Italy, a beautiful country located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, is famous throughout the world for its ancient history, incomparable art, exquisite cuisine, and breathtaking landscapes. In addition to being one of the world’s top tourist destinations, it is also an important industrial and agricultural producer. With over 60 million inhabitants, Italy guarantees religious freedom through its Constitution. However, Catholicism remains the predominant faith with 74% of the population, followed by non-Catholic Christians at 9.3%, and—due to recent migratory flows—a growing Islamic presence currently at 3.6%. These are followed by other religious minorities, plus atheism and agnosticism are on the rise as well.
The message of the SDA Reform Movement was preached for the first time in Italy in 1926, but it was not until 1939/40 that the first groups of Reformers were organized. Starting in the 1990’s, with the arrival of some missionaries from South America, Portugal and then Romania, the work developed with the establishment of other groups in various parts of the country. Since then, the message has been proclaimed with perseverance and has been established in various places within the territory; today we have more than 130 members distributed among 6 churches, two groups, and isolated members.
Currently we have only one church building, located in the far northeast of the country, in the city of Trieste. However, we see the urgent need for a strategic space to function as a pillar of strength and spiritual growth for our people.
This space will be the headquarters of the Field –and its centralized geographic location will allow a large number of brethren to participate in the planned activities, such as the missionary training of young people through seminars, musical programs, missionary projects focused on health conferences, and plant-based cooking classes. We believe that this place will be fundamental to advancing the work of the Lord in Italy, so we invite our brothers, sisters, and friends from all over the world to generously support this initiative through their offerings.
By the grace of Jesus and with your collaboration, we will achieve this goal, strengthen evangelization in this country, and bring the message of salvation to many more souls. May the Lord bless you and reward you abundantly!
Your brethren from the Italian Field
