The Place

Milan, Italy -- Geographically, it's located in the region of Lombardy in the northwest part of Italy.  Milan is situated in a valley between the Alps and the Apennine mountains.  While these breathtakingly beautiful mountains surround the city, it is almost always impossible to see them because of the haze.  Milan is arguably the most polluted city in Europe. 

However, it's the heartbeat of Italy and more than just the fashion capitol of the world!  Milan is the media, banking, communications, and business center of Italy--it is EXTREMELY strategic for this reason.  While it boasts of a number of historic sites like the famous Duomo (at left), Milan is best described as the "New York" of Europe.  Life is fast paced in the city, the air is smoggy, and folks are often stressed from their busy lifestyles. 
 

The People

I don't think I've ever met such a warm, hospitable, and fun group of people!  The Italians love to eat and fellowship--two of my favorite things in the world!  In general, food and fellowship go together here and there is always great quantity and quality of both...

In the south of Italy, life is much more easy-going.  Old men can be seen gathering in the streets of the small communities talking to each other in the local dialect.  The day starts later.  Lunch is at about 2pm (with most stores closing for at least a few hours in the afternoons) and people work until later in the evening.  It would be normal for each member of a family to gather together every day for the noon meal.  Dinner is often around 10pm and people go to bed late!

In the north, especially in Milan, the life is fast-paced and stressful.  People often work in the city and live daily with faster meals, heavy traffic, crowded mass transit, long lines, and extremely high cost of living.  While people do still get together for fellowship and food, it typically isn't on the same scale as in the south.  With the exception of the smaller communities in the country, most northerners speak primarily only Italian.  While dialects are still sometimes spoken, they are becoming a dying breed in the large cities especially among the younger generation.

As a people group they aren't all that different from Americans in comparison to the rest of the world.  The standard of living in the north is much like that of suburban America, while the south of Italy is generally much poorer.  In the cities, almost everyone lives in high-rise apartment buildings because of the lack of space.  Most middle class families in Milan have both parents working full-time and probably have a single family car.  Kids typically will live at home with their parents until they are 30-35 (especially males) or when they get married because of the prohibitively high cost of housing.

The Need

Less than 1% of the population (about 500,000 people of 57,000,000) is involved with an Evangelical Christian Church.  If all of the Charismatic Christian groups are added to that number, it still remains a paltry 5% of the population.  Only about 1,500 of Italy's 33,500 local communities have an established evangelical witness.  There are about 1,600,000 students in Italy but no thriving ministry exists among them.  In Milan alone there are 117,000 students and no established evangelical campus group. 

Unfortunately, while almost all Italians would call themselves Catholic "Christians", less than 10% practice their faith.  After confirmation, most Italians only attend church for weddings, deaths, or perhaps at Christmas and Easter.  Beyond that, the Catholic Church in Italy does not teach that salvation is only by grace through faith alone in Christ (Eph. 2:8-9).  It teaches that salvation is obtained through a series of works (sacraments) in addition to trusting in Christ.  The Catholic Church in Italy looks to the Pope and its own traditions primarily for authority, while the only true and infallible source of truth and authority is the Word of God--the Bible.  For this reason Evangelical Believers find themselves directly in opposition to the teachings of the "indigenous" Catholic Church, not by choice, but by their refusal to adhere to any other authority save the Word.

Even as small as the Evangelical Church is in Italy, there has historically been great division even from church to church.  This has been an obstacle to the expansion of ministries and partnerships that would eliminate the "reinvention of the wheel" in each local church.  By God's grace, groups like Il Movimento are being formed to align the churches and join forces for the common goal of reaching Italy for Jesus Christ!

The Challenge

From a spiritual standpoint, Milan is an extremely dark place.  It is know as the "missionary graveyard" because of the frequency of turnover not only among missionaries themselves but also missions agencies!  In general, only 10% of missionaries return to Italy after their first term. 

The reformation that swept through much of Europe never touched Italy; this is more evidence that the gospel has NEVER penetrated widely or deeply in Italy.  Satan has been able to work unabated here for centuries and is not about to give up is entrenched position without a fight. 

The people in the north of Italy are typically more closed than the rest of the country and the affluence here has blinded them even further to their need for Jesus.  The occult has a strong presence in the north.  It is thought that as many as 100,000 full-time consulting magicians live in Italy.  Turin (west of Milan) has become a global center for Satanism and its activities.

The current generation is post-modern and for the most part doesn't even have God on it's map.  Those that believe in God can't fathom having a personal relationship with Him much less the free gift of eternal life.  Since NOTHING is free and EVERYTHING has a catch in Italy, the average Italian is very skeptical about a gift so precious being absolutely free.

Many of the students see the inconsistency, corruption, and decline of the Catholic Church around them and don't want to have anything to do it.  Others have been burned by the Church or by the aggressive Mormon and Jehovah's Witness sects.  Still others believe in nothing but themselves and that there is no higher power.

The Hope

I believe the only hope for Italy and specifically the students of Italy is Jesus Christ!  The Bible teaches that every man in separated from God by his own sin (Romans 3:23).  It goes on to say that because of this sin we all merit damnation--eternal separation from God (Romans 6:23).  However, God made a way for man to reestablish a personal and intimate relationship with Him through His Son Jesus (Romans 5:8).  Christ, completely God and completely man, lived a perfect and sinless life on earth died and rose again...making the only way for man's sin to be atoned for and reconciled to God.  The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to salvation and the ONLY mediator between God and man (John 14:6; 1 Tim. 2:5).

The Apostle Paul tells us in the book of Ephesians that salvation is by grace through faith and not through any works of man (Eph. 2:8-9).  In the book of John we see that all that a person needs to obtain salvation and have a personal relationship with God through Christ is childlike faith.  One must simply trust in Christ alone for the forgiveness of his sins (John 1:12; 3:16; Acts 10:43).

Our passion and goal is to take the Good News of Jesus Christ to the people of Italy--specifically the students!  We see the students as the key to Italy's next generation of leaders, businessmen, and politicians.  If they can be won to Christ, so can the entire country!  We long to see the name of Jesus exalted here and the Kingdom of God enlarged for His glory...