Part Two Gothic Line -- Day 1

Day 1

City of Peace

  

We started the second line on the beach of Marina di Massa where first off we found an alter to the Nazis right on the beach.  A stark reminder that this spirit is still alive and well in this Nation.    We walked about 8km (Round Trip) on the beach praying.  We walked to an airfield in Montignoso that was used as a base.  We prayed and broke bread and moved on to the city of Carrara.  This was a little more challenging to pray as the square was filled with people.  Very hard to be discreet and drive a stake in the ground with a hammer in hand.  We managed to lay claim for the kingdom and started on the road to Mt. Folgorito.  

Joyce had been researching a thing called Geocaching which is where climbers would hide things along the trail a cache of some sort and then post the co-ordinates so the following climbers can find it and add to it or write their name on the slip and move on.   On the way we came upon a cave that was part of the Geocaching however we did not find anything except while I was digging around moving stones I found 2euros and 20 cents to which Joyce mentioned that I was 2 cents short of the key of David mentioned in Isaiah. 

  This was our first mountain on the second line and it was somewhat of an easy walk until we hit the higher altitudes then it became goat territory but we were able to put on our billy hats and made it to the top looking across the crest to the opposite peak where there was a cross.  We decided that we didn't need to go to the cross as traversing the sheer cliff crest seemed a bit dangerous and unnecessary as it was only important we were on the top of the mountain and safely planted..   

 We  staked claim for the kingdom,  broke bread and moved onto Mt. Belvedere which was close enough we did not have to drive we literally walked across the  square and went up the other side where we found the  peak and prayed.   We witnessed a beautiful sunset which

 kissed the near end of our first day.  

 

 On the way back we drove through our last stop of the day, or should I say the beginning of night, a sweet quaint little town called Seravezza along the river.  We found a nice little park, broke bread and then came home. 

anoramic from Mt. Folgorito

We feel the Lord has shifted our prayers in a different direction then last time, making clear and bold declarations of His greatness and glory, setting Himself up as the head of Italy and the Nations.  Much different spiritual feeling then last year’s walk.  We began sensing the Lord was  about a different direction that was much more than just liberating Italy spiritually or tearing down the alters and ideologies of man.  It was as if God Almighty Himself was standing with us shouting across the heavens, I AM!!!.  Pretty awesome.

For those of you who are history buffs, after the first hit by the allied forces in 1944 on the first trek of prayer we did last year, they effectively uprooted the Germans from their prominent defense lines but they fell back to another area that they had also prepared in the event they lost the first line.  They spent the winter of 1944 reinforcing their positions and it wouldn’t be until the spring of 1945 that the allied forces would be able to get in and effectively take Italy back by force.  Snow & harsh conditions in this region prevented them from doing this sooner. 

This is the line we are now following and this is where some of the bloodiest battles were fought and the worst massacres took place.  By this time, it is very clear to the Germans that Italy has turned coat and has left them high and dry, having signed a peace treaty and leaving them smack dab in the center of a war that is entirely devoted to defeating them here in Italy.  The war is winding down, and they are trapped to fend for themselves with the exception of some die hard fascists who would aid them.  At this point they begin to kill anyone and everyone, it is a fight for survival. 

Wikipedia:  Italian Campaign July 10th 1943 - May 10th 1945
 It is estimated that between September 1943 and April 1945, some 60,000 Allied and 50,000 German soldiers died in Italy.  Overall Allied casualties during the campaign totaled about 320,000 and the corresponding Axis figure (excluding those involved in the final surrender) was about 336,650. No campaign in the West (Mediterranean, Middle East and Western Fronts) cost more than the Italian campaign in terms of lives lost and wounds suffered by infantry forces.