update June 3, 2010
Open Doors through the English Course
We’ve just completed the first cycle of our English course. God be praised for the open doors it has given us.
This course has been an idea for many years. God’s providence made it possible in these last few months.
We had two goals in this course. The first was to produce a very effective, useful course which could be used by many around the world to teach English as a means of promoting the kingdom of God.
Many languages, like Italian, have only a tiny fraction of the serious Biblical resource materials which are so freely available in English. For years, I’ve wanted to see a well done English course which could be available at little or no cost for ministries to use. This course is designed to be that. We are already finding this course useful for a number of the believers here. When it is finished, we want to make it available world wide. We would also like to make it available to churches in the USA who could use it to teach English to foreigners, as a means of outreach. Many American churches could have people very willing to undertake this ministry, but they lack a good method. This course could help provide for that need.
The second goal we had was to seek to use this course as a good means to make contact with people with whom we could share the gospel.
This course has already been used of God well beyond any of our expectations in this regard. Let me share of how God has opened doors through it.
We started this course in January. The students varied from beginners to those who spoke relatively well. We have received many, many extremely positive comments from both groups, and those in the middle. The students are learning English and making visible improvement.
Though the course is a very serious, professional course, from the start, we’ve made it very clear that Jesus Christ is our passion. The very first lesson we gave everyone an evangelistic tract. The lessons themselves are all in English. But at the the end of each lesson, I switch to Italian, and talk about the gospel. In the past four or so lessons, I actually did short, evangelisic Bible studies. I closed every class in prayer. We were amazed that all of the students listened carefully each week to the gospel teaching.
After each lesson, Sherrie has refreshments prepared. During the refreshment time, we believers divide up, and engage the students in discussions regarding the gospel. The vast majority of the students would stay at least half an hour, but an hour was not uncommon. On several occasions, we had individuals stay for two hours or more, to talk over an open Bible.
God has opened many doors over the past five months for very clear, in depth spiritual discussions with almost all of the students. They well knew that this is what we would talk about during the refreshment time, and yet they stayed to listen. As a result, many of them have been involved in conversation after conversation in which we share truth of the Gospel.
In spite of this, we just decided to put the course on hold. We are convinced this is the right thing to do. Let me share the benefits.
On a practical basis, the course has taken many hours to prepare each week. We’ve had wonderful fantastic help from a precious group of co-laborers in the USA, who have helped write the exercises for the course, and have done professional quality audio recording of the exercises. We could have never done it without their faithful and professional help, which they offered to promote God’s kingdom.
On this end of things, Ashley has spent many hours each work preparing the lessons. I have given some guidance and help, but she has done the vast majority of the work. When the lessons are ready, she and I go over them together, and then we co-teach them. There are multiple benefits in having two teachers. It makes the class so much more interesting, we dialogue constantly, and most lessons include funny skits. The students have loved the classes.
However, as we’ve evaluated the overall ministry, we realized that the many hours Ashley has been putting into the course have come from other ministries, which need more attention. So, after careful consideration and prayer, we decided to take a break from the course.
However, since the first 13 lessons are completed, we’ve decided to start the course over, with new students, which means, new contacts to evangelize. We can teach the same lessons over, with minor changes. This will free up Ashley. During this time, Ashley and the American helpers can work at a more reasonable pace, preparing future lessons. God willing, in the fall, we can bring back the cycle one students to join the cycle two students, and continue the course where we left off.
Evidences of God’s Work
Let me share some of how God has used this course. We’ve had a core group of about 20 unbelievers who come very faithfully to the lessons. Many of them have begun to show significant interest in the things of God. As I shared above, many of them have heard several hours of gospel presentation over the months of the course.
This past Tuesday, we had a closing potluck dinner for all of the students. There were 20 nonbelievers present. They loved the evening. As they all expected, we had an evangelistic Bible study for them. They want to continue to have contact with us, and so we plan to invite them every two or three weeks for some kind of gathering, in which we can have some time in English, and then continue sharing the gospel in Italian. We have also invited them to our Wednesday night Bible study, and we plan to invite individuals or couples for dinner to evangelize them according to their level of understanding.
We’ve asked the church to commit to praying daily for these and other evangelistic contacts and that God would grant us new contacts. May the gospel run and be glorified, as it has been in us, by grace.
Pray with us, that God would use his word to pierce hearts, and to open the eyes of the blind! He has done it with us, may He do it with many of these students.
Specific Prayer Requests
Here are some names for whom you can pray. Angela, mid-50s, who is separated from her husband. She has shared that she would love to have the joy that she sees in us, and has begun to read the Bible we gave her. Pray that she would accept having a Bible study with us. Paolo, mid-30s, single, into new age and oriental religions. We have had various hours over the open Bible with him. While he has outwardly fought to maintain his position, he has also said that we are really making him think, and he is very open to hear more. We have seen a significant gradual change in him, and after the dinner on Tuesday he shared that he might come to our Wednesday night Bible study. He is clearly thinking about the truths we have shared with him.
Luca is 30, single, comes from a bad family situation. He associates God with the hypocritical religion he knew growing up. He came for dinner a few months ago and we were able to share the gospel in depth with him. He says it is not for him, and yet he seems drawn to us like a bee to honey. He loves being here. Pray that God would open his eyes to see Jesus Christ in his glory and love.
Sara, early 30s, single, a feisty young woman, who keeps a wall up, and yet it is obvious that she can’t wait until we start talking about spiritual things each week. She is somewhat argumentative, but it is also very clear that she is thinking deeply about the truths that she has heard.
Ewalina, early 30s, Polish, wife, and mother with four little children. She is very Catholic, but has begun to really listen and think about the truths we have shared with her. Her husband and children will spend a month in Poland this summer, but she cannot get off of work. Pray that she would be open to a Bible study with someone from the church during that time, and beyond.
Laura, early 30s, and her husband Marco. She came to the course for the first month or so, and then got pregnant and had to drop out because she was not feeling well. But she came back for the closing meal, and was so glad to see us. We have shared several things with her, she is curious, we would like to invite them for dinner.
Claudio and Giovanna, Adriano’s brother and sister-in-law. They have been totally closed to hearing the gospel from him for the past 15 years. However, at the course, they listened very carefully every evening as I shared the truths of the Gospel, and afterwards engaged in some very deep conversations about the gospel. Pray that God would pierce their hearts.
Martina, early 20’s, university student, substitute teacher, and part-time journalist, told us directly that she was not interested in the things of God that we have to share. And yet, it is so obvious that she loves being with us. Pray that God would convict her, and that she would recognize that what she is attracted to in us is Jesus Christ, shining through our weaknesses.
Laura and Lidia, twin sisters, early 30s, as well as Roberta and Paola, also sisters, are all good Catholic young ladies, and consider themselves in good standing with God because of their good works. Pray that the many truths of God which they have heard here would be used to open their eyes.
There are a number of others, pray that God would touch hearts.
Pray also as we are promoting the course to start with a new group, and we are praying that God would grant us a large number of new students who have prepared hearts. Martina, the part-time journalist, is writing an article about the course to promote it, and believes that the newspaper will publish it. This would give us far greater exposure than we could have in any other way. Pray that God would open this door if it is from Him. This is the same leading newspaper here which a few years ago wrote two different articles condemning us as a dangerous sect, as a favor to some local priests.
In closing, to help you understand the greatness of what God is doing, let me share a comment that Denada, one of the believers, made on Tuesday night after the meal. Although she and her sister Dori had not been part of the course, due to their work schedules, we invited them to the meal to help us evangelize, since there were so many more unbelievers than believers. This was the first time that she had met most of the students. After the students had gone home, she commented that she was amazed at how attentively they all listened to the gospel presentation. She said that in her 10 years here, she had never seen a group this large listen so attentively to the gospel. I don’t think we’ve ever had a group this large. That was a reminder to us of the significance of God’s work, for we have grown accustomed to the students all listenign attentively. We want to to recognize that God indeed has been giving us wide open doors. Join us in thanking God for what He has already done, and pray that He would draw many of these to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.
We are doing a video recording of the course, and hope to make it available in the future on DVD. The recording could be used directly with students as the teaching, and it could also be used to train others how to teach English, if churches are interested in such a ministry. Pray that this course can be used to promote the kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Thank you for standing with us in prayer!
Marco and Sherrie deFelice www.marcodefelice.org
P.s. I hope to get another update out soon, there is more news regarding other aspects of the ministry. We are thankful for what God is doing!
Many other things are going on. God is teaching us many good lessons, and both we as a family and the entire church are being richly fed from his Word. We thank God for his continued good work in us.
Thank you for praying with us! May all of our lives be used to bring glory to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
marco.defelice (at sign) gmail.com
www.marcodefelice.org
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