For my Ravencrest friends

Be One of 70 at 100!

Fellow ‘78 Ravencrest Alumni brothers and sisters – please please read — this is a really long message!

After chatting briefly with Dave Kvindlog I am encouraged now to share with all of my beloved former student friends what God is doing in my husband and my life right now.

A bit of backstory is necessary. When we were at school together we were all at different stages of maturity, commitment, etc. I will freely confess to having been a needy immature mess at the time – having freshly come from a depth of dysfunction and an amalgam of poor choices. There was very little foundation to my faith and it didn’t take long after leaving school and reintegrating into “the world” to have the thinly woven fibers of that superficial faith completely unravel. I turned my back on my Lord for several years, disillusioned with “religion” because of the faithlessness and cruelty of the church.

The beauty of this story is that there wasn’t a moment during that time when Jesus wasn’t faithfully pursuing me, gently urging me to come back, come back and know Him, really know Him. And it wasn’t until I met and married my sweet husband Scott that He finally got hold of my heart for perhaps the first time in my life. Scott made a commitment to Jesus and I recommitted my life to Him in the middle of the night, in the middle of a time of conflict concerning his son – my stepson. But praise God, He snatched us up out of our sin, changed us for His glory once and for all of eternity. Since then we’ve been growing together, surrendering to God, seeking His great will for us together and learning to be authentic disciples of Jesus Christ.

 

This brings me to the reason for this “novella”. Against all indicators and reason, God has made it clear that He wants us to serve Him overseas. He placed deep within our hearts a love and “draw” for the people of Italy. This is definitely not something we would have ever planned or imagined. I have never ever thought of becoming a missionary but I find myself , at 57, a brand new missionary with a call to serve God in Rome, Italy.

When most people hear this they’re taken aback and almost all respond with “But the Vatican is there!” As Evangelicals we can easily look at that response and know that that’s one of the greatest reasons why the Gospel needs to be brought to Rome. For centuries…millennium…the truth of the hope and salvation offered through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection have not been heard in any of the grand cathedrals found everywhere in Italy – and Europe for that matter. Empty ritual and man-made theology have an entire population held tight in bondage that will lead straight to hell. The demographics in Italy have changed in the last 30-40 years. Back in the late ‘80s the President of Italy declared that Roman Catholicism was no more the national religion. And people immediately began to flee from the church. It also opened the door for many other influences to move in – New Age, hedonism, nihilism, Jehovah Witnesses, Islam. Statistically, only 11% of the population in Rome attends church. Of that 11%, 80% are over 55 years old. That means several generations of people have never been in church. Europe is now considered the “dark continent”. Less than 1% of Romans are evangelical which officially makes Rome an unreached people group.

 

God has been drawing us back repeatedly to Italy ever since 1994. We’ve made 5 trips together – Scott has made a few more because of his work – and with each successive trip the national depravity, hopelessness, emptiness became more and more evident. One of the things our team in Rome is already engaged in is an outreach ministry to the victims of human trafficking there. Rome is one of the biggest centers of trafficking in Europe. Our team has been hitting the streets and reaching out to these young gals (most are 12 – 14 years old from Rumania!) in an attempt to establish trust and relationship. They have been going on prayer walks through the neighborhoods with the most “activity.” These slaves will only talk to women so our team goes as a small group to talk, build friendships, and offer hope. Lately they’ve noticed that they’re being watched. Even followed. Some of the local vendors who are in cahoots with the traffickers have been keeping their eye on their “property” to make sure nothing and no one is getting in the way of their commerce. So far there have been no confrontations. Our team leader, Brian, either drives a van following the ladies or hides somewhere nearby (sometimes in trees!) to provide protection for our team as they reach out to these unwitting victims. We as a team are investigating what our place should be in working toward eradicating human trafficking in Rome. This may take the form of safe houses in the city or opportunities for these girls to contact their families back home or perhaps even redeeming them back from their captors (sound familiar?). One of the greatest obstacles is the culture itself. The male population in Italy doesn’t consider seeking out a prostitute as being unfaithful to their spouse. Another main point of emphasis will be to try to educate the male population about the horrors of sex slavery and hopefully diminish the demand. This is something we need to do in a global sense! Many people say, why do you have to go to Italy to make a difference in Sex Trafficking? My answer would be that I understand the problem exists here in staggering numbers. But here there is at least a semblance of hope in that many groups, social and religious, are onboard with combatting this blight. Over there, there is no one. No one.
Like so much of our start up work in any new city, 90% of our initial work is to develop relationships with the people we meet, live amongst them, know their hurts and needs, love them in Jesus’ name. We will do that with everyone we encounter there but especially our “treasures” (what our team calls these trafficked girls). We know we will be helping the team in this outreach ministry – and can’t wait to see what else God has in store for us there.

Over the years as we travelled back to Rome, our hearts were softened and then utterly broken for our beloved Romans. We found out that there’s only one evangelical church in all of Rome, a city of 4.5 million! One! And our team of 4 is begging for us to come. The need is monumental and there are so few workers.

I won’t go into the long arduous process of being accepted as missionary candidates with ReachGlobal (the international missionary arm of the Evangelical Free Churches of America) and I won’t bore you with details of what it took to be accepted by the Rome City Team (RCT). But we are officially members of the RCT and are so anxious to get to Italy and begin serving. We’ve done all the training necessary, sold our home, sold or given away most of our possessions. So we are ready. (If I didn’t mention it before, this is a lifetime commitment.)
At this time we need to complete our ongoing monthly support raising. ReachGlobal won’t let us go until we are fully funded with ongoing monthly support. We’ve been working on developing ministry partners for a little over a year. And I’m coming to all you guys to ask you to please consider partnering with us in God’s work. I am not going to sugar coat this. We need partners. At this point we need 70 individuals (or families) to partner with us at $100 a month. When we reach that we’ll be ready to go. Won’t you please spend some time with your husband or wife or family and pray about this important act of obedience. Be one of the 70 at 100! I don’t know if it’s a deal breaker, but your support is completely tax deductible. But more importantly, you’re taking what God has given you – that which belongs to Him already – and found a way to give it back to Him for His kingdom purposes.

Honestly guys, if you don’t feel God’s tug on your heart to support us, please seek Him for how and where He does want you to plug in. That’s what’s important.

If you do feel that tug and you can become one of 70, you can either click on the “Ways To Give” link right here on our website which will explain the various options available for monthly giving – complete with downloadable documents. Or you could directly contact us and we can send you appropriate documents or paperwork as needed. We’d love for you to browse around our website anyway because there you’ll find much more information about what’s happening in Rome. If you simply need more information before making a commitment, please email us at scottelainewyler@sbcglobal.net or call me at 262-617-2602. We would love to answer any questions or concerns you might have. We’re very excited to get started in our new ministry and can’t wait to see how God is going to move in your hearts to partner with us. Like the lost people of Rome, we are desperate for your ministry partnership.

 

(As a p.s.)….
This picture was taken at the first ever National Baptist Missionary Conference held in Rome two years ago. We were privileged to be there and mingle with fellow missionaries from around Italy. The verse on the banner is from Acts 18: 9-10 “I have many people in this city…do not be afraid, keep on speaking, do not be silent.” The conference was a time of mutual encouragement to stay true to God’s call to bring His word to their native Italians despite opposition and rejection. It was a very stirring and inspiring call to action.

Leave A Comment, Written on May 7th, 2012 , Uncategorized
Slavery: A 21st Century Evil

Slavery: A 21st Century Evil

Leave A Comment, Written on April 1st, 2012 , Human Trafficking
Exodus Cry against Human Trafficking

Exodus Cry: The Mission Briefing from Exodus Cry on Vimeo.

Leave A Comment, Written on April 1st, 2012 , Human Trafficking
Jacob’s Story

Jacob’s Story from Unearthed on Vimeo.

Leave A Comment, Written on April 1st, 2012 , Human Trafficking
Time to Take Action

Human Trafficking

Leave A Comment, Written on February 13th, 2012 , Human Trafficking
Peril at Sea

Refugee Peril (powered by guardian.co.uk) – open in new window

Leave A Comment, Written on November 22nd, 2011 , Refugee News
Human Bondage in Rome

Efforts have been in place in Rome since at least 2006 to reverse the evil of human trafficking in Rome.

Human Trafficking

Dozens of suspected gang members have been arrested in Italy accused of smuggling women from Nigeria to work as drug couriers and prostitutes. Thousands of women from Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe are lured by the prospect of well-paid work in shops and factories.
But their dreams of a better life often end in bondage and a brothel. Isoke Aikpitanyi from Nigeria is one of those women, she tell us her story

Human Trafficking – 16 Jan 08 – Celebrity bloopers here
Leave A Comment, Written on November 22nd, 2011 , Human Trafficking
Thoughts on Berlusconi

The following is from a Newsweek Magazine article by Barbie Latza Nadeau.

Silvio Berlusconi embodies Italy’s greatest weaknesses and its worst instincts.

They are going to miss him when he’s gone. Though few Italians may admit it openly, Silvio Berlusconi is quintessentially one of them. For better or worse, his departure will leave a scar on the national psyche. It’s not so much his massive wealth or media influence that has kept him in power for the better part of 17 years. His edge lies in tempting the population to believe that they could live his dolce vita—an equivalent of the American Dream of prosperity with the addition of scantily clad women.

The fact that it has taken a catastrophic near collapse of Italy’s (and Europe’s) economy for Italians to finally let him go is a testament to the country’s love of its rogue in office. Berlusconi is not just any old charlatan. He is the great enabler who, for nearly two decades, has allowed Italians to feel they can cheat on anything from their taxes to their spouses because he does it himself. Berlusconi knows the Italian psyche well in part because he’s created it through his media influence. And he has succeeded both personally and politically by playing to Italians’ greatest weaknesses and worst instincts. “His passion is boundless and seems to have several strands: the idealization of youth, the commercial value of beauty, the appreciation of women, and male pride,” says Beppe Severgnini, journalist and author of Mamma Mia. “It fuels daydreams and provides justification for inexcusable yearnings.”

“Berlusconismo,” as his influence has been dubbed in Italy, is about much more than his girls. He is a self-made man who started his career selling vacuum cleaners, then working as a crooner on cruise ships and in nightclubs. He is still an entertainer in many ways. Very much at home onstage, he mesmerizes audiences by immersing himself in their world, telling crude jokes and silly stories even as he delivers political messages. He has wrangled a fortune out of his real-estate and media holdings, cutting corners and skirting the law, leaving a trail of yet-unproven corruption charges and allegations in his wake. He criticizes authority, claiming the judiciary is out to get him as he tells of his own struggles with the law. He has been investigated for tax evasion, graft, abuse of office, and mafia collusion—not to mention for paying a 17-year-old for sex, all of which he denies. “It is the biggest persecution of a politician ever carried out in any democracy in history,” he told Newsweek in an interview in 2006. “But there is nothing in my life I have to be ashamed of.”

Kevin Lamarque / Reuters-Landov

Credible sources:

Berlusconi (powered by The Daily Beast.htm) – open in new window

Leave A Comment, Written on November 22nd, 2011 , News in Rome
Riots in Rome

Rome has been beseiged by anger and violence lately. Below is raw footage taken of the riots in Rome (see story below video from New York Times website).



The following was taken from the News York Times website:

ROME — As the smoke cleared Sunday, a day after a peaceful, inchoate demonstration near the Colosseum turned into a riot, Italy fell into national soul-searching and finger-pointing.
What caused the violence was clear. Groups of violent youths smashed shop windows, set fire to cars and scuffled with the police, turning a coordinated march against global economic woes into the worst rioting in Italy since the Group of 8 summit meeting in Genoa in 2001.
But what was less clear was why the Italian authorities had failed to prevent the violence, or how it would reverberate in the most volatile political climate in Italy in decades. The demonstrations came a day after Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi narrowly won a confidence vote in Parliament, a victory that still underscored the deep divisions with his divided majority.
Some analysts said that changing the subject from economic distress to street violence could benefit Mr. Berlusconi.
“It’s too simplistic to say it works in the government’s favor,” Mario Calabresi, the editor of the Turin newspaper La Stampa. “But today, instead of talking about the problems of the country, everyone is talking about the violence.”
The center-right government sought to blame left-wing groups and their sympathizers. Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa attributed the violence to a tone used by the Italian left in which “everything is justifiable as long as we can get rid of Berlusconi.”
Those arrested, however, did little to lend credence to that accusation. News reports said that some of the 12 arrested were believed to belong to right-wing soccer fan groups, while others were linked to self-styled anarchist groups.
To some Italians, the images of Rome in flames cast light on the government’s shortcomings, suggesting that a government elected promising law and order and led by a salesman once perfectly attuned to the national mood had lost control not only of the demonstration, but also of the economy, and increasingly of public opinion.
The violence came at a time of deep political uncertainty.
“Italians are indulgent toward the government because they don’t see that there’s an alternative,” said Massimo Franco, a political commentator for the daily newspaper Corriere della Sera. “But when they realize that the government cannot do anything — and even makes fun of them, especially about the economy — at that point the lack of alternatives isn’t enough.”
He added: “When Italians turn the page, they turn it definitely. The big question is whether they’ve already turned the page.”
The demonstration on Saturday, one of more than 900 planned around the world to call attention to economic inequality, gave a platform to people who feel shut out of their own futures in a labor market that protects older workers with ironclad contracts and makes it hard for younger ones to get hired except on temporary contracts offering low salaries and little security.
“I’m here because the government doesn’t represent me anymore,” Giuseppe Tommasini, 35, an advertising art director, said before the march turned violent. “My friends and I all work, but our salaries aren’t enough to live on.”
He was wearing a sign that said “Politicians Go Home.” Another sign at the rally said “We’ve Gone to the Whores,” the Italian equivalent of “We’ve gone down the drain” that also works as a reference to Mr. Berlusconi’s sex scandals.
A vast majority of Italians, and of the demonstrators, condemned the violence.
The existing economic order “ripped off our future,” one march organizer said Saturday on national television. “And these hooligans ripped off our present.”
Many Italians saw the violence as a distraction from the march’s original intent, to protest economic policies here and around the world.
With a national debt at 120 percent of the gross domestic product and zero projected growth, Italy, after Greece, is seen as the European country most at risk of default if it does not carry out structural changes. The government is deadlocked over several such plans.
The government’s failure to head off the violence struck others as inept. One opposition politician, Massimo Donadi, called on the interior minister to explain to Parliament why only 12 people had been arrested. The violent demonstrators “did not arrive from Mars,” he said. “We want the interior minister to tell us how it happened.”
Before the demonstration turned violent, groups of young men with hooded sweatshirts, gas masks and helmets hanging from their backpacks walked freely through the crowds, unchecked by the scores of police officers who lined the streets in the area near the Colosseum.
Not long after, some of the youths began smashing shop and bank windows, throwing rocks and clashing with the police, who responded with tear gas and water cannons.
To some Italians, the demonstrations were an unsettling reminder of the unrest lurking below the surface in a country that today shows more resignation than indignation, but which in the 1970s and 1980s lived through intense political violence by both right- and left-wing groups.
As she stood after twilight on Saturday near garbage bins that still smoldered not far from the Colosseum, Laura Carrello, a 30-year-old architect on a temporary contract, had tears in her eyes. There was something unsettling in the air. “It makes me so depressed,” she said. “There’s so much rage. It feels as if anything could happen.”
She went on: “The problem is young people have no prospects. But doing this is wrong. We pay for the garbage dumpsters; the banks don’t.”

Leave A Comment, Written on November 22nd, 2011 , News in Rome
New Ministry Group in Trastevere

Tevere is Italian for Tiber. Trastevere is on the west bank of the Tiber, south of Vatican City. Its name comes from the Latin trans Tiberim, meaning literally "beyond the Tiber". The correct pronunciation is "tras-TEH-ve-ray", with the accent on the second syllable. Its logo is a golden head of a lion on a red background, the meaning of which is uncertain
This month, two interesting things coincided: Our team leaders feel as though our first house church is ready to be totally handed over to another couple that helped start it. That will free the four of us to start a totally new group in a totally new part of Rome. We’re starting to talk and pray about what this might look like and about where we should meet. Our new neighborhood, Trastevere, is looking like a great option. In Rome, 55% of the Christian population is made up of non-Italians. So, regardless of where the new group is, we are excited to see the plan of increasing these groups (and attracting Italians) in different parts of Rome coming to fruition. We can’t wait to see where God leads us and who He leads to the group.

Typical Alley in Trastevere

Some more information about Trastevere:

History

In Rome’s Regal period (753-509 BC), the area across the Tiber belonged to the hostile Etruscans: the Romans named it Ripa Etrusca (Etruscan bank). Rome conquered it to gain control of and access to the river from both banks, but was not interested in building on that side of the river. In fact, the only connection between Trastevere and the rest of the city was a small wooden bridge called the Pons Sublicius (Latin: “bridge built on wooden piles”).

By the time of the Republic c. 509 BC, the number of sailors and fishermen making a living from the river had increased, and many had taken up residence in Trastevere. Immigrants from the East also settled there, mainly Jews and Syrians. The area began to be considered part of the city under Augustus, who divided Rome into 14 regions (regiones in Latin); modern Trastevere was the XIV and was called Trans Tiberim.

Since the end of the Roman Republic the quarter was also the center of an important Jewish community, which inhabited there until the end of the Middle Ages.

With the wealth of the Imperial Age, several important figures decided to build their villae in Trastevere, including Clodia, (Catullus’ “friend”) and Julius Caesar (his garden villa, the Horti Caesaris). The regio included two of the most ancient churches in Rome, the Titulus Callixti, later called the Basilica di Santa Maria in Trastevere, and the Titulus Cecilae, Santa Cecilia in Trastevere.

In order to have a stronghold on the right Bank and to control the Gianicolo hill, Transtiberim was partially included by Emperor Aurelian (270–275) inside the wall erected to defend the city against the Germanic tribes.

In the Middle Ages Trastevere had narrow, winding, irregular streets; moreover, because of the mignani (structures on the front of buildings) there was no space for carriages to pass. At the end of the 15th century these mignani were removed. Nevertheless, Trastevere remained a maze of narrow streets. There was a strong contrast between the large, opulent houses of the upper classes and the small, dilapidated houses of the poor. The streets had no pavement until the time of Sixtus IV at the end of the 15th century. At first bricks were used, but these were later replaced by sampietrini (cobble stones), which were more suitable for carriages. Thanks to its partial isolation (it was “beyond the Tiber”) and to the fact that it its population had been multicultural since the ancient Roman period, the inhabitants of Trastevere, called Trasteverini, developed a culture of their own. In 1744 Benedict XIV modified the borders of the rioni, giving Trastevere its modern limits.

Nightlife in Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere

Modern Day Trastevere

Nowadays, Trastevere maintains its character thanks to its narrow cobbled streets lined by medieval houses. At night, both natives and tourists alike flock to its many pubs and restaurants. However, much of the original character of Trastevere remains. The area is also home to John Cabot University, a private American University, the American Academy in Rome, and the Rome campus of the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, the Canadian University of Waterloo School of Architecture (between the months of September and December), and the American Pratt Institute School of Architecture therefore serving as home to an international student body.

The unique character of this neighborhood has attracted artists, foreign expats, and many famous people. In the sixties and seventies, the American musicians/composers Frederic Rzewski and Richard Teitelbaum, of the group Musica Elettronica Viva, lived in Via della Luce. Sergio Leone, the director of Spaghetti Westerns, grew up in Viale Glorioso (there is a marble plaque to his memory on the wall of the apartment building), and went to a Catholic private school in the neighborhood. Ennio Morricone, the film music composer, went to the same school, and for one year was in the same class as Sergio Leone.

Baliva Newsletter (powered by wordpress.com)

Leave A Comment, Written on July 25th, 2011 , News from Rome
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Wyler Mission Rome

As dedicated followers of Jesus Christ we have been called to bring His good news to the people of Rome. "I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord." Ez 37:6b