Roman Roads

Rome is the last stop that we make on BCC before returning to Switzerland. While we are there, we study the book of Romans, my favorite New Testament book to study.

As a class, we spend a day touring the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, learning a lot about the history and culture of ancient Rome and thus getting some context for a lot of what we read in the New Testament. We had a free evening and I realized that last time I was in Rome, I didn’t get a chance to see it at night, so I decided to stay back with a little group of the students. We walked to Gelateria Della Palma, the gelato shop with 150 flavors to pick from, and we enjoyed it, sitting on the fountain in front of the Pantheon. After dark, we went to the Spanish steps, the Trevi fountain, and the Colosseum again, before returning to our campground. The Trevi fountain is beautiful during the day, for sure, but it is stunning in a new way at night. The warm but powerful lighting makes it more dramatic and romantic, in a way. The light reflects off of the water and projects its rippling movements back up on the sharp rocks and the sculpture of Poseidon, the rushing horses, and the mythical men of the sea.

The Colosseum, as well, has a totally different feel to it at night: something extra glamorous about it, but also serene. To simply sit on the wall nearby, with the view of it, puts a feeling of contentment in my heart.

We may have missed our stop on the bus, so we had to wait for about a full hour for it to make its return route to stop at our place again. We were the only ones on the bus and it was around midnight so we tried to just laugh about it and ended up singing at the top of our lungs and dancing around, which was probably very annoying for the driver, but oh well. We got back to our camp around 1:30am which was a bit later than the 9 or 10 that we had planned on, but what can you do?

Studying Romans was my favorite as a student and it was my favorite, again, as a staff. It has completely redefined the gospel for me and brings the Bible together, full circle, so well, illustrating the relationship between God and Man so beautifully. It is a masterfully written rhetoric, as well, making it a fabulous read.

Everyone had the final day off and we ended it with an awesome worship session, thanking God for everything he had done for us throughout the whole school up to this point and affirming one another.

Then it was time to return to Switzerland! In the last weeks, we studied the book of Revelation and the students all wrote their topical papers. This is, I think, one of the best parts of the school. Students get to pick a topic that they are passionate about; either a character study, a word study, a concept study, or a world issue study. Using the inductive method, they write a research paper and create a presentation for part of the YWAM Lausanne community. It was such a joy to be able to read and grade all of this work, as I could see the passion and the greater understanding that everyone had acquired over the course of this school. All of my one-on-ones felt very happy about how far they had come and the new beauties that they had found in God and in his story, and this left my heart feeling more fulfilled than anything else.

They graduated on the 26th, and departed on the next day, all excited for the next steps in their lives.

I spent transition week here, preparing the base, practically, for the next quarter, and I am currently taking the Foundations for Counseling Ministry school, as a student. It will be really good, I think, to dedicate a few months just to learning more and equipping myself further for long term missions. I have a passion for helping people who are hurting or who have been given up on, by others or by themselves. I want to learn more about how to do this in a Godly way.

I am, honestly, very in need of sponsorship right now, so if you have any interest in being a part of what I’m doing, you can message me to join my newsletter list and to donate you can go to this page. As always, it is greatly appreciated. I am so grateful for all of the support I receive, whether you are sponsoring me or even just reading what I write.

Thank you for reading!

-- Emily Kathey

#travel #bible #spiritual #rome #italy #europe