I just returned from a Church of Christ convention which took place in Aprilia (a town just south of Rome and just north of Anzio). I hitched a ride with Harold and Enid Fowler and just before the convention began, we went down to Anzio. I learned that this small town was one of the critical campaigns for the Allies in World War II.

“In December 1943 the Allied line was reinforced by a French corps equipped with American arms. With this added strength at his disposal, General Clark used the U.S. VI Corps, with British and American troops, in an attempt to envelop the western flank of the German line, while he simultaneously tried to break through the Gustav Line. The VI Corps made an amphibious tending at Anzio, behind the German line about 30 miles south of Rome, on 22 January 1944. The landing was initially successful and additional forces came in while the landing force pushed inland against growing enemy resistance. After the first week, the Germans reacted with a strong counterattack that reached a peak of intensity on 17 February and threatened to wipe out the beachhead. But the VI Corps’ magnificent defense of the perimeter, supported by artillery, tanks, planes, and naval gunfire, brought the last of the major counterattacks to a halt on 2 March. While the Anzio maneuver failed either to turn the German defenses in the south around Cassino or to open a breakthrough north to Rome, the Anzio beachhead remained a thorn in the German side, engaging his tactical reserves. In May 1944 the Allied forces made a carefully planned assault on the Winter Line, synchronizing their thrusts with an attack from the Anzio beachhead. The drive carried all the way to Rome, which fell to the Allies on 4 June 1944, two days before the cross-Channel attack.” (http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/reference/eacmp.htm)

The Fowlers and I stood near Nero’s Villa overlooking the Mediterranean Sea which is just beyond the Beach Head War Cemetery. While we were walking along, Harold mentioned a bit of history here and as we were going by the nameless little white slabs of stone, he posed this question to me: “How many lives will have to be given here in order to create beach heads of faith?” The Fowlers have been here in Italy for roughly 4 decades and I have just been here for about 5 months. For me, this moment was quite powerful and only reinforces why we are here struggling to plant a church which embodies a vivacious witness to the risen Christ. This task is a difficult one and I am beginning to see how badly the Enemy does not want us to be here. This last week, our team was notified that nearly all of our current members are leaving the church (one family of six and a new believer) because of a conflict which stems from a differing view of how our church should go about being the church in Ancona. Would you pray for us and for the people who left our church? As a team, this is very discouraging and I think we are doing well to keep our chin up, but we long to be receptive to the promptings of the Spirit as he motivates us to partner with the mission of God here in Italy. Like the battle waged at Anzio, we have a battle here, not of flesh and blood nor one fought between other believers, but a struggle which we fight against the evil one.