Magdalena for Christmas!

Job 42:1 "I know that you can do all things, and that no plan of yours can be thwarted."

This whole journey of ITALY has felt like jumping into a rushing river and just being carried along by the current. God is doing things here and is allowing us to be part of it. Soooo exciting!!

My "role" here is to be part of the team that distributes the film "Maddalena" (Italian version of "Magdalena".) God gave me the idea for using the evangelical church here to help us in this task. Of course I had no idea who to talk to or how to go about it, but since I have felt the presence of the Holy Spirit so strongly since our call here, I knew that HE already had it all planned out. I just needed to grab that log floating by and HOLD ON!!

This past week has proven that my sense was correct. It started last Tuesday with a meeting with our new National Director (Franco Bosio.) Through a translator I was able so share my ideas - Franco had already been given some of this information at an earlier meeting. He and his wife added their ideas for further distribution. Franco was so excited about it that he got on the phone during the meeting and called his friend Paul Schaffer and told him that we would be calling to set up and appointment.

Paul is a Canadian believer/evangelist who has lived in Italy for 35 years. He basically knows everyone in Italy who would be interested in this project. I was thinking I had some days to prepare, but Paul said he wanted to meet with two days later!! So, on Thursday our team (Elfi, Kylie, and me - see photo!) met with him. He is very familiar with The JESUS Film, but had not heard of this version. Once we explained the vision for what we felt God leading us to do, Paul jumped in with both feet. He too was very excited. He said he would personally hand out the DVD to about 20 pastors in Florence and the surrounding areas before their monthly meeting in mid-October. He asked us to come to the meeting to explain our ideas and to ask for a commitment from these pastors to join in. He sent me an email on Friday saying he had already contacted 2 other pastors who were ready to be part of it - and his quote to me, "The ball is rolling... now we just need to keep up with it, the Lord will surprise us!" GOD IS SO GOOD!!!

You will hear more about the projects in the weeks to come. But in brief, we are planning (LORD willing) to distribute approximately 2,000 DVDs during the Christmas season through the churches here in Florence. The idea is for the members of each church to commit to giving away the DVD to friends and family who need to hear the Gospel.

In March, we will do a country-wide distribution for a very important holiday here called "Festa della Donna" (Festival of the Woman) on March 8th. This may include a distribution of up to 10,000 DVDs!

So... the water is fast!! Yikes!! But how exciting to be in this rushing river!!

Please pray for God's direction as we work on these projects.

Thanks for your interest in this Italian adventure,

Taking Jesus to the nations, for His Fame and Glory,

Love,
Leslie