A group of Scottish Christians of a wide range of ages, trying to communicate the gospel in a mixture of Italian and English, together with local Christians on the streets of Sicily, Italy – this is where we found ourselves last summer, but could God use a week-long trip like ours?
The summer team came about following my visit to UFM workers, Jonathan and Annette Gilmore last year. The Gilmores serve in church planting and Jonathan leads Impatto (Acts 29 Italy) in Palermo, the capital of the island of Sicily. They had a number of connections in Scotland, and I suggested we build a shortterm team. So, with UFM’s blessing this June, I had the privilege of heading to Italy with a team drawn from churches across Scotland, to work alongside the Italian churchplant there, LifeHope.
Why organise such a short trip?
Our prayer was that it would be an encouragement to the mission workers, the local church, the team themselves, as well as their churches and other churches they might have contact with. We prayed that it might encourage the team and their churches in their involvement in mission.
So, were we able to be a blessing in these ways?
Very much so. Our prayerful and practical response to the local church was indeed encouraging, but we also saw God working during the week in a number of other ways. For example, a cultural event we ran at a home for the elderly, led to the owner inviting Jonathan to return in a spiritual capacity. This was very much a surprise, although something we had prayed for, and it was a particular encouragement to Jonathan and Annette.
The presence of the summer team encouraged some from the church to be more directly involved in the street outreach, and we hope this may stimulate others as well. Some of our team facilitated the work through the practical help of preparing meals. This was an encouragement to everyone, at various levels, but one particular blessing that came through this was that it opened the door for one family member, who had not yet come to faith, to come along to one of the events.
It was, of course, great to enjoy fellowship with the church members in LifeHope church, which we trust was an encouragement to them, as it was to us. The members of the team were also very much encouraged by their time on the team, seeing the Lord at work in and through us. The Lord graciously enabled the group to gel really well, even though we were all so different.
Evangelistic conversations took place on the streets of Palermo, sometimes in Italian, sometimes in English, and one notable interaction also moved into Spanish. This individual had a couple of conversations with team members, and also got in touch with Jonathan later through the contact number that had been shared.
Through conversation and literature distribution, seed was sown. We pray that the seed planted will bear fruit. We also pray that the experience will be a fruitful one for team members. Who knows, maybe the Lord will lead some to engage with mission longterm. Since our return, the fruit of our trip has continued, as team members have shared with home churches and others about their experiences of the Lord’s work during their time in Italy.
We feel blessed to have been part of the team. Praise God for all the ways in which he blessed and used the trip. Please pray for continued fruit.
Ruairidh MacLean, UFM Area Director based in Scotland.