To allow you to know a bit more about us, let me share briefly about our ministry.

When we married in 1975 we didn't know what God had in store for us, except that we knew that we didn't know! At that time I did not have a call to the ministry. God worked in many ways, through many people, and in 1978 we realized that ministry was the step God was calling us to. However, we still didn't know many details. It was after serving for about two years, in 1982, that we recognized God's call of me to be an evangelist, a church planter. In order to affirm God’s call in our lives, and avoid presumption, we sought the wisdom of our church. They willingly confirmed God’s work and calling in our lives.

We began church planting in Italy in 1986. Over the years the day-by-day emphasis of our ministry has changed significantly. We've gone from pioneer church planting (starting two churches from scratch) in which we started worship with just the two of us, to our current ministry of pastoring (Marco) a maturing church and training leaders.

Over the years, as the circumstances have changed, we've focused our attention first in evangelism, then in teaching, and now more in leadership training. But, whatever the current stage of church development, our ministry foundation remains the same: We continue to believe that the key to ministry is the clear, faithful preaching of God's Word, and living holy, Christ-centered lives.

When we started out in 1986 we lived and ministered in the city of Bologna, which has about 1,000,000 inhabitants in the greater metropolitan area. I (Marco) did much street preaching, which was very conducive to evangelism in that type of city. God graciously raised up a church in our first term of service.

In our second term of service we moved to the much smaller city of Rovigo. We labored intensively in evangelizing hundreds of people, yet it was four years before God saved the first people, a married couple, in early 1995. From that small beginning a church was born. In the initial years, we focused mainly on evangelism. Then, as more people were being saved, our ministry focus was mostly shepherding the young church. Now, with the church maturing, our focus is also very much involved in training up the leaders and their wives.

In recent years, with much emphasis on pastoral care, we gravely neglected evangelism as a church, which was a clear failure of my leadership. In the past year we've recognized this, repented of it, and God has graciously not only forgiven us, but given the members of the church a zeal to evangelize.

In the past year (2010), God has saved a man in the province of Milano, and through our sermon website, we have established a strong tie with him. Besides being a student of the Bible, he is also very bold in sharing his faith. Through his testimony, God has opened the door for me to teach a vibrant evangelistic Bible study there each Monday night. So, each Sunday, after our morning worship service here, we drive three hours to his home, minister to him and his family, and on Monday night have the evangelistic Bible study. Our prayer and belief is that this will grow into a new church. God is doing great things there. We've not seen this in more than 24 years!

We have a vision for the future to both continue planting churches as well as to minister to and train young church leaders who are in need of help, training and encouragement throughout Italy. To learn more about our vision for the future you can read our vision statement.

Central to all we do are expository preaching of the Word of God as well as using the Word to minister to people in all of the various circumstances and issues of life.

Our ministry is very God-focused. God is holy, righteous, and jealous for His glory! We recognize that God does not exist to provide an easy life for believers but, rather, calls men and women out of darkness into His glorious light, that they might live for His glory. Jesus Christ is God incarnate, and it is through Him that we can know God.

The greatest joy a believer can have is to glorify God! We exist to glorify HIM. God has granted us the grace, not just to believe, but also to suffer for His name. What a privilege. We stand before God by His wonderful, unfathomable GRACE!

Our ministry is very pastoral, dealing with people not just from the pulpit but also helping them to know and apply God's Word to the specific circumstances of their lives.

Our desire is to be spent for our Lord in the time we have left on this earth. We eagerly await our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Come, Lord Jesus!

Marco and Sherrie (Serena) deFelice

Pastor/missionary and precious helpmate