God Is at Work!

And let us not grow weary of doing good,
for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
–Galatians 6:9

God is working; we must be patient. This month, we rejoiced that four people wanted to give public testimony of their faith in Christ Jesus and be baptized! It had been at least three years since the last baptisms in our church. We are encouraged by the way God has blessed us! Michele and Giuseppina are a couple who have been coming to church for quite some time. After a message on a Sunday morning nearly two years ago, Michele told me that he had understood the Gospel, but was not ready to follow Christ yet. After months of preaching, teaching, sharing and prayers for them, God has touched their lives, and they wanted to let everyone know they had decided to follow Christ. It has been wonderful to see their faithfulness in attendance and their growth over the past few months. We must pray for their family. Their children were there at the baptisms, with their companions, and we trust that they will also come to know Christ, Whom their parents now profess.

Watching Nadia give her testimony brought tears to all of our eyes, for she has had such a hard life. When she met with Alfredo and me over a year ago, she wanted to be baptized, because she had been taught that she needed to do it in order to complete her salvation. Loredana started meeting with her faithfully, and God opened her eyes to the clear, simple Gospel message, based totally on grace without works of any kind. She told David that she used to cry all the time, as she reflected on the situation of her family. But today she sings all the time, and trusts her sovereign God to touch her family. Sandro, her husband, came for the first time to see her baptized and listened to the Gospel that David preached.

Andrea is a teenager who has Down syndrome. And he is  such a blessing to us because his simple faith and trust in God is an example for our church. God has certainly touched his life. Alfredo, the elder and David’s coworker, is his father, and it was so wonderful to see him baptize his physical and spiritual son! Andrea’s school teacher and his aunt came to hear and see his testimony. We meet in a very small store front, and it was a great blessing to see about 75 people present. We must continue to pray for those baptized, and for their unsaved friends and relatives who came.

We are excited to see God’s work in new friends. Immanuel Bible Church of Springfield, VA, under the leadership of Jordan, our son, sent a team of nine to serve here in Rome for a week. They helped us distribute the Gospel, both to the pilgrims in Rome for the Holy Year and to the neighborhood where our church is situated. Thousands of pamphlets were passed out to people, in whom we trust God’s Word will produce a desire to know Him. These young people were desirous to grow in the Lord, themselves, before they reached out to others,
and so appreciated starting each day hearing a devotional by David. Every day, we conducted a mini-VBS in the park close to our church for two hours. What a blessing it was, to see the children come back each day and wait for our arrival at 5pm! Parents listened, as we taught Bible stories, sang and did crafts with their children that related to the day’s story. We had opportunity to share with the adults there and invite them to come on Sundays to our church. Please pray for the contacts we made. We want to express our gratitude to the leadership of Immanuel Bible Church for planning this trip, which we hope will become an annual event.

And His work through old friends… We also had the privilege to have Jerry and Louise Wragg visit us for a few days, from Grace Immanuel Bible Church in Jupiter, Florida. God always uses these visits of fellow servants to encourage us to stay focused on the Lord and to continue to faithfully serve Him.

God worked through Loredana, up in Milan. Over 20 women came for the three sessions she taught from the Word of God about gratitude. It was a blessing for David to hear about the impact of Loredana’s teaching, and the women’s desire for her to come again next year. God is using Loredana in a wonderful way to have a ministry in the lives of women of all ages. Thank you so much for your prayers that opportunities will increase.

God is giving us still further opportunities. At the end of July, we will be traveling to Sicily, where we will be able to minister to the churches in Acireale and Siracusa. The church in Acireale is moving to a new location, so they have asked David to preach for their dedication service. They hope to have other churches and neighbors present for this special day, as well.

We know that God is working. He who has prepared the good works for us to do,  also prepares the hearts of those who hear the preaching, and He continues to work in us to mold us as He desires, to make us into the kind of servants who will bring glory to Himself.
We also know that, as you pray for us and support us financially, God will  work in your hearts, too, and encourage you in your walk,  faithfulness and  generosity.

Grateful to represent you in Rome, Italy,

David and Loredana

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