Meet Toma Maris...

Meet Toma Maris, a Roma man, currently enrolled in the Baptist seminary in Bucharest, Romania. Toma has a dream, a calling from God, to minister among the Romany in Bucharest. He became a follower of Christ in 1990 and participated in the Gypsy Smith Leadership School through Project Ruth. Toma's vision is to start a church for Roma with worship in the Romani language in the Ferentari neighborhood - the location of Project Ruth.

Pray for Toma as he studies to have a foundation for fulfilling his calling. Pray for provision for Toma and his family (wife, 2 children) to have their daily needs met. Pray for the hearts of the Romany in the Ferentari area of Bucahest to be softened and open to hearing God loves them. Ask God to provide fellow believers to walk along side Toma and assist him in his vision of a church plant. Praise God for this Roma man committed to following God wholeheartedly.

pictured: (L) Ralph Stocks (CBF Field Personnel) (R) Toma Maris

Clista Adkins & the Gandhi School IN THE NEWS

20/04/2010 - In this video, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) Field Personnel Glen and Clista Adkins talk about their involvement with the Gandhi School.　
The Gandhi High School in Pecs, Hungary, was founded with donations from several Romani organisations in 1992 to be the first Romani high school and has been running since 1994. It was named after the Indian Mahatma Gandhi, to emphasize the Indian origin of all Romani groups. The purpose of the middle school is to provide a school-leaving exam to improve the prospects of Romani children in Hungary and to foster pride in Romani culture. The school is financed by the Hungarian government with additional funds from the EU and donations. The school consists of 6 classrooms where about 250 male and female pupils study, mostly until the ages of 14 to 18. There are also programs for adult education. The first group of pupils who started in 1994 took their school-leaving exam in 2000 and of 18 pupils, 16 have applied to universities and 7 have been taken up. Less than 1% of Roma in Hungary are university graduates. Although the school is open to all, currently only five non-Roma are enrolled.
Link: http://dreamzz2020.blogspot.com/2010/04/working-with-roma-people-at-gandhi.html

Spring is Here!

All over Europe trees and flowers are blooming as the earth awakes from the long winter... and a long, nasty one it was! It is a time of rebirth and renewal. A time for cleaning out and letting the warm breezes blow in. Please pray for the Roma ministries as they too rev up after the slow down of winter. Pray for leaders as they guide their congregations to a time of renewal of following Christ. Pray for CBF personnel as they minister along side the Roma believers bringing the Good News of New Birth to the Romany.

Side note: This cherry tree is in our (Stocks) front yard and if it has as many cherries as blooms, we're going to have a bumper crop!

Easter in Vulcanesti, Moldova

This year the special music was really special.

And international.

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

Rock Stars? No, it's FBC, Greensboro's Youth Choir!

The youth choir from First Baptist Church, Greensboro, NC spent a week during their Easter break giving concerts with their voices and with handbells. The also participated in outreaches at schools, Roma churches and an orphanage. The choir was extremely talented and the handbells were unique to Hungary. This combination made them greatly received where ever they went. Click on their daily blog to get a glimpse of their experiences among the Roma of Hungary. http://www.fbchungary.wordpress.com/