Why Italy?

OK. The obvious answer is… my wife grew up here. Then… I like pizza. And… I was too chicken to go to Indonesia.

We all have personal reasons and divine coincidences that have put us in the place where we are in life.

So maybe the better question is “Why do you remain there instead of moving on?”

Why am I preparing once again to begin a new ministry in the “bel paese”?

Well… I like pizza! I'm not kidding! :-)

There are many things that I absolutely love about the Italian culture.

Of course there are many parts that frustrate me from day to day and cause me to turn to Amee and say, “What am I doing here?”

But Italians are the best at so many things; food, fine sports cars, soccer, art, and espresso. And they just generally have a passion and a flare that I enjoy being around.

Italian culture has been so influential in the West. Just imagine if they allowed Christ to transform them and use them to be an agent for good.

Which brings up another reason. The absolute zero awareness of God in the everyday life of an Italian.

They are somewhat aware of religion. Although a very small percentage of people actually practice Roman Catholicism.

But religion is very easy to keep inside the walls of a cathedral. Religion is brought ought for show on special occasions. Religion has no bearing on everyday life and in fact it is the cause of so many problems in the world today.

Less than 1% of Italians know what it is like to surrender oneself wholly and completely to God. Not to a priest or to a culturally acceptable religious ritual, but to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

I truly believe that many Italians know this in their heart of hearts. And if someone would just tell them in a way that they can understand we would see that indeed God is calling out millions of espresso drinking, soccer playing, Ferrari driving, fun loving Italians.