While pruning back weeds and shrubs, fixing a fence and painting walls, the Work & Witness team to Moncalieri, Italy, suddenly found cake raining down from the sky.

The eight students and two staff members from European Nazarene College (EuNC) in Büsingen, Germany, traveled to Moncalieri Church of the Nazarene for a one-week work trip over spring break in early April.

Their job over the six-day trip was to clean, apply fresh paint inside and out, clear the sidewalk, prune back the shrubbery, as well as put up a new church sign. They hoped their work would also attract the interest of neighbors and give the students a chance to learn about needs within the community.

A little spring cleaning was all it took to get the neighbors curious.

Some came and watched; others came inside the building to supervise their work.  One man who saw them cleaning decided to help. As people stopped by, Joel Mullen, the pastor of the church, would introduce himself and eventually people would start inquiring about the church.

“They all treated us well and invited us to lunch and dinner,” said Victor Pereira, one of the students on the trip. “They even gave us cake!”

“They would see us working in the hot sun and they would just throw it from the balcony!” added Carla Zabala Vidaurre, laughing.

The 40-year-old church has 20 elderly members, for whom it is physically difficult to provide upkeep and maintenance for the church building. Additionally, it is only open on Sundays for a one-hour service. Therefore most of the neighbors were unaware of its existence.

By cutting back many of the trees and shrubs around the building, the students made it more visible so that neighbors can see when there is activity at the church, Vidaurre said.

“It was really helpful for Joel to have a group of young people helping him…. It was something different for them to see young people doing this kind of work.”

On Saturday evening, after a morning of working, the students put on an Easter show for the church. Twenty-eight people came; 20 were first-time visitors.

Following the service Easter Sunday, they held an evening concert. Afterward, they had snacks and greeted the people. They also spent several days visiting and sharing meals with church members.

“Joel and Sarah want to open up the church and reach people in a new way,” said Pereira. “They are friendly with the neighbors and invite them for coffee, as they know that every person has a story and they want to find out how the church can help them. They are always asking, ‘How can we pray for you?’”

“It’s all about trust and building relationships. We realized how important it is to start these relationships before forming a church,” Vidaurre added. “We think we need to do great things, but a little thing like painting a fence is a big thing. Little things make big differences.”

“Every night, I went to bed really tired, but I wouldn’t mind waking up early the next day and doing it all over again because I was doing it for God. We were doing the job for Him.”

 

 


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Click on the image to view more pictures of the Work & Witness Team.