Our review of the ministry this month of January 2021 actually looks forward rather than back to the month’s events as we normally do.
Within a very short time from this update (maybe a few days or hours depending on when you receive it), ITA’s annual church leaders’ conference called The Church (La Chiesa) will be underway.
From the 21st through to the 23rd of January 2021 ITA, as represented by four speakers, will be preaching and teaching to numerous members of the Italian church and ITA students as well on the theme of The Mission and Mandate of the Church: Considering the church’s ministry in fulfilling its role as an evangelist.
Rick Holland (Kansas, USA), Daniel Gillespie (Wilmington, NC, USA), Massimo Mollica (Genoa, Italy), and myself (Johnny Gravino) (Rome, Italy) will each be expositing texts related to the specific conference theme.
Our aim this time around, beyond continuing to instruct upon a biblical philosophy of ministry for Italian evangelical churches, is to shed light upon evangelism as derived from and tied to the ministry of equipping the church body. In other words, both equipping the saints and reaching the lost are biblically speaking joined to one holistic (complete) Gospel work the body is called to do.
Paul exhorts Timothy accordingly in 2 Timothy 4:1-5. Timothy is to preach and teach (shepherd) during some very difficult times/days for the church. He is also instructed to “do the work of an evangelist.” Paul completes the charge with the words “fulfill your ministry” (2 Tim 4:5).
The implication is that both shepherd and church body fulfill their ministry when both equipping and evangelizing are done together, side by side. This is a healthy balance. The church, in this regard, fulfills its mission and mandate to make disciples of all nations.
We covet your prayers for this conference and for the perspective it strives at imparting to the Italian local church in such difficult days.
ITA is additionally grateful for its European partner schools like the EBTC principally situated in Berlin, Germany.
The EBTC has offered to host the conference from their facility in Berlin. This being our first livestream conference, we gladly received their offer. As of the 20th of January, I will be traveling to Germany to lead the conference. Your prayers are coveted for this trip as well. Travel in the midst of Covid is quite the challenge.