God uses dreams, Internet to lead Italian footballer to Christ
God recently used two edgy mediums for communication — dreams and the Internet — to reveal Himself to a professional soccer player in Italy.
Jason Greenwich, an International Mission Board missionary in Milan, Italy, is connected with an Italian group of Christian athletes called the Atleti di Cristo. Through this group, Jason has met professional athletes who come from various backgrounds, cultures and religious experiences — but all share a passion for God. One such athlete, Fabio*, is a soccer player who has recently been involved with the Atleti di Cristo.
Both Fabio and his younger brother, Francesco*, belong to the Inter Milan soccer team. Fabio invited Francesco to attend a Thanksgiving day gathering that was being hosted by the Atleti di Cristo in the city of Piacenza. Francesco declined Fabio’s offer.
“Francesco told Fabio he wasn’t into that kind of stuff,” Jason says.
Before leaving, Francesco asked Fabio if he knew of an evangelist named Jason. At the time, Fabio had not met Jason, but he asked Francesco the reason for his question.
“Francesco said that he had just had a dream during the previous night where an evangelist named Jason kept calling him and inviting him to the party,” Jason says.
Later that evening, Fabio logged onto an online chat room where several members of Atleti di Cristo meet to have electronic conversations through Instant Messaging. Jason also was in the chat room, and he noticed Fabio’s name appear when Fabio signed on.
“I knew of Fabio, but he didn’t know me,” Jason says. “So I wrote him a quick message introducing myself.”
Fabio replied to Jason’s message, but he seemed reticent in his replies. Unbeknownst to Jason, Fabio realized that the man who had sent him a message was an evangelist named Jason — just as his brother had dreamed.
“Fabio immediately contacted Francesco and said, ‘You’ll never guess who I’m talking to!’ Francesco then said maybe he should attend the Thanksgiving meeting after all,” Jason says.
At the meeting, Francesco said he immediately noticed the peace and joy emanating from the other athletes.
Later, Jason met Fabio again in the chat room and heard Fabio’s story about Francesco’s dream. Fabio also shared Francesco’s impression of the athletes who attended the Thanksgiving meeting. Jason asked Fabio for Francesco’s contact information so he could talk directly with Francesco.
“I met Francesco online and we talked through Instant Messaging for more than two hours,” Jason says. “It was obvious to me that God was at work in his heart. I had him get his Bible, and I walked him through the entire Gospel presentation. Francesco said he wanted the same peace that he had seen in the other athletes. At the end of our time, Francesco prayed to receive Christ into his heart.”
When Jason saw Francesco log onto the Instant Messaging service the next day he noticed that his username had changed. It now reads “I belong to Jesus … forever.”
Jason served in Milan with his wife, Allyson, for more than three years, but he had never experienced an Italian so eager to accept the Gospel.
“Fabio and Francesco are young, professional, Italian athletes,” Jason says. “It’s extremely rare for people in that age group to make that kind of decision.
“As this story has unfolded, I’m just in awe of what God did and how.”
Visit www.atletidicristo.org for more information about Atleti di Cristo.
*Names have been changed for security reasons.
Posted Dec 19, 2007
Similar: Italy
