From the Editor
Dear Friends and Supporters,
Thank you once again for your interest, support and prayers.
First of all I’ll go straight to the question that most of you will ask seeing
the Pope on the front cover! Why and who is the person next to him? The
picture was taken during an historic visit to the Waldensian church of Turin
and the friend he is exchanging a joke with is, as some of you will know, the
Moderator Eugenio Bernardini. As you will see in the following pages, 2015
has already been an eventful year.
As usual there is bad news and good news: over the Easter period came
the sudden and totally unexpected death of Peter Meadows, a long-standing
member of the Committee of the WCM. Much less unexpected was the passing
in July of Pastor Franco Giampiccoli, who was nearly 81 and had been ill for
some time. He had been among other things Director of Agape, Editor of the
weekly Eco delle Valli Valdesi - Luce (now Riforma) and Moderator. During his
visit to Britain in this capacity the WCM organised a memorable reception for
him at Methodist Central Hall. Both will be greatly missed by us all.
Life goes on, though, and I am glad to say that Marco Casci has now
finished his year at Westminster College in Cambridge – to which we contributed – and he is ‘resting’ earning some money making pizzas in a friend’s
restaurant in Palermo. Afterwards in September he will follow the same course
in Genova that Noemi Falla attended last year, preparing for Chaplaincy in
hospitals. Meanwhile Noemi has passed all her remaining exams and spent
a few months in Wisconsin as assistant to the minister John Hobbins, who
was her pastor in Scicli in Sicily when she was a little girl. She is now writing
her thesis about Jesus, his family and his attitude towards ‘family’. Please
keep both in your prayers.
The website has begun to attract interest and is being used – as it should
be! – also for buying books and calendars and for donations. Remember to
consult it from time to time for updates and contacts: www.waldensian.org.uk
Unbelievable but TRUE: at last Prescot Stephens’ book The Waldensian
Story has been reprinted and will be soon available at a very special price on
the website and at our events!
We are having a new format Waldensian Awareness Day in Cambridge on
19 September from 10.30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at St Andrew’s Hall in St Andrew’s
Road, Chesterton where we hope to see as many of you as possible!
Please continue to support our work for the Waldensian Church and its
Mission in Italy with your prayers and financial help.
God bless you all
ESN, Editor
Cover: Pope Francis with Moderator Eugenio Bernardini.
(Photo: P. Romeo/Riforma.)