuitalia.org.

The survey was 5 questions about Easter, who they believe Jesus to be, do they believe in an after life, and what is the reason for Easter.

What was my part? I baked cookies for them to hand out, thinking the students will see the cookies, stop to get a cookies, and while eating the cookie fill out a survey. I don’t think that’s how it went down. I’m pretty sure that most of the cookies were eaten by the people handing out the surveys. The Italians did not care one iota about those free cookies. That means more for Paul I guess.

Anyway, back to the actual survey. Sixty-seven surveys got filled out, which is great. The responses are varied. There are lots of students who do not believe in God, an afterlife, or that Jesus is the Son of God. However there are lots of students who do believe all those things and who seem interested in learning more. The GBU leaders got all the students emails and hopefully will be able to make some contacts and share more about Christ.

Saturday was a very nice day….at least it started out nice. Very sunny and warm. Paul had cabin fever and asked if I would call Cortney or Ellie and Kala to see what they were doing. They already had plans to go to Pozzuoli and they graciously said we could tag along. For those who don’t know Pozzuoli is also known as Puteoli. Look it up in Acts and you’ll find it is where the apostle Paul spent seven days before heading up to Rome to stand before Cesar. Pretty cool stuff.

Inside the amphitheater (aka coliseum)

La quattro amigas (Yes that’s Spanish and Italian)

The photographers. All four have fancy cameras. Of course you can’t see Paul’s because I had to use it to take the picture .

I think the lighting in this is just beautiful. Does that sound like I know something about photography?? ‘Cause I don’t.

Me and Coolness.

Last week we had the opportunity to have several people in our home. Last Monday our friends Marta and Nicola came over for hamburgers. Marta is the daughter of a pastor here in Naples. We had a great time talking about music (Nicola plays the violin of the symphony at the big opera theater here), getting married, and bible study.

Friday Patrizio and Jennifer Zuchetto and their three children over for coffee and dessert, although nobody drank coffee. The dessert however was quite yummy. Patrizio is a local pastor. He and Jennifer, who is from Ireland, met when she was here on a mission trip around 13 years ago. Again, we had a great time getting to know them and learning more about what they do.

The youngest Zuchetto, Lydia, holding Lily.

I am obsessed with The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond. She’s a cooking, photo-taking, fun-loving, homeschooling, wife of a rancher, and mother of four who has an amazing cooking blog, and if you haven’t experienced her greatness then you should go to http://www.thepioneerwoman.com. She has saved me from many a night when I didn’t know what I would cook. She also has give-aways, which I love but never, ever win because over 30,000 people enter the things. Today she is having yet another give-away of three Le Creuset 9-Quart Round Dutch Ovens, which I really want. To enter you have to tell if you are where you thought you’d be in your life. Desiring a Le Creuset 9-Quart Round Dutch Oven, I entered. And that got me to thinking…

Am I where I thought I’d be when I was 18 or 22 or even 24? Not at all.

I don’t know if I can even remember what I wanted my life to be when I was younger. I do remember wanting to be married when I graduated from college and having all my kids by 30 or so. Well, neither of those happened, and I’m glad. My life is so much more than I could have ever dreamed it could be. Looking back at how God has guided me on this path called life I am so thankful for the things that didn’t work out or happen as I wanted them to. My life is great, perfect for me, and filled with trust and peace in my God, knowing that He will guide me in every step.

Part of our job is to make partnerships with existing churches and evangelical groups in and around Naples. This past month Paul has been traveling and meeting some great men who are part of a core group of leaders from different groups or churches in the city who are focused on evangelism and outreach.

Last Saturday he met the leaders from the university ministry and on Thursday he and Cortney and Grace will be helping pass out bibles at the university. This is a great connection because Cortney and Grace are working with university students.

Paul also met a man named Patrizio who goes to a church fairly close to our house. He and his family are doing great work in the city and seem excited to work with us.

This Saturday there is a meeting of the group called Generazione senza confini (generation without limits). They will be showing videos of Nicola Legrottaglie, a Christian soccer player, and Natalie Cole, along with several others. What’s the message going to be about? Heaven or hell.

So what does all this mean? It means that we are not alone in Naples. It means that we can work with other people to reach more people. It means there are more people thinking of ways to help Neopolitans. It means that there is great work happening in Naples.

There is a new way for you to be involved in the ministries of different missionaries around Europe. All you have to do is go to http://imbeurope.org/explore/ and a list of different needs that missionaries in Europe have will be listed. If you happen to see something that you would be interested in helping out with for our team you can email us at paulandmackenzie@gmail.com. If it is a need for one of our teammates, we’ll pass along the message and your email. Thanks.

This is the sign that was on the door of our stairway Monday morning. What does it say?? It says that on March 2 between 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. the priest from the Catholic church next to our house will be visiting the families in our apartment complex to give them an Easter blessing.

We politely declined.

It’s warming up and spring is well on it’s way. What does that mean? It means the Davidson’s all get colds.

This was what last week and the first part of this week looked like. All three of us were making use of our new respirator.

I was feeling better and decided to dust with the greatest invention ever…the Swiffer duster. I mean, really, it is GREAT! I don’t mind dusting now. I look for things with dust! Dust bunnies, beware!

My ballerina pose with the Swiffer Duster. Seriously, go buy one. You will not be sorry.