For fourteen days in April, I stood outside of our city’s theater as hundreds of Italian Catholics filed by. We were able to write a five-page pamphlet that dealt with ten central truths of the Passion of Christ. Approximately 3,800 pamphlets went out from our location. We witnessed to as many people as we could again & again. Yet one couple stayed around. Walking in and receiving our pamphlet, they wondered, “What sect is this?” But after seeing the film and reading our pamphlet, their question became, “When do you meet?” We told them, “We meet here - tomorrow.” Dino & Daimy came the next day — Easter Sunday. Since then, they have been to every service, small group meeting, study class, & event that we have held. Daimy was baptized last Sunday. She’s from Cuba and was saved there. Dino came under conviction and has been under it all summer.
This afternoon, this couple rode their bikes to our house for a surprise 3-hour visit. Now, Dino doesn’t spout the usual pride-filled lines that most Italian men do. He recognizes that he needs true friends, that a break from his religion and culture is coming, and that he now sees the thousands of shrines that pepper our region as idol-worship. He also shared that the supremacy of the Bible is really impacting his thinking. The paths of the Lord are being made straight and a marriage is about to be healed.
We gave the customary salutation kisses good-bye and they asked if we were coming to their bbq tomorrow which we confirmed that we’d be there. I’m sure glad that we were at the Passion film doing work in Mel’s backyard.
In this post, I wanted to list some of our current prayer requests. Thank you for joining rank with us before the Lord!
1) Our church is seeking a new worship center. We’ve saved funds for 6 years and are very close to receiving the necessary financing to establish a permanent center.
2) The Good Seed Christian Bookstore is becoming a ministry epicenter in our city. The owner is one of our deacons and shares the Gospel daily. Pray that the Lord will meet his daily needs as it is very difficult to establish and prosper a business on this economy.
3) Many more Italians are beginning to get involved in the ministry. A number need to be saved and fortified in the faith.
4) We’ve had a number of new babies in Christ. We need prayer as we raise them to maturity.
5) A number of strong families have had to leave due to military rotation. We’re seeing an increase of visitors coming in during these weeks ahead. However, we need to pray for the right people to join us in the work here.
6) Pray that the Spirit of God would assist us to continue in and pursue a vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ.
7) Pray for our children. We are on a great mission and all are at risk.
8) Pray for the launch of a new church plant in the next 6 months.
9) Pray for the launch of a new Italian congregation within the next 6 months.
10) Pray for the launch of 2 more Italian small groups and 4 more English-speaking small groups in the next 4-5 months.
Thanks so much for clicking our way!
We’ve updated the Weblog (BLOG) portion of our site so that more posts will be visible to you when you’re passing through and to make the Weblog a big more visually appealing.
One nice feature to the Weblog is that you can post comments in response to our posts. This will provide us with feedback and more interaction on our site.
Another obvious benefit to the Weblog is that you can have up-to-date information from the field as you follow our family adventures. Is the digital age antiquaiting the prayer letter? May it never be! 
Soon, we’ll be placing our most current prayer requests here on the Blog and an update on our harvest work this last weekend.
Come back again & again! R, S, R, Jk
