Mission 193 to Italy
On 31st July I took my uncle Les to Rome on Mission 193. I had never visited Rome before, but my Uncle Les had lived there for a year in the past and so knew it well.
No sooner had we landed there than we made our way to the famous Colosseum. We quickly found a spot overlooking the part where many years ago lots of Christians were martyred for their faith in order to entertain the Roman masses. It was quite moving to think of Christians who lost their lives because they loved and knew the same Lord Jesus I do. As groups of tourists walked by we took turns in reading the prophetic scriptures in this special place. As I read the prophecies given so many years ago, I realised I was living proof that Jesus is building His Church and no-one can stop His ever-increasing Kingdom from advancing. We then prayed that the blood of the martyrs would still continue to produce fruit all over the world. We prayed especially that the light of the Gospel would shine in Italy. We also prayed that Christians across the world still suffering persecution would be encouraged and strengthened as the early Roman martyrs were.
I really found Rome an interesting place to visit. Later I visited the damp dungeon where Paul was imprisoned shortly before he died, and from which he wrote some of his last epistles. I remembered how he had written before this to the Philippians that he had learned the secret of being content in all situations.
Now for the next part of our mission – to find a man or woman of peace to receive an Italian Bibles from us. The driver from the airport to the hotel didn’t qualify – his driving was really scary and he also overcharged us! He was not a man of peace. We wondered about a waiter in a trattoria we used to eat in but he was always rushed off his feet. We talked with a priest from Benin in Africa but he went right off us when he realised we were not Roman Catholics … then on the last day my Uncle and I felt it was right to give it to one of the reception staff at the hotel. He was the only one who spoke to my uncle in Italian and didn’t reply to him in English! He was grateful to receive the Bible but he pointed out to my Uncle that he wasn’t a Christian (all the better for you to receive it, we thought!) He also said that eventually he would put it in the hotel lounge for people to read, if that was OK with us (we didn’t mind-getting even better!)
So we flew back home on 3rd August feeling that we had accomplished our mission and we know that God will do some good things in Rome and Italy. I really enjoyed playing my part in Mission 193. It’s amazing to think that there are only 87 countries left to visit before November next year.
