AUGURI e BUON NATALE!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

I'm sure by now for those of you in the U.K there is no ignoring that Christmas has arrived, here in Italy Christmas seems a bit more laid back. The shops are not heaving with people, the Christmas decorations here have not yet turned into street competitions to see who can have the biggest and brightest display and there is not one Christmas Cracker in sight! There is however a big tradition of the nativity with people setting them up outside their houses or in the shops, and still the tradition of eating clementines and nuts. Its so much less money orientated and much more family/food orientated; this leads us to say happy christmas and dont spend too much, dont get to stressed about what other people are doing, but remember Jesus in the midst of this holiday, passing on His message to people and showing HIs love amongst yourselves.

Past Events
Debate "the Bible: Fact or Fiction"-Thanks you so much for praying for the debate. We had a great time and were really encouraged. As well as the GBU group from Perugia coming to help, 6 non Christians came along all with very different opinions on the Bible. We looked at why is the Bible important, what is its major use for humans, and, how can we read the Bible. As well as looking at the authenticity of the Bible. Giovanni did a really good job of leading the discussion and keeping people calm. It was amazing to see how after Giovanni had shared with us various documents about how the Bible is the most historically accurate book in the world ever, with a 99.5% certainty, people still refused it as truth. Faith really is something which God has to produce as logical arguments and trying to convince people will never work.

Conference-8 of us left Siena and headed down to Pescara for the GBU's publishing house conference. We had such a blessed and challenging time. Don Carson lead the studies on the revelation of God throughout the Bible, it was great to reconsider the greatness of God and His Glory and think how privilidged we are to know Him and to be able to one day live in His presence. There was also the opportunity to get to know all the GBU groups across Italy, it was great to see so many Italians who really have a heart to see their friends and classmates saved. Graziella and Massimo presented Siena, in particular, the results of the questionnaire we had done, they did a really good job. We had some good times with the students and really praise God for the enthusiasm they came away with to study the Bible more and to be more involved with GBU.

Calenders-Lately at the book table we have been giving out calenders for the new year with a verse for each day wrapped up with a couple of chocolates inside to our friends who pass by. we have had some really great responses from people. Many were shocked that we wanted to give them a present without wanting anything in return. Some people even went away and then came back to talk to us about why we would want to give these out. One old man who often walks his dog in the piazza where the book table is received a calender last tuesday, then thursday when we were there again came and asked me "so who are you, you're not Jehovah's Witnesses are you? ", from there came a great opportunity to talk about the Bible and its message. This man is a fervent catholic, he told me how when he walks the dog he often prays to Mary to ask for help and sometimes to The Father. After discussing what the Bible says about prayer i asked him to try and pray to God directly, he said he would and then at the end said "but I wont forget to pray to the mother."

Catholics and Mormons- Leading on from that recently we seem to have had lots of opportunities to speak to other religious groups about their beliefs. A growing dialogue with the lady who runs the photocopy shop who is a practising Catholic with a big heart for Mary, a continued friendship with a Catholic student from Perugia, a group of girls who often pass by the book table and many others. Also last week we had a long discussion with some Mormons we met at the market which was left with the intention to hopefully meet up and study THE BIBLE together.

These people are so blinded, they hold the truth in their hands (the Bible) but do not recognise the authority of God’s word and seek to add their own ideas or theories of how to gain salvation when they really don’t have to. We’ve recently been listening to in the car Radio Maria (the national Catholic radio station in Italy) and have just been saddened by the way the certainty of salvation in Christ which God offers his so far from the lips of the Catholics in Italy. Please pray for the many people who read the Bible without understanding. We are praying to have more dialogue with some of the local leaders of these “churches” to read the Bible together in order that God might speak and change their lives, please pray for wisdom and that God would guide us accordingly.

Christmas Party-Tuesday 19^th December we had GBU Siena’s Christmas Party. With games, a quiz, presents, and a message given by Giovanni about the real meaning of Christmas . God 's hand was really at work with 11 non-Christians present who heard the Gospel, not only that but after the message each one of them was talking with one of the Christian students. God is so good, we thank Him for His faithfulness in this country. Please pray for those who heard the Gospel.

For the next few weeks there will be no GBU events. We’ll take this time to give out calendars in the villages around where we live, going door to door. Also New Years eve weekend we’ll be at another camp (organised by the church). Its going to be quite a family atmosphere, and there should be quite a few non-Christians there so please pray for a good time together and that people might be saved.

We also look forward to having friends and family stay with us over the next few weeks.

That’s all for now. Please keep praying for us, well, not so much for us as for the people we meet, that God would help them understand all that He has done for them and that nothing would hinder them from accepting Jesus as Lord.

Hannah and Giovanni