Gino Testa, Belpasso (CT)

SOUTH: Mission Sicily

Gino is lead pastor in Belpasso, Sicily. He’s a partner and a friend.

Equally important, he’s a devoted husband, a loving father, a connoisseur of American coffee, and plays the saxophone!

Gino says,
In Sicily, there is much work to be done. Undoing centuries of superstition and paganism, while proclaiming the good news of love and forgiveness in Jesus Christ. I believe in our Mission. Together, we are making disciples, planting churches, and building bridges of hope to the Glory of God for the good of all people in Sicily!

ITALIANO

Il mio personale servizio a Dio nasce nel 1995, ho iniziato a portare la parola di Dio nelle strade di Catania per diversi anni, lavorando principalmente con diversi popoli immigrati dal nord europa, per moltissimi anni sono stato incaricato come pastore dei giovani della chiesa locale e nel 2016 sono stato incaricato come pastore della Chiesa VivoVangelo di Belpasso, una piccola città alle pendici dell’Etna.

In questi anni io e la mia famiglia siamo molto coinvolti nel discepolato dei nostri stessi amici siciliani ma anche il grande flusso di immigrati africani ci ha coinvolto in prima persona a discepolare e ad aiutare all’inserimento sociale una popolazione che arriva nelle coste siciliane in una condizione fisica e psicologica molto complicata.

Gia da tempo abbiamo iniziato insieme a diverse collaborazioni a creare una rete nazionale per un maggior supporto per tutte quelle persone che discepoliamo e che poi lasciano la Sicilia in cerca di lavoro nel nord dell’Italia.

A native of Belpasso, our key partner in Sicily,
and taking the lead role in the southern mission.

Click the green button to donate directly to Gino & his family.
On the donations page, under “Fund”, select Italy – A24 (G. Testa).

ENGLISH

My personal service to the Lord began in 1995, by taking the word of God to the streets of Catania.

This continued for several years, working primarily with various immigrant groups from other parts of Europe. Afterwards, and for many years, I was the youth pastor in our local church. In 2016, I was installed as the senior pastor of this church in our small town of Belpasso (which is situated outside of Catania, in the rolling hills under Mount Etna). The church is now called VivoVangelo, which means “living word”, or better yet, “I’m living out the Word”.

In recent years, my family and I have become heavily involved in discipling our own neighbouring Sicilians, as well as the great influx of Sub-Saharan African immigrants and refugees. We’ve gained firsthand experience in disciple-making these precious souls, as well as helping them to integrate into society. These men, women, and children arrive to the coasts of Sicily in great need: physically, psychologically, and of course spiritually.

For some time now, we’ve been collaborating with various partners to create a national network that supports the people that we are discipling, many of whom eventually leave Sicily in search of work in the northern parts of Italy.