Community Champion--England

Keith Holmes partnered with this organization to create this Bible Stories Series in English and Romanian Calderash, a Romani language.

The organization continues to develop.

Prayer Request:  Senior Roma Community Champion for Luton Roma community, England.

As our work with the Luton Roma community continues to develop, we are pleased to invite applications for the new post of Senior Roma Community Champion. 

The successful applicant will play a leading role in carrying forward the work of Luton Roma Trust to the next phase.  This person will live and work in Luton, be fluent in English - and either Romani or Romanian, or both - and will have a big heart for all the Roma people.   

The closing date for applications will be Monday 15 May.  Interviews will be held in late May or June in Luton.  To receive full details of this new post please email me (mburrell51@googlemail.com)  

Please forward this email to your networks and to anyone who might be interested in applying.  

Best wishes,

Martin  Burrell  (Team Leader and Chaplain)

Living in the Kingdom

Prayer Request:  Romany--and the rest of us--will honor our King by taking care of the creation He has placed us in.


Jon & Tanya Parks, Slovakia, write:

Recently at the Roma church we had a discussion group with some church members about what it means to live in God’s kingdom.  The lesson and the above illustration came from a lesson in CHE (Community Health Evangelism, see these posts for more information) and encourages participants to think about the parts of any kingdom – the King (top), the citizens (bottom left) and the territory (bottom right).  In the case of God’s kingdom, the King is of course God, the citizens are God’s people, and the territory is all of creation.
We learn that life in God’s kingdom is not just about worshiping God – it’s also about our care for one another and for God’s creation, and about making God’s reign a reality through living according to his desires.
We weren’t sure which direction the Spirit might lead the discussion, so we opened the floor for thoughts and questions.  It turns out that, for those present, the most challenging part of this teaching was our responsibility to care for creation.
“How many times have I walked by a messy place and just thrown my trash down with all the rest?” one person wondered aloud.  “I’ve never thought about the fact that as a Christian, it’s my job to help take care of the world around me.  I can’t control how much pollution the big factories put into the air… but I can take care of my own areas the best I can!”
What about you – have you ever thought of earth-care as a spiritual issue?

Offering more than just a cup of cold water

Prayer Request: Equal rights for Romany Public well, Roma village, Moldova The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) released a report - Thirsting for Justice: Europe’s Roma Denied Access to Clean Water & Sanitation, highlighting the shocking disparities between Roma and non-Roma in their access to water. The report summarises research carried out by the ERRC, between 2014 – 2016, covering 93 Romani neighbourhoods and settlements in Albania, France, Hungary, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, and Slovakia. In more than half of the places we visited (52.69%), the nearest water source was more than 150 m away. We found only 12% of Roma that had a functioning mechanical toilet, with over 75% using outdoor pit latrines. Frequently the only water source or dry toilet is shared with tens of other people at best. In the absence of a public water supply, Roma often have no other choice but to rely on untreated and unprotected water sources like self-made wells, natural springs, and rivers.  In some cases even when public water is accessible to Roma, it is still unaffordable for many. “In many of these countries, there are often Roma living in the exactly the same legal conditions as non Roma, yet they still do not have access to clean water. This is nothing less than direct discrimination against my people. There can be no dispute that many European states are badly failing to meet their long-established international commitments to ‘ensure freedom from inhuman or degrading treatment, and to guarantee equality and non-discrimination.’ To be forced to live without running water and toilet today in Europe is inhumane and degrading. States must adopt laws that explicitly recognise the human right to water and sanitation, and ensure that everyone enjoys equal access to water.” said Đorđe Jovanović, ERRC president.  The full report, including our recommendations for State authorities and the European Commission is available here. (ERRC press release condensed.)

PRAYER AND PASSION

Michael McEntyre, the Associate Pastor for Youth, College & Young Adults, and Missions at First Baptist Church in Columbia, MO, spent a week in Romania, Feb 20-27th working with the Gypsy Smith School, a ministry of Project Ruth (www.project-ruth.org). 

Michael and his fellow team members traveled to three locations to hold day-long conferences on prayer. The groups they worked with consisted of pastors, church planters, lay leaders, church members, and community friends. Many of those who came chose to miss work to attend. 

Michael says, “I am encouraged by the faith and passion of the people and their desire to know more about prayer. It has been a humbling opportunity.”

OUR LANGUAGE IS IMPORTANT

Did you grow up speaking a language that important people used on important occasions? That had big books printed in it and people signing up to learn it? 
Radko Kratsov, a Roma Christian leader in Bulgaria, issued a challenge to advocate for the development of Romani*:
“We (Roma, who are 'always under someone's feet', who 'come from a shame-based culture') need someone to lift our hands to show the world that our language is important. Someone to blow the trumpet to raise the status of the Roma language."

SIL Roma team member working with Roma in Moldova

He shared how he had witnessed at a Bible study in Ivaylo, Bulgaria, how people's faces changed from mirroring shame to expressing happiness when they truly understood and participated in the study and were able to express themselves in their own language.

(CBF partners with the SIL Roma Service Group. SIL members in Bulgaria are stimulating the use of Romani in engaging with the Bible in ways that include all people present.)

*Romani is a term often used to refer to Roma languages. 

ENTERPRISE

Keith sat on the train from Arnhem to Amsterdam. The ride takes a bit more than an hour. He had a horrible cold. A Roma man, probably from Bulgaria or possibly Romania, walked through the car, laying this note on the little table between the seats. Keith gave him a 50 cent coin and got a welcomed packet of tissues in return.

A month before, Mary sat on the train from Arnhem to Amsterdam. A Roma woman, also probably from Bulgaria, walked through the car, laying a xeroxed copy of this same note on the little table between the seats. When she walked back through, picking up the cards, Mary bought a packet of tissues.

Two months later, Mary sat on the same train. A much younger Roma woman walked through the car, laying a copy of this note on the little table between the seats. Mary smiled at her and pocketed the note. The young woman smiled back.

What would you call this practice? I call it enterprising.

P.S. These folks probably didn't "have a job at the moment." Unemployment rates in some Roma villages and neighborhoods run as high as 98%. Want to do something about that? Let us know!

A Pile of Mismatched Scraps

In late January, the 29th to be exact, I (Dianne) did something I had never done before.  I stood on the Arkansas state capitol steps and participated in a political rally.  It was a protest against the President's executive order banning travel from seven predominantly Muslim countries.  I was there to show support and to hear stories from those affected by the order.  One statement stood out to me in particular, "I know what it is like to wake up every day in a country that does not want you, that despises you."

Joyce Elliott, an Arkansas state Senator was describing her experience as an African-American in the United States, in the south.  But she could also be describing the experience of the Roma peoples we work with in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, or the Syrian refugee, or the US-born Hispanic child or the Iranian-born doctor with a green card.  These people who are looked at with suspicion, distrust, and contempt because they look or sound different.  The "Others" among us.

I can never imagine how this feels because my birthright brings me a certain amount of privilege.  So I use my privilege to call attention to the injustice turned on these bearers of the Image of God - dark or light skin; bi, straight, trans; Atheist, Christian, Muslim; rich or poor.  The distinctions we humans make don't matter to God.  We are all created in God's Image and reflect the Image, marred as it is, to one another.  When we limit who we know and interact with, we limit our knowledge of the Creator reflected through them.  Our diversity is beautiful to God and through our diversity we learn more about God.

I visited my Aunt recently and she showed me a quilt she is working on.  The top was pieced by her mother/my grandmother over forty years ago from bits and pieces of fabric from old clothes.  To most of us, we would have seen a pile of mismatched scraps not worth much.  My grandma saw something beautiful and useful. Our world is much like that pile of mismatched scraps.  But when we look at one another through God's lens, we might catch a glimpse of a beautiful quilt.  A quilt whose pieced-together fabric is warm, useful, and full of love.