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Johnny Gravino (M.Div.’08) is the new Executive Director of Aurora Mission. Aurora is the umbrella organization that leads the training ministry in Italy (the Italian Theological Academy – ITA – part of The Master’s Academy International – TMAI), responsible for the national pastor’s conferences in the country called FOCUS (which have had John MacArthur as a keynote speaker), the publishing of the MacArthur Study Bible and NT Commentary Series in Italian (NT commentaries in process), and the first ever youth conference called TRANSFORMATION taking place this summer in Sicily featuring Carey Hardy (M.Div.’96) as lead speaker.

Johnny says he is, “both very humbled and extremely grateful to the Lord for this new opportunity on the field”.

Keep praying for Johnny and the team at the Academy as they finalize the 2012 course curriculum. We still need a lot of prayer and wisdom, so that the Lord may continue to bless the work of the Academy in Italy. There has been much progress this year and the impact of this work in the lives of the people that participated both at the training and the conference has been a joy to see. We trust the Lord will continue working a ‘reformation’ in the hearts of many. We are really seeing the Italian church being strengthened by the influence of these men and women! We cannot press on without your prayers and support!

After a very blessed Focus Conference in Perugia in October, we just completed the last class for this academic year, Expository Preaching 2. Johnny Gravino did not miss a beat, after very strong preaching sessions at Focus, he completed the year teaching Bibliology and Hermeneutics to a group of 8 students.  Again, the Lord really blessed the training. Read up on facebook any recent updates…

Johnny & Alexandra Gravino, with their children Samuele and Maddalena, are the newest addition to the Italian Theological Academy family in Acireale.

They arrived safe and sound at destination on July 14th 2009!  They are now preparing their home and getting ready to jump in full time.  Johnny’s main task will be to provide leadership to the training center and to the local Acireale Church, supported by his fellow Aurora Missionaries, Marco and Simona Albanesi and Giuseppe and Viviana Fortuna.

Johnny received his Master of Divinity Degree (M.Div.) from the Master Seminary, Sun Valley, CA – where he graduated, Suma Cum Laude. He completed an intensive internship at his sending church in Rome, Chiesa Berea with Pastor William Standridge, prior to arriving at the Academy.

In May we had our class in Systematic Theology, taught by Professor Phil Johnson, with eleven students present. The class was very challenging and we were very impressed by the level of depth of the student’s questions and their desire to learn more.

Johnny did a great job in teaching the Theological English class in June, and was an encouragement to the whole staff with his morning messages.

The last week of June we completed the class covering the reformation in church history, taught by Doug McMasters. We are challenged every time we are reminded of the faithfulness of men that suffered and died for the cause of the Gospel.

August will be a very intense month, with most of the Italian students attending the classes this month.  Three classes will be taught back-to-back:  Bible Survey of the Old Testament, Expository Teaching Seminar, and Biblical counseling.

Karise Pagano finished serving on a short-term trip. She was serving along side the Albanesi’s, Fortuna’s and Collesano’s, helping them to evangelize and prepare the ITA campus for the classes. ( You can do this too!) To read her testimony see ” A Servant’s Heart” on the Aurora Mission website.

20 Students have finished their second year of Bible Survey with Professor Grisanti. They have now completed Survey of the Old Testament. Next year they will Survey the New Testament to complete their three year program!

We are so excited about the 2007 Focus conference held in Chianciano, Italy October 10-12. Five Hundred pastors and their wives were in attendance! During the conference, the MacArthur Study Bible (in Italian) was presented to Dr. John MacArthur as well as to the Italian church leaders. This year, some guests from the U.S. attended to participate in the Focus Tour that was organized in correlation with this special event. The conference was a huge success and many of the Italian church leaders bought extra copies of the Italian MacArthur Study Bible to take back to their churches, family, and friends. We know that this Bible will be a tremendous tool to help the Italian people better understand the Word of God. Thank you for your prayers! (A video & slide show from Focus 2007 is  available on-line and a slide show from the Focus on Italy Tour is up too. All Focus Sessions are now available to listen to or download!)