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up, warning against buying things from such
people. He lives on a few Euros / day. Health
care isn’t free for them; problems with teeth
have to be endured with pain or by wrenching
out the troublesome tooth. King is deeply disil-
lusioned with the churches attended by many
such Africans, promising them prosperity and
health- if they tithe to the pastor. And so he
turned to the Bible, and came across our free
NEV Bible. It was a cold, very windy day when
he was baptized in the sea- in the pouring
rain. Usually, he would be out selling
umbrellas on such a day. We entered the water
in rain and wind, with him shivering; as soon
as he emerged from the water, the sun very
suddenly came out and the wind ceased. It
was quite amazing!
Our brother gave a very simple and haunting
account of what it is like to be a beggar on the
streets of Europe, with no family or food or
state support; no safety nets
apart from the Lord. See the
link on page 25 to watch King's
testimony. We made the movie
in his tiny room, where he has
a mattress on the floor and
nothing else. He explains in
the movie the need to be
grateful for whatever one has;
in his case, he says, the
mattress could fit three
bodies, and it is all for him. He sees a blessing
in that. But he doesn’t seek to disguise the
fact that living like this is tough and
depressing; and racism is rife in small town
Italy.
We usually seek to avoid giving help in terms
of cash, but it is really necessary in some of
these cases to pay for basic rent of a room. We
are very open to your donations towards this.
But provision of food and some clothing, espe-
cially shoes, is perhaps the most appropriate
way to help; and it gives us a great opportu-
nity to talk to folks and teach them. We are
planning a week or so of this at
the end of August; your dona-
tions and prayerful support are
welcome. We visited a new
‘camp’ with brother Joseph
which has just been opened.
66 Africans are crowded into a
villa on a mountainside quite
far from any other houses,
with little food. These people
are hungry- both physically
and spiritually. We sat with a group of them in
the courtyard, pictured below, and explained
the Gospel, and passed out what tracts, NEV
Bibles and Bible Basics we had; they were
really interested.
Joseph is untiring in
his efforts to teach
the Truth and care for
these dear people.
Please pray for him, and
for more response to
the message preached