They desire change. You can feel it when you’re there. God has put eternity in their hearts, and they want it. There is an embedded reverence in their society (both in and out of church), and we’re thankful that this reverence is pointing to the God of the Bible, and Jesus his son and our King. So many of our dearest friends are an exception to the norm. We know dozens of Catholics in Salerno who understand the gospel, study the Bible, and are living their lives to honor Christ. We know pastors of evangelical churches in and around Salerno who are tired of the “norm” for churches in Italy and desire to change. We know people that have come to Christ with a hunger to share the gospel with people around them because they’ve tasted what an intimate relationship with their creator can be like.

We firmly believe that God is beginning a culture-changing movement in Italy that will redefine what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Our hope in working there is to see Italians make an eternal difference as they seek to redefine what it means to walk with Jesus. We pray for, and desire to see revival take place in the churches so that the Gospel is made abundantly clear, and the teachings of the Bible are lived out in gratitude and not obligation or fear.

To all our Italian brothers and sisters, thank you. You have given us hope that Jesus is still at work in your beautiful country. We can’t wait to return and work together to see Jesus become famous again!

So, where does the evangelical church fit in? Some statistics might help. First off, there are few of them. In an estimated 33,500 communities throughout Italy, only 1,500 have an established evangelical presence. That’s that less than 5% of the entire country (contrasting the Catholic Church in nearly every city and community)! To narrow this down further, this only represents 1 small (sometimes 50 people or less) community within an entire city. When you widdle this down, less than 1% of Italy would consider themselves a born again, evangelical Christian. To be fair, that is a good start. IF these believers realized the potential influence they could have on the people around them, amazing things could happen. But, history has proven otherwise.

A King and his Kingdom. That is how an Italian friend and pastor has described the average evangelical community. In other words, many pastors are very protective of their “flock” from outside influence. Often with little to no theological training, a pastor can walk dangerous lines in his teaching (ranging from heavy legalism to extreme pentecostal experiences), and even exercises prophetic authority over his church. By calling himself a prophet, you can’t question his teaching. If you do, you’ll be removed from the body. This is why outsiders are a danger, as they might be able to challenge the theology of the pastor and corrupt his kingdom. This also means that most churches are very divided with each other. They believe they do it better, and don’t need to learn from others.

So, what is the result? Very few churches, in very few cities, with very little to no influence. There are a few shining examples (one of which we are very close with) that have a healthy presence, but it isn’t many. What Italy needs is a new movement, redefining what it means to be a disciple of Jesus and a church committed to fulfilling the Great Commission. More on this in the next post! Have any thoughts?

What’s worse, is that the message of the gospel is difficult to find in these churches. It is dangerously clouded by misleading traditions and a misguided understanding of our justification (here’s a good, short book on the differences). In our 2 years of living in Italy, I have yet to meet a single Italian Catholic who has had an accurate understanding of the gospel, and knew that they are saved by faith alone (which is at the heart of the Biblical teaching on salvation). In my estimation, nearly 99% of the country have a false understanding of salvation, which means they would die separated from Christ. I am not speaking to whether or not the church has a false understanding at a foundational level, but I am certainly to pointing out that the people are not hearing it or understanding it. The church has lost its voice.

So, who can tell them? The evangelical church, right? In theory, that’s who should be telling them. But, they aren’t. I’ll give some insight why in a post later this week. So, hang on! Do you have any thoughts on this particular post? Please share in the comments section!

Agape (the name of our ministry here) is the American Dream
Thirty four Americans are meeting Salerno Students
HAPPPY TO SPREAD THE WORD OF GOD

Click the image to enlarge

Here is how it starts:

The Camorra is a mafia-like criminal organization, or secret society, originating in the region of Campania and its capital Naples in Italy. It finances itself through drug trafficking/distribution, human smuggling, prostitution, toxic waste disposal, construction, loan sharking, gambling, arms smuggling, extortion, protection and racketeering and its activities have led to high levels of murder in the areas in which it operates. It is the oldest and largest criminal organization in Italy.

DID YOU KNOW:
• 32,000 (out of 33,500) Italian communities have no established evangelical witness
• Only 10% (of expatriate missionaries) on average return for a second term
• there are 616 official religions in Italy
• there are an estimated 100,000 recognized fortune-tellers
• less than 5% of Catholics are actually practicing
• Islam is the second religion in Italy. Jehovah’s Witnesses are as numerous as all Evangelicals put together
• 2.6 million foreigners live in Italy
• in Milan alone more than 1000 teenagers commit suicide each year

Would you take a moment and pray about these things?

(click to enlarge)

1. Rome is further North than New York City. New York is about the same latitude as Naples, Italy.
2. In Rome and Naples, it only snows briefly once every several years, while in New York, snow is very frequent in the winter.
3. Italy is slightly larger than the state of Arizona
4. Almost 20% of Italy’s population is over 65 years old.
5. Italy borders Austria, France, Vatican City, San Marino, Slovenia, and Switzerland.
6. The average Italian family has 1.27 children.