Italy has been severely hit by the COVID-19. As of 26th of April, there have been 195,351 confirmed cases and 26,384 deaths (WHO). Fortunately, the situation is getting better. In times like this Italian Baptist Union (UCEBI: Unione Cristiana Evangelica Battista d'Italia) is taking action to support those in need.

Here is a further conversation with Marco, an administrative and personal assistant for the president at the Italian Baptist Union in Rome.

How is the situation in Italy?

Things are getting slightly better. Unfortunately there is still a large number of people who die daily due to coronavirus, but intensive care units in hospitals are not full anymore. Lombardy and Piedmont are still hot areas for the epidemic, but the central and the southern of Italy, which suffered significantly, are now getting better. Outbreaks in care homes caused serious concerns, and the economic situation has become a new challenge. Many people struggle to pay rent, utility bills and even to buy food.

It seems like there are still big challenges. How is the Italian Baptist Union responding to the situation?

The Italian Baptist Union Committee decided to allocate some funds for the health emergency and protection of the right to health regarding the virus epidemic or pandemic and its interventions. The churches are responding mainly by reaching out to the local population by distributing food packages to neighbors - of course, it is difficult to carry out due to lockdown. Some churches are also distributing surgical masks. All activities of the churches have been suspended so the services are streaming via YouTube or Facebook. Bible studies are carried out via Zoom or other web conference platforms. Italian Baptist Union home mission has set up a virtual room on Jitsi for people to freely pray, read or share testimonies. Check it out here.

Is there anything to add?

We’d like to thank the Chinese Evangelical Churches in Rome. They have donated surgical masks to both our nursing home in Rome and other churches so that they can distribute them to people. We’d also like to thank Baptist World Alliance (BWA) who sent us a grant for a relief project for African pastors in need. And finally, we’d like to thank all the churches in European Baptist Federation (EBF) who supported us in prayer and reached us with messages. We pray that the worst will be soon behind us and we could go back to old life.