evangelism success in Italy.. how?
Posted by Drew | Filed under General
MAGIC FORMULA FOR REACHING ITALIANS WITH THE GOSPEL (with a short discourse on the Italian culture)
In this culture, the most common worldview is that God exists and he is the creator, and we as people our main goal is to be good. Good people. That’s what God wants. From this perspective, lives can be lived in a wide variety of ways, and all of them are equally valid. Going to church is almost always a good thing. (even those who hate the church here would not discourage anyone from attending if it makes them feel good — but they might discourage someone from giving to the church because many of them believe that the church and the priests are only interested in money) Helping others seems to be one of the highest values. Beyond this, opinions vary greatly. Actually, this would probably apply in most of the world.
So from this perspective, an Italian who hears the Gospel message that God loves him and Christ died for him, might readily respond that this Gospel is beautiful and he may even say he agrees with it. But generally that doesn’t mean he understands it. The critical element that seems to be missing is for the Italians to understand their NEED for the Gospel. It’s the fundamental principle of Romans 3:23 that no one is good. It’s the idea most critical to understanding the part of the sermon on the mount when Jesus talked about entering the kingdom of heaven, telling those who had done many great works, ” I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” (Matt 7: 21-23) It’s the truth that Jesus’ death doesn’t HELP us enter God’s presence, (as many people here believe) it’s the only WAY for it to happen. And the reason for that is that no one is good. No one meet’s God’s standard of goodness (or righteousness). So the magic formula basically helps people see that a Savior isnt’ simply a good thing to have, it’s essential. Seeing Christ as Essential completely changes the way most Italians understand the Gospel.
How can they see this? How can we help them understand? We take them directly to the Scripture. “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Heb 4:12
First, it’s important to explain that no one is good even from a worldly standard. I’m sure some of you are familiar with this method. The Liar test: Have you ever lied? what do you call someone who lies? A Liar. Then you are a Liar. So am I. I’m a big fat liar. (It’s kind of amusing at first). Have you ever stolen something? piece of candy from a store… a pen from the bank? You’re a theif. So am I. I’m a liar and a thief. Those things are very selfish, and we are all selfish. These things, even by the world’s standards, prove to us that we are not good people. Thieves and Liars. Then you can go to the Sermonon the Mount. Matthew 5 shows us examples of being adulterers and murderers just by thinking impure thoughts (27-30, 21-22). But really, just one example of sin can be used alongside James 2:10, which says “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” This truth emphasizes the idea that on our own we truly have no hope. There is no “good person” path to God. The situation apart from Christ truly is desparate.
From here Galatians 3:10-14 moves further into this truth, and leads on to the beauty of the Gospel. “All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.’ Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, ‘The righteous will live by faith.’ The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, ‘The man who does these things will live by them.’ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’ He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.” Obviously it needs some explanation, but it seems that in light of our NEED, the idea that Christ became a curse for us takes on a whole new meaning. Christ taking on my sins because I am in no way able to be good before God otherwise becomes a much more significant event. When we understand our need, we can appreciate the solution. Christ died for my sins because God loves me and wants me to spend eternity with him is an even more beautiful message. The fact that I can know God, that he loves me even in light of how evil I am becomes that much more incredible.
It’s important also for us as believers to never forget how desparate our need was, and how deep the Love and amazing the Grace of God must be to save us. The Gospel is not just a message for gaining our salvation. It is true for us every day from now to eternity.
That’s it. That’s the secret formula. I wish I could tell you it works every time. Sadly, many Italians are confronted with the issue of their sin and separation from God and experience no repentance or remorse. “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.” (1 Cor 1:18) God is sovereign, and He is good. He will change lives in His good timing. I’m so thankful the pressure is not on us to be persuasive or convincing. But it does again remind me of the need for prayer.
vision trip, 7 new believers
Posted by Drew | Filed under General
I hate to cheat you with this post, but for those of you who get my update emails, this will be nothing new.
We’re coming to the end of the following week. I can’t think of a better name for this week. But last week represented such a significant milestone from many facets, and the week after (this week) just seemed to rush in behind it. So we’ll call it the following week. And it’s almost over. This update would have been more appropriate 5 days ago. But I’m still recovering. And things are finally starting to slow down.
One significant bit of news that otherwise would be worthy of it’s own email, but, as is, will get merely a simple comment. We finally have internet in our apartment after 5 months of waiting. Sadly, the vonage adapter shorted out when we tried to plug it in, so the US phone number is still at the girls. But if you have vonage yourself you can call for free, or if you have a calling card or skype or anything like that, you can call our Italian line. (011) (39) 089 995 0482
VISION TRIP
It came and went, changed the face of our ministry, changed the lives of 7 Italian students, opened new doors on campus for Agape Italia Salerno, and nearly got our team leader arrested. Maybe I should elaborate. Easily the busiest week of the year for me, and for the rest of our team. It flew by. Every day we were on our feet all day, on campus for about half of it, eating for the other half (we really did have a 4 hour dinner more than once). 55 American students total. 27 for the first half of the week from UCF and MSU, then 28 from Ole Miss for the second half. I think that’s right. I lost count. It was great for our ministry and great for our team. They brought a lot of American food, some very valuable materials to pass out on campus, and a lot of energy. That’s what we needed. It’s easy to lose focus on why we’re here, and going on campus can become routine. But when 55 new people come in and we’re all of a sudden the experts and having to verbalize the things that motivated us those first days on campus… their fresh perspective can transform our team morale. And it did. That, and an obvious moving of the Holy Spirit. We met a ton of spiritually interested students, really advertized English club so that some days over 30 Italian students came, and presented the Gospel to countless Italians. I think we’ll be seeing fruit from this week throughout the rest of the year, and probably even longer.
7 NEW BELIEVERS!!
Jutty Valiquette was the summer project director here last summer when 40 students prayed to receive Christ. This week he was back with the vision trip and there were 7 new believers. It seems obvious to me, then, that Jutty has solved the mystery of ministry to Italians. Actually, Jutty was able to share with us some great perspective on sharing in this culture, but I continue to be convinced that God is simply moving on the campus, and more people were praying for Salerno last week than probably any other week of the year. I’m convinced then that if more people will come, or if more people will begin to be serious about asking the Lord to raise up a movement of Italians, then we will see tremendous fruit, and we will see it soon. But for those who are convinced that Jutty really is the key to this ministry, I’ll disclose his magic formula in the post script of this email.
ALMOST ARRESTED
I almost forgot to include this detail, and to say I almost got arrested is a gross exaggeration, but I did have a long conversation with the Italian police. One of the disadvatages of being in charge down here is that when the Police come on campus to ask by what authority we are there, the job of giving answers falls to me. Thankfully, these police were very nice, and I think they understood that the university official who called in the report generally likes to cause problems, and they didn’t take her too seriously. But we did learn the hard way that to put out tables on campus to distribute information, you must have the proper authorization. We’ll know next time.
BAR LOVE STORY
That’s the name of the place where we had the midweek party. I think we had between 70 and 100 Italian students come. It was really hard to count because there were 65 Americans, and the place was kind of small. But overall it was a great party. Matt and Megan Magill came with the Ole Miss group and they played and sang for us all night. They were a big hit. Haswell came to speak again, both at the party and the next day on campus. Both environments were very tough places for him to speak, but he delivered like a champ. I guess I should clarify that what they call a ‘bar” here in Italy is what we would call a caffe. Just in case anyone was skeptical of our choice of locations.
THE RACE
I almost dont’ want to mention anything about the marathon. It was very disappointing for me. I ran the first half at my typical long run training pace, and for the most part I felt pretty good. But soon after I crossed the half way marker, my legs just started to quit on me. I noticed everyone was starting to pass me, and I just didnt’ have the strength to keep running. And I realized later that I didn’t have the mental stamina to push through the pain. So I stopped to walk. And once I walked a little, I could never start running again, not for more than a kilometer at a time. The second half of the race took a full hour longer than the first. So I’ve decided that I have to do it again. But I think I need to rest a while. For now I have my list of excuses to comfort me. and a small hope that next time will be better.
PERSONAL UPDATE
I could really use some prayer for my personal walk with the Lord. I realized this week that I’m really tired. Marathon and Vision Trip notwithstanding, I should not be this exhausted. Emotionally and Spiritually, I should have more energy than I do. I should be more available to serve the team, and to invest in Italians, and to be a good steward of my time here. But lately, I’ve noticed that I just don’t have the energy to push. Vision Trip might be an exception because I had so many people around with fresh energy to motivate me. But kind of like the marathon, I’m in a place where if I have the option to walk, I’m unable to pass it up. Even with the knowledge that the Holy Spirit will sustain me, I am too easily pulled down onto the road of greater comfort, avoiding challenges and shying away from opportunities to really depend on the Lord.
So tonight I will begin to fast in order to really seek God on what root issues are causing this, and hopefully to experience His presence more deeply. I dont’ know how long the fast will be. But I would really appreciate your prayers during this time.
As always, thanks for reading this far. I think you’re probably in the minority. But I believe that if you’ve read this far, then you’re really praying for me and you really care. And for that I am deeply grateful.
Drew
