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- If any of you would like to partner with us in prayer please send us an email
- If you want to partner with us financially and you don't need or want a tax deduction you can hit the donate button at the top right of this page. If you need or want a tax deduction make checks payable to:
New Life Christian Church (Clearly label (post-it or cover letter): For the support of Italy
Missionaries)
1265 B St. Hayward, CA 94541
510-889-1304
www.newlifechristianchurch.com
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