04
May '23
April 2023: Reaching Italy Through Gospel Literature by JJ Weller
04
May '23
By late 2021, I thought The Cure for Death had run its course. In 2020, this evangelistic book had reached thousands through social media—but now, almost two years had passed, and it seemed the harvest had hit a standstill. I knew the book was God’s will when I wrote it—did He really intend for the impact to end so soon?
Fast forward to January 2022, when we noticed an unexpected message from Trevignano, Italy. A mission-minded family, the C__s, had prayed for a resource to evangelize fellow Italians terrified of death because of COVID-19. In God’s perfect timing, they found a home-printed copy of The Cure for Death among their papers, read it, and felt strongly God had answered their prayers. When they asked for permission to translate the book, we barely paused to consider. Of course we wanted to partner in an Italian harvest!
The family immediately tackled La Cura per la Morte with a zeal that inspired me. They translated the book in their own free time, never seeking remuneration. They invested their own finances in creating La Cura tracts, and even printed out whole books on their home printer for some inquirers. Along the way, their comments and stories constantly reminded me of Jesus’s radical call. Again and again, their simple obedience to God challenged me to follow Jesus wholeheartedly.
Thanks to God and the C__s, La Cura per la Morte is enjoying a fresh wave of spiritual harvest in Italy. Message Ministries recently ordered 2,000 copies to distribute freely through the C__s and Christian Literature Crusade—and copies are in high demand from CLC Italy’s online store. In fact, to our surprise, this little gospel book was one of the distributor’s top-requested books last month!
For many days, La Cura per la Morte landed at the top of CLC Italy’s “10 most requested books of the last month.” Please pray for each seed sown through this book in Italy.
La Cura is also finding many readers through the C__s’ evangelistic efforts near Rome. Thousands recently flooded Italy for Holy Week, and the family hit the streets to share Jesus with as many as possible. They gave copies of La Cura to believers in three local churches to help them reach lost loved ones. They took opportunities to share Jesus throughout the week with passersby. And on Good Friday, they even went to Vatican City with friends to preach the gospel and hand outLa Cura to Holy Week tourists. Altogether, by the end of Passover week, they had already given away 120 paperbacks—and many more La Cura postcard tracts! Please pray for this wonderful family and their labors for Christ.
Left to Right: Nicole C., friend Luwam, Gianni C., and son Lorenzo C. in front of the Vatican. The C__ family requested that we keep their identities private.
Left to Right: Lorenzo C., friends Luwam and Bruno, Gianni C. holding copies of La Cura per la Morte during Good Friday outreaches in Italy.
On top of that, our Peruvian partners gifted over 300 Spanish copies of The Cure for Death during their Holy Week outreaches around Lima. Praise God, with your prayers, these seeds will bear wonderful fruit in many Italian and Peruvian lives! It’s glorious to think what Jesus can accomplish through a simple seed of gospel literature.
Pastor Gilberto Varillas and Fabian Santillan. Pastor Gilberto’s church gave away 300 copies of La Cura per la Morte for their resurrection weekend outreaches. Pastor Fabian has also distributed the books widely around Peru.
This surprising Italian harvest has inspired us to print more free paperbacks—and to seek ways to distribute gospel literature in other parts of the world. If Italy is hungry for simple gospel books like The Cure for Death, why not wider Latin America? We need to send some emails to test the waters of distribution. Until then, we’d like to give you the opportunity to sponsor this ongoing literature outreach. To sponsor $1 paperbacks for free distribution in Peru or Italy, please click the button below. To read the free eBook or order English paperbacks for evangelism, please visit www.curefordeath.net!
Prayer Request: Training 100 Disciples in Laos
In May, our partners at FTS Ministries will host discipleship training for 100 believers in Laos. The gathering will last two days and will equip Laotian laymen and future church planters to make disciples. Our partners originally planned this training for April 12-13, but had to postpone due to safety concerns. “Many key leaders cannot travel because of persecution,” FTS leader David S. told us. “Please keep on praying.”
We want to thank our partners for your crucial prayers and support! Interested in sharing God’s hope through MM? Please click the button below to discover four ways to join arms with us in God’s Great Commission.
