 Salerno Italy
From Gayle
Yesterday... when we went to campus, Sarah Love, Kat and I formed a group, and we walked around campus until we spotted two Italian girls sitting on the grass outside the "Lingua" (languages) building - this is an area where many English speakers usually hang out between classes. These two girls were sitting and talking in the grass, and we approached them. We introduced ourselves and...
explained that we work with Agape Italia, an interdenominational Christian group. We asked if they would mind sharing with us what they believed, and who God was to them. After we gave them the opportunity to respond, they asked what we believed. They said, "We go to confession and we pray to the saints," but it was a revelation in their hearts when we testified that we have a personal relationship with God through Christ - our mediator is Christ, who paid it all. There are no extra parties that are needed. It was incredible to see how God has prepared their hearts to hear the gospel. The conversation was easy. The questions were provoking. Their responses were insightful. I realized that these two girls were really ready for this - when they told us that they felt like our meeting with them was a gift from God, in my heart I understood that they were prepared to hear the gospel, and God had brought them to place in their lives where they were ready to make a decision. All of the circumstances in their lives leading up to this point were preparation to hear the saving news of Jesus. After we were able to clearly present to them what Christ had done for them by dying on the cross, we asked them if they were ready to receive this gift. It was so evident that these girls believed what they were hearing. God did this. It was not the words we said or the compelling arguments we gave. In my heart, I came to understand what Paul means when he write about the power of the gospel.
Today....yet another exciting day on campus! I had the opportunity to share with Adam, and we had the opportunity to talk to a guy and a girl who were sitting together - Francesco and Giusy. Despite the awkward introduction, they still welcomed us warmly and invited us to sit down. Adam spoke primarily with Giusi and I spoke with Francesco. It was then that we were able to express to them that we work on campus and our job is to meet students like them and engage them in spriritual conversations. We also expressed to them that this is so much more than a job, and our conversations are so much more than just spiritual - we are compelled by the truth of the words we speak, and this is our motivation. As we continued our conversation with them, we heard Francesco and Giusi's views on Christ. Although they are both Catholic and share similar views, it became very clear very soon that Francesco was willing to receive this, and Giusi just couldn't - all of her previous experiences and ideas and notions were holding her back. By the end of our conversation, Francesco had prayed to receive Christ as his Lord and Savior.
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