To His name be the glory!

A prayer request...

My very first conversation on campus was with an Italian English major named Vincenzo. I vividly remember meeting him with a fellow team member, Noah, inside the new Linguistics building at the university. We used our most common phrase, "Tu parli Inglese(Do you speak English)?" And he quickly said yes, but not much. We soon learned Vincenzo spoke more than a little English. Our conversation quickly got to why Noah and I were there. We explained that we were with a Christian group on campus called Agape Italia(Campus Crusade for Christ in Italy) and that we were going around talking to students about Jesus Christ. Our conversation rapidly advanced to us sharing the gospel with him. We use booklets called "Would you like to know God personally?" and were able to go through the entire booklet with him in Italian and us following in English. He said he desperately wanted Christ in his life, but was not ready to take that step.

About a week later, I ran into Vincenzo again with my team members Will and Holly. Vincenzo bought all three of us lunch. We had the opportunity to share the gospel again in Italian with the help of our project director, Andrew Lisi. Him and his friends were very interested in the message Andrew was presenting. At our last American BBQ for the Italian students we meet on campus, Vincenzo had the opportunity to meet another team member, Richie. Richie, Holly, and I said down with him again and went through the gospel. He explained that he completely understands it and wants to have a relationship with God. He even told us he felt something inside his heart. It was like the three of us could literally see the Holy Spirit at work inside of him. I have never felt the Holy Spirit's presence that strongly before. He came down to reading the example prayer inside the booklet and told us that is exactly what he wanted. We told him that he could pray that prayer right now. He wanted to, but said he was too shy to do it in front of us. Unfortunately, his friends walked up and he became a bit distracted. Richie planned to meet with him again and encouraged him to read through the booklet again and think about it. Afterwards we took a moment to pray for him. And that is what we are asking for now, is prayer! Prayer for his heart to be freed from the bondage that enslaves all of us before Christ is ever present in our lives.

There are absolutely no words that any us could say, no matter how many more times Vincenzo hears the gospel from our team, no man can make a difference now. We are praying that God would work a mighty miracle inside his heart. I've truly learned what it means to pray prayers where I am not the answer. We did our part in being bold and stepping out in faith to share the gospel, now it is time to wait for the Holy Spirit to change his heart and make him completely receptive to the gospel. We sit on the edge of our sits, anticipating what the LORD will do next in his life. We eagerly await for the moment the LORD frees his heart and provides him with the greatest joy known to man. We ask you to pray along side us for Vincenzo's heart, never forget to praise the LORD for the feat over Satan every time the name of Jesus Christ is spoken.
Colossians 4:3,4

Serving Christ with You,
Jessica