Ministry focus:

Trieste is a city of 210,000 inhabitants and the capital of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy. It is a major port city with significant international commerce and the home of an important Italian university. It is our desire to see God establish a viable, Biblically sound, interdependent and reproducing Italian church in this key strategic city. Our vision is to see the emerging church in Trieste grow into a church of 100+ members and become a fully functioning, autonomous Italian church which is able to effectively evangelize the city of Trieste and the surrounding areas.

People:

The inhabitants of Trieste are an interesting and unusual group of people formed from a blend of several cultures melting together. Being a part of Italy the predominant cultural influence upon the people is Italian Venetian in origin and nature. However, because Trieste was for many years under Austrian dominion, the Austrian impact is strongly felt upon the culture of Trieste as is seen in the city architecture and cuisine, etc. Not to be underestimated as a powerful influence upon the Trieste culture is also the fact that Trieste lies on the border with the country of Slovenia and is only a short distance from the border of Croatia. As a direct result of this a significant percentage of the Trieste inhabitants come from Slavic descent and cultural influence. This is especially noticeable in the Slavic last names of its residents. Although not talked about openly, racial intolerance between the Slovenian and Italian elements in the society is an ever present reality that the missionaries have to deal with.

Prayer requests:

1. Pray that God would open the hearts of Angela, Daniela and Katia to understand the Scriptures and to embrace Jesus as their Lord as they study the Scriptures with the missionaries in Trieste.

2. Pray that God would draw Rachele, Martina and Stefano to begin to seek Him and open their hearts to study the Scriptures together with the missionaries here.