News Letter February 2019

Acts 2:42 "And persevered in the doctrine of the apostles ..."

Dear Fratello and Sorella, saluti nell'amore di Gesù!

(Dear brother and sister, greetings in the love of Jesus!)

One of the regular practices for the Church of Jesus found in  Acts chapter two is teaching. The body of Christ met to hear and learn through preaching and teaching of the Scriptures through the twelve apostles.

 

More than two thousand years have passed and the core content for the spiritual growth and maturity of the believer remains the same - the revealed truth of God to the prophets and apostles.

To meet this fundamental need of the church in Italy, God gave us the vision of investing in theological teaching.  The goal is to cause growth in the Italians and foreigners who live here by grounding them in the Word of God.

To our joy, the Lord blessed us richly when, through my friends of nearly thirty years, Dr. Phil Eyster and Dr. David Schlup, we began the translation of FRONTLINE THEOLOGY from English into Italian.

There are 24 subjects in the field of systematic theology. One of the characteristics that distinguishes this course from others is the opportunity for students to teach at least 5 new students, thus forming new disciples who persevere in the doctrine of the apostles. We have two groups of students in Italy enrolled in this course: one Cesena and one in Rimini.

 

I also need constant training.  God, in His grace, blessed me with the opportunity to go to Kenya for a week to teach (Date: January 19-26 / 2019.  Also, I was able to get some time with Dr. Phil Eyster and Dr. David Schlup to learn from them. 

I arrived on Saturday and on Sunday I preached at the service. On Monday morning, we began the Frontline course with twenty students from several different regions of Kenya, Africa. These pastors and leaders represent many distant tribes and communities with some traveling two days to get to Nairobi. They will take this training to the most remote parts of Kenya among many unreached people groups. 

 

The workload was intense. Held in the Lifeway Mission Nairobi Structure, the five-day seminar spanned each day from 8:30 am to 5 pm with a short 45 minute lunch mid-day.  Everything was translated from English into Swahili. 

 

One of the subjects taught was the doctrine of the Trinity. Students are able, in the light of the Holy Scriptures, to declare the Trinity with a phrase. "God exists eternally in three persons, yet as a being, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, each person is fully God, there is only one God". Another important feature of Frontline Theology is the gestures and figures used to aid in memorization. 

After the seminar, one young man shared with me how grateful he was for the theology course.  He explained, "I did not know that Jesus was God, but as you taught, the Scriptures revealed to me and helped me to understand." 

 

This lesson as well as others will have a profound influence and impact on lives. Where there was once spiritual ignorance and inability to understand, there is now a young man who will make more disciples and be faithful to the doctrine of the apostles. (In Kenya, the heresies of the "prosperity gospel" are very strong.)

 

Pray that this project will grow in Italy and throughout all Europe.

Please pray:

• For the JMM - Brazilian International Mission Board / 2019 Mission Campaign.

• For our ministry.

• For master classes that have already started.

• For the Frontline Theology Course, its expansion and formation of believers, workers and future Italian pastors.

• The growth of the Church in Cesena.

• The process of planting the Church in Rimini. Continue also praying that God will give us a room in a short time.

• For our children: Fabiola, Fernando and Fabrizio.

• And my wife, Anne, that she would be a light for Jesus at the hospital she works in.

In Christ,

Fabiano, Anne, Fabiola, Fernando and Fabrizio Nicodemo.