Before the project even arrived, there was a group of 10 Venezuelan students who were out sharing their faith daily. These spiritual multipliers had been raised up from just 1 spring break trip and a 2-week summer project last year! They were eager for us to arrive and were so teachable, gladly receiving more training in evangelism and discipleship from the project. As a result, the project left a movement of 30 students reaching out to their campus. Many of the new believers who trusted Christ as a result of this project immediately started going with our staff and students to share their faith!!
During the project’s first day on campus, staff members Vanessa and Ben Aikens (middle) met Fernando (left). A self-declared atheist, Fernando was very open to spiritual discussion, as most Venezuelan students are. After hearing the gospel, he started hanging out with the project every day on campus and repeatedly heard of God’s love for him. By the end of the summer, Fernando placed his faith in Jesus! Fernando said, “I’m so glad that you came. No one has ever told me this before.”
With only 4 staff, 11 students & 2 staff kids 200 of the 40,000 students at the University of Carabobo heard the good news. 65 Venezuelan students trusted in Christ.
Though some Roman students already believe in God and that Jesus died on the cross, the message of grace and new life rather than a works-based salvation and a system of religious rules by which to earn God’s approval was completely foreign.
One of those 3 was Maria. Maria (right) is a freshman at Roma Tre Univeristy. She gave her life to Jesus the first time. Courtney (left) and Katie met her on campus! For the rest of the sumer, she hung out with the project quite a bit. Maria is now going through a foundations Bible study with a staff member in Rome. Jane Armstrong, one of the staff says, “I really believe Maria will become one of the first Christ-centered laborers in the ministry in Rome!”
Rome project students Alie and Michael (left) walked toward a cafe with Allesandro (right), a Roman student. As they strolled, Alie shared her testimony with Allesandro, showing him a scar from an accident years ago, an event that led her to start following Christ. Allesandro showed Alie a scar he had from an incident in which he was nearly killed. Alie told him that she thought God had kept him alive so that he could hear the message that they were sharing with him. They explained the gospel and Allesandro prayed to receive Christ!
