Ariano Week 2 Report

This week we were able to participate in more evangelism in the park. It was amazing to see how starting up a game of soccer, or football here in Italy, could attract so many people in the community. Children ranging in age 7 to about 15 came up and started playing with us. Afterwards, we were able to invite them to church on Sunday. While some of the team members played soccer others walked around the park and started talking to people.

On Tuesday, we had the opportunity to visit an old command area in a countryside town called Faeto. We cleaned the quarters and prepared it for the Cadet who will be arriving in less than a month.

We traveled with Major Paulo and his son, Simone, to Brienza. When we first arrived we were shown the village that had been built using funds sent from the USA Eastern Territory Salvation Army. We learned that the territory sent funds and people to rebuild this place after an earthquake hit in 1980. It is always such a blessing to see how these kinds of funds can help in tangible ways. We also visited a small village called Atena Lucana. The Army’s center there was built in 1987 that is used for camps and at one point they provided a place for refugees. In the evening we were able worship with Christians from another evangelical church. The meeting was located in a tent next to a park, almost like an open air meeting. It was a great opportunity to meet youth and adults in that area of Italy who are on fire for Christ and desire to spread the Gospel.

The next day we spent some time at the seaside and then prepared for the evening service. We had no clue what to expect from this service, only that 3 other corps would be joining us for worship that night. Words cannot even express how blessed we were from this service. We estimated that there were about 55 people total who came and filled the seats of the chapel. The whole team participated in a few presentations, Susan sang a solo, Emma gave her testimony, and Stephany gave the message for the evening. It was a great way to end what little time we were able to spend in Brienza. We hope that the corps officer there was encouraged in the work that he is doing.

We had a great time in Brienza and it was one of the many highlights from the week. We were also very blessed by the second Sunday service we had here in Ariano. Our team was very encouraged to see that many people came to the service who do not usually come on a Sunday. Some of them were people that we have been able to hang out with during the week. We are praying that this will continue to be the case for the rest of our time in Ariano and after we leave. Majors Paulo and Virginia truly have a heart to see that more and more people be set on fire for Christ, and we will continue to pray that their ministry can grow.