"Missionary Graveyard"

     No one likes the word "graveyard."  It's sad, it's ugly, and to many, it's creepy.  I think that's why this stuck out to me so much when I heard it today so casually from a team member when she was telling me about learning of the "graveyard for missionaries" during training before moving to Rome.  After hearing it once, I was curious and googled it online and surprisingly found it’s a fairly popular term for this beautiful country (one blog article is now included in my links).

     After more than two weeks in, I've been able to hear from 4 team members about their start and work here, and from our leader, a brief synopsis of research he did upon arriving in Rome several years ago and about the ‘progress’ of missionaries before us.  That’s been encouraging to me, to see and be reminded the things I’ve been struggling with over the last few weeks are not unique. 

    Okay, back to the missionary graveyard.  Why?  Well for starters, this city is the darkest place I have ever lived.  Whenever friends have been messaging me with the “how’s Rome?” question, that’s the first thought that comes to mind.  I’m aware there are many, many regions in the world that are just as desperate for the light of Christ, so I am only comparing what I know from my own experiences.  There are spirits of oppression and depression here that are so strong, and start to weigh on you over the hours away from fellow believers. 

     An interesting thing that I heard earlier this week is how Roman Catholics are different than anywhere else, and boy do I see that.  Here, Catholicism isn’t something that’s chosen, but it’s a cultural definition you are born into.  Basically, if you’re Italian then you’re Catholic- for many, that doesn’t indicate a basis of faith. The idea of choosing a belief system for oneself is totally foreign to Italians, and a point they have to stop and process the testimony of a believer, when they here how one used to live for self, then chose to live for Christ.

     Another reason Italy, and Western Europe in general, is so difficult to invest in spiritually is because relational ministry is slow.  Sometimes it takes years to see the fruit of your labor in the Lord, through the building blocks of one lunch or hang out at a time.  When we think missionary, we think of third world nations where we can meet physical needs, or we think of countries with outwardly forceful governments where the name of Jesus is hidden from the people.  We think of places where you hear exciting statistics where hundreds of people come to God in one event.  We don’t think of places that serve as common vacation spots, much less places where there are churches throughout the city streets and people are living more than sufficiently.  We really don’t think of places where you can spend a year of your life and maybe see one person give their life to Christ.  In these places it is very easy to feel defeated living and serving, and these places have some of the highest turnover rates for missionaries staying and returning in the world....hence the idea of a graveyard for missionaries.

     My team leader uplifted me yesterday just by saying Italy has a dire need for believers simply to come here and live their life.  There are so few here who really love the Lord, with that reckless abandon, Jesus have my life because I am so thankful for You, love.  When Italian students hear the name of Jesus, they automatically assume one of two things: 1. Catholic (insinuating cultural or hypocritical) 2. Cult.  While fortunately we do not live in fear of physical persecution in our faith, this environment is a whole different kind of hostile.  Much of our work here is literally doing life with these people as a follower of Christ, slowly removing the rocks of lies so we can sow in seeds of truth when opportunities arise.   That takes time and that opens up a whole new doorway for constant spiritual warfare and feelings of worthlessness, discouragement, and frustration.  Praise the Lord for the promises in His Word…even when we can’t see the results of our obedience, we can trust His Spirit is at work and He has some sort of plan.

       What’s God’s plan for the world? Every tribe and every tongue shall sing praises (Rev. 7:9) and He shall be exalted among all the earth (Psalm 46:10)…that includes Italy.  Despite whatever the enemy tries to tell us otherwise, despite what we see and feel, God is at work and His glory will shine!