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May - June 2008
Dear Pastors and faithful brethren, Mazara July 08, 2008 We thank our Heavenly Father for the Scriptures that enable us to continue forward. We are more aware with time that it is because of his mercy that we are here in Sicily preaching the gospel. Knowing this gives us strength so that we faint not, gracefully using your prayers and financial support. The past couple months have
been busier than we are used to. Our dear friends and fellow
laborers, the Jordans returned to the U.S. at the end of May. The
church had a farewell gathering for them before they left and presented
them with gifts and a love offering. We had around 40 people that
evening which is more than our usual amount. Many who are on
the fringes came to say The church has gone through
the transition smoothly and we have continued to have new visitors and
lost people is every service. Our Wednesday night attendance has
picked up some as well. This past Sunday we had a baptismal service by the
seaside with 3 being baptized. Fabio Clementi, Natale Da Guanno, and
our son Samuele. Natale made a profession of faith in church a week
prior. The service was well attended and a good public
testimony. That same evening in church we had the Lords Supper
which was a first time for many who were present. Pray that these
men will be faithful to the Lord. Natale has not missed a church
service and is presently helping to paint the church building. He
has just returned here to Mazara after working many years in Belgium and
Also during the month of May a man by the name of Pino Licari was saved. There were situations going on in his life that brought him to a point of desperation and after several phone calls to me he just showed up at the house one morning. He has been an acquaintence for years and recently become a good friend. Since his conversion he has been in every single service along with his wife Paula and daughter Ilaria who quickly took to my wife and daughters. This family at the moment is in Milano but will be back this month until September at which point they will settle permanently in Milano. Please pray for Paula, Ilaria and their their two sons who will be returning with them to be saved. They are students at the University of Milano. We will probably be seeing a lot of them while they are here and hope to see this entire family saved in time. Also pray for Pinos parents who I have spent time with and given them the gospel. We hope to visit them more this summer as well, possibly going over and playing some music for them. They are older and sad because of many disappointments in life. We are thankful for the work that God is doing in the lives of some of our church people. Bro. Antonio Clementi and his family have been a blessing. We are encouraged by his desire to establish his home and family on the Word of God. Their daughter Genevra is a blessing in Sunday School, always knowing her memory verses and usually already knowing the Bible lesson because Antonio reads the Bible to her before going to bed each night. He is being a witness at his job and recently there was a black out at work which gave him two hours to talk with many of his coworkers all gathered around him. He gives the announcements in church and we appreciate his good spirit and words of exhortation. Nino Sciacchitano has jumped in with both feet and asked for personal discipleship and a desire to get involved with evangelising. We plan on doing some work in the area around us on bikes which is mostly summer homes. Our area which is right by the seaside is fairly vacant during the winter months but really fills up in the summer when people come out to their summer homes. We have a new sister in the church by the name of Fiorella who has recently become a widow. We are thankful for her love for the Lord and the blessing and asset she has been to the church. Through her we have gotten to know several in her deceased husbands family and they have been to the house to visit. Please pray for Lina, Vita, and Vita and their spouses that we can see them come to the Lord. Fiorella strives to be a good testimony and witness before them. I would like to include a list of lost people who have been in our church services in the past couple of months for those of you who would really like to labor with us in prayer. Some of these come on a regular basis such as Vito Luppino. Hes under a lot of conviction. Here are the others who have come: Diana (Fiorellas cousin), Giovan Battista (Andrea Apollos brother), Emanuela (Mariellas friend), Maria, Gabriellina, Daniela, Signora Russo. Continue in prayer for the salvation of Franco, Andrea Apollo (son in law of our Andrea Apollo, they have the same name) and the Clementi family. Nino and I will be visiting a man soon named Ignazio Gioppo a father of five children who has a brain tumor. Pray about this. Im assuming he is lost. Over the past 10 years we have seen members of the Pipitone family get saved one by one. The other day while at their home, their daughter Maria was there. I have never been able to actually sit down with her and explain the gospel. On this day I did and she listened well. Pray for her salvation. We are still praying about a different building for the church. When it is just the faithful who come there is not a problem. However when there are visitors it is a little tight. Plus it is difficult to encourage the church people to invite others when we dont have too much extra room. We may be getting a building to use mostly for outreach. It is located in a rougher area of town and for this reason would not be an ideal location for the church. This building would be rent free and provided by the community. Filippo Gabriele was saved years ago and he is in on the city council hoping to run for mayor. He is helping us with this and has presented all the necessary paperwork to a lawyer. Should we get the building, I am thinking at this point of using it as a sort of city mission holding evangelistic services once a week for the poor in that area and possibly a monthly meal and clothing distribution. It would be an outreach or mission arm of our church and would require the brethren to be involved to run it. Please pray about this with us. August 4-8 my wife, and daughters along with the help of Mariella and other ladies in the church will be having a Bible day camp for children. It will be held here at our house. To help keep food on the table, my boys and I raise milking goats, rabbits, poultry, fruits and vegetables on a small scale. This makes our environment a nice place for children and they are planning games, skits, and hands on activities to go along with the Bible lessons. We would appreciate your prayers for this. We have never done anything like this before but believe that it will go over well, and will be a blessing and good experience for those who come. The children here know only a Catholic Jesus. The Lord willing we will be having our annual tent meeting here in Mazara in September. I will be getting the paper work rolling for that this week. Pray with us that the paper work will go through and we will be given permission to hold the tent again. Also pray that many will hear the gospel and be saved. In the past two weeks I have received emails from two different brothers telling of their call and preparation to Italy and Sicily. This is a big blessing. Pray for these and the others that are on the way and that many more will be called. A special thanks to Pastor Dave Bulka of First Baptist Church in Caldwell, NJ for their encouraging visit and the blessing they were to our family and the church. They have supported the work here from the very beginning and we thank our Lord Jesus Christ for them and their co labours with us. At home things are always busy. Giacomo is in the process of seeing an orthopedic doctor. He will more than likely be having some surgery in Bologna.. No dates yet, well keep you posted. He is leading singing during our mid week service and is also picking up the clarinet.Priscilla is enjoying her Sunday school class and it is something that the children look forward to each week. Graziella has finished type setting some discipleship materials for me. She just turned 18 and recently told us of God's work in her life over the past several months giving her a burden and desire to serve the Lord full time. We are thankful to the Lord for the work he has been doing in her life and for the blessing she is to our home and in the ministry. This letter has been longer than usual. There is a lot to pray about and we do appreciate those especially who pray for the work here. We thank all of you who give so faithfully and we are thankful for our several new supporters in recent months, those who have sent special gifts and those who send so many cards. Your part is very much appreciated.
AND HOW SHALL THEY HEAR WITHOUT A PREACHER? FIELD:
BRO. SAL GALIOTO and FAMILY C.P. 171 91026 MAZARA DEL VALLO (TP) ITALY email:
salgalioto@tiscali.it Phone/Fax: 011-39-0923-651729 SENT BY: BIBLE BELIEVERS BAPTIST CHURCH 1252 E. AURORA RD MACEDONIA, OHIO 44056 330-467-1611
SUPPORT TO: BIBLE BELIEVERS BAPTIST MISSIONS P.O. BOX 892 NORTHFIELD, OHIO 44067 330-467-1611 |