Meet Liberato and Linda

Tell us a little bit about yourselves.

My name is Liberato Vitale and I am 24 years old. I am from Salerno, which is a city in Southern Italy. I am the only believer in my family. I came to know the Lord at the age of 17 through close friends of mine that are believers. I met my wife four years ago at the age of 20. We met through mutual contacts in our churches. Her name is Linda Acunto and she is from Naples, which is not too far from Salerno. We were married on October 6, 2015. After getting married we moved to Rome and now live in the neighborhood of San Paolo and are members of the church Breccia di Roma. We are very grateful to the Lord for our church.

How did you come to know Christ as Savior of your lives?

I (Linda) grew up in a family of believers. From a young age I have attended church and Sunday school. When I was 8 years old my family had to leave the church that we were attending because we were no longer accepted there, as there were theological differences that led to a division in the church. Of course at the age of 8 I didn’t understand very well what was happening. However I do remember being very sad having to leave all my friends from Sunday school. I found myself in a new church surrounded by people I didn’t know and with no friends. For many years this affected my relationship with the Lord and I felt very detached from Him. I often heard sermons about God’s love and the love between brothers and sisters in Christ, but I saw none of this. During this period, however, I maintained a relationship with my friends from the church we left. We spent much time together, such as going camping. In fact it was on one of these camping trips, when I was 15 years old, that I heard a message that made me think. One of the speakers talked about the love of God and of man’s sin and how we can be saved by God’s love. He spoke about putting our trust in God and not in man. That evening I accepted Christ into my heart and began a long journey that has led me to where I am today.

I (Liberato) grew up in a small town where everyone knows each other. In that environment there was, and continues to be, a strong Catholic influence on the people and the culture. As a result my parents and all my relatives are Catholic. For the most part people attend mass and go to church for the impression it communicates to others, so like all good boys I went to church with my grandmother and tried to behave well.

Though I have always believed in God and that he is near to me, when I was young I thought that to express this belief I needed to go to mass and pray to the statues that filled the church and confess my sins to the priest. I remember well that one thing that made me very happy as a boy was lighting candles at the altar near the front of the church. This always gave me a sense of accomplishment as a committed “soldier” of the church.

Many years later, while playing soccer for a team in my hometown, I got to know one of my teammates that was (and still is) a believer. He gave me a Bible and from that point on I stopped going to the Catholic church and began attending an Evangelical church. I loved reading the Bible because I learned so much about Jesus and who he was. Through reading the Bible many of my questions were answered. Reading the Bible was hugely important for me. In the Catholic church I was never encouraged to read it and so it had never occurred to me to open it. It was through reading the Bible, however, that I came to know Christ as Savior.

Why did you choose to move to Rome? What are the needs there?

Six years ago I (Linda) moved to Rome to study photography, as this was a vocation that the Lord had clearly put on my heart. I completed a three-year course at the European Institute of Design and earned a degree in photography in June of 2013. My thesis project concerned the memory of the innocent victims of both commonplace and organized crime in Campania, which is a region in southern Italy. Today I consider photography to be a gift from the Lord. Through it he has given me the opportunity to grow professionally, and now my desire is to use it for his glory and to demonstrate the love I receive from him, which is his greatest gift.

After graduating I remained in Rome to continue working with the church Breccia di Roma. Then once Liberato and I were married, after much prayer we decided to stay in Rome and serve the church and the city for the sake of the gospel. Despite many difficulties and challenges, we are convinced that the Lord has called us to this city. We are here to testify to the reality of God’s peace and to promote this reality in a city full of false idols and gods. Rome is full of culture, beauty, and attractions; but at the same time it is very empty. It is a city full of idols that is in desperate need of a return to the Word of God and to true Christianity. It needs to be freed from the prison its idolatry has created.

What do you see as the greatest challenges to the gospel message in Rome?

Rome is a city full of religion, but void of the gospel. It is part of a large system of power and hypocrisy. It is home to the Catholic Church, and is therefore very difficult to engage. We as Christians must distance ourselves from this broken and corrupt system. God has called us here, but living out and proclaiming the true gospel is very challenging. This system of power that has enchained Rome has made it difficult for the gospel to infiltrate. God, however, has called us to live holy and righteous lives, and that is what we are seeking to do.

How is the Kyra Karr Foundation contributing to your ministry and helping you face the challenges you mentioned?

The KKF supports the needs of the local church, which contributes to the spread of the gospel in the city of Rome. For us, specifically, the KKF supports our work with the church and with ICED (Evangelical Cultural Institute). We are extremely blessed by the KKF, and it has been a direct answer to our prayers. We see clearly how the Lord is using the KKF as an important instrument for the church and for the glory of God. It is a privilege for us to be a part of that and see the Lord at work.

How can the Kyra Karr Foundation and its supporters be praying for you?

Our desire is to serve the local church. We live in the neighborhood of San Paolo and desire to enter into the lives of those who live there so that we may share the gospel with them. This is a very challenging task, and so we ask you to pray for us, that the Lord will open doors for us to share our lives with others, and as a result opportunities to share the gospel. Thank you!