A Passing of the Torch: the interview with Francesco Schiano Lomoriello, new GBU General Secretary

Tempo di lettura: 4 minuti

Francesco tells his story in this interview: the decision to propose himself as General Secretary (GS), the emotions he has experienced in the last year and his wishes on the future of the GBU.

Francesco, the Board has chosen you as the new GS. How did you welcome this news? What feelings did you have?

It is news that gives me many new stimuli. I have been GBU Staff in Naples for over ten years, and I have had the opportunity to serve the Lord both in the local group and in various projects at national level. They have been very rich and formative years, but certainly this is a big change which brings with it many responsibilities and requires a lot of time to dedicate to it.

I was also surprised and encouraged by the many messages I received after the news was made public. People more or less close to the GBU world wrote to me, but I honestly did not expect so much affection. I thought, in fact, that the news would remain more internal to the GBU, and instead it was good to know that there are so many people who are praying and will pray for me, for this new commitment.   

What was the thought process that led you to apply as the new SG?

The truth is that among the senior staff members is also me!

I was and am aware that I would not face many difficulties in terms of experience and knowledge of the GBU. Then there was a more personal reason, regarding the calling I feel to the GBU and the path we are on as a family.

Furthermore, after more than ten years in the GBU I feel more and more distant from the students, in the sense that it is becoming more and more complicated to take part in Bible studies in the faculty and to go and evangelise with the GBU students. If until a few years ago I could delude myself into thinking I was a (very) out-of-date student, now that I am about to turn forty… (laughs, ed).

I still want to be close to students like GS. But it will be in a different way and more in harmony with my new role. It is one of my goals in the coming years.

So you will have to leave your role as GBU Staff in Naples?

Yes, but thank God in Naples there will be Rebecca Iacone, who graduated a few years ago, finished her Staff in Training and now wants to stay and serve the GBU Naples group. This is one of those favourable circumstances which the Lord has prepared and which encouraged me to apply to be GS.

In addition to this, to be closer to my family and the local church we attend, we will soon be moving to Bacoli, moving away from Naples and the students a little. This family aspect is also more compatible with a national role than a commitment to a local GBU group.

Great then, you can happily devote yourself to your role as GS. What are your future dreams for the GBU?

I have a number of wishes and expectations for the GBU. They have matured in me naturally over these years, and I pray that they will inspire and motivate my commitment to this new role, and also the commitment of all GBU staff.

Some of these desires are fully in tune with the history of the GBU, and are to be preserved. Others are things we still need to work on or explore. I would certainly like the students to always maintain a central role in the GBU and in sharing the Gospel in the university, along with the centrality of the Word of God in everything we do.

I would also like the mission to strengthen its interdenominational dimension, being able to interact with different church realities in Italy, to reach out to those churches which do not yet know about the GBU. I hope and pray to be able to see this happen in the next few years. I have learned a lot about relationships with churches through my involvement with the ‘Noi Festival’ (an initiative of the Billy Graham Ass., ed.). It was very much a learning experience and I will strive to achieve a good result in the near future. 

This interaction with churches is crucial for several aspects, including the possibility of having more students involved in Sharing Jesus in Italian universities.

One of the things you were involved in as GBU staff was ‘interacting with the university’. Do you think the GBU has room for growth in this aspect?

Yes, I would really like to be able to make a contribution so that the GBU is more active and able to answer university students’ questions and doubts. I would like students to be stimulated and challenged in this, but I would also like to involve professors and professionals, including international ones, who can address specific and relevant issues in the university environment.

There are also many ideas and wishes, but we will see as we go along. For the time being, I am living this transition period to the fullest, in which I am the ‘elected SG’, but not in office (laughs, ed.). These will be useful months for the handover and I will be able to interact well with Johan, who will be a great help during this phase.

Speaking of Johan, did you read his advice for you in his interview? What do you think about it?

Yes, I thank Johan for his affection, his esteem, but above all for his example. He has done a great job to give the GBU a structure that now allows us all to move with more ease and it will be the same for me in the role of GS.

I certainly want to maintain and also strengthen the structure that Johan created, in continuity with his work and in harmony with all GBU staff members. 

One of the reasons I accepted the post was precisely the knowledge that I had a strong team, made up of people full of skills and spiritual gifts. It would be impossible to do my job without this talented team. My intention, of course, is to take Johan’s advice and rely on all the members of the GBU Staff family, as well as the other members of the fellowship.

By Domenico Campo, GBU Staff Sicily
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Ready, set, go – What to do with your life?

Tempo di lettura: 2 minuti

Figuring out God’s will for one’s life seems to be a common obsession in the lives of believers.

Perhaps this is because we suffer from a kind of “Sliding Doors” syndrome.
Just like the famous 90’s movie, starring Gwyneth Paltrow, we think that one wrong choice (in the movie it was a random event, but that’s beside the point) can change the course of our story, causing us to miss out on the best things in life.

Yet God’s will for us is crystal clear in the Bible. Jesus called us to be his witnesses, to the glory of God. Before he ascended into heaven, he told his disciples, “Go and make disciples” and his disciples passed on this same commission to those who believed their preaching. Making disciples of Christ is God’s will for every person who believes in him and follows him. The main answer, whenever we are faced with an important choice and we ask ourselves what to do, should be: “Go and make disciples of Christ.”

“You are the salt of the earth…”

This year at the Festa GBU we asked ourselves how to fulfill the great commission by reflecting on three famous passages from the Gospel of Matthew (5:13-16, 9:36-38, 28:16-20).
“You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world…” a disciple of Christ cannot go unnoticed, and the place he is in, he makes it a better place. His new birth and the presence of the Holy Spirit in his life clearly make him different. He is what the dry, dark world in which he lives needs.

So, shine! “That they may see your good works and praise your Father in heaven.”

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them”

The crowds that live around us should see our good works. What should we see in them? Jesus saw sheep without a shepherd, people who were tired and exhausted, he saw a great harvest, which prompted him to say “pray therefore to the Lord of the harvest that he will send out workers into his harvest field.”
The practice of fasting (not necessarily from food, but perhaps from the internet, smartphones, TV shows), solitude and silence might help us to be free from the distractions that keep us from seeing the crowds living around us. This will help us feel the compassion Jesus feels for them, as well as encouraging us to spend more time on our knees, praying with a greater vision of the Lord’s work.

Then we will be ready to go, to be uncomfortable, to take risks.

“Some want to live within the sound of a church or chapel bell; I want to run a rescue shop, within a yard of hell” (C.T. Studd).

There is a great need to preach the gospel, to teach the Word of God. Those who have dedicated themselves to these things have always faced suffering and persecution, but “Surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age,” Jesus told his disciples after affirming that all power had been entrusted to him, in heaven and on earth.

We are not in a world driven by chance, in which our wrong choices can ruin our lives. We are in the harvest field of God, who has all things in his hands, and who asks us above all else one thing: “go and make disciples of me.” Nothing else is as important.

 

Francesco Schiano
(GBU staff worker)

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The colors of autumn

Tempo di lettura: 2 minuti

I love autumn!

I like it because, after the summer, it’s the time to get back to work at full speed. And working with GBU university students is a great job to have!

I like it because finally there isn’t that suffocating heat anymore, but the days are still beautiful, and you can enjoy the pleasant sun (in Sicily at least!).

I like autumn because I like its colours. The green and lush leaves are getting ready to drop, turning yellow, orange, red…

Yellow… Orange… Red…

Thinking about it, this year I like these colours less, much less. In this particular autumn, in fact, it is not only the leaves that have taken on the colours of autumn. [ndt: Italy’s regions have been categorized with these colors depending on the gravity of the spread of covid-19]

But if it is true that for the leaves it is the natural colouring that prepares them to dry up and die on the ground, let’s hope that for the regions of Italy the process will be the reverse, and that they will soon be green and lush again, as we used to see them on maps or on TV weather programmes.

In the meantime, the various GBU groups have resumed their activities throughout Italy.

Students are experiencing similar challenges in all regions, and while it is true that some groups still manage to meet in presence (some groups in the yellow regions), for others the meetings have all moved online (almost all groups in the orange and red regions).

The difficulty to relate with friends and colleagues certainly does not make the work of GBU easier, and certainly affects the mood of the students in a negative way. Many are also slightly worried because at the moment there is a lot of uncertainty about their university career. Some are facing even more serious challenges, such as the risk of not being able to return home to their family, or even worse, having to face the fact that they may have a dear one affected by covid.

This is what autumn is like for GBU students.

It is an autumn where grey seems to prevail, as well as yellow, orange and red…

Yet, you only have to read this news from the various GBU groups to discover that there is much more than just uncertainty and fear in the hearts of these young people. There is creativity, faith, love and passion for the Gospel!

So I ask you to read this news carefully and to support GBU students in prayer.

You will read about students struggling, praying and using their full potential to “Share Jesus from student to student”, confident that the good news of Christ’s birth, death and resurrection is powerful enough to change the lives of their friends and colleagues. Even from a distance. Even while they feel uncertain and lost. Even if they are alone behind the screen of a PC or a smartphone.

All because Jesus is the true light!

I am the light of the world; those who follow me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. (John 8:12)

And light, it is said, is the combination of all colours: yellow, orange, red…

Domenico Campo
(GBU Staff worker)

Read the latest news from the groups

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#maiunagioia

Tempo di lettura: 3 minuti#maiunagioia (never a joy), this is the hashtag of the moment between high school and university students. The hashtag is ironically associated with moments of daily life where unexpected or improbable small things provoke a small amount of frustration and nervousness for the misfit students. While all this is tackled with great irony, it hides a real and profound generational discomfort. “Economic crisis”, “youth unemployment”, “uncertain future” are everyday expressions for students, expressions which they identify with and can identify themselves.

We find ourselves too, in front of generation #maiunagioia, made up of young people without goals and ambition in life, who are left to lose, who do not fight for anything, who are not passionate about what has a real ethical and moral value, but can however talk at great length about the latest episode of “Games of Thrones” or the latest results of reality TV. It is an inept and apathetic generation that has lost its compass, who does not know who to turn to and who does not know who to trust. It is a generation that does not believe. Neither in itself, nor in anyone else.

In this bitter description, which certainly does not include all the students of today, there are still a good number of students and young people (and adults) who attend evangelical churches. We see it in our GBU groups and, indeed, in our churches. How is this possible?

Doesn’t Jesus promise to give us his joy if we keep his commandments? Is there not complete joy in thinking that our names are written in the book of life? Is it not entirely comforting to read God’s promises and stand in his presence? Isn’t the Holy Spirit who dwells in us called the Comforter? And how many other questions like these could we ask …

Yet in fact many Christians live without joy. Why? I would say a lack of a true and authentic relationship with God. If this relationship exists, it is not possible not to enjoy it. Of course, it doesn’t mean that there are not moments of discouragement. These may come, but sadness cannot be the leitmotif of a Christian’s life.

The joy that the world offers is a sensation, moments of escape that make our hearts jump for joy. The joy that a Christian feels, however, is not a moment of happiness, an emotion, even if given by a particularly amazing and intense moment experienced in the church or at the GBU conference. Joy is a condition of life, founded not on experience, albeit extraordinary, but on the truth of the Word of God.

As a condition of life, we do not expect a Christian to be jumping around all the time, but we expect his life to be full of Christ, his peace and his joy, and that in difficulties that can make him suffer terribly, the joy given by the sacrifice of Jesus, by salvation, by the fact of having the omnipotent GOD as father will not fail.

Many Christian students know this truth, but they don’t live it out fully. And so their faith and hope in God becomes just a crutch that helps them to keep going in this sad, difficult and unsatisfactory life. This is often the faith that is shown to our friends and colleague and therefore a reason that they don’t come close to Christ.

I think of the power of the Gospel and I think that if students at universities were filled with this power, the Italian Universities would be hit like a tsunami. I think it is fundamental, therefore, that students realize the profound joy of belonging to Christ, the #veragioia (true joy). I believe this can happen if students start looking for an intense relationship with Christ. So more than organizing events or strategic evangelism, there will be students full of joy, zeal, and the Spirit to make the difference and to proclaim the Gospel message with conviction and effectiveness.

Domenico Campo
Staff GBU

This will be the theme of our National Student Conference at the end of April!

 

Translation from Italian by Emma Cooper

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Is it worth it?

Tempo di lettura: 2 minutiThroughout the 11 years that I have been working with the GBU, many times I have asked myself why I do what I am doing and if it really is worth it…

In other words, does it make sense to strive for the proclamation of the gospel in universities? There are so many important ministries out there and I want to be sure that I am dedicating my time and energy to something that is really worth striving for.

For this reason, I would briefly like to share three reasons why I still believe that is it extremely important that we bring the gospel of Christ into universities:

1. The gospel needs to be preached wherever knowledge is put on a pedestal above God

The apostle Paul tells us that knowledge puffs up (1 Corinthians 8:1), and it is true! We can clearly see this in universities. Increasingly, in the minds of many people, especially those with a greater level of education, there seems to be a clear distinction between everything that is rational, ascertainable, or can be empirically demonstrated and anything that concerns faith, God, and religion. In a contest in which human pride rises up against its own Creator, we need to be ambassadors who humbly and confidently proclaim the message about Jesus of Nazareth, for the salvation of those who consequently choose to follow him. Read more

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GBU Student Leaders Training

Tempo di lettura: 3 minuti

It’s just a weekend…

If someone told me that in three days, God would answer so many questions and make me understand so much about my life, I wouldn’t have believed it. When I was encouraged to do the GBU Training Weekend, with the aim of becoming a coordinator, I already had the answer.

For almost any GBU event or activity, my head has had a plethora of excuses: “I’m too busy / I have to study / I have to do exams / I have to graduate / spend money / polish silverware / take my goldfish for a walk …!” As with any event, my head made this ‘useful’ list for me and the decision was obvious …

But thanks to God, he had a different answer in mind. As my head was saying “No,” before I knew it, I had already accepted the proposal and I had the strength (which until a few seconds before I thought I didn’t have), to make me want to begin this new experience right away.

God has plans bigger than I can have for me and GBU Training has given me the ability to understand it more and accept it. I was a little worried and wondered why I was there. Why me?! During these years within GBU, I have met so many coordinators and staff members and I admired their preparation, their seriousness and their organization … Why did God call me to do this?

Now choose life

At GBU Training, I have been given the opportunity to meet people from all over the world, with different ways of doing things, different characters and thoughts, but with the same motivation: to know and to be used by God.

As the feeling of how I could do this got stronger, I was also faced with the beautiful and delicate question – Who are you in God? Not according to yourself, not according to others, but according to God! I am His daughter; we are His children. God had spoken to me: each one of us was created in a different way, but in His image. Each of us has a function and a value that brings light to God’s service. We must leave room for God’s vision, not for our own. We need to understand who we are, not by ourselves but through God.

I still had a question, an uncertainty, and that is why I was very happy that the Bible study we looked at in Deuteronomy 27 – 30 covered this. I asked God that his will be done in my life, but would I be willing to accept it? To obey him? What would I receive in return?

I have seen how God is committed and engaging with me every day, how He blesses me and makes my life great. That is why I have decided to commit myself totally to God so that I can admire His beauty in the awareness that I cannot change by myself, but with the certainty that the Lord is at my side and will help me, as he did with his people .

In this new academic year, I made my choice: To share Jesus from student to student!

Manuela Buffa
(GBU Bologna)

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Malta | Mission Trip

Tempo di lettura: 3 minutiTempo di lettura: 3 minuti

Read more
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From Marsala to Siena… and back!

Tempo di lettura: 3 minutidomenicoWe have the great pleasure of introducing Domenico, a student who has decided to undertake our staff training program. The pleasure is even greater because he represents an opportunity we have prayed about for many years: a member of staff in Sicily!
We have had, and still have, GBU groups in Sicily, but we have never had a member of staff who could offer continuity, visit and present the GBU to churches and start new groups in  universities where there are none.
As of January 1st, 2017 this will become a reality. For now you can keep reading and get to know Domenico and Angela. Pray for them!
(Johan Soderkvist, GBU General Secretary)

A student’s journey in the GBU

I first believed in Jesus when I was 14 years old, and was baptized shortly after. At the age of 13, I started attending the youth group at my church in Marsala (Sicily) and that’s where I understood who Jesus is. I felt compelled to give him my life.

After finishing school, I decided to go to university. I moved to Siena on October 1st, 2012 to study Modern Literature. I had never heard of the GBU. The first Sunday there, I went to church and at the end of the service, the first person to come over and speak to me was Giovanni Donato. Among other things, he told me that during the week the students met on campus to study the Bible. That was my first glimpse of the world of the GBU.

In the following months I began attending GBU Siena’s Bible studies and events. It wasn’t at all hard to integrate into the group, not only for hospitality and warm welcome I received from both the Donato family and the students, but also because of what the GBU was: a group of Christian students who shared the same challenges and struggles at the university but, foremost, a group who shared a common goal. Sharing Jesus from student to student. Seeing that Christ was the focus of every GBU activity and event was what, more than anything, convinced me to contribute to the cause of the GBU and which kindled a desire to evangelize, channeling this zeal within the context in which I found myself, the university.

In April 2013 I attended my first GBU Weekend Away. If I had to choose a moment in which I felt called to the work of the GBU, I would pick those days in April. There, my vision broadened, I saw the resources and the needs of the GBU at a national level and the Lord laid on my heart the deep desire to commit to this missionary effort.

At the beginning of 2016 I made two important decisions. The first, together with my fiancée Angela: that we would get married in March 2017. The second – being that, for various reasons, in May I’d move back to Sicily and finish university there. The realization that my work with the GBU was coming to an end made me very sad, but I nurtured the hope that I’d be able to help in Sicily, though I didn’t know how. At the Weekend Away last April I spoke with Johan Soderkvist about this. I didn’t know what job I would find after graduation, nor if I’d have time available, but I desired to contribute somehow to the growth of the GBU in Sicily.

Johan’s reply went way beyond my expectations. He told me that, for years, the GBU had been praying for an increase in the number of staff in the south of Italy and for someone to be based long-term in Sicily. He suggested I start thinking about the possibility of working with the GBU and what that would entail. It was an amazing conversation. Afterwards I was struck by the way in which God was opening a door to do something that went beyond my imagination. There was the possibility to keep serving the GBU. This filled my heart with joy, and still does.

I have great hopes for the months and years to come. The road  seems to be full of obstacles at the same time, but Angela and I know that God brings his work to pass. We put our trust in Him.

 

Domenico Campo

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An Italian Academic Experiences FEUER

Tempo di lettura: 2 minutiI went to the FEUER conference! I might need to explain the name in order for you to understand what it is. The acronym stands for “Fellowship of Evangelists in the Universities in EuRope”, but it’s also, they tell me, a German word which means fire. And I must say that I did catch a bit of that Teutonic atmosphere, which is in referral to the fact that I attended the conference as part of those in an ‘academic track’, i.e. those who work within the University as teacher or those, like me, whose lives revolve around academia. There was quite an earnest atmosphere and at times it was fairly intimidating, mainly due to the German teachers present who often take things very seriously.

I’m kidding of course, but I can’t deny that I did make fun of myself thinking about what kind of impression we gave off to the other participants at the conference, almost as if we were a separate aristocracy whom they could catch a glimpse of while they ate (at separate tables!) or at the after-dinner plenary meetings. What also surprised me was that most of those taking part were men. This was due to the fact that six female teachers were unable to come. The fact is that spending three days from morning to night – including lunch breaks – with men who only talk about the fine tunings of the universe was really hard.

That said, I’m really happy that I participated. The meetings were very thorough and I was able to pick up some very useful tips on how to be a witness in academia and manage occasions when we may be called upon to speak publicly. In particular the presence of someone like John Lennox, who chaired most of the meetings, was a source of great inspiration. He shared his experiences with us and we had the possibility to be an insider and find out how he prepares and manages debates and public lectures.

When you watch him on You-tube it all seems very simple and natural, when in fact his proficiency is the result of many hours of laborious preparation. He also needs to be in constant awareness of showing respect to the other party and acting with a Christian mentality. Speaking personally, there were particularly useful suggestions on how to address and make the best use of your time and to dedicate questions and answers from the audience, which I find is usually a source of great insecurity.

The idea behind this ‘academic track’ was also to create a network among ourselves, in order to advise and help each other, as well as create an environment to process and discuss Christian apologetic issues. I think this is something we still need to work on, but this conference was certainly a good start. Personally, this experience was very useful. It helped me to strengthen my desire to serve the Lord in my professional context, and put myself at the service of GBU in Italy, within the limits of my abilities and my capabilities.

 

Nicola Berretta

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Ready, steady… go!

Tempo di lettura: 3 minutif_gbu

 

When Giovanni Donato suggested I attend the GBU Student Leaders Training, from 30th September to 3rd October 2016 in the small town of Rocca di Papa near Rome, I have to admit that it seemed a strange idea to me. I thought, “In Ancona (the city where I live), there isn’t even a local GBU group. Why should I receive training for a role that doesn’t even exist and of which there’s no hope at my university?” … But wait, let’s rewind.

In January, after years of having attended national GBU events and activities, God laid on my heart the desire to establish a group in Ancona – a university made up of many departments and, therefore, with a great need for Jesus to be shared from student to student. So I got to work and began looking for Christian students with the same desire that God had given me, both in my own church and in other churches around the city. I managed to forge contacts with quite a few students, but unfortunately nothing concrete was established. I then left Ancona to spend a semester studying abroad, and returned to Italy in August. That brings us to 5th September, the day I had that conversation with Giovanni about the Training. Since many of the students I’d met at the GBU Weekend Away in April had warmly encouraged me to attend the Training weekend, I decided to go.

There were 27 of us students (approx. one or two per GBU group, all from various universities across Italy), and we were all gathered and ready for a weekend of intense preparation to equip us in tackling the upcoming academic year as we lead our local groups. The whole weekend was centred around a single theme: Be holy, because I am holy (1 Peter). Read more