Praise the Lord that the local group’s activities got up and running about a month ago and are taking place regularly. Moreover, there are new girls who have been enthusiastically attending.
We ask you to pray that all of us as members would have a clear vision of the GBU, serving the Lord together, and for what going into the faculties will look like, which we want to start doing.
We meet once a fortnight for the inductive Bible study at GBU Parma, and the group coordinators have been taking on the commitment of doing on-campus outreach once a week since last year. We’re so very happy and grateful to the Lord for how He is guiding every activity.
Last year we were very discouraged by the low participation at meeting, but this year there are always around ten of us (it’s a big number for our city), and in total there are fifteen people who take part.
Group participants are from different church backgrounds and there are various young adults who still do not attend church, but who are interested in reading the Word.
We also thank God for having allowed us to meet in a new rented room in the centre, and not in the bar anymore, where it was hard to do the Bible studies because of the noise.
Finally, we asking for prayer for the outreach activities we’re going to do, for the students we’ll be talking to, for the young adults who come to the meetings but have not yet given their lives to Christ, and that new students would emerge to take responsibility for the group.
Beginning this year, the International GBU and the Italian GBU have joined together so we have therefore have made some changes in how we organise the various events. We held a Welcome to Italy evening event for some people, and a Welcome to Piedmont event for others. We also translate all the various notices so that everyone understands.
It is a great opportunity for everyone to get to know new students and other cultures as a result.
This year the number of group coordinators has gone up, and they have also been supported by a committee which deals with a multitude of different aspects, some of which are more practical than others. Although many members are new compared with last year, we managed to work harmoniously from the onset, dividing up the tasks well.
We are very grateful that there are so many students, some on the Committee and others not, who help us in various ways: some cook, some go shopping, some help prepare the evening events and the studies of the Word. This group provides fundamental support, allowing each one of us to focus on one organisational aspect only, meaning that coordinating the events is compatible with the various commitments that each one of us has.
As there are numerous universities within the city, the presence of a high number of foreign students is guaranteed, which always makes us very happy and not only allows Italian students to practise their English, but also to get to know very different cultures from our own.
We’re also grateful for there being so many student believers, who may not come regularly to the GBU meetings, but are an invaluable help in creating a good atmosphere in the evening events we run.
We would particularly like prayer for the inductive Bible study evenings we are doing. Compared with other events, these tend to attract less students, but they are of course the ones closer to our hearts. Let’s ask the Lord to keep bringing more students to these evenings and that this would be a stimulating and reflective time.
We thank God for the start of this new academic year and for the new people who have come along at least once. This year two new student girls have been coming to our meetings regularly and are wanting to find out more about Jesus, and it is very encouraging for us to see their interest and listen to their questions and doubts.
This semester we’re doing a series of studies on “Seeking a Messiah”. In the first three meetings we were focused on passages from Isaiah, and now we’re looking at the New Testament. Each time the Bible studies are very interesting and the conversations lead us to reflect on who this wonderful Messiah is, on how much He suffered and the Lord’s plan for our salvation.
We’re asking for prayer for the students who have not come many times and for those who came along last year, that God would meet with them and put a desire in their hearts to get to know Him.
In December we’ll be holding a Christmas party and we’d like prayer that it would be a chance to praise the Lord and talk about Him to our friends.
We’d like you to pray for us too (Ermioni and Shanizee), that God would sustain us and help us to continue with our responsibilities as coordinators and staff members, and that He’d lead every Bible study and special event.
GBU Bologna kicked off in October with a series of studies called Get to Know God. We have focused on the character of God in these first meetings, through reading various different passages.
Our next topic will instead be on the Life of Jesus. With Christmas nearly upon us, we’ll again run through the coming of our Saviour and end the series with a Christmas party, where we’ll spend time with other students. It will mainly be aimed at non-believers. What we want to do is create a welcoming atmosphere, where we can remember Christmas by reading from Luke, chapter 2 where it tells of the birth of Jesus over tea and biscuits, and Christmas games, etc. We want to end the party by introducing the GBU and inviting students to get to know God.
Please pray we’d find a room to hold the party in (we sadly don’t have a venue available). Pray we’d let as many people as possible know about the event. Pray that students would get involved and that many of them would come to know Jesus.
We ask for prayer for GBU Ferrara that we would qualify for funding so that we we’d be able to run university activities to reach as many students as possible for God’s glory. We would need to get up to 50 members by the end of January to manage it.
We’d like prayer that God would use this group to reach those who do not yet know Him, and that those would know Him would deepen their knowledge of Him.
We’re asking for prayer that God would send a powerful revival on the University of Ferrara which would span out into all the other universities.
We thank God that He has given us opportunities and strength to continue the work of the GBU this year too. We give Him thanks because He has continued to bless us more than we thought – we have grown in number and participation as well as interest is always high.
A big challenge for us as coordinators is managing to balance studies and GBU, and to be prepared to answer all the questions that are not banal (most of the participants are non-believers). The fact that there are due coordinators is a real help, because we can encourage one another in turn.
Please pray for Friday 29 November when we’ll be arranging a themed, American Thanksgiving dinner with Elisabeth (a GBU staff member), who will bring a brief message of evangelism and thanks. We hope it will be spiritually helpful to the students who come.
Thanks once more for the support and prayers
It’s been a real pleasure to finally reopen GBU State University Milan this year! There have been months full of significant events:
We continue trusting in God’s guidance over every step we take and that He would be glorified in everything that happens. Thank you, all of you, for your support and prayers!
At GBU Bari, we’re really grateful to the Lord for how this new academic year has begun. We had the pleasure of kicking off with an event, a discussion led by Professor Ken Smith on the subject of Science and Faith.
We were able to invite new students to the weekly meetings. The group has grown and is heterogeneous – there are Italians and non-Italians. We meet every Wednesday to read passages from Mark, and we thank God for all the students who are involved.
Going back as far as last year, a number of non-believing students have been regularly attending. Pray the Lord would touch their hearts.
We’d also like to organise some outreach events in the University to meet new students. Pray for how we plan the various events we want to do, and for group cohesion and growth.
At GBU Urbino, we’re immensely grateful to God for how He’s been working in the University.
Every week we have a least one new person coming along. We truly acknowledge this in our hearts.
Two Sundays ago we were able to do a presentation on the GBU’s mission in a local church in Pesaro, and asking for support and drawing people’s awareness to join in with the mission was very encouraging.
Last week we started a new series of studies on the book of Jonah.
Before the Christmas holidays we intend to hold two events, a Pizza Evening and board games with a Bible reflection and Christmas party. We’ve had a lot of volunteers also with booking the rooms at the University.
I am immensely grateful for and encouraged by the people who He’s put around me to serve Him together in the GBU. We’ve been praying about this for years and God is wonderful.
We’re asking for prayer since, just when everything is going well, the disgruntled enemy puts his efforts into ruining things. Therefore, pray we would stay united as a group and grow both together as well as personally in our relationship with God.
Moreover, we’d like prayer for the contacts we make each week at the University in the canteen or in the student accommodation. We’ve recently met a lot of lonely people who need friends, and we’ve been able to talk to them boldly about Jesus. The Lord doesn’t forget anyone, not even in Urbino, and we’re confident that in the future a church will also be planted in this wonderful city.
