Ariano Week 1 Report

The Hands-On team here in Italy comes from the Eastern Territory in the United States. The team came together a week before coming to Rome, Italy where we stayed and worked with Captains Emmanuel and Stefania.

As soon as we arrived in Ariano, Majors Paulo and Virginia (along with Simone, their son) welcomed us - immediately making us feel at home here.

One of the first days, we went out into the marketplace where we handed out invitations to the services here at the Corps. We also handed out small tracts containing the gospel message for evangelism. For the Hands-On team, the largest difficulty has been the language barrier. To our surprise, Fortunato has graciously offered his time and teaching skills to give us Italian lessons daily! I am slow at learning the Italian language, but am excited and very grateful for the opportunity.

This week, we visited some families in their homes, having the chance to share tea, coffee, biscuits, and good company. At many of the homes, we were able to lead some praise songs and short Bible lessons. One of our items is a sketch on the parable of the intelligent person who built a house on the rock and the foolish one who built a house on the sand. Emma gave a challenging thought following this sketch, saying that we must be like the wise man and remember to build our lives on the Rock, Jesus Christ.

Personally, and I think that the team thinks the same way, I am very challenged and motivated by the prayer life of the Ariano Corps. Where there is prayer, there is the Spirit of God moving! We praise God for that.

I believe that God has called each of us to come to Italy for a reason; that reason is not for our contribution to the Corps or the people alone, but we have been personally encouraged and benefited ourselves. Whether by a dance or a drama sketch or a praise song or an evangelistic tract, we are glad to share our personal testimony to the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is clear that God has been at work in Ariano far before we arrived, making disciples to proclaim the gospel. We praise God for His hand at work here, are privileged to be a part of it, and excited to see what will happen in the days to come!