takes some faith to believe this. His
only real possession is an old cell
phone, which he uses where there are
free WIFI hotspots to read our material
and watch our videos. He has the Bible
on his phone. But nobody wants to
mentor a young man like that, the
Catholics are about the only church
doing much for the migrants, and there
are few Protestants in Sicily. He really
feels he has found a family with us,
although he is isolated. Please pray for
him, that his faith will not fail, and the
Biblical promises of preservation from
sin come true for him. He has already
interested other people, some of who
we met.
Pictured above is a photo of him having
a cold drink after his baptism, with his phone
which serves as his Bible and source of contact
with us. He gets only clothing he finds or
which some organizations offer. He has just a
couple of T-shirts and one pair of trousers. It’s
tragic to see so many such young people going
morally astray and being rudderless in the
cruel world of migrant Sicily.
It’s a common sight to see African migrants
walking around with their packs of belongings,
rather like our elderly brethren and sisters in
Riga, Latvia; but Sicily is over 40 degrees C in
Summer, and some can only find winter
clothing, and they wear this even in the heat
as it’s all they can get.
28
Carelinks | Sicily ... continued ~
We baptized a young man called Justice on
the beach in eastern Sicily. Watch it at:
He was quite terrified of going back into the
water, and you may be able to hear his terror
in the recording. He’s not a standard migrant,
as he came to Sicily two years ago, although
also by the sea route, as a minor. He was put
in a young person’s hostel and went to the
local school. But as soon as he turned 18, Italy
are free of their legal obligations to him. He
was turned out of the hostel and school on his
18th birthday and had to live on the street. He
took us to see the disused convent where he
and many other Africans had slept on the stone
floors. But he was different, although without
parental influence and any sense of family, he
earnestly wanted to serve God and go God’s
way. One evening on a borrowed computer he
came across a video of a Carelinks conference
in Croydon where we were packing up Bibles
to mail out. He wondered if he could get one,
and so began our contact. He has in turn
distributed our NEV Bibles to other young
Africans he knows. He laments that many have
left their Christian faith in practice.
We discussed the Biblical promises, that God
will not let us be tested more than we’re able
to bear, but will make a way to escape; and
that the Lord will not suffer the rod of the
wicked to fall so heavily on the righteous that
they are driven to sin. But in his situation, it