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McMillers in Italy
Oct/Nov 2024
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After having dedicated the last newsletter to the Lutheran Church in France, I wanted to bring back the focus to what Christ is doing here in Italy.
As the sole LCMS pastor in Italy (a country of 60 million people), so much of my work is networking with people who reach out to me. Many of these people found out about Confessional Lutheranism independently, through the internet. Others were members of Lutheran churches in other countries (Chile, Brazil, Finland) before moving to Italy and contacting me.
But a different challenge is how to reach out to people who are unfamiliar with the Bible, and don’t go to church. These people are also scandalized by Roman Catholicism. When I think of those kinds of people, many of our friends and neighbors come to mind.
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Finding the opportunity to share the Gospel with them presents a particular challenge. One solution that I have found is to have a weekly Italian Bible Study with our friends, contacts and neighbors in our living room. The setting is casual but, little by little, a small house church is being formed. We gather together, sing a few hymns, pray and study a lesson from a Gospel reading. To top it off, Lia even sometimes gives a little violin concert!
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Praise the Lord, after just a few weeks, we have a faithful group that is gathering together. We also have many other people to invite. All the while, we remember the promise of our Heavenly Father that faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17).
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While our Thursday evening living room Bible Study is designed for people who are very new to the Bible and to Christianity, I have also begun every Wednesday night to offer a series of lessons on the Augsburg Confession in Italian (with a nice sprinkling of Latin, too, to keep these Italians engaged!). These are aimed at an academic audience and are offered to people across the Peninsula. I am thankful to see that this study has put me in contact with a new group of individuals from a wide array of different Christian backgrounds. May our Lord Jesus Christ richly bless these two different projects aimed at two very different kinds of Italians! Thank you for your prayers, and thank you for your sacrificial Christian giving in support of this work!
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In the name of Jesus!
Rev Tyler, Yanela, Lia, and Alessia McMiller
Italian phone number: +39-346-327-0882
tyler.mcmiller@lcms.org
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To continue or begin supporting our work financially, you may send a tax-deductible gift to:
Mission Central
40718 Highway E 16
Mapleton, Iowa 51034
Please make checks payable to
The Lutheran Church– Missouri Synod
On the memo line write “Support of Tyler McMiller.”
Gifts can also be given securely online at www.lcms.org/mcmiller or
https://missioncentral.us/mcmiller
Thank you for your prayers and support!
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