Monday, April 30, 2012



Italy Newsletter Feb/April 2012
Guido and Joyce Bassi
Montecatini Terme Italy

HE IS RISEN AMEN!!!  What an awesome reality we have that the God of the universe who not only raised Christ up from the dead has done the same for us.  What a hope we carry inside ourselves for a lost and dying world.  These last several months have been filled with many ups and downs but this one truth has been our sustaining grace.  We again want to thank you for the opportunity to share with you our adventures, send blessings upon you for holding us in prayer and maintaining us financially.  We know that these are trying times for many and so we appreciate that you turn your affections towards us as we labor together for the harvest.  May you be richly blessed with a double portion.

                                We much affection and love
                                Guido and Joyce Bassi

Sonshine…….
After months of literally freezing weather we finally were able to get out and pray the streets of Montecatini.  The Lord had instructed us to go to every street and anoint it with oil some months back and we did it.  It took us about 24 hours in total walking over a week but the weather was beautiful and as you can see from Guido’s open jacket warm for February.  We had a little spray bottle and were trying to be as incognito as possible putting oil on the corners in the main street with crowds of people or on private streets where there is little foot traffic  was quite a challenge.  People seem pretty suspicious of you praying and then pouring stuff out but we can now say we have complied.  I wonder if Jericho would have fallen if the Israelites would have just prayed from the camp.  He has called us to put action to our prayers so we continue to be obedient even if it seems bizarre to us to do amen.                      
                         
Onward And Upward
So having finished Montecatini we knew that the Lord still wanting us to start walking the other surrounding communities but where to start and when.  Jami told us about a job opportunity to pass out fliers from door to door so we applied for the job and got it.  Went to sign the contract and pick up the fliers & they gave us a list of the areas.  Can you believe it was the exact 11 communities (Valdinievole) that we had already gone and prayed at all the ancient wells a few years ago?  Very cool praying every street, every mailbox for 5 to 6 hours a day and being paid to do it.  We laid our hands on the fliers and started March 9th & finished April 3rd.  A total of over 150 hours given to praying blessing, grace and mercy in an around the Valdinievole.  It was hard, it was fun, it was tiring, it was battle, it was joy, and it was painful. It is totally unbelievable that we have put our foot all over this area and the attack came swift and sure a few days after we finished.  We were paid for the first 2 weeks but they haven’t paid us for the last few and they have been running us around about it.  5 trips at 26 miles each time to be exact.  We have declared in the face of the enemy that it didn’t matter if they never pay us because we were going to walk it anyway.  Now were just praying for them.  We were really not out anything and have gained in that we have covered all these cities in His presence amen.  They called a few days ago to come in and get paid and to pick up more fliers to restart the route again, yeah they were a no show again.     

In The Flash of a Moment
The youth at Marco’s church in Monsummano (Gesu e il Signore) decided to do the first ever Flash Mob for Easter here in Montecatini and in Monsummano.  There were so many participants of all ages from the Church including us doing He is Risen.  Easter Sunday it rained all day so when we got in the car to head to Florence for our service we just prayed that it would stop so that they would be able to perform.  They reported that as soon as they got out there the sun came out, praise the Lord.  The priest in Montecatini got so upset that the group was in the square that he called the Mayor and tried to get them to cancel it but he had already given them permission.  The Lord is opening doors no man can shut.  On Monday in the Open Market of Monsummano we did the Flash mob twice.  Since it was a holiday it was packed with people.   After each performance we passed out Bibles to the It was awesome fun and since we have been doing all this walking we were in shape.

 On March 31st we gathered to celebrate 2 years of 24/7 Preghiera Continua.  We have seen such fruit from this prayer Initiative.  Just in the community of believers here in Monsummano we have seen incredible growth in the area of prayer.  They like many churches filled their allotted day and even when churches dropped off during the summer moved to those days as well.  They have since started to gather 30 minutes before church to pray and now have 1 time a month where they gather to pray for the whole day.
 Now of course they have other prayer days however this one is specifically for the Nation of Italy and to join hearts with the 24/7 prayer movement that is globally occurring.  This year the group leaders decided to change directions and drop the 24/7 because they felt it was deceptive to say we pray 24/7 when in fact many hours weren’t covered.  We along with others tried to encourage the leaders to keep 24/7 and gave examples of other ministries that use 24/7 more so as a goal to reach for and a mindset and attitude of moving the nation in that direction. However, it was agreed that Toscana in Preghiera would be better suited for their goals.  At this time they will be shifting more of the responsibility of each church to be more involved in prayer & prayer groups & times vs. them trying to oversee and manage 168 time slots over many diverse churches which we agree is very tough.   The agenda remains the same, prayer, prayer and more prayer amen.  We encouraged them and commended them for having taken on a 2 year project of keeping 24/7 going in the mode they had because it really was a lot of work to maintain but the ball is rolling with churches more united across denominational lines and ethnic lines than ever before and we are certain that the Lord will continue to watch over His work. 

Florence, City of Angels
At least that is what we call all the wonderful students and people we have had the privilege of hanging out with for the past 6 months.  It has been the most incredible time for us to grow in our gifts.  We have been able to pray with many of the students, have them lead worship, get their testimonies and share from the pulpit as well.  The Ps. Left us alone for 2 weeks to run everything, wow we feel so honored. Guido continues to teach on our identity in Christ, who we are.  Nicola from South Africa shared as well about our Identity.   I did my first ever Easter Service where I shared how he wasn’t a victim but a willing participant in order to redeem us back to Himself and the Father.  I shared about His great love towards us.  I finished by showing this clip from YouTube.   We were all teary eyed while taking Communion.  This past Sunday when Ps. Tuula spoke and told the group how blessed they were with us the whole group broke out in applause and then the youth all prayed for us adults, it was awesome.  Who would have thought we would be teaching in English while living in Italy.  Remind me again why I had to learn Italian. In May we will take a whole bunch of them to the beach before they all head back home.  It is bitter sweet but it is our joy to see the next generation stand and take their place in the Kingdom.

The Call Italy? 
Well I think it is no accident or mistake that Lou Engle and his family were here in Italy for a conference with a group calling themselves Generazione Senza Confini (Generation without Boundaries.)  www.generazionsenzaconfini.  They also made a stop by the first ever HOP Italia down in Caserta.  Giuseppe Conti of Voce di Sion along with the Narducci family have partnered with Kansas City House of Prayer to see their dreams realized in this Nation.  God is actively moving in this Nation in a mighty way these days and we are so blessed to see so many Italians rising up and taking the Kingdom by force for this Nation.  There is a youth movement and prayer movement that has slowly been building but has gained huge momentum just in the last few years.  We’re hoping to go down there soon and be a part of their pray movement as well and try to hook up as many youth from our area with them in order to pull it back up here to our area.  Since we have had the 24/7 prayer for the past 2 years in our area I would say it is time!!!!   Check out this YouTube video as the youth of this Nation start to cry out for more.  These are some excerpts from their conference with Lou as well as other conferences pieced together to make a cool video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6NYfuxuPzA&feature=relmfu




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