Volume 18 – 1977 (PDF) - Searching The Scriptures

THE LORD'S WORK IN ITALY
The brilliant orange rays of the sunrise began to
reach across the skies at 37,000 feet to dispel the
darkness that had enveloped the big TWA aircraft
through the night from New York as we drew near
the Italian coastline and the airport in Rome.
Brother Connie W. Adams and I had been invited
by the brethren in Rome to come to preach and study
the gospel of Christ with them. We left Kennedy
Airport at 9:25 p.m. Wednesday, November 17, 1976
and arrived in Rome at 11:20 a.m. Thursday,
November 18 and were greeted by several Christians,
including three preachers and three elders. After a
nearly two hour wait for our luggage, due to a strike,
we were finally released and driven to the home of
brother Rodolfo Berdini, where we were to stay for
the next ten days. Original plans were for us to stay
five days with Rodolfo Berdini, five days with his sonin-law,
Roberto Tondelli, and the remainder of our
time in Italy with Sandro Corazza, but the illness of
brother Tondelli's wife prevented our stay in their
home.
I kept a daily diary of the activities with important
details and figures for future reference. I will not try
to give detailed accounts of our stay, but only those
day by day events that relate to our work among the
churches in Italy. I shall be as brief as possible in
giving the important facts of our work there.
Upon entering the home of brother and sister
Berdini, we received our first taste of the very warm
and generous hospitality of the Italian brethren. One
striking contrast between the hospitality of brethren
in Italy and many in the United States may be
observed in the very small but significant things that
are done. As soon as we entered the Berdini home we
heard the familiar strains of the National Anthem of
our country, enhanced by the very warm and inviting
smiles of the household, accompanied by careful
attention to every need that we had for the next ten
days. This was beautiful hospitality.
Thursday evening the 18th, the day of our arrival
in Rome, was the time for the regular meeting of the
church in Via Sannio where brother Alessandro
Corazza preaches. Instead of their regular Bible study
they sang two or three songs, engaged in prayer, and
then brother Corazza announced our presence and the
reason for our being there. He stated that there
would be a question and answer session that night
instead of the Bible study. He invited brother Connie
Adams and me to stand on either side of him and he
did an excellent job of interpreting for us. We were
asked questions from members of the audience,
sometimes directed to one of us, but for the most
part both of us made some response to the questions.
A very friendly association followed the services that
night.
On Friday the 19th, Roberto Tondelli, Rodolfo
Berdini, Connie Adams and I began a four-hour drive
from Rome to Sul Sarno, just south of Naples, where
brother Vincenzo Ruggiero lives. He preaches for the
church which meets at Poggo Marino, about ten
miles away. Shortly after arriving at the home of
brother Ruggiero, where we had a delicious dinner,
about 6 brethren came to ask questions and discuss
the Bible with us. Connie and I studied with the 9
men present for over four hours and retired near
midnight.
On Saturday morning the 20th, some of the
brethren carried us to Old Pompeii which had been
immersed by the volcanic lava of Mt. Vesuvius in 79
A.D. We marveled at the remains of this city after
excavations that throws much light on the Romans
2,000 years ago. It was very cold, windy and raining
and we returned to the home of brother Ruggiero.
In the afternoon some brethren came to the home
of Ruggiero and we continued to discuss Bible
questions. Arrangements had been made for the
church to meet that night at 5 o'clock. Brother