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Phipps Charles MaryFrances 1977 Italy
Phipps Charles MaryFrances 1977 Italy
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RADIO MINISTRY
forwarding agent
Mr.GMis.HowaidR.Battin
EVANGELISM IN ITALY
At 12:54 p.m., September 1, the Lord released Mary Frances from the
limitations of this life after years of suffering.
over two years ago had caused her massive mastectomy and subsequent cobalt
treatments had spread to her liver, destroying it as a functioning unit
and had heavily involved her entire abdomen^.
At the moment
breath, Mary Frances had been unconcious for several hours, but^had never
lost her usual higji degree of awareness and clarity of thought.
She died at peace with the Lord and in her heart was at peace with all
those with whom she had ever had to do.
Mary Frances had known the truth concerning her condition from the moment
of the Doctor's diagnosis and faced it courageously and with serenity of
spirit, inspiring all who came in contact with her.
Literally hundreds of people (not only "our" church folks) from various
parts of Italy and abroad attended her funeral on September 3 in the church
meeting place in Terracina. There were at least as many left standing in
the street during the service as there were in the packed (standing room
exhausted) auditorium - plus a large crowd waiting where we live as we left
for the place of worship. Mary Frances' witness for Christ was heard
very clearly by everyone who knew her here - these people love her and
demonstrated
it.
I am deeply grateful to God for having given us more than forty years
together as a family.
of Mary Frances' witness) the Lord has in store in His wisdom and power.
Please pray for me.
CmAJ^ Charles
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Forwarding
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Forwarding Agent:
0 Wayne Hay
4 B i I I i ngsIey Dr.
Mt. Dora, Florida
32757
THUMB-NAIL SKETCH
there unti I 1953/ when the Undulant Fever Charles had contracted
forced their return to the Stateso
They are located at Terracina (half way between Rome and Naples
Since Apri l , 1959 Charles and Mary Frances have been doing the
"Search the Scriptures" radio broadcast in Engl ish every week.
Forwarding Agent:
O. Wayne Hay
4- Billingsley Dr.
Mt. Dora, Florida 32757
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
vide national and personal security so that he may work In peace and he
is skeptical that any administration will ever succeed In doing so.
He has also seen the failure of the State religion to give him the
peace of mind and soul which he requires. Thus the average Italian of
today Is a cynical, unbelieving skeptic who is hard to reach with any
kind of reasoning, let alone anything to do with religion. Yet he Is to
There are many things in Italy different from our way of life, even
reading the Bible was a crime unless one had special permission from
his bishop. It was from this land that the edict was given that culminated
In one of the most cruel, bloody periods of human history, known as the
"Holy Inquisition". From Italy such anti-Scriptural doctrines as that
Mary Is the " Mother of God" , the "Queen of Heaven" , the "Motherof
the Church" came forth. It was from this country that the ruling was
Issued that the Bishop of Rome is the "Vicar of Christ" , the "Head of
the Church" , the "Bishop of Bishops" , the infallible voice of God,
From this land came the doctrine of "Transubstantlation" which teaches
that the priest sacrifices Christ Himself In the Mass and that the bread
and wine miraculously become the actual body and blood of Christ. It
Page 2 - Phipps
one needs to convert the babies: they automatically increase the member
few men ever darken the doors of the churches except for the minimum
number of formal occasions required in order to have their legal docu
ments in order. This means they have been "baptized" , confirmed and
if they are married by the priest, they'll have been to confession and
Mass for that occasion. The fact is that most of the population of Italy
is not active at all in the pursuit of Roman Catholicism.
been for years (except for Russia) the Italian Communist party. It is
the largest single political party in Italy.
If one questions the need for the simple Gospel in Italy today, he
in reality doubts the need to return to God's Word and hlis way anyplace
in the world. The Reformation was the result of efforts to correct the
The Second World War was a catastrophe for Italy, When Charles
and Mary Frances first arrived in Italy in 1947, bread, flour, sugar,
Mary Frances first lived in, the floor was so shakyv it was held up by
timbers in the room below and the bindlady was afraid that the weight
of their few books would cause it to fall through!
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Now - in 1971, more than 7.3.years later - many changes have taken
otherwise injured by bombs or hand grenades thej^ have found in the ground.
But for the most part, people visiting the large cities are amazed at
how modern things are. What they often don't discover is that most people
in Italy do not live as comfortably or prosperously as all this would make it
appear. The traveler who ventures just a few miles out of the cities will
see hard living conditions, families who hardly know what a newspaper looks
like, children who never get as far from their home as the nearest town,
ox-carts, horses, donkeys, ancient farming methods...even the wooden plow
Even here modern sys tems and equipment will at times be found along
side the ancient, especially where a group of more progressively thinking
farmers join to form a Co-op.
Buildings
Most of the cities are divided into three distinct sections: Ancient Pre-World War II - Post-World War II,
All buildings, even in the smaller towns, are crowded one against
another. The spacious yard that surrounds the average American home
is practically non-existent in Italy. The ancient part of a cit3'' is always
characterized by a formidable maze of narrow, crooked streets and
blind alleys.
tude above that of New York. Central and Southern Italy, too, have
periods of both unpleasant, cold and at times, dangerous weather. Be
cause Italy is so mountainous and the topsoil is so thin, floods and land
slides, resulting in great damage to property and loss of lives are fre
quent. Earthquakes are almost a constant occurrence somewhere in the
country,
During the season of hot weather, for relief from the heat, Italians
traditionally try to spend time either at the sea or in the mountains. Of
course, the poorer people (the vast majority) cannot afford the luxury.
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Shopping
butcher sliop in the States. There is a meat store for beef, another for
pork, another for horse meat. Muiton and goat meat can be bought at
the "beef shop" .
Horse meat can only be sold in a store limited to the sale of that
particular mecit; this is required by law. Incidentally, when horse meat
is cooked correctly and well, it is very good. If you buy the meat,of a
young colt, it is very tender and hardly distinguishable from veal.
Horse meat is the most economical meat you can buy and when you figure
that a pound of hamburger of the cheapest kind costs about Si.50, you
might swallow your prejudices along with the horse meat!
Certain household items such as salt and matches are sold under
stamps and tobacco sup[)lios (also under tlie State monopoly)are sold.
When you v/ant bread, you go to the. bread store which us ually sells
all items made from flour. For such things as sausages, oil," etc.,
there is the everywhere present " Salumeria" , which is a sort of cross
between a grocery store and a delicatessen.
You can't go into a pharmacy and buy just everything from an aspirin
to an iron to a garden tractor, as yn'^u can in the American drug store.
or a thousand other miscellaneous items, you go to the "drogheria" and there is no single American word to translate this one!
X^.m. Here you can find anything aad everything IF y^ou don't mind the
flies and other insects which abound - and if you are ready to "bargain" I
Mary^ Frances does mos t of her shopping in Terracina in the open
market and she has found that it is possible to shop well by making it a
habit to go back to the same stalls and to make friends with the vendors.
However, this is time-consuming and when she returns home it means
that all of the fruit and vegetables must be washed with special care, in
order not to risk a bad case of liepatitis. Charles and Mary Frances
are thankful to the Lord that in their many y^ears of service in Italy they
have not held this dre<id uisease - in sx^ite of the fact that they have eaten
hundreds of times in homes where the food is not washed properly. In
a situation like this, in order not to offend the peox^^le you are there to win,
you eat what is xdaced before you aisd pimy^ the Lord to protect you from
illness, if it be His Will.
Page 5 - Phipps
Food
obvious question is; "llow do they get by on a cup of coffee until noon?"
The answer is that most of them don't. The majoritj'" will consume what
we could call a mid-morning snack. It may consist of a chunk of bread,
but one of the more popular snacks is the hot, delicious "focaccia" , This
is a type of yeast bread with tomatoes squirted on top and then literally
bathed in olive oil before being put in the oven to bake. The bakeries
are just about the most popular and busiest spots in town about mid-morn
ing, not only for the "snack" , but because many hous ewives do not have
ovens in their homes and so have to take their food to the bakery to be
cooked. Mary Frances sent a pan of food to be cooked in the public oven
one time and when the .little boy who worked for the bakery delivered it,
she noticed that it had a piece missing from one side. She asked the boy
what had happened and shamefacedly he said, "1 wanted to see what Amerlcan food tasted like, but it was nothing but eggplant,,,and we eat
that here all the time!" Naturally! Mary Frances cooks Italian style!
The noon meal is the main meal of the day. Stores and offices close
for about three hours in the afternoon, so people go home to eat at noon,
instead of having a quick lunch as is the custom in the States,
The evening meal is usually made up of leftovers from noon or else
a dish of broth, eggs or cheese.
The work of the churches of Christ and Christian churches in Italy
was begun by Guy W. Mayfield during World War II, when he was stationed
as a chaplain in southern Italy, Wlien the war was over, he returned to
the States and began to develop plans to return as a missionary to Italy,
While speaking of the possibility of the woi-k, he challenged Charles and
Mary Frances and a registered nurse, Betheen Grubaugh, to return to
Italy with him and his family. Thus these arrived in Italy in 1947o
Charles and Mary Frances are both graduates of the Cincinnati
Bible Seminary. Their student ministries were held in Kentucky, Indiana
and Ohio, Charles studied voice at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music
and has hymns and choruses published. He has written a number of songs
used in the Italian congregations.
They went to Toledo, Ohio in January, 1942 to minister to the newly
Christ), They led this congregation until December 31, 1946 when they
resigned their ministry to take up missionar}^ work in Italy, Charles and
Mary Frances arrived on the field in November, 1947. In 1953 they were
forced to return to the States because of the serious effects of the
Page 6 - Phipps
1'rom 19l33 until June, 1958 they were in Oklahoma City where Charles
Wcis head of the Missions and Music Departments at Midwest Christian
College and also taught Italian in the Oklahoma City University. After
having been told by the doctors that Charles'physical condition would per
mit returning to Italy, they made their announcement of plans in February,
1958 and sailed November 1 of that year after a brief tour of the churches
following the close of the academic year in June, 1958.
Since that time the work Charles and Mary Frances are doing has
been known as the; Italian Christian Mission" and is financially inde
pendent of other missionary efforts.
Before leaving for Italy in 1958, Charles and Mary Frances promised
Mr. and Mrs. Walter Coble of theGospel Broadcasting Mission that they
would help with the work of the English language radio program which was
then being broadcast over Fadio Luxembourg. In April, 1959, the Cobles
asked Charles and Mary Frances to undertake the production and follow-up
work of the broadcast, and requested that the program's name be changed
to Search the Scriptures". So Charles became the preacher on the air
and he and Mary Frances carried on the follow-up work.
Charles and Mary Frances are responsible for all costs involved in
this radio ministry, except for the air time, which is paid for by Gospel
Broadcasting Mission funds.
from Radio MANX on the Isle of Man - an island of the British isles, lo
cated in the Irish Sea midway between England and Ireland.
This small city where Charles and Mary Frances now live and work is
on the West coast of Italy, half-way between Rome and Naples. Their
missionary responsibilities in this area include evangelism through the
church in Terracina and the one at Fondi; Giuseppe Italiano is the native
preacher.
1966 and Daniela, boi^n August 30, 19/0. They are deserving of confidence
and prayers as faithful workers for the Lord.
Page 7 - Phipps
Tills
Paly, and lor that matter, ail hurope needs Christ...perhaps more
now than ever before. Why? When Europe is civilized and Italy has a
iorin of aLlegediy Christian religion?
Christ - and we dare not be content with less than what lie requires.
And because it is not enough to have a form of Christianity! That is
exacti\^ the reason the "Restoration Plea" challenges churches gone astra}^ today. The slightest comparison of the State religion of Italy with
the Word oi God shows how often and how flatly they contradict each otherand we l:now which one is bound to l)e right in such a conflict!
To see how great the need is, just look at the tendency of the faithless,
tottering denominations of Europe to fall under the spell of Rome's concoction
of human tradition and authority so-called, its incredible distortions of the
Scriptures and alarming, relentless mixture of modern skepticism and her
ancient policies.
As 3^011 will have gathered, the people of Italy and all of Europe are
not easy to evangelize - and yet there are those who are searching for
something to fill the emptiness in their lives. And there are those who
recognize immediately in the Gospel of Christ that for which they have
been longing.
The tragic spectacle of masses of people who have lost all thought of
responsibility to Divine authority is evident everywhere in the world to
day...and Ital3'', Europe are no exceptions.
established in these years, by zealous men and women who capably and
gladly witness to friends and neighbors, to all they meet, of their joy in
the Lord. The cinswer is there in the lives of people...people as real as
you and your loved ones. Charles and Mary Frances say: "When we asked
you to send us back to Italy, we believed the work could be done, prayed that
the Lord would use us. Now we know from experience what faith told us."