3 people came to Christ! Che bella :)

"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

- 1 Corinthians 15:58

With only two more days left on campus , the Lord has really put it in our hearts to persevere strong until the end of this incredible journey in Salerno! Some days have gone pretty great, while there have been other days that have gone not so great for one reason or another. Often times on these days it can be very tempting to be disappointed and to think that our labor is in vain, but then we are constantly reminded by the Bible and others that no work done for the Lord - little or big- is ever in vain. 

Today, Melissa, Chris, and I were blessed with seeing 3 people make a prayer to receive Christ in their hearts and begin a personal relationship with Him. To give you a brief summary, the conversation began when we heard 3 students practicing their English for an English exam. We introduced ourselves and asked them if we could do Soularium (the picture survey) with them. They said that unfortunately they were busy studying for an exam, but could perhaps meet another day with us, so we settled with getting their contact information. However, the Lord in His awesomeness provided an opportunity for us to connect in a simple conversation with them and we ended up talking to them for about 20 minutes anyway. When we realized that we might have more time to talk to them than what we thought and that they were interested in the conversation, we asked them if we could ask them 4 quick question for Agape Italia. The first question was what was one thing they really wanted to do before they died; they struggled with their response to this question and then realized the time and were debating if they had time to answer the rest of the questions. Praise the Lord that they decided they wanted to answer the rest of the questions, which lead into a spiritual conversation and the presentation of the gospel. Then they asked to hear our stories of how and when we received Christ and we were able to share our testimonies. Their names were Ana, Carmen, and Simon; and by the end of the conversation we asked them if they desired to have that personal relationship with Christ. They said they did with the biggest smiles on their faces and made a prayer with us! Then we joined hands and prayed for them as well. 

When we left the conversation, we were all in awe of the power of God and were so thankful and humbled that the Lord decided to use us for His glory this day, and rejoiced over the fact that we now had a new brother and sisters in Christ :). 

And so it is with hopeful hearts and excited spirits that we look forward to these final two days to share the gospel with more Italians, knowing that our labor for the Lord is never in vain! Praise the Lord!

God's blessings,

Iliana