GBU Naples

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Praise
  • Those of us in GBU Naples wanted to first of all thank God for not denying us His guidance and support this year as well. We managed to go ahead with our meetings and meet up before the orange/red zone arrived.
  • Let us thank God that we have seen our group strengthen and grow, and also for the emerging friendships.
  • We can also thank God that some students who had been absent for a while, are taking part in the online meetings again.
Prayer

We have one prayer request only: at the start of this academic year, we set ourselves the objective of reaching non-believing students in the second semester. This is definitely more difficult online, therefore we are asking for prayers that God would guide us and allow us to reach more students through His message of love, even with the universities closed. We are asking Him to help us be creative and resourceful in organising events that allow students to get involved who do not yet know God.

GBU Florence

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It was an encouraging start to the year for GBU Florence, which saw many students leave but many new faces join, where we were compelled to manage relations and share the Gospel remotely.

We give thanks for the stimulating conversations and outreach opportunities had around the local universities and libraries for the “winter meets”, a series of meetings for the group on how and why to read the Bible.

Even though we we not able to do our well-known Winter Camp, we were able to hold a joint “winter breakfast” with GBU Bologna and GBU Modena, where there was a sharing time and a time for testimonies and games, as well as the training. We are grateful to be able to start up weekly Bible studies again on the quite topical subject of the unjust, shameful, lonely death of Jesus.

It has been wonderful to see familiar faces again in our recent meetings, to be able to share the hope and gospel message clearly, and to acknowledge how many group members have grown in knowledge and experience, and despite being scattered around the world, have continued to support the group in prayer and with exhortations and love. Truly priceless.

We are aware of needing God’s guidance and wisdom over the coming months. It is not easy to keep up with people, making new contacts and reaching new students in this era of social distancing. It is not easy to find the enthusiasm and creativity to keep up the activities.

Therefore we are asking for prayer support,

  • that God would help us deepen our friendships with believers and non-believers,
  • renew a deep love in our hearts for the students in Florence
  • and give us fervour to make Jesus known among the people He has put around us at this particular time.

GBU Siena

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We have started up GBU meetings again after the winter exam session, and we are doing Bible studies on the importance of the cross. We have seen blessings and indeed the group has come together. New students have discovered the GBU.

Praise
  • We are there grateful to the Lord that He has given us new strength and new students to be able to talk to about Jesus,
  • the group has come together and new friendships have emerged.
Prayer
  • the new students who have just got to know the GBU,
  • for the coming year, given that many students are expected to graduate, that the witness could thus continue,
  • for the staff and coordinators.

GBU Milan – State University

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The Lord has done amazing things in the Milan State University GBU.

Praise

In the first semester His guidance was crucial in getting a totally new group going.

After this initial period, we were fearing it was not going to be easy to start up the meetings with the students again after the winter break, as we had all been focusing on exams for a month. But instead, the Lord renewed His blessings right from the first meeting and continues to do so time and time again, bringing curious young adults into the group, ready to get involved.

Prayer

Please pray that the Lord would continue to drive the conversations we have with the new students who are starting to draw near to Him.

GBU Milan Bicocca

Tempo di lettura: < 1 minuto
Praise

We thank God for how He has guided us over these last few months: He answered our prayers in a great way, bringing new people who were interested in the GBU each time (both believers and not)!

We did not hold any studies in January and February to allow everyone to concentrate better on their exams, but first we sent out a survey to the students to get their opinion on what we did in the first semester and two games evenings which were a great way for our group to become closer and to invite along new people.

We have been running the studies again since the beginning of March and we have also started training up new students to lead the studies alongside us.

Prayer
  • Please pray for greater involvement in the WhatsApp group (because few people reply to messages and this discourages us).
  • Moreover, as already mentioned, pray for the new students keen to join in, and for training others to lead studies.

GBU Castelfranco Veneto

Tempo di lettura: < 1 minuto
Praise
  • The Castelfranco group started up last autumn and had to start online because of the pandemic. However, despite the difficulty we had in making ourselves known and forming new relationships with the students, we managed to invite along various non-believer friends who are now coming to our meetings regularly, enabling a wonderful exchange of ideas;
  • we have started meeting online twice a week to allow everyone to participate, and although it has meant more work, people always join us;
  • as group coordinators we have formed a wonderful relationship which helps give us mutual support, strengthen our faith and continue serving with greater enthusiasm, more ideas and more collaboration.
Prayer
  • managing to help non-believers who join the meetings feel welcomed, and feeling prepared to answer their queries and questions lovingly, guiding them in the discussion;
  • finding the right activities to involve participants in, despite the restrictions which mean that most activities have to take place online;
  • managing to reach other students, form friendships with them and having the opportunity to look at the Word together, welcoming every opportunity for testimony.

GBU Rome

Tempo di lettura: < 1 minuto
Praise

In the GBU group in Rome we are very grateful for the online outreach week we were able to arrange. We reached various people we did not know, and we are hoping to keep getting to know them and involving them in our weekly meetings!

Preghiera
  • We are praying for the meeting over the next two months, that the students would be keen to join in and that we would also reach new people despite all the difficulties.
  • We are also praying to be motivated in organising the various activities.

GBU Messina

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As ever, we would like to thank God for everything He is doing within this group.

Although it has only been around a short time, God is helping us grow spiritually and have a more solid relationship with one another.

We have recently started a new project called “English conversation”. We are giving university students the chance to improve their English enabling them to join in English conversation with native English speakers! The project is going really well and we are asking God to give us wisdom and creativity.

Please also pray for greater unity within the group and for some students who have just recently joined us, that they would truly feel the power of God in their lives.

GBU Modena

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In GBU Modena we started up really raring to go this second year!

We held an introductory pizza evening combined with a short reflection on the subject “Were the gospels altered?” dealing with the topic of the New Testament reliability and giving out a copy of Josh McDowell’s “More than a Carpenter” to those who were interested.

From this perspective, we started studying the life of Jesus through the Gospel of John. So far, we have met together twice in someone’s home (taking the necessary precautions) and using a computer as well, so that the study could be followed online too.

  • Let’s thank the Lord because it was a wonderful experience. Sadly, from the next GBU meeting onwards, our meetings will be online only. This won’t lessen our enthusiasm for studying the Word together and sharing the knowledge of Jesus from student to student! In addition to studying John, we’re also planning to do games evenings or film evenings to vary the schedule.
  • We’re thankful to have a new female coordinator this year and some new members who are enthusiastically coming along.
  • We’re asking for prayer to be able to talk to friends and acquaintances and invite them along, to be able to do the GBU meetings every week and that we would always and in every case trust only in the Lord, whatever the circumstances.

GBU Verona

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By the grace of God, GBU Verona has just started up again, despite it having been a truly unpredictable and unstable year from many perspectives!

God provided a new coordinator this year. We would like to thank God above all for His grace and faithfulness and then we’d like to thank all those who prayed for this ministry!

The group is currently made up of little more than around ten people, but not everyone participates actively.

Let’s keep praying:

  • that the group will have even more unity, be stronger and grow;
  • that new non-believers will join and thus get to know Jesus, the only certainty in this time where certainty is lacking.