Get to Know the Bardelli Family

Ministry Description

The United Kingdom, birthplace of great missionary movements and famous preachers, now needs passionate people to bring the Good News and clearly proclaim God’s Word.

Our MISSION focuses on:
1. Evangelizing — Sharing the Gospel through personal evangelism, camps, sports, and creative outreach.
2. Discipling — Teaching young believers to obey, love, and share God’s Word.
3. Equipping — Training young leaders to serve the local church and ministry.
4. Mobilizing — Sending young believers to fulfill the Great Commission near and far.

My responsibility is to develop and strengthen the local church ministry here in the UK, empowering young people in faith and leadership.

Learn more about the ministry in the United Kingdom.

About Mauri

1. The Day I Was Saved
I was born into a Christian family, and at the age of seven, after a Sunday service, my parents shared the Gospel with me. That day, I understood that my sin had broken my relationship with God, but that Christ had come to save me and give me new life. That day, I was saved.
But that’s not where the story ends.
I am convinced that we are not saved to simply be saved — we are saved to serve. God saves us so that we may live for Him.

2. First Steps in Service
At fifteen, I was baptized and began serving in my local church — bringing children to Sunday School and participating in the preteens ministry. Every summer, I attended Word of Life Argentina camps, and one night at a consecration service, I dedicated my life to God.
I had no idea what God was going to do after that moment. But I knew I needed to dedicate my life to Him, especially to the local church where He had placed me.
By the age of seventeen, I was leading my church’s youth group, serving and dreaming big with my friends for the Lord. One of those dreams — which we called Project 100 — showed us God’s power in an incredible way: our goal was to take 100 teenagers from our neighborhood to camp. We had no resources and little experience, but with faith, we evangelized in parks, invited everyone we could, sold all kinds of things, ran tournaments, and even washed cars… anything we could think of! And God did it!
That summer, we took 88 teenagers and 12 children to the Word of Life camps. Exactly one hundred. Coincidence? No. It was God showing what He can do with a group of young people who believe Him.

3. Training and Preparation
At nineteen, I joined the Argentine Army, where I was trained as a soldier and also as an aviation mechanic. For six years, I lived doing what I loved — working with aircraft, adrenaline, and flying.
But God had other plans. A far greater mission.
At twenty, after Project 100 and a growing ministry, I felt the call to be trained more deeply in God’s Word. I studied for four years at the Word of Life Bible Institute online.
Everything seemed to fit perfectly: I was working in Army Aviation, studying the Bible, and serving in my local church…
Until God showed me that He had something else in mind. A far greater mission. (Mark 1:16–20)

4. The Call to Scotland
At twenty-three, while preparing for a peacekeeping mission in Cyprus with the United Nations, I received a call from the director of Word of Life UK, who told me about a project to relaunch the ministry there.
That day felt like all the pieces of my life came together — my years studying English, my experience leading young people, and the desire in my heart to do something more with my life.
God confirmed His call when, during my mission in Cyprus, I was assigned to a British base and, during my leave, I visited Scotland. There, I met a church that welcomed me and a family of doctors who hosted me — a detail that connected directly with Mel, my then-girlfriend, who was studying medicine.
That’s how God confirmed the call. We couldn’t look the other way anymore.

5. Putting Our Heart in a Suitcase
After my six months in Cyprus, back in Argentina, Mel and I decided to put our heart in a suitcase — to obey and go where God had called us. And that’s exactly what we did: we began taking our first missionary steps toward Scotland.
I married the love of my life at twenty-four, we took our exploratory trip together, studied English, raised funds, and Mel graduated as a doctor — placing that title in God’s hands. We had to leave our careers — my dream of working with airplanes and helicopters, Mel’s work in hospitals — and trade it all to become soldiers of Christ.
In early 2025, Mel and I sold and gave away all our belongings. We packed our lives into four suitcases and boarded a plane to Scotland. We left family, friends, church, and security behind…
Why? Because Christ is worth more.

6. It’s Worth It
God’s Word sustained us throughout the entire process, and especially this verse when everything was being left behind:
“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me — the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.” (Acts 20:24)
In June 2025, three years and five months after our first prayer for Scotland, we finally arrived at our mission field — so that God may continue writing our story in this nation, doing what we love: glorifying God by serving the local church.

Contact Information

mabardelli@wol.org

Address:
Mauri Bardelli
Word of Life United Kingdom
PO Box 600
Schroon Lake, NY 12870