Preaching, Witnessing, and Sight Seeing

Well, it has been an exciting and busy couple of weeks. Everything is going well, and I am learning much about the differences in culture, what a missionary has to do, and what he goes through on a week to week basis. Last weekend(19th-21st), I had the opportunity to travel to Terni and work just for the weekend with Keith and Linda Bloyd. They are great folks and have been working in Italy for over twenty years now. Bro. Bloyd teaches English at a school giving him great opportunity to talk about the Gospel with people. On Saturday we went to the town center of Terni and set up a book table. While Mrs. Boyd managed that, Mr. Bloyd and I would walk around the center handing out Gospel literature. At the same time we were doing this, the Jehovah's Witnesses were doing the same thing. Not only that, but the Mormons were out as well. Please pray for the Bloyds as they try to minister to the people of their church. It was a real blessing to be with them, and to see their love for the Lord and their burden for these people. On Sunday Bro. Bloyd let me preach. It was the first time I have ever preached through an interpreter. It went well, and the Lord blessed. I preached from Lamentations 4 on "Our end is come." I then came back to Grosseto, on Monday. It is sad to see the condition of the people of Italy and just how much they are in darkness. On Tuesday, Bro. Childers and I went and stuffed mailboxes, and passed out tracts to those we passed by on the street. Usually people just take the tract and keep going, but one lady that Bro. Childers gave a tract to, started a conversation with him. She was telling him that we cannot know absolute truth, and towards the end she said that her faith was in Mary. Bro. Childers explained to her that Mary didn't die for her. The lady's response would have been funny had it not been so heart breaking. She told Bro. Childers that she didn't die on the cross, but her faith was in Mary because she cried at the cross. How sad to think that she is so close to the cross, but yet, she denies the saving power. Please keep praying. The Lord is working. We know that the only way that these people can come to the truth, is that the Holy Spirit does a work in their life, and our Father draws them to Himself. On Thursday, Bro. Childers gave me the opportunity to preach, again through an interpreter, and again it went well. The Lord used it to encourage the people. I preached on the man Epaphras and his example for us. Last night, Bro. Childers and I went and saw something that I didn't even know existed in Europe, we went and watched a baseball game. It wasn't exactly the Major Leagues or anything, but it was still enjoyable. I just got back from doing some sight seeing in Pisa, not Pizza, and yes the tower really is leaning.I was also able to see the university that Galileo attended.Please keep praying for the work going on in Italy. We need Italian men to be called to preach, and it won't happen unless we are praying for it. I believe prayer moves the heart, that moves the hand, that moves the world, and that Hand also moves men's hearts as well. Thank you for your continued prayers. The Lord is using this trip to teach me many things that I need to work on, that I need to strengthen in my walk with the Lord. These four weeks that I have been here have truly been a great learning experience, and I can't wait for the next four. God bless.

It has been a great couple of days working with Paul Childers in Grosseto. Grosseto is a city of about 80,000 people. It is located pretty much on the Mediterranean Sea, and about two hours north of Rome. I have been stuffing mailboxes with tracts, and on Thursdays Bro. Childers and I go to an open air market that they have and pass out tracts to people, there. We have also been doing some projects at the church building as well. The people of Bible Baptist Church in Grosseto are great people, and very kind and friendly. Bro. Childers is pretty busy as he is the second man at the church but the pastor is gone on furlough. Please pray for the work going on in Grosseto. It is just like any where else in Italy, the people will say they are Catholic, but an actuality, there is a very small percent that actually practice their religion. Every one in Italy pretty much do not care about what happens in the future. I was talking to a missionary recently and she was telling me that, she was talking with this man about salvation, and it took them forever to get him to realize that salvation is not of works, but of grace and experiencing the new birth, and when he realized there was nothing he could do to earn it, he didn't want any thing to do with it. Please keep praying, I know God is working. Also, please pray for the Childer's, Bro. Paul's family is back in the states right now, because the visa has not come through for Mrs. Childers and the children and they are just waiting for that to go through. Thank you for all of your prayers, please keep praying.

The City of Napoli

It has been a great week in Italy! God is blessing in such a great way. I spent four days in Naples, and it was great! Naples is the second largest city in Italy, and one of the largest Metrapolitan areas in all of Western Europe. I spent Thursday and Friday in down town Naples, and that was definitely a new experience. Their culture is completely different then what we as Americans are use to. There are pretty much no laws concerning driving. They are big on seafood, including squid and octopus, and everything is fresh. Naples is made up of 21 neighborhoods, and there are 5,000 people per spuare mile. In the entire Metroplex of Naples there are 4 million people.

94% of the people do not attend a church of any kind (that is about 3, 800,00). There are about 1,000 catholic churches in the entire city. The people are very friendly, but they are still lost. Please keep praying for the city of Naples. There is a missionary team working there, but the work is slow because the people do not want to get saved. It is not that they are cold to the gospel, but that family is superior to faith, and they do not want to lose their family or offend them in any way. The Lord is starting to work, though. The people here are starting to grow tired of the Catholic church, and I believe that they can be won, with much prayer.

I also had the opportunity to preach on Sunday at the Bible Baptist Church, in both the am and pm services, at a military church. The Lord blessed in a great way! Please pray for the Bible Baptist Church of Casal de

Principe. They are without a pastor right now, and they are praying that the Lord will bring them one. They are great people, and are seeking to do what is right. It was very encouraging to be with them for a couple days. Thank you to all who were such a blessing in Napoli.

I arrived safely in Grosseto on Monday and I will be working with Paul Childers for about six weeks, so please keep praying. Thank you to all of you who are praying, because your prayers are getting through. Lord willing I will have pictures later this week for you to see. God bless

"When in Rome..."

Well, hello from Roma Italia! I landed at 12:30 pm which would be 6:30 am eastern standard time. Bro. Homan, who has been a missionary to Rome for a little over two years now, was gracious to pick me up and let me stay with him and his family for the night. Bro. Homan and I already have gone to down town Rome and passed out tracts at the metro station. It was so different not being able to really say anything, because I don't know the language. It was also different, that the people don't really acknowledge your existence, even if they take a tract from you. This is a picture of Bro. Homan passing out a tract to a young couple coming into the metro train station.

After passing out tracts for probably a half-hour, we got on board the train and went into what is known as the historic center of Rome. This is where the Coliseum is, where the baths use to be, the Roman Forum, and many other things. We didn't have a lot of time to walk around and see everything, but Lord willing I will be coming back to Rome, and will have a little more time to pass out tracts and see the city of Rome. When I saw the Coliseum, all I could think about was my heritage. Many Christians died in that Coliseum under persecution, and now it just sits in the middle of down town Rome, and it means nothing to the people who walk by it. It's just another tourist stop. Being in Rome, and just knowing how bad Paul wanted to be here to preach the gospel, and was imprisoned here, makes me thankful for the heritage that I have. Please keep praying for me, that God will keep opening the doors. I am on my way to Naples, Italy today, which is about two hours south of Rome. Naples is completely different than Rome. It is where most of your mafia is. Naples, I have been told, resembles a war zone at this time. The government is trying to rid Naples of the Mafia control that is there. Please pray for me, as there is potential violence and a lot of pick pockets in Naples as well. I will arrive tonight, by train, and I will be preaching at a military base as well. God is working in a mighty way I believe. I keep hearing of missionaries that want to come, and I believe that the Lord is answering the prayers of those who are praying for laborers into the harvest field. Thank you for all of your prayers. I will continue to keep you updated. God bless.

Flight Into New Jersey

Well, I am here in New Jersey waiting for my flight to take off. I have a seven hour layover so it is going to be a while yet. Thank you for your continued prayers. I was able to preach last night in Graepvine, Texas, and the Lord really blessed. The Lord keeps showing Himself wonderful and good, and I can't wait to see what He is going to do this summer. Here are some pictures of New York City. I have never seen so many buildings in one place, in my life. It was quite a sight to see!! God bless and the next time a write, Lord willing, I should be in Rome.