Awestruck by God's Grace

Florence! Home to famous cathedrals, museums and artwork, it is said to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world, where tourists outnumber residents for almost half the year.

Florence has also become home for Rebecca Holden, a young woman from England who decided to serve God with IFES InterAction as a team member with GBU Italy. It is not the beauties of Florence that attracted her, but the thousands of university students there who do not know Jesus as their lord and saviour.

Becky wrote to us about the start of term:

Praise God for positivity – a welcome change from Italian pessimism! God’s grace has granted a great spirit of commitment in the hearts of our two Christian students, Andrea and Lidia.

On our first morning back on campus, we had some great conversations about Jesus Christ. Leonardo, a graduate in Italian literature, was a great admirer of Jesus and had been captivated in particular by the literary genius of the gospel of John. He could cite a lot of it off by heart! But while admiring Jesus’ conviction and teaching and even accepting his cross and resurrection, the life-saving message had little impact on Leonard’s life. He does not see that it’s his own sin that drove Christ to the cross. He says he wants to follow Jesus in his own way; Jesus as his example, not his Lord.

So many in Florence are still believing that they themselves, religion or the church can save them. Pray for God’s mercy on Leonardo and the many like him. Three other Roman Catholic guys we met have some biblical head knowledge, but don’t yet know God through Jesus in their hearts. Pray for the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth of Christ through the Scriptures.

Francesca is another student with whom Becky has been talking about her faith. Francesca attends a monthly meeting of about 200 Roman Catholic students who talk about life experiences together.

Very confusing stuff and always a heart-wrenching experience. At the last meeting, a student was voicing the questions so many in that room have: “Where is Christ in all of this? How does this teach us you can be certain about him? How can I know any of this is true? Who will respond to my questions?” The lack of response and dismissal of these questions from those running the meeting was discouraging.

Yet I was glad to hear people asking the right questions. Pray that they would find answers in Christ – the joy, hope and peace that he brings as his Spirit works through his Word. Pray that their experience might be the outflowing from a faith and reality defined by the word, by Jesus, and not the other way around! We’d love for them to be led to study the bible with us!

Give thanks too for the first GBU meeting of the academic year: 17 students attended, 10 of whom are Christians. Becky writes,

I looked on awestruck by God’s grace as we listened to Andrea and Lidia explaining with such clarity and passion what it means to follow Jesus. “We’re not asking you do us some kind of favour by coming along to GBU event,” they said. “We’re asking you to serve Jesus alongside us by proclaiming him to those who don’t know him.” Just a year ago these same students seemed so reluctant to commit. Too busy, unconvinced. But now they’re challenging others to share Christ in the university. Hallelujah!

Give thanks with us for Becky and Andrew Lubbock, the team leader from Australia. Pray that God will give them wisdom as they work in a culture that is both secular and religious. Please pray for Francesca. She has been to a number of GBU events, but there's a lot of suspicion from her and others about what Becky and the others doing there.

Pray also for continued passion for Jesus and boldness for this small group of Christian students: in Becky’s words, ‘May the Lord see fit to continue this deep, gracious work of changing hearts and glorifying his name.’

Source: www.ifesworld.org