Signora Sheila

Our Abruzzo village, where we live most of the year, is set among gently rolling hills, covered with vineyards and olive groves. With snow-capped mountains on one side and the Adriatic Sea on the other, it’s truly beautiful. And we feel blessed to live here.

Abruzzo is mainly an agricultural region. This, along with it’s mountainous terrain keeps Abruzzo off the beaten tourist path, leaving it mostly a wild, unspoiled region.

It’s famous for its Montepulciano wine. And also for its long beautiful beaches, gorgeous mountains, and great cuisine. I love the unspoiled nature, the quiet laidback lifestyle, and the tranquility. But most of all I love it because the Abruzzo people are among the most hospitable in Italy!

Abruzzo – beautiful, but also forgotten

It’s a farily poor region for several reasons. Economically depressed and sometimes politically neglected, unemployment rates are high. Often Abruzzo is not even mentioned in TV weather reports! And because it’s a tradition-bound region, much of it is still unreached by the Gospel, with few born again believers.

An isolated area

Abruzzo is an isolated region, and Italy’s highway system helps to illustrate this. The A1, Italy’s longest and most important expressway (autostrada) was opened in 1964.

But the main highway in Abruzzo, A14, wasn’t completed until 1973. Abruzzo was left pretty much to itself. So the eastern side of Italy remained more isolated and less informed. In many ways bound by tradition, superstition, and in some ways, ignorance.

Positive aspects of Abruzzo’s isolation

But this isolation has also had many positive effects. It has helped to preserve Abruzzo’s beautiful nature, leaving it unspoiled and largely untouched. It has made Abruzzo among Italy’s least materialistic regions. And perhaps because people have had to rely more on each other, it is one of the most hospitable.

Abruzzo needs the Gospel

But the isolation of Abruzzo has not helped them to know the liberating power of Christ. As time and progress have largely passed them by, so has the Gospel. They are, for the most part, a deeply religious people. But with little understanding that Christ gives assurance of salvation.

That’s why we are here, and why we stay. We firmly believe that Italy is a land of seeking hearts. We are here to reach those hearts.

Visit beautiful Abruzzo, and please pray for it!

📷 Images are mine