Rome City Focus

Rome City Focus

According to the United Nations, in 2007 the world’s urban population exceeded the rural population for the first time in history, and the trend toward urbanization is expected to continue. Our world is becoming more and more urbanized and the influence of urban city centers is growing. Yet while the Gospel is advancing to un-reached people groups around the globe, the influence of the Church and the reach of the Gospel is declining in the major city centers of the world.

Rome in particular is in great need of the truth of Jesus Christ. It is a city of 4 million people with 400,000 college students and very little evangelical presence. Known as a historically Christian country, Italy is far from that today, so much so that the Pope himself has described Italy as a mission field. Recently, at “La Sapienza”, the largest university in Europe located in Rome, a scheduled visit by the Pope was cancelled due to protests and demonstrations.

Amazingly, in Italy there are over 100,000 practicing witches, nearly three times the number of Catholic priests, and Buddhism is Italy’s fastest growing religion. In many ways Italy has simply rejected its Christian heritage embracing atheism and modern paganism. The mayor of Rome was recently quoted in the New York Times as saying “There is a greater sense of fear in the people of Rome than there is a sense of hope.” The young people of Rome, students in particular, are experiencing this overwhelming sense of hopelessness. Yet we believe that Jesus Christ is the one who can bring hope to this city, who can restore the hope of these people who are in such spiritual need.

Eleven years ago the Lord intervened in my life and radically changed the direction I was heading. As a freshman at Purdue University, I prayed to receive Christ with a staff member of Campus Crusade for Christ. I didn’t know then what God was going to do with my life, but step by step the Lord began to prepare and call me to the mission field.

In 2006 I left my engineering job in Indianapolis to go overseas to Rome, Italy with Campus Crusade, to pioneer an exciting new strategy to reach the large cities of the world for Christ. I believe that this “City Focus” strategy is an answer to the missionary challenge of the future.

We are trusting the Lord with the vision of reaching Rome’s 400,000 university students with the Gospel and impacting the world for Christ through them. We want to stand in the gap for the people of Rome and do everything we can to see the Gospel advanced in this city. Would you consider partnering with us to advance the kingdom in this city? Please contact me if you would like more information.