Hope for Italy

One of our colleagues, JD, wrote this today explaining some background and prayer points for Italy during the aftermath of the earthquake. Please join us in praying for our country.

"As news comes through, it appears evident that the earthquake that struck a remote, yet beautiful area of central Italy, is a devastating one. By the hour there are more reports of missing and of deceased. Old people and young children. Seven years ago the nearby city of L’Aquila, 60 kms away, was hit by a similar earthquake. As then, so now, we face the tragedy of lives lost and the anguish of devastated families and communities.

One of my first thoughts early this morning, however, regarded an even greater tragedy.
Recently I have been researching the presence of Evangelical churches throughout Italy. The province of Rieti is one of the least reached areas of Italy. Rieti province has an overall population of 160,000 people; 50,000 people live in the city of Rieti (60kms distant from the earthquake area), the rest of the province’s population live in small towns and villages. In the whole of the province of Rieti there are no more than half a dozen Evangelical churches (of any denomination) and they are almost all in the city of Rieti. A simple conclusion: the area affected by the earthquake has, as far as we can tell, no witness to the gospel! That is a great tragedy.
Two important elements:
- vast areas of Italy still have NO local witness
- the challenge of reaching not only the cities, but the small towns and villages as well, is great; research indicates that over half of the Italian population lives in locations with less than 50,000 inhabitants, 35% with less than 15,000 inhabitants and 15% with less than 5000.
How will they hear?
There is need of the same passion of God for mission.
Please pray for Christians throughout the country: that they might make much of the opportunity to present the gospel of hope in the midst of darkness and desperation and that there might be opportunities to reach into the destroyed communities with hope and light. And that a radically different narrative can be proclaimed about what is happening, with the gospel at the centre that redefines all."

-JD Gilmore