24
B
ecause of its geographical location, Italy
has become home to large numbers of
African migrants. Many have been there
already many years, and are working legally,
often for minimum wage, and gather together
for Christian worship in mainly Pentecostal
churches. The problem with Pentecostalism is
that the continued emphasis upon the false
prosperity Gospel, always hyping people up
for miracles and then guilt tripping those who
don’t get them, along with high pressure to
donate money to the pastors... leaves
thoughtful people feeling very short changed
and disappointed.
Many African migrants speak only minimal
Italian and find there are few English speaking
churches they can attend. And so near
Bologna, a group of such folks began meeting
together for Bible study. One of them, Joseph,
found us on the internet and with a wonderful
humility to the word, came to accept doctrine
after doctrine through reading our material,
using the NEV Bible with commentary, and
viewing our presentations on YouTube. And he
has shared our literature and NEV Bibles with
other African folk he knows. He’s a remark-
able preacher, approaching any black guy he
sees on the street [because they are likely
English speaking] and putting the Gospel to
them.
Joseph meets with this group in a hotel
conference room. They are an interesting
group- from newly arrived young men with just
the clothes they stand up in, to people like
Joseph who have stable work, a car and can
rent their own apartment. Several came along
with their NEV Bibles [in the group photo
above, you can see the man on the far left
holding his copy]. They are God fearing folk
Carelinks | Italy
Joseph’s baptism in the Adriactic Sea