Just yesterday on campus Sarah Love, Halley, and I got so sit with a group of three girls.  We got into some good discussion, but left the conversation all feeling a little sad.  There was one girl in particular who had absolutely  no hope for what her future would hold.  She pretty much thought she was here to live and then die - without any purpose!  She did ask us one question though, “Did faith find you or did you find faith?”.

As the three of us sat around afterwards and prayed and talked about those girls we realized that in some small way, we were faith going to find those girls.  Who knows what they had to say to each other after we left them?  Who knows if the gospel will become real to them?  We can only pray for them and hope to meet with them soon again.  What we do know is that we took steps of faith to introduce ourselves to them, shared our stories with them, heard what they had to say, and will continue to pray for them as we do for every student on that campus.

Along with all the fun encounters we have as our time passes here in Salerno, there are also days like yesterday - days that leave you with a pit in your stomach just wishing that the truth of the gospel would be clear to everyone.  All we can do is be faithful to carry the gospel with us in this city and on that campus while praying for eyes to be opened and lives to be changed.

Thanks for joining us on this journey.  We covet your prayers as we seek to do what we’ve been called here for.

-Amanda

Amongst our team we have been talking about starting Bible studies on campus, especially after the past two weeks. We believe that God is calling us to do this. Next week we will be starting various Bible studies all around campus. Please pray that God would bless this endeavor and bring students to hear the Good News. Spring is here with new life and God is bringing new life in us and Italian students. The mere fact that students don’t shoo us away but take the time to listen, answer questions, and allow us to share the Truth with them is evidence that people are hungry for God. The Italian people are open, the harvest is ripe (Matt. 9:37) and I pray in a mighty way that the Lord uses us to win this nation that was once on fire for God back for Himself.

-Jamie

As in America, and every country, the students here are in serious need of spiritual guidance. They are being tempted into lives that leave them unsatisfied, being taught by cultural norms to worship idols, such as boyfriends and girlfriends, instead of putting God first in their lives. The large majority of Italians are of Catholic origin; however, I have found most students beliefs are based on words from a childhood Priest, not the Bible or their own personal relationship with Jesus. Unlike America, it is not usual to have other ministries encouraging a personal relationship with God besides the Catholic church. There are some evangelical churches which proclaim the importance of personal relationships with Jesus, but it is not common to find supplementary Christian influence in Italy like there is in America. Much to my surprise I have found the following virtually non-existent in Italy: Bible studies, mentors and discipleships, Christian bookstores,  Christian materials (i.e. anything besides the Bible), Christian events to take part in, Christian music (besides what’s listened to at church), small group opportunities, youth group (like Young Life, YWAM, groups sponsored at church, etc.), college ministry opportunities, choir, mission trips, church camp, or Sunday school. PRAISE God for these instruments that God has blessed America with to reach our communities, but these gifts are a rarity amongst the rest of the world. Although the power behind these instruments are not the instruments themselves, but the power of the Gospel and Holy Spirit, I believe that God has called Campus Crusade, or Agape Italia, to help facilitate Italians’ personal relationships with Jesus for this reason. These students do not have mentors to confide in and seek wisdom from, they are not being discipled to challenge and encourage their relationships with God, they are not surrounded by other students their age who are seeking Truth, they don’t have positive, Christian lyrics being sung in their ears, they don’t have people and events that are attracting them to the realness of the Christian faith. Again, these are merely tools that God uses and the real power behind all of these IS the POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, but I do believe that these instruments bring fellowship, accountability, and community which are key in fostering a thriving relationship with Jesus. I believe God has blessed and is using this ministry and our team corporately and individually to help aid in these spiritual areas that Italy lacks. Although the concepts of missionaries, bible studies, mentors, discipleships, and even loyal friendships are foreign to most of our friends, Agape is praying to be only the beginning many stepping stones to a country saturated in Truth and on fire for the Gospel.

Thank you for allowing Jesus to prove His unconditional love for us through you. Each of you are so special to us, and we miss you all dearly. May God bless your every breath, and pulse the fullness life with every heartbeat.

Much Love and many Blessings,

Breanna

“Where can I find some meat in this place?”

Here is the pertinent text:

“…another, albeit, negative, feature of agriculture has been more permanent. This is the absence of rich pastures and therefore of good quality livestock, especially cattle. The resulting shortage of meat in the Italian diet was a source of frequent irritation to northern Europeans, who were not accustomed to eating vegetable-or fruit-based meals without beef or pork… The lack of pasture also made it impossible to rear strong horses, which meant that farmers had to rely on mules and oxen for traction. This, as much as the thinness of the topsoil or the conditions of land tenure, helps explain why so many of the technological innovations of the ‘agricultural revolution’ failed to take hold in Italy.” (emphasis mine)

When vision trip arrived, they brought with it the sunny Florida weather!  In those two weeks, we had more fruitful and significant conversations on campus than we had all year.  The environment on campus literally seemed to change overnight.  We’re very thankful, because this weather seems to be here to stay.  As does the continued open environment on campus.  Please pray with us as we continue to initiate new relationships, and share the hope we have in Christ.

It’s spring time now and the University feels more alive. The rain has slowed up,  people are outside and are open to talk.  I feel like some great things are beginning to happen.  The other day at Bible study our friend Andrea shared with us his testimony and it was really neat hearing him talk about Christ’s love and how it has changed his life.

Anyway I hope things are well back in America and I’ll talk to you soon

Ciao Ciao

Tyler

This Vision trip we decided to plan a soccer game or two so we could invite Italians and then use it as a way to get to know them better.  We had quite a few Italians come out and kick our butts in the soccer games that we played. Even though we got worked out there on the field, one of the students from america was able to share his testimony to everyone who showed up to this thing.  His story of finding God in the midst of playing College Football was powerful and so interesting,  the Italians ate it up.  Along with everyone hearing about God, we saw that many of the students soon became close friends with us, and we started to see some of them more often for follow up and just good old caffe.   Praise God!  and thank everyone who came to help during Vision Trip.

-mario

Now that VT is over, we have been scurrying trying to get in touch with all our new friends so that we can meet up with them.  We have also begun having Bible studies at university on Mondays and Tuesdays.  We are going through John.  So far, I’ve really enjoyed it.  English Hour has been going really good too.  We have had some great discussions on faith and hope.

Now we have a little bit longer until summer project arrives!  I am excited to see what this month holds.  Thanks for keeping up with us and please keep praying for the ministry here!  Ciao Ciao!!!

“For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.” Psalm 57:10