Island Life || Malta

Finally some updates on our life here in Malta. Crazy how the Lord has been working so far this semester. Please be keeping us all in prayer as we are focused on going forth with the gospel to this dominantly Catholic nation and having a lot of spiritual warefare rising up against us - both on a personal level with us all and as a group. I am confident as the Lord continues to do a work in us, we will be able to continue effectively to preach of His kingdom.

our H O M E  //  NSTS Youth Hostel

We're staying at a youth hostel right next to a local college. We've been so blessed (and spoiled) to live in a place with nice rooms, a pool, a gameroom, air conditioning, and staff who comes and cleans our rooms twice a week. But above that, there is an incredible amount of young foreign students from all over (primarily Europe) that we get to come in contact with on a daily basis. We've already had quite a few opportunities to talk with some people about Christ as well as just reach out and bring in a few students, just showing them the love of Christ through actions and hanging out with them. For one of our morning devos before class, one of the guys, Nate, shared on the Great Commission, and how here we have a unique chance of the nations coming to us (rather than the usual going out to all the nations). We can plant seeds while they are here, and as they go home we pray that they will take the gospel back with them. To think that we can touch different nations by just staying in this one building blows my mind. 

View from our balcony

// C L A S S E S

Over the course of this semester, we will be going through Pauline Epistles I, II, and III (which covers all the letters written by Paul), Exodus, and Church History.

For our first class, Dave Downs and his wife Denae (far right in the photo below) took time from their ministry in Ferrarra, Italy to come spend some time pouring into us. It was such a blessing to go through I and II Corinthians verse-by-verse and see God's heart for His church. Also, we were really blessed by their desire to hang out with us and encourage us just in conversation and getting to know us. We wish they could've stayed longer than just a couple weeks, but are excited to see what the Lord will continue to do with them in Italy :)

Currently, we're going through Pauline Epistles II - covering I and II Thessalonians and Galatians. This class is being taught than none other the legend himself, Robert Heckler - our fearless leader. Pretty exciting to study about End Times in Thessalonians as well as diving into the truth of the gospel in Galatians.

//  M S I D A , M A L T A

We live in a tiny little town called Msida. Here's some random photos...

Best way to grade papers right here

Or sit here and grade papers...that's pretty nice too

My dream car is a Mini Cooper - and I especially love the classic ones. They are literally EVERYWHERE here.

One of the girls, Beth, is a musical nerd like me, so I was stoked when she mentioned she found out that the Malta Philharmonic was having their opener while we were here. A small group of us got dressed up (only to sweat loads in the theater...such is life) and watched the lovely orchestra.

// R A B A T

This city is where Paul converted Publius in Acts 28. Love all the old buildings and architecture combined with Biblical history :)

A few of us have decided to proudly show our love for lack of shoes. It's pretty fantastic

//  S T.   T H O M A S   B A Y

If you remember in Israel, often the traditional sites that claimed to be the locations of huge historical and biblical significance didn't hold very much evidence, and there was often a more remote, less-popular site where there was much more evidence that pointed to the fact that it was the true location. Well, it was the same here - St. Thomas' Bay isn't traditionally held as the location of Paul's shipwreck here on the island in Acts 27, but there is so much more evidence for here rather than St. Paul's Bay. A couple things that point to that fact is the reef, the fact that two bodies of water meet, and that two anchors from a 1st century boat were discovered in the depth and location Paul's ship would have been.

The anchors are now in the Maritime Museum. Crazy to think these were the actual anchors from Paul's ship!

//  B L U E   G R O T T O

We actually visited this popular tourist site a couple times (and one extra time so one of the girls, Shelby, could go before she left and went back to school at UCI. Shelby, if you're reading this, we miss you!). The first time we went the boats weren't running since the waters were so choppy (as seen below).

But we were still able to hang out and do a couple things. There was a man who had a Maltese Falcon, Pharoah Eagle Owl, and a Harris Hawk that we could hold. Pretty sick!

The second time around, the boats were running, so we could go on the lovely boat tour to see the different caves. There's been quite a few movies filmed here in Malta, and you might recognize this place in particular from the movie the Count of Monte Cristo. I barely even edited these photos - that's just how blue the water actually is. 

//  H A G A R   Q I M

Near the Blue Grotto are the ancient temple ruins called Hagar Qim. These are the oldest ruins in all of Europe, dating back all the way to the Tower of Babel.

Stay tuned for more updates :) Please message/email me if you would like prayer or just to drop in and say hi! I would love to hear from any and all of you!

"And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore mostly gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me." || 2 Corinthians 12:9