Gospel Progress in Italy:
How Two Men Connected to Partner Ministries of the John MacArthur Charitable Trust are Reaching the Lost and Strengthening the Italian Church
If you’re a Bible-believing Christian—a follower of Christ committed to the truth that salvation is by Christ alone, by faith alone, through grace alone, to the glory of God alone—Italy can seem like a lost cause. It’s the home of Roman Catholicism. The Pope resides in the heart of Rome. And of the nation’s 60 million citizens, 75 percent claim allegiance to the Catholic church. The false religion of Catholicism is so deeply imbedded in the nation’s culture, even those who do not believe in God, who have never attended Mass, still express affinity for the Catholic church. They assume that Catholicism and Christianity are one and the same. Yet despite such a deeply ingrained resistance to the truth, you can find signs of hope, of gospel progress, across Italy if you know where to look.
In the heart of Rome, just a few miles from the Vatican, Johnny Gravino, a graduate of The Master’s Seminary, leads the Italian Theological Academy, a member school with The Master’s Academy International (TMAI). Johnny believes there is hope for Italy if there are well-trained pastors.
“What the Italian church desperately needs is sound preaching week after week in local congregations,” Johnny said. “Far too many pastors simply don’t know how to use the Bible to edify believers. They focus on evangelism—which in a sense is understandable because the Italian church is small—but as they neglect to perfect the saints through the preaching of God’s Word, they inadvertently cultivate shallow ministries and shallow Christians. They care more about events and activities than giving their people a solid diet from the Word.”
Johnny knows that in the spiritual darkness of Italy, every healthy church is a pinpoint of light, directing the surrounding community to the hope that’s available in Christ. And he knows that the proper training of pastors is a crucial part of amplifying that light.
“Our goal at the Italian Theological Academy—and our daily battle—is to encourage evangelical churches to commit to the training of their leaders,” Johnny said. “Many Italian churches have faithful men who, unfortunately, cannot study, prepare to preach, and train because they are bi-vocational pastors. The Italian Theological Academy wants to come alongside these churches, encourage them, affirm our common commitment to Scripture, and see them invest in the importance of training.”
One Italian pastor who is already well-trained is Jordan Standridge, an alumnus of both The Master’s University and Seminary, who planted an evangelical church on the southeast side of Rome last year.
“There are probably two decent churches in that part of Rome, which has about a million people,” Jordan said. “We’re talking about 200 people that attend these churches. So that’s 200 believers in an area of one million people. The need is great. We’re planting five minutes from a university, so we’re excited about the evangelism opportunities that we’ll have. Most people in this area have never met a true believer or heard the gospel.”
Jordan comes to Italy as part of Grace Ministries International, the missions agency based out of Grace Community Church, but he doesn’t think of himself as a foreign missionary. Jordan is an Italian citizen, born and raised in the country by an Italian father and American mother. His dad was a pastor. So was his grandfather. He understands the culture. He is well-trained in the Scriptures. And he knows how to evangelize Italians.
“The best question I’ve come up with over the years is one that I learned from the ministry Evangelism Explosion,” Jordan said. “It’s this: If you were to die tonight and God were to ask you why should I let you into heaven, what would you say? Every Roman Catholic I’ve talked to comes up with an answer that is a version of human achievement. They’ll say, ‘I’m a good person. I’ve done more good than bad.’ It’s based on themselves and what they’ve done. Sometimes I’ll ask a follow-up question. If you stand before God and God lets you in based on your answer, who gets the glory for your salvation? They quickly realize that in that scenario, the glory goes to them, not the God of glory, the creator of the universe, the one who merits all glory and praise of men. Any conversation with a Catholic, I want to get right to the judgment day. I want to talk about the glory of God. That, I’ve found, is an effective way to help them see their need for a Savior.”
As Jordan evangelizes and leads a church plant, while Johnny trains ministry leaders, TMAI and Grace Ministries International are working behind the scenes to ensure these graduates of TMS have the resources they need to carry on the vital ministry God has called them to in Italy. The John MacArthur Charitable Trust is helping ensure these organizations can raise up and send out men like Johnny and Jordan to do the work of the ministry in some of the most challenging places on earth for the gospel. We’re grateful for your support, which is having an immediate impact on the nation of Italy through these men, as well as on dozens of other countries where alumni of TMS are ministering through TMAI and Grace Ministries International.
