DAVIDE IANCU

“Placement was a great school for me: I learned many valuable and precious life lessons I wouldn’t learn anywhere else.”

Originally from Italy, Davide traveled to the UK as a student at IBTI in January 2022, completing his two-year programme in July 2023. When it came time for his bridging placement, Davide was assigned to the Italian CCINE church in Mannheim. Germany was an entirely new arena for him. He didn’t have a single personal connection there.

Having been assigned to this location with one of his peers, they were able to travel and serve on placement together. Upon arrival, they were instantly swept into the rich life and community of the church. Serving in various departments, Davide participated in evangelism activities and pastoral work, visited nursing homes, and led in the children’s and youth ministries.

“If I could sum it up in one word, it was a very practical experience.”

 

Davide had the opportunity to do ministry, preach, and lead with the full support of the church and pastor. Up to that point, he had only preached once in front of his own church; in Mannheim, however, he was asked to preach up to six times during his time there! He reflected that sharing in front of people was a totally new experience.

 

“The pastor didn’t tell us specifically what to do. We were given general guidelines and then had the freedom to be ourselves and lead in our way.”

One day, the opportunity arose for Davide and his peer, Leah, to lead a youth and young adults evening in another church. This church had a desire to gather young people, but due to having very few attendees within the 16-23 age bracket they had no weekly programme. In organising the event, they weren’t sure how many people they could expect. When the evening arrived, twelve people came! Many hadn’t been to church in a long time and didn’t know or have a relationship with Jesus. After kicking the night off with icebreaker games and sharing their personal testimonies of faith, Davide and Leah led a time of Bible study and group discussion. The night was so successful that they decided to gather together the following week as well. While he spent plenty of time with the youth, Davide was able to interact with every demographic within the church. For the month and a half of his placement, he lodged with two different families, was regularly hosted for meals and house visits with church members, and spent time with two or three families a day!

 

“It was amazing to see how God is moving and blessing Italian people in Germany. I was
deeply impacted by their stories of emigration and faith in settling there, of their complete
trust in Jesus no matter what… One day I will never forget was the day I met Giuseppe, a
brother who spent several years hospitalised because of a serious illness. I was invited by
some women who periodically visit him to help him and spend some time worshipping the
Lord together. We sat together and started worshipping God with praise songs [and
prayer; Giuseppe was fully responding. It was a powerful and impacting experience,
showing the love and compassion these people had for the church of Christ.”

Davide was deeply impacted by the genuine love, generosity, and heart of service shown by
the members of the church. Their resilience challenged him to be more zealous in his faith
and to pursue Christ with wholehearted devotion.

“I can firmly say that God enriched me abundantly and made me more earnest in serving
Him with my entire being”.