More than twenty Italian evangelical churches closed by Milan City Council

It seems there is a subtle strategy trying to "slow down" the growth of the evangelical churches in Italy, making more and more difficult for them to find places for their meetings, closing down the facilities the are using, and putting them under the hand lens of the Italian bureaucracy.

Even if  this is happening only in  a couple of regions in the north, it seems possible other Italian regions may apply the same rules over the evangelical communities living in their territory.

While I'm waiting in prayer the Italian Evangelical Churches of all the regions will wake up from their lethargy and stop thinking "this not going to happen in my region" or "we have friends at the City Council, they will not bother us", and rise their voices all together to defend those churches in need, I urge all of you to pray for the communities facing those tough moments.

Marco

 Here is the official Press Release from the President of  COEL ( Lombardy Region Evangelical Conference) asking for action from Milan City Council on October 8th 2012
---
"Despite last Tuesday's meeting with Milan City Council, four church facilities were closed, with the cotnsequent eviction of 6 evangelical churches in Milan city, in accordance with a Regional law. COEL began discussions with the City Council, which responded by allowing some of the churches to hold their services in city facilities; COEL thanked the administration for this possibility. 

COEL has also contacted several political representatives – Lombardy Region Councillors, national Parliament members and Senators, mainly non- evangelical – regarding this burning issue and continues to believe in and ask for loyal collaboration and solidarity from all those who are committed to religious freedom in our nation, besides all the Christian churches, irrespective of denomination or confession of faith. 

With the closure of these facilities, the number of evangelical churches evicted from their places of worship has now risen to more than 20; some of these have disbanded, others have moved to other premises but all have suffered a blow to their vocation and function in the place where God, before man, had called them.
COEL also announced that it had been summoned again this week by the City Council, regarding the citizens' discussion on the establishment of a Register of religious associations, which is one of the main problems at the heart of the current situation.

Starting tomorrow the Vice-Mayor of Milan has specifically expressed his commitment to intervene together with COEL to help to find a solution to the problem of these churches evicted from their places of worship.
We again call upon all the public and private parties involved – as well as all the governing bodies and in particular Regional and national politicians – who have at heart religious freedom and plurality of faith which our (Italian) Constitution, art.3, lays out admirably, to work to find a positive solution to this problem. 

To all christians, in particular, we ask that they pray to God for us."

Pastor Riccardo Tocco
COEL President 

 ---

(Translated by Janet Duggan)

The work of our missionaries in Zimbabwe continues!

Many of you know our church is supporting Giuseppe and Anna Rita Longo, a missionary couple who  decided to livein Zimbabwe with their three children to work with the local churches and help with the children in the area of Bulawayo.

This is what Giuseppe and Annarita wrote to us in their latest letter:

"Hi to everybody from our Africa.

August revealed many blessings and was a month of very intense and demanding activities. The group was quite numerous. We had Bernardino, Fabio, Linda and Stefania from Italy. With them we evangelized the various areas of Bulawayo with our puppets, the new theater, mimes and singing.

 It was beautiful and exciting to work with the orphans and poor of the city at the orphanages. Every day we tried to make our contribution putting our skills and talents to good use.

We also visited some African churches where we presented our program, which was much appreciated, especially when we sang in Italian and Ndebele.

Fabio went back to Italy at the end of August and today Linda and Stefania are leaving us. Bernardino, however, will remain with us until October 2, helping with his talents and gifts.

We started to pay school fees for the "Project Abantwana," but we were not able to cover the fees for all the children. As for the new project "Adopt a teacher" we received only one gift, but it will not be enough to pay for two teachers.

We are confident that our Father will supply every need. With Bernardino, in faith, we still want to start the room that will be used as a nursery school. We hope to start the program on September 11, when school will start again for everyone. Anyone wishing to donate can still use our bank account or post office occount here below.

What more can we say? We will be more than happy to accommodate anyone who is interested in cominh and visiting us,  and we will spend our time together serving the Lord. This group was happy to work with us and we were overjoyed to be a tool in providing an opportunity for service.

You are welcome. For those who want more information, a new group will be here in December. Please contact us as soon as possible.

We greet you with love in the Lord, Giuseppe, Annarita, Emmanuele, Desirée and David. "

---

Since the beginning of August my colleague Elder Bernardino Balzi is there to serve together with Giuseppe and Annarita.

Berni sent us some photos from the region around Bulawayo. The task is heavy, but the joy of the faces of those who receive help is priceless, and it's worth all the effort.

Berni is acting as our church's hands, feet and eyes there and we bless the Lord that through him, just as though Giuseppe and Annarita, our small church can do something for "the least". Berni wrote the following to us yesterday:

"Hi Marco, on Tuesday school starts again and some of the children supported by the "Abwantana Project" risk not being able to go back to school because we haven't received enough funds to pay for them. We still need about $400. Next week the Longos and I will be going to work on a room in a local Baptist church on the outskirts of town, which will be used as a school room for children in that area. We'll be painting the walls, laying a concrete floor... but funds are tight here, too, and with just another $50 we could fix the leaking roof and maybe replace some of the broken windows. Greet everyone for me, see you soon, and Strength in Christ"

On Monday, we'll send the amount Berni mentioned (plus an extra 30%)...
I am proud of every member of the church I lead, because though small, it has a great heart for those in need, giving faithfully and more generously than that which would be expected in this period of recession! And I am also blessed that as pastor, I can transform that money into a roof, a floor, windows and instalments to pay for food, cothing and EDUCATION! for many childen. I love my church, because my church loves with practical action, not with words.
Yes, I'm very blessed as a pastor!

Marco

PS: if anyone else would like to contribute to Giuseppe and Annarita's work (and Berni's) in Zimbabwe, they can find out how to do so by reading the information here.

Thank you Jessica Joy!

Perhaps many of you remember  Jessica Joy Rees, the 12 years old daughter of an American pastor suffering from a brain tumor.

Jessica became a "mascot" for our church and an example. I spoke about her in many Sunday messages as well as to friends, posting on Facebook and elsewhere, telling her awesome story of suffering, joy, sorrow, hope,  pain and altruism.

Many of us prayed constantly for her, for a miraculous healing, for something that could contradict the cold statistical data related to the inoperable cancer  she suffered from: 9-month survival since its discovery.

Yesterday evening (it was morning in California) Jessica was welcomed by Jesus into Heaven, leaving her family but also all of us, alone. They told us she fell asleep, without pain, as if  she was going to bed at night. When she  wakes up (this has already happened as I write!), she will not find her family to comfort her from the pain, or her beloved Mr. Moe -the faithful dog that accompanied her in these months of illness - but Jesus himself, her real father, the one who has loved her since before she existed, and that now is taking her to  the room he prepared for her. No more pain, or needles, or headache, or facial paralysis ... only the joy of being with Jesus!

I miss my Jessie. I was accustomed to pray for her every day, to exchange text messages and photos on Facebook. I cannot even imagine how much her family is missing her. She  went to the Father, but her shining example of unselfishness, joy and faith will remain carved in the minds of those who met her, even if only through the pages of Facebook.

As a believer, I know that " for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

I do not see that my stretch of road, that appears before me along the way, and I do not know what lies beyond the bend  that limits me to the view, while God, flying higher than time and events, sees - as would an eagle- , the entire path. He sees the whole picture, and its intersections, and chooses them according to the good of those who love him. And I know he has chosen the better for the sake of Jessie ... although I cannot see it with my short sight, and I cannot understand it with my limited intellect.

Two comments, however, helped me put into perspective even one small fraction of the plan that God has written through Jessie.

The first is from my wife. As I pondered out loud about the fact that I did not know enough about Jessica, she said: "Jessica wanted to be known by you, as well as by thousands of other people in the world.Through Facebook she searched contact with you, as with the others,  making herself vulnerable to others and choosing to tell you and to others what was inside:  her joys, her fears, the best and the worst of those ten months of pain. "

This comment led me to a first reflection on my life as a believer: how much am I willing to reveal myself to others, making me vulnerable to them?Do I seek the help and support of my  brothers and sisters in Christ, near or far , or do I try to do "everything by myself", thinking of  my challenges as a private affair? Jessica opened herself to the world and to other believers receiving through  prayer the help and the constant encouragement that enabled her to live ten months not in a passive way towards her illness, but attacking it and making it a springboard for action, rather than to a dark room  to hide and weep.

The second, and perhaps most important, came from my son Matteo, thirteen years old , more or less the same age as Jessie: "Well, dad, I'm so sorry for her, but even though he lived only twelve years, that was a great way to live.Without her there would be no Team Negu, nor  Joy Jars, which are now known all over the United States. I hope that here in Italy there will be something like that sooner or later. "

This is the correct perspective, which could only come from a young mind ready to see life not as a sum of the days gone by, but as the book of the future.

Matteo was telling me: this is what a 12 year old girl, in her 10 months of illness, was able to do thanks to her faith in Jesus.
Rather than becoming bitter about the evil she experienced, she deliberately decided to be better, to LOVE those who were in her own conditions. There wouldn't be a Team Negu to help children with cancer and their families without Jessie.
There wouldn't have been JOY JARS to give a smile to a child who is suffering without Jessie. Jessie's life in 10 months has had more impact on thousands of people than I had with my hundreds of sermons I preached in church ... because she decided to LOVE LIVING.

Love is not a feeling but an action .... How many times have I taught this? And how many times have I ignored my own teaching? How many times bitter I was  because I felt pain instead of being better, loving those around me? How many times have I been BITTER LOOKING FOR LOVE, instead of being BETTER living in love?

Jessie Thanks for teaching me a truth that I heard so many times and  I taught so many times: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice!" (Philippians 4:4).

I have often only heard or taught this. You lived it!

Marco