New friendships upon arrival helped Sebastiano consider big questions and find answers.
At first, Sebastiano didn’t want to leave Italy.
He was very close to his family and his girlfriend, but his professor and classmates encouraged him to find an internship outside of the country. He finally decided to follow in his classmates’ footsteps and travel to America.
Travel was rough for Sebastiano and he was very tired when he arrived, only to land in a windy snowstorm!
But things got better. An IFI volunteer, Gianni (also Italian), picked him up at the airport. He took him to buy groceries and helped him get settled. Gianni was one of the first to invite Sebastiano to an IFI Bible discussion group. He went.
Sebastiano could hardly believe it: In less than one week, he had gone from knowing only one person in Columbus to meeting about 25 new friends who welcomed him warmly!
Much to his surprise, the things he learned in the Bible discussion caused him to want to know more. Although he was an atheist, as the group read, more questions came to Sebastiano.
“Because of my background, I thought I knew all the answers, but they didn’t sink into my heart. Now I’m learning more and things seem real.”
Before returning to Italy, Sebastiano decided to follow Jesus and continues learning back home.