God is at work
June 6, 2012
dear fellow pilgrims, saved by God's grace through our Lord Jesus Christ,
God gives dry seasons, and He gives seasons of more visible fruit.
In these INTENSIVE days and weeks, He is giving much encouragement. But, in this midst of this, we are remembering that our true encouragement and joy is that our names are written in the book of life!!! Jesus Christ is at the right hand of the Father on our behalf! THIS is reason for joy in all seasons.
We arrived home from Milan yesterday along with Carmine and Serena, and their two small boys. This is the couple from Milan who are INTENSELY seeking Christ. We had understood that they wanted to come and stay with us for 3 or 4 days as a kind of vacation, going to the sea one day, etc. They shared that no, they would prefer just having as many hours as possible talking about the Lord, helping them better understand the way of salvation!!!! They are spending the days with us, and the nights with Diego and Alessandra. So, these are intensive days, with the precious young family with us. PRAY that God will indeed open their eyes, to their sinfulness, and Christ as Saivor.
We had our first lesson of the new English Course last night, starting at 8:45 pm. At about 8:35, the cars started arriving, car after car after car. There were 19 cars! There were a total of 28 local non believers, all new people to us, who came. There are 6 or 7 more who had informed us that they couldn't make the first lesson.
At supper, before the lesson, I shared that I could either choose to be nervous, or to trust God. I chose to trust God.
What an evening. We explained the teaching method, and then I shared very, very clearly about God, and eternity, and the need for a Savior.
Afterwards, we had a solid hour of sharing clearly with people about Christ during the refreshments. The large majority expressed that they were glad to be there.
Pray, for open doors, and for God to save many from this group!
pressing on, in God's strength, rejoicing that our names are in the Book of Life.
Marco (and Sherrie / Serena)
Here below is Ashley's account of last night. At the end, she includes a link to Bryce's blog, with pictures of the ministry. Bryce is here for two months from the USA, specifically to help us with the English course. We could NOT do it without him!
Also: here is a link to the video of the first lesson. Please watch it, and let it run the full length. The method is for the student (who doesn't speak English) to watch the video 5 to 10 times, until the text is very much in his mind, and then go to our www.123learnit.com website to download the audio exercises, which are based upon that lesson.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP7kJbjguEk
Here's Ashley's update:
Dearest prayer warriors,
I know that you were battling with us in prayer yesterday and during these days in general. I want to take this opportunity to praise God for His abounding grace and for encouraging us and increasing our faith.
He answered your prayers regarding the English Course! We counted 28 non-believers from the community who were in attendance last night at our first English Course of the summer. There are 7 more who are desirous to come but couldn't make it last night because of previous commitments. Lord willing, they will be in attendance next week. This in and of itself is encouraging since the summer is a difficult time for a lot of families here to commit to Courses like this.
Marco explained the teaching method at the beginning and we did some live examples. After this we showed the video. At the end Marco shared clearly that we will teach a serious English Course but that we are teaching it for free not solely because we like to teach (which we do!) but because we are desirous that others have profound joy. This brings us joy. Marco then went on to explain that Jesus Christ is the only source of that joy and posed many questions for them to ponder about their eternity and finding themselves before the judgment seat of God. "Are you ready to stand before your Creator?" was the underlying theme.
There were only 4 out of 28 students who do not want to return. The rest were warm and engaged in conversation. We received several positive comments about the evening and many were able to share in depth about the Lord. Praise be to God!
So, as you all can see, we are thankful. We are grateful for God's guiding hand during the evening and we know that much of this was due also to your faithful prayers.
Continue to pray with us for these students and that we will choose the path of seeking the glory of God and not be anxious or self-conscious when sharing with the lost. I was praying personally last night for increased zeal in sharing and am already praying for Bible studies with the young women who were present Will you join me?
One final note: I'm sending along the link to Bryce's blog.
http://bryceinitaly.blogspot.it/2012/06
It is a wonderful opportunity to look through another believer's eyes at what the Lord is doing here. I've been a mad photographer lately so you'll see many pictures of the ministry here on his blog as well.
By grace,
Ashley
working in his strength, rejoicing in his love,
Marco (and Serena /Sherrie) deFelice
Italy
PS: if you are interested in helping to support us and Ashley you can get more information here: visit this page.
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