Light in a Dark Country

my word … that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
–Isaiah 55:11

HOW GRATEFUL WE ARE FOR THE LORD’S PROVISIONS AND ENABLEMENTS!

We serve Him in a lost place, populated by men and women who are driven by their passions, by their father the devil, and are influenced by the darkness of the world. How can we ever hope to reach the spiritually dead, unable to understand spiritual truths? Their only interest in serving God is to use forms of religion to gratify themselves or salve their consciences.
This is why we are eternally grateful for the vital place you have in our ministry. Your prayers, your financial gifts are what the Lord is using to strengthen us in this ministry.

We had two evangelistic meetings in our church plant recently, and are very grateful that some unsaved came and listened carefully to the Gospel, explained by David. Loredana continues to meet with Nadia, who we believe has made a genuine confession of faith and now desires to be baptized. Loredana will continue to disciple her, as she grows in faith. The other ladies of the church continue in their desire to grow in Christ, and are looking forward to the fall, when Loredana will again be teaching their group.

We were able to go to Vasto, for meetings in Gianluca and Sonia’s former church. They are two precious friends who are now in the US, studying at the Masters’ Seminary. What a privilege to see God work! David spoke both Saturday and Sunday, and we were truly blessed to see a great desire to grow in the knowledge of the Word of God there.

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We continue to help Marco and Simona,
dear and long-time friends, who are ministering faithfully in churches in Acireale and Siracusa, Sicily. Because the Pentecostal and Charismatic influence is strong in all of Italy, but especially in Sicily, David was asked to conduct a one-day conference on the Charismatic movement.  After the morning message,  the first two-and-a-half hour session of teaching, we took a break for lunch and a couple of people came up to David to say that they were willing to even skip lunch and continue studying, because they needed this teaching so much! God has been very kind to prepare us for this kind of ministry.

A couple of weeks ago, we were able to attend a conference that was held in Rome. It was a great opportunity to see friends and meet up with unexpected people whom we had not seen in years. As David walked by a group of men, Samuel saw him and lunged to hug him. He turned around to his friends and said, “This is the man who taught me how to preach”! David, with tears in his eyes, was very encouraged to hear the grateful words of this African man, who now pastors a church composed mostly of African immigrants, near Milano. Playing piano for the conference was Giuliano. He asked to meet with David, so he could tell him how grateful he was for having been taught the sovereignty of God and Bible doctrine by David, years ago. These had both been David’s students in the Italian Theological Academy. God is so loving, as He encourages us in our ministry by showing us some of the fruit of our labor!

Serving God is the privilege of the believer. Representing you here in Rome is a loving gift God has given us.  A letter like this might make it seem that ministry is easy and fun. But, dear friends, at times we also struggle, as many whom we reach out to are totally indifferent to the Word of God. Italy continues to be a very dark place, enveloped by the lies of false religion.

We ask you to please continue to pray. Thank God for every sign of growth and every message that goes out. And pray that God would lead us to those He has prepared for the saving and powerful message of the Gospel.

Pray for our upcoming events:

o    Loredana will be speaking at a ladies’ conference in Milan at the end of May
o    We will be hosting a team from our son’s church in Virginia, who will help us do our very first
o    VBS in our church
o    We will have various opportunities to share the Gospel during special events in our church
o    David continues to preach the letter to the Philippians on Sundays, and Luke in Bible study
o    Our ongoing work together with Lucio and Cristina Stanisci, our dear friends
o    In July, we plan to go back to Sicily for continued ministry

Your grateful co-slaves for Christ,

David and Loredana

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CORNELIUS MINISTRIES
55 South Main Street #164
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