SEE.20YearLetter

Dear friends and supporters,

SEE has now been in ministry for twenty years! Here is a glimpse of what the Lord has done.

Sam Spatola was born in Italy in 1953, and raised in Los Angeles, California. In 1973, at the age of 20, Sam accepted Christ. He studied at Spokane Bible College in Washington in order to earn a Bachelors of Divinity degree in preparation for the mission field. Chris, his wife, was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, and accepted Christ in 1975. In 1978 the Spatolas went to Italy to be church-planting missionaries.

1978-1994 Church Planting in ItalyDuring these 16 years they were involved in planting churches in the cities of Catania, Siracusa, Palermo, Bari, and Reggio Calabria.Matt. 28:18-20  And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” 

1994 Saints Equipped to Evangelize (SEE) is FoundedActs 2:17 “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;In 1992 Sam and Chris returned to the States in order to start SEE, and in 1994 it became an official non-profit organization. At the beginning there was no money, office help or co-workers, but little by little God began to bless and add workers to the ministry.

SEE Short-Term Teams2 Timothy 4:5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.At this time SEE started equipping and sending short-term evangelism teams throughout Italy. We also sent teams to Croatia and Albania. Up till now we've had over 3,000 people that have come and been a part of these teams.As a result of these teams and being exposed to evangelistic missions people began to get involved with SEE as short-term and long-term missionaries.

S.E.E. IS CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF MINISTRY

Contact Information

SEE www.seeteams.orgSBI www.saintsbibleinstitute.orgABC www.assembleabiblicacristiana.com

Email:[email protected]

Spatola Family Prayer Card from 1994(The First SEE Prayer Card)

Evangelism Teams doing Kids ministry

1978 Prayer Card

We also found workers to work in the SEE office in Bradenton, FL.

1998 Bought the South Italy CenterJust outside of the city of Campobasso we bought an old farmhouse and turned it into a center for the teams to use for training and as a headquarters. This center was used also for conferences for Italian and Filipino believers.

1998 ABC Language School to Teach English was StartedThe first place we taught was in Campobasso where we were doing our first SEE church plant. In the past 20 years we also taught English in Turin, Monfredonia, Siracusa, Trieste, Croatia, Udine, and Pordenone.

2001 Northern Center and Saints Bible Institute (SBI)This is SEE's current center which was purchased and restored. It’s located one hour northeast of Venice, and it's used for the evangelism teams and our Bible school. In 2002 we started our first semester abroad classes made up of American college students that come to study in Italy for a semester. Until now we've had 350 students from various colleges throughout the US: Moody Bible Institute, Bryan College, Liberty University, Wheaton College, Northwestern University, Lancaster Bible College, and several others. We're now able to offer accredited transcripts through Bryan College. Teachers have come to teach from Bryan College, Moody Bible Institute, Liberty University and from the SEE staff. The unique thing about SBI is that the students get exposed to missions, evangelism, and church planting while studying.

Church PlantingAt this point SEE has done church planting in the cities of Campobasso, Trieste, Udine and Pordenone. Currently we are almost two years into a church plant in the city of Pordenone. We've seen several conversions and the Lord is forming His church here in Pordenone. If all goes well we hope to train native elders and commend them and the church into the Lord's hands by 2017. At that point we'll send a team of church planters to another major city about 45 minutes away, Treviso, and labor to start another church.

Filipino MinistryIn 1992 while the Spatola's were starting an Italian church in Reggio Calabria

Page 2

Evangelism Teams doing Kids Ministry

Evangelism Teams doing Drama Ministry

SEE Northern Center

Saints Bible Institute main classroom at Northern Center

Original Center in CampobassoSouther Italy Center

SEE Northern Center

Evangelism Team doing a Concert

they met and started a Bible study with some Filipinos. Soon after a Filipino church was formed. Today there are now ten of these churches throughout Italy. They have sent their own missionaries back to the Philippines where there are now five churches started plus Saints Bible Institute of Church Planting in the Philippines. The churches have become a small denomination called Lord Jesus Philippine Fellowship.

SEE StaffFrom 1994-2014 there have been 80 people that have worked either short or long-term with SEE. All of them became SEE missionaries as a result of coming on evangelism teams or studying at Saints Bible Institute. We currently have 28 people on SEE staff. 17 are in Italy and 11 are in the USA.

The Future of SEE SEE is continuing to recruit, train and send teams, while also planting churches. SBI is continuing to expose American students to missions in Italy.

We are continuing to labor to start the new church in Pordenone. We are in our second year. We plan to start a new church plant in Treviso in 2017, Lord willing.

Passalo (Pass it on) is another ministry within SEE to train and equip future church planters through apprenticeship.

SEE will continue to work alongside the Filipino ministry both in Italy and the Philippines.

After 20 Years SEE's vision has not changed. We still do evangelism teams, church planting and leadership training. We also expose American college students to missions through our Bible Institute in Italy.

We want to praise God and thank those of you who have prayed, given and collaborated with this ministry for so many years. To God be the glory, great things he has done.

Sam & Chris, and all of SEE

Page 3

One of the 10 LJPF Filipino churches in Italy

Sam teaching at SBI Philippines

Lord Jesus Philippine Fellowship Bible Institute

Church Plant - ABCAssemblea Biblica Cristiana

Sam & Chris in 2014

Revelations 5: 9-14

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy

are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood

you ransomed people for God from every

tribe and language and people and nation,

10and you have made them a kingdom and

priests to our God, and they shall reign on

the earth.” 11Then I looked, and I heard

around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and

thousands of thousands, 12saying with a

loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and

wisdom and might and honor and glory

and blessing!” 13And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth

and in the sea, and all that is in them,

saying, “To him who sits on the throne and

to the Lamb be blessing and honor and

glory and might forever and ever!” 14And

the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and

the elders fell down and worshiped.

SEE staff in Italy