In 1908, my grandmother was three years old when she, her younger brother, and her parents (my great-grandparents) came to the United States from Italy. Shortly after settling in New Orleans, my great-grandmother, Mama Bea, discovered she was carrying her third child. Her joy was soon overshadowed, as she also found herself a widow a few months later.

Mama Bea's two brothers came from the old country to rescue their sister from her difficult situation by bringing her back to Italy. After all, she was a young widowed immigrant with no other family here except two toddlers and one on the way.

In those days women didn't live like that. Instead of going back where she belonged with her family in Italy, Mama Bea remarried very quickly in order to stay here in her American Dream.

God began stirring my heart about Italy several years ago. It was a shelved idea until a group of Charismatic Catholics from Rome came to spend some time at Lakewood Church, my home church in Houston, Texas.

As I got to know these brothers and sisters, God dropped it in my heart to begin making steps to go to Italy.

In 1998, when I made my first ministry trip overseas to Bulgaria, a three-day stop-over was planned for Rome. During this time I arranged a visit to DOMATA Italy, a ministers' training school founded by Mark Brazee.

I had no idea what God had up His sleeve that night when I had dinner with Tony and Patsy Cameneti, the school overseers.

My dream of visiting Italy was not totally satisfied as it poured down rain the two days I reserved for sightseeing. You owe me Rome! I shouted to the Lord, as I stood across from the Coliseum, soaked to the bone. I merely meant I wanted to come back someday when the weather was nicer but God had other ideas.

The Lord directed my steps and wove my way back to Rome - this time to live for a season. I found myself in January 2000 back at DOMATA Italy, this time as part of the team.

This time the weather was better but a dark cloud seemed to hang over my new assignment. The ministry was in a huge time of transition, everything and everyone seemed to turn against us at once. Darkness and evil came our way to divide and discourage us in order to get us out of the will of God.

Originally, I only wanted to base out of DOMATA and itinerate throughout Europe, but after only two weeks there the Lord changed my heart. He told me to stay there and pray and support the pastors, Jeff and Amy Schroeder, because this ministry base was important.

My time to live there was up but the prayer burden remained on me even as I returned to my home in Houston. Six months later I went back to teach in the school for three days and to tie up some loose ends.

Glory And Prayer
By the spirit of prayer, we would pray out the marvelous plans God had for that ministry base, Rome, and all of Italy. The Lord kept me there for 30 days and those days were filled with much glory and prayer although nothing in the natural seemed to be changing.

Two years later, I returned to the work there in Ladispoli, Italy, just outside of Rome. Things are flourishing as many are turning to the Lord, church attendance has grown to 70 and DOMATA Italy has over 20 students this year. (These are great numbers for Western Europe.) Pastor Jeff says he knows they are living in what was prayed out during those wonderful times of prayer.

Once again, we have favor with pastors in the Rome area to the extent that some have merged their churches with Ladispoli Christian Centre. All those that came against us to trouble us are but a distant memory compared to glorious things God is doing now.

During my week in the school last year, put it on my heart to lay a foundation of the prophetic ministry by teaching on the Kings, Ezra, Nehemiah and Prophetic books in the Old Testament, tying it into what is happening today.

While teaching from the book of Daniel about the Empires, I finally realized what God was doing. I found myself in front of Romans...talking to Romans about the Old Roman Empire, the EU, and its base of structure for the Antichrist. So, in the spirit of my mentor, Billye Brim, I boldly proclaimed the Word of God!

I was invited to minister at a large church in Rome the last night of my trip. Twenty-nine of our folks traveled an hour to join in the service. The glory of God came down in the meeting that night. So many lives were touched not only with physical healing but also emotional healing as the Holy Spirit moved in powerful ways.

So, as I look back to my Mama Bea, I'm thankful to her determination to stay in the US despite the adverse circumstances. The Lord planted a resolve in that woman's heart because I was in her-someone that would grow up and hear the gospel, come out of the Catholic Church, get full of the Word and the Spirit of God and be sent back to Italy carrying the fire of God.

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Sandra Hughes is an ordained minister, compelling speaker, and Director of All Nations School of Ministry located in Houston, Texas. She has served as Director of The Family Life Institute for Biblical Studies at Lakewood Church. Visit http://www.sandrahughes.org