CBM
Italy Report May 25th – 31st 2008
Five of the team had an early start in order to get to Italy at 9.30 on the Sunday morning. We drove from Bergamo airport to Brescia to meet a contact, Pajiti, who had invited us to lunch with his wife and brother-in-law. Although half the team were meant to be moving on to further visits, we were pressed to stay for several courses before we had to make our apologies and leave. Pajiti’s wife went on to cook several more courses for Ben and Becky Collard, Abby Lear, before the team had a discussion about the Bible for a good few hours. Pajiti is currently attending a Catholic church, and was very keen to understand the Christian practical outworking of our faith. Simon and Anna Phillips went on to Mirasole to pick up Brother Foster and off to visit Sister Betty in Vangadizza. Betty’s daughter, Theresa, had cooked us a lovely dinner, and seemed very pleased to see us. Betty’s short-term memory is failing but she was very happy to take part in a breaking of bread service, and Simon gave a short exhortation about the faith of Paul. Theresa was keen for us to visit again in the future and also meet more of the family who live locally. The other part of the team went to Brescia station in the late afternoon to meet a new contact and immigrant, Richard, but he was unable to attend due to a funeral at short notice. Once we all met back at the hotel, we were joined by Peter and Dae who had flown from Canada to Milan and then travelled to Rome, and were able to enjoy an evening meal and fellowship together.
Monday was another early start, meeting Brother Roshan for a breaking of bread at the hotel. Ben gave an exhortation on having a solid foundation. After discussing together future plans for a possible campaign based around local markets, Simon and Anna then set off for Mirasole again to take Brother Foster home as he had to start work at 1pm in one of his two jobs. The rest of the team went with Brother Roshan to a residential area in Verona and billed 1200 bills through apartment doors and in the street. We met up later (following a large traffic jam on the autostrada) and were again joined by Brother Roshan for an evening of fellowship and food.
On Tuesday, a new contact, Veronica, who we had hoped to meet in Brescia did not get in touch, so we were unable to meet up, but one of our longstanding interested friends, Isaiah, arrived at the hotel at 9.30 for a discussion with Simon, Peter, and Dae. He had been struggling with mental health difficulties and was glad to talk about these problems, and hear a Bible-based perspective. The rest of the team went street billing in Verona and got talking to an Italian gentleman in a car park. He was very interested in the declining interest of the population in any type of religion, has Bibles in English and Italian, and wanted to know more about our faith. Although he had plans and was not able to meet us for a longer discussion, we arranged to stay in contact using the mail, and we pray that this interest will progress further. Following lunch, we distributed the remaining 800 bills in Verona, and then parted from Peter and Dae in order to head back to Bergamo to return home on the last flight.
Early on Wednesday, Peter and Dae set off for Rome by train, to meet up with Sister Sonia Hemingray, from France, and our local Brother Naizghi and Sister Asmait. They enjoyed a breaking of bread together, led by Peter, and talked about important practical issues, such as work and preaching, from a scriptural basis. On Thursday Sonia travelled back to France, but Peter and Dae were able to meet up again with Naizghi and Asmait on the Thursday to talk more and share a meal. On the Friday, Peter and Dae travelled to Sulmona to meet up with some relatives of Peter, who barraged them with questions regarding our beliefs. They were also able to meet up once more with Naizghi in Rome on the Friday evening for more fellowship, before returning home on Saturday. This visit was a busy and fruitful one, and yielded many ideas for plans for next year, God willing. We pray that God will continue to bless the work in Italy, and although the interest in His word is small, it is clear that there are still a few searching for truth in this country that are in need of guidance.