ICPE Mission Malta
Malta holds a special place in the story and the life of the ICPE Mission! It was here that the Mission was born through the first School of Evanglisation in 1985 and it was during the outreach phase of this first school that the first ICPE Missionaries left the shores of the island to travel to Rome on their first evangelistic mission.
| In 1978, while Mario was attending a YWAM School of Evangelism in Lausanne, the Lord started prompting him to bring an evangelistic community together. Following the first Evangelisation Course organized by the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Malta and that Mario led, a group of people came together to form community in 1980.
Over time, the particular call of the community to Worship and Evangelisation became clear even as the Lord was pointing it to the international dimension it would have. This led the community to support Mario and his wife Anna, in running a School of Evangelisation in January 1985 which attracted 20 participants from 14 different nations. It was with this School that the ICPE Mission was launched and subsequently became the missionary expression of the Glory of God International Covenant Community. Between 1986 and 1988, 2 other Schools of Evanglisation were held in Rome and another in NZ, while ICPE Mission Teams ministered in S.E. Asia, Germany and England. |
| 12 of the participants on the 1986 School of Evangelisation in Rome joined the ICPE Mission. These 12, together with other ICPE staff members, formed the first international ICPE community of lay missionaries from diverse cultures and backgrounds.
The community settled in rented apartments in M’Xlokk, a fishing village in Malta, then moved to other rented apartments in the town of Gzira for some years. It was in 1990 when they the entire community finally came together under one roof in “Villa San Martin” that for many years became the hub of ICPE community life and mission. |
| Over the years, the ICPE Mission in Malta established various ministries for those seeking a deeper encounter with the Lord Jesus or deeper faith formation. Among these were Schools of Evangelisation, The Alpha Course, Woman-to-Woman ministry, “Come and See” experience, Mission /Possible outreaches, Children’s Ministry, various retreats and Seminars |
| The small beginnings that were rooted in the small island of Malta gave rise to missionary dynamism across all continents.
This was a promise that Mario and Anna sensed the Lord was giving them while in prayer the night before the 1986 School of Evanglisation started in Rome. As God was putting the word from Isaiah 54:2 on their heart, Anna perceived the image of a tent with ropes being stretched to every corner of the world. Mario had a similar experience while on a flight to NZ 1987 He was travelling there for the first time at the invitation of the Bishops Conference to set up an ICPE School of Evanglisation. Mario was reflecting how from Malta, NZ seemed to be the furthest destination possible that one could travel to. This is when he had a deep sense that the Lord was saying that from now on, nowhere will be too far and there was no limit to where the Lord would spread the ICPE Mission to draw many to Himself. |
| At present, Noel Chircop, a full-time ICPE missionary based in Malta with his wife Tania, is a regular speaker at different leadership and faith-building seminars in different countries. Noel is also the ICPE Director for the Firebrandz Festival being held in Spain in preparation for WYD 2011.
As Companions of the ICPE Mission, Stefan and Pia Attard conduct seminars locally based on the Theology of the Body of Blessed John Paul II. Pia is also a regular speaker for retreats abroad. is also the home of the Ghana Mission Foundation, set up in 1998 to raise funds for the HopeXchange Medical Center. Towards this end, the Foundation organises several fund-raising events throughout the year to promote and support this humanitarian project in Africa. |