Today, our team was privileged to tour many historic sites in Rome. We were joined by Missionary Frank Maietta and his family. Missionary Maietta pastors a church in Italy and is passionate about both the history and the future of the church in Italy. We have also been joined by Kristi Colas who is a missionary with EccleMusica, a ministry specializing in church music. She will be with us for our music ministry and concert in Italy.
Jonah Cannon, a 2023 Interdisciplinary Studies graduate from Pensacola Christian College, shared the following update about our tour today:
“After a late evening plane trip from Paris to Rome, we were able to spend the night in a quaint villa. For breakfast, we were provided a box meal which included delicious chocolate. After breakfast, we took a scenic jaunt to town to catch the metro. Our first stop was the Vatican.
Once off the train, we were met by huge crowds of people and a great deal of security. We quickly learned that the Pope was making a public appearance. Missionary Maietta mentioned that he has been in Italy for 18 years and had never seen the Pope. It struck me as very sad that such a large number of people go to such extremes to lay eyes on a human that they associate with their faith. Later we traveled to the prison where Paul was held when he wrote 2 Timothy. We had the amazing opportunity to pray there and to read the entire book of 2 Timothy in the prison cell.
We also visited the coliseum where we had a prayer circle to remember Christian lives lost.
We boarded the metro to return home, when Kristy had her wallet stolen. She only had a few euros in her wallet, but her ID card and passport were inside. Thank the Lord that her wallet was found in a nearby trashcan with her ID and passport intact. The pickpocket had taken the cash and thrown the rest away. Just another example of God’s protection as we have seen time and time again along this journey.”
Tomorrow, we will travel by bus to Terni where we will work with Missionary Kieth Bloyd and Missionary Fernando Justiniani. Please pray for safe travels and effective outreach.