Signs of Life

Sarah and I do not have too many 24-hour periods when we have the opportunity either to share the Gospel or broach spiritual subjects with five of our neighbors. We are keenly aware that our brothers and sisters are praying for us in these days surrounding the English courses, so we wanted to let you know how the Lord has been working.

Sarah met Joanna (Italian, not her real name) in her English class at the local library. She came once to the class, they were introduced, and she came back the next week just to ask for an appointment with Sarah. Joanna is an art history expert, and this was the lens through which she was familiar with so many scenes from the Bible. She was really intrigued to know someone like Sarah who gave credence to the original biblical accounts. Believe it or not, Sarah was the first person she had ever met during her lifetime who believed in the validity of the Bible. What a privilege it is to be able to speak for God in this way. So, Monday afternoon, below the walls of the Vatican bastion, they met for coffee and talked about the reality of Christ and his Message.

Tuesday morning Sarah was asked to help keep some order at the sports camp that a group of Dutch young people were putting on in cooperation with our Italian Baptist Church. Normally I could have helped out with that, but 1) my foot is still healing, and 2) I have no soccer skills. An Italian mom and grandma showed up with a young boy to participate in the camp. It is great how God teams us up with people. Karen is a summer intern, our age, with International Teams’ Refugee Highway. How beautiful to see the gift of evangelism demonstrated in a believer. What becomes evident is not a method, but a passion for the Gospel. Karen has only been here a few weeks, so she needed Sarah to translate as she presented the Good News to this very open mother and grandmother. Those two women were equally floored to hear about the reality of a Message that they had discounted because of an organized religion they no longer respected. Forget the religion; they were very interested in hearing more about the Truth. Grace and Stephanie (not their real names) live in the same neighborhood as Zach and Naomi. They may be able to attend a new group if the Lord continues to lead us to start that in September or October.

About the same time I was hobbling out my front door on crutches (if you didn’t know, I broke my foot about a month ago during my regular morning run – bright sun in the eyes, deep pothole). It is amazing how many people talk to you in Italy when you’re injured. Almost every neighbor in our building has stopped to talk to me this month, the same people who hadn’t said “Ciao” for two years. General rule about ministry in Europe: own a dog. General rule about ministry in Mediterranean Europe: have a young child, at least one. General rule about ministry in Italy: break a bone and appear to be infirm or in need. All of these lead to multiple conversations!

I finally learned my upstairs neighbor’s name as we stopped on the sidewalk to compare crutches. She told me about her hip replacement. When I mentioned getting injured just before organizing the English classes with our Italian church, she asked the inevitable, “So what’s the difference between Catholic faith and yours? Is it Christian?” So we began that discussion, talking more about the authority of the Bible than about religion. She confided that she held very little respect any more for the religion she had grown up with. So I planted a seed about the possibility of reading the Bible together. We’ll see where that goes.

Just a couple of hours later I met with Andrea (not his real name), a refugee I had met during the English course. Andrea is from the Muslim world, but had received a Bible in his language some years ago when he met a group of Christians in Finland of all places! It’s amazing how Christ pursues us in life and upheaval. Before an open Bible we were able to piece together three languages to begin to take a look at the Good News in John. We spent two very good hours together and feel like the Bible itself, through the Spirit of God, did the communicating. This was a promising start. Stay tuned.