As you guys know we love Italy and being Italian! My (Joey’s parents) immigrated in the 70s and we have never let go of the love for this people and this culture.

As you may remember, last summer (2025) God opened the door for us to reach international students in Milan almost a month. It was awesome !

Noemi, one of our main Milan volunteers from a local church in Italy came to the US as an international student all this spring at CUNY in Harlem. We were able to see her several times in our local ministry and we just had a special goodbye dinner for her. She plans to pursue a career in neuroscience and hopes to raise awareness among Christians about mental health struggles. Pray for Noemi!

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Over the last several years as well we have gotten to know several Italian international students from Stevens Institute of Technology. Although none of them ever came regularly to our ministry activities or church, I made it a point to pursue friendships with them with the hope of sharing Christ with them. You may remember last Christmas season we had an impromptu dinner in their shared apartment, but I did not have a chance to really dive deep into the gospel.

Fast forward to Graduation Day on May 23rd, we ran into each other and I got to meet a bunch of their visiting family members. It was so great to congratulate them and see them again ! I told them that within the next week I wanted to see them again and share a special meal to celebrate their achievements.

On Tuesday night May 26 we did just that! And I made sure to take them to an Italian restaurant just as I would take an Indian to an Indian restaurant, Chinese to a Chinese restaurant or Iranian to Iranian restaurant. It was a really genuinely fun time just chatting and joking and talking about all things Italian.

Since I drove everyone, I took the opportunity on the 30 minute ride home to really articulate the gospel! I was able to share my testimony and even gave them all Bibles with an Italian translation of “The 4 Laws,” an evangelistic tract that I often use. I made sure to explain sin and our separation, but the fact that God loves them personally and wants a real relationship with them through Jesus– central gospel points that many Italians do not hear growing up. They listened, asked a bunch of questions and really appreciated the conversation.

Pray these seeds grow and that these four young men truly understand God’s great love for them! Their names are Francesco, Luca, Giacomo and Andrea!

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Another fun Italy connection is one of our Christian students from Stevens who graduated just got accepted for a 3 year PHD program in Bologna, Italy. Wow! We don’t know what the future has in store for sure but continuing to do international student ministry in my (Joey’s) homeland likely is in store for us. Pray for us as we navigate this.