Refugees. Still in Crises???

September hits with a rush of activity.  We have had some very interesting conversations with Frankfurt.  Is there still a refugee crises?  The numbers arriving are definitely down, but Italy is still saturated.  There are still needs, but not what was forecast.  Will there be a new direction?  Only time will tell.  So in the meantime, we keep working!  We have also had requests from Frankfurt:  send us your projects, today!  Send us your ideas about where you see the refugee crisis currently in Italy:  today!
It's all good.  Keeps us on our toes!

Anziano Adepoju has had a place on our blog previously.  He came over on a boat, found the church and is now a full time missionary, and has his Italian documents now!    We had him to ourselves for a few days so we took advantage of that fact and took him to Tiburtina train station to  chat with the refugees there.

You put a missionary on a metro and they can't help themselves.  A captive audience!  He gave a pass along card to this lucky guy seated next to him.

We spend lots of our days on the metro getting from one place to the next.  Thank goodness because driving in Rome in not fun at all!

At Tiburtina station, this is the camp that is run by Baobab.  These are a portion of the tents that we purchased for their guests.

I ask if I can take a picture of them....and what do they do?  They want a picture with me in it!  I think they like the idea of a picture with a white person.  Pretty funny.

This is Anziano Huntsman.  Better know to the Herways as 'grumpy boy'....but we didn't bring that up, promise.  Last time we saw him he was 4 years old.  I asked him what he remembers about Brussels.  "Nothing.  Except when our house was full of boxes and I couldn't figure out what was going on."

At the mission home, known as the Villa.  These new missionaries are fresh off the plane from the MTC.

Anziano Huntsman points to his first assignment.  So fun to watch how excited the new missionaries were to get their assignments.  Here is President Pickerd.  His wife is still in the US.  Her breast cancer treatment is going well, she has completed her surgery as well as two chemo sessions.  We expect her next week to arrive in Rome where she will complete the last 4 chemo treatments here.  We are all praying she will have a fast recovery.  Both Tom and I think very highly of the Pickerds.  They are nothing short of amazing.  100% dedication, all the way.  In the month of August they were both in the US to take care of Sorella Pickerds surgery and we had Christian Eurvard and his wife (from Paris) take the mission reins in the Pickerds absence.  They were also perfect for the job and we enjoyed spending time with them.