Thank you all for your patience as I have been preparing this quarter’s newsletter! God has been so faithful in the last few months, and I'm so excited to share all the things He’s been doing through our base!

In the beginning of June, we finished the lecture week of our first ever Missions Experience and sent two teams on outreach to Rome and Albania. Missions Experience is a school that was birthed while our base was interceding for ways to offer Italians a more affordable missions training course. The cost of a DTS is one of the primary factors that causes disinterest. Missions Experience (MEx) is a two-week school that consists of a week of intense training that teaches the heart and values of being a missionary while giving students skills to help share the Gospel. After the training, they split into teams and spend a week spreading the good news to the nations.

We had ten students from Italy and other nations who had their lives transformed during the MEx! It was amazing to see how much God can do in just one week! After everyone "caught the fire" of the Gospel, they went out, determined to share the life they had through Christ. The reports from outreach were incredible! The team in Rome happened to be there during the Year of Jubilee

celebration, so the city was full of people who were searching for hope. This opened the door for many evangelism opportunities! The Albanian team did ministry with a kids camp and lots of street evangelism, but most importantly, all the students caught a heart for sharing The Gospel! We even had one of the Italian students submit an application for our Discipleship Training School! We really see this Missions Experience as a great success for the Kingdom, and I can’t wait to see how God continues to use this new event in the future.

While the MEx was finishing up, I finally made time to get some much-needed dental work done. A friend helped me find a very affordable dentist in Croatia. It took three days to get all the work done, but I got to spend some good quality time with my Aunt Eva who lives on the east border of Italy.

To end the month, I went with a small team to scout out the hosting cities for the coming Winter Olympics that will be happening here in Northern Italy! We prayed and drove through many local villages looking for contacts and potential ministry opportunities in each spot. There are many ministry groups that want to be present at the Winter Olympics this year, and we want to do our best to help them coordinate.

I started July off with a trip to Ukraine. One of my good friends and former base leaders, Johan, was invited to teach at a Family DTS that was running in YWAM Lutsk. This was one of the first DTS’s to run in years. He was teaching the final week of the DTS before graduation, which we call the “Debrief & Reentry Week”—this is the week we teach the students how to take everything they’ve learned and apply it to life after DTS. The reason I joined my friend Johan was because we both thought this could be a good opportunity for me to get a taste of the Guest Speaker side of YWAM. This was a very growing experience for me for a few reasons. The first reason was because I wasn’t sure how I would do debriefing a school I hadn’t met before. The second was because I was in a country that was actively being invaded by Russia! The Ukrainian people were traumatized, lonely, hurt, and hopeless. It was very eye-opening for me to see firsthand how war can impact a culture after a few years. It was truly heartbreaking. I can see that it will take years even after the war is over to fully heal from the trauma. After we arrived, Johan and I realized that the students needed more than what we could offer on our own in a one-week teaching. Luckily, we weren’t alone! The Holy Spirit was so faithful to guide us as we taught that week! I felt so blessed to be used as one of the steps on the path of healing God has each of the students on. After we finished teaching, Johan needed to go back to his wife and kids that were waiting for him,

but I decided to stay a couple of extra days to spend some time with my new friends and attend the graduation celebration with the students. I have a big place in my heart for the Ukrainian people and I pray that the Lord will give me more opportunities to reach these people.

A couple of days after returning from Ukraine, we started our yearly Kingdom Camp in partnership with Life Share. During this camp, we spent a week with over 30 Italians from all over Italy. We prayed and worshiped together, we ate good food, played games, and had workshops. Our workshop included topics like: healthy families, relationships, creating with God, sports ministry, inner healing, etc. This year, I got to teach about how to see God's character in nature. This was right up my alley and I had so much fun! We had many people return from last year and also saw lots of new faces. The fruit from this camp grows more and more each year!

Soon after we finished the Kingdom Camp, I was already packing my bags for the next event, the Western Europe DTS Staff Gathering! This was a gathering where DTS staff from bases all over Western Europe meet in one place to pray, encourage, train, and worship together. A group of 11 staff from our base went this year, and we had a great time meeting people and hearing about all the awesome things God is doing throughout Europe as we united ourselves in one mission to reach the lost.

To start September, YWAM Trentino decided to have our staff retreat. This was an important time of celebration as we look at what God has done in the last year. We also take time to seek the Lord together as we make important changes to keep unity and vision for the next year of schools. One of those important changes was one of our base leaders stepping down from his position in the base so he could prioritize his love for teaching the bible and his relationship with his wife and kids. We also welcomed three new staff: Julia, Eric, and Tina to our team.

One week after Staff Retreat, my parents and brothers arrived in Venice to visit me! They were here in Italy for two weeks. The first week was spent exploring the place I now call home and meeting all the people I work and live with here in Arco. We also had a wonderful time exploring the beautiful

Italian Dolomites and marking that off my parents' bucket list. We spent the second week celebrating my Aunt Eva’s 50th birthday in Trieste and Croatia where we enjoyed amazing food and made many fun memories together. Click this link to see a little recap video I made of this time.

After my family left, the whole base kicked into gear as we prepared to welcome 16 students into our 2025 Trailblazer DTS. Though I myself and many other staff aren’t technically DTS Staff for this school, we are all very involved to different capacities. Whether it’s meal planning, teaching, grocery shopping, or cooking. There are many jobs to be done to keep our base running smoothly. I get the special privilege of being one of the students' one-on-ones for this school, and I’m very excited to walk alongside this young man as he allows God to transform his life.