Around A. D. 60 the ship to Rome on which Paul was traveling as a prisoner shipwrecked in Melita, Malta (Acts 28). Today, Malta is a small island country in the Mediterranean Sea south of Italy, with a population of approximately 445,426. The official languages are Maltese and English. The state or main religion is Catholicism but religious freedom is granted.
Some months ago the Italian Field Missionary Department Director, Brother Abel Morales, organized a Missionary Outreach Project to be held in Malta in July 2017. A group of brethren accepted to go to Malta as volunteers for the 1st missionary project in Malta for our church. The main missionary tool to be used in the project were three tracts in the Maltese language prepared as part of the Multi Languages Tracts project developed in the Italian Field.
On July 11, 2017, the first group of five volunteers landed in Malta with luggage full of tracts in Maltese, English, and Italian. The following day the remaining participants arrived.
The first day of missionary work was July 12, 2017. We went to Victoria (Rabat), the main city of Gozo Island, and there distributed the tracts under the hot sun.
On July 13, 2017, nine of us went to Rabat, near the old city Mdina on the Malta island. After the distribution of tracts, we had the opportunity to see some places of interest like the city Mdina and Paul's Catacombs.
On the third day, July 14, 2017, we split into two groups. One group worked around St. Julians and the other went to Marsascala, near St. Thomas Bay, where some archaeologists believe Paul's shipwreck occurred. On Friday, as we had no meeting place, we found a public gazebo in Sliema and there opened our Sabbath worship.
On Sabbath, July 15, 2017, we were altogether 14 people: 1 from Belgium, 8 from Italy, 1 from Germany and 4 from Great Britain. We had the Sabbath School, held by Brothers Natanael Bogdan and Dorin Butilca, and the divine service was held by Brother Giordano Tinta in a park. We closed the Sabbath again in a gazebo. This was the first SDA Reform Movement Sabbath worship held in Malta. As most of the volunteers left on Sunday, it was a free day for packing and visiting a few more places before leaving.
With the help of God, we were able to distribute around 3,000 tracts. The people, in general, were open and received the literature. Most were friendly and some also talked a little bit with us in English or Italian. We hope that God will bless His Word in Malta and that in the future we will have a permanent light in this country. Pray for Malta!
