Well Done

Ciao from Italy for the last time this trip! Where has the time gone? I really feel like I just got here a week ago…not a month ago. We have spent today packing and saying our goodbyes to our Italian friends. It has been a pretty sad day but I know a lot of people are ready to be home and see their family and friends. I know I am excited to see my family. My brother, Tyler, turned 19 this past Sunday. That just seems unreal. I know I am only 21 but still, he shouldn’t be that old yet. He was in Guatemala on a mission trip on his birthday too. While I don’t like how fast he has grown up (or me for that matter), it brings me so much joy to know that he has grown up with a solid faith and foundation in Jesus Christ. He is becoming such a man of God and as a brother I couldn’t be prouder of him. He will be attending LA Tech this coming year and I am comforted in the fact that he is solid in his faith and I can only imagine the things God has in store for him over the next few years. 


While I am excited to see people like my brother and the rest of my family, I am very sad to leave the Italians. Like mentioned above, I cannot believe how time has flown by in terms of this trip, and in terms of how fast Tyler is growing up/has grown up. But I am starting to realize and see how, as we get older, time seems to go by faster and faster and then one day, life on this Earth will be over. Life is precious. We talked a lot on this trip about no regrets in regards to ministry or just in terms of taking advantage of opportunities. I know that when we go home tomorrow, we can leave knowing we did everything we could have done over the past 5 weeks. No regrets. And that is a really good thing because while I have had the opportunity to come to Italy twice to spread the gospel, those kinds of opportunities are numbered for most people. Which is why it is so important to take advantage of opportunities…especially to spread the gospel because what other action is more biblical than that? The bible is a book and there are parables and metaphors in it, but there are parts that are meant to be taken literally…one is Matthew 28:18-20 which is The Great Commission that states “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Take this literally! It has been my joy to see my team take this and run with it. Like I said in the last post, we went to Cinque Terre for debriefing and to just process everything that happened over the trip. And at the end of the debriefing we had a time of sharing just within the group and it was amazing to hear the things our team was saying about the trip. Just hearing that they see the need and they have a desire to reach Italian students was encouraging to me because they have the same heart for this place that I do. Hearing about how some of them are thinking about returning because then understand that, while work was done this summer, it is not finished. Hopefully through them this passion will spread to more and more people because the thing Bologna needs most is workers to take a step of faith and trust that God is in control and to come and do His work.

I thank you all for keeping up with my trip and I especially thank my supporters because you are the reason I am here. By giving you were doing God’s work and I could never thank you enough for what you have done. It is my prayer that God will lavish you with grace because you gave so there is room for you to receive even more! I pray that through reading my blog and through conversations I hope we have in the future, you will see the need here and your heart will break for the same students my heart breaks for. As we leave tomorrow I know that God is looking down at our team saying “Well done, my good and faithful servants!” We have brought the word of God, and his name will never fail. If you have any questions about my trip, please feel free to contact me in whatever way possible. I love you all and I love God, but only because he first loved me! God Bless Ciao!!!




“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” -Philippians 4:8-9




Luke Wagnon
318-218-3452 
Lwagno1@tigers.lsu.edu