Hey everybody! Happy Father's Day, especially to our team members' fathers who are back in the states. Today, we had the privilege of leading worship at Rome Baptist, the host church for the camp. This particular congregation is English speaking, but serves 30 different nationalities. Congregants include missionaries on furlough, vacationers wiht a few locals thrown in. Rickey led worship with our youth team and Whit shared a powerful message with the children before Pastor Dave (of Rome Baptist) taught on bearing false witness. We opened our Bibles to Romans, chapter 14, and I was so blown away by the fact that we were sitting in the very city that the Apostle Paul was writing to. Pastor Dave mentioned that Paul's letter to the first century Romans was to clarify the truth of the Gospel, because there were many who were interpreting the Gospel in a way that suited their beliefs. And almost 2000 years after Paul's letter, many in this city do not know the One true God, His only begotten Son, and the Holy Spirit. The triune God. Rome today is no longer a Christian city. So very few call Christ their Lord. If Paul were here today, he might say, "here we go again!"
God has provided an amazing opportunity for us to share our faith through this music camp that begins tomorrow morning. Please pray for us as we begin building relationships with the campers that God will bring. Pray that their hearts will be open to the Gospel message and that the local Christians will keep their hearts ablaze with love for Christ and this message of hope will spread wide.
Verna for the Rome team
