WOW! What a Week

It's been a busy time for the CBF Gypsy Ministries team with nearly all of us on the road. Shane and Dianne are representing our team at CBF's General Assembly (they are being featured in our Global Missions Offering material this fall - get on the list for it by calling the CBF office in Atlanta) and Shane is meeting with others to help plan strategy for Global Missions. Clista and Glen are touring the USA with a Gandhi High School student ensemble. They need your prayers! Mary Van Rheenen is in Moldova with two other partners providing a kids' camp and various other ministry opportunities. (Keith is at home because their girls are still in school but you can be sure he is busy doing something with video) Ralph and Tammy were in Szatmarcseke, Hungary with a Student.GO team doing kids' camp. And the summer has just begun...

Please continue to pray for our team and the ministries among the Roma. Check back often because we will have lots of stories to tell!

Student.GO Team TAG in Szatmarcseke

"Peel Banana, peel peel Banana..." was the favorite song of the week and "Praise Ye The Lord" was riotous as the girls tried to outdo the boys in volume. The weather was perfect and the kids soaked up the attention as we spent a week in the little village of Szatmarcseke. Each morning we were greeted by smiling faces ready to help act out the Bible story and eager to see what the craft of the day was. The boys were thrilled when our Hungarian translator got out his bow and arrows (practice arrows that are blunt on the end - safety first always!) to teach them archery. Life can be difficult for these Roma kids and they often grow up quickly. For this week they could relax and just have fun. I think I can truly say a good time was certainly had by all!
Thank you for your prayers. Now we are off to Vacegrasz for a week of English-As-A-Second-Language camp for middle school and high school age kids. Please continue to pray for safety and opportunities to share Christ.

Gandhi Ensemble Meets Student.GO Team TAG

It was hard to tell which group was more excited - the Americans just arrived in Hungary to spend six weeks among the Roma or the Roma heading to the USA tomorrow to spend three weeks among the Americans! The Student.GO team went over to the hotel to meet the Gandhi School Ensemble for pizza and a little jam session. It was a perfect evening to sit outside, enjoy the cool weather, and watch Joshua, lead musician for the ensemble, try to teach, Kolby, uncoordinated American (his own words), to play the kanna (metal jug). The Roma students gave us a mini concert that had hotel guests coming out of their rooms to listen. Your prayers are needed for tomorrow, please. It is a big day for all. The Roma students fly out for Atlanta and their first night in Greenville, SC. The three American students load up the van and head for the village of Szakmarcseke to do their first week of kids' camp. It's likely there will be little sleeping among any of them tonight!

CBF's Silent Auction & Missions Marketplace

The Silent Auction and Missions Marketplace are just two of the fun events being held next week in Charlotte, NC at CBF's General Assembly. The Silent Auction has unique, often one-of-a-kind works of art from around the world. The Missions Marketplace has a variety of items, also from around the world, that offer opportunities to support people groups, mission efforts, and field personnel projects.

Our team has three items in the Silent Auction: ceramic and uniquely Hungarian - a nativity scene, a colorful vase, and a black clay candle holder & basket. Have some fun by bidding on these beautiful hand-crafted pieces. You assist in our ministry and you get a little something to remind you to pray for the Roma (Gypsies).

In the Missions Marketplace you will find items from Slovakia: metal bottle holders & candle holders, wire work, Christmas dough ornaments, and handmade cards. You can also purchase the Gandhi Roma High School music CD and the brand new DVD, "I Am Roma." As with the auction, the proceeds from all of these items benefit the Roma and ministries for them.

Drop by the resource fair and see what's there. If you can't stand the suspense of the auction pick up a few items at the Missions Marketplace. It's a great way to help with CBF's Global Missions efforts!

Stop Discrimination

This issue of Stop Discrimination newsletter is focused on the Europe’s Roma population and recent developments to improve their situation. Link: http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/fdad/cms/stopdiscrimination/downloads/Newsletters/EN-FDAD_Newsletter_5_100531.pdf

Student.go!

This is the year of the student in Roma ministries in Slovakia and the Czech Republic!  Kendall Ratliffe began her ministry in Litoměřice, the Czech Republic on 1 June.  Kendall will serve along side the Czech ministry team to support the Litoměřice Baptist Church's English ministry, minister with the Oasis Club (mostly Roma), and will be involved in the life of the local church.  

Kendall was greeted at the airport by Shane and Rachel.  After a circuitous route planned out by the GPS, everyone arrived in Litoměřice to get Kendall settled.  It did not take long for Kendall to demonstrate that she had done a lot of personal preparation for this ministry assignment. Not only had she mastered a few phrases before arriving (she can request a towel wherever she travels in the Czech Republic now!), she was quick to share greetings in Czech.

She will serve in Litoměřice for several weeks and will conduct a week of intensive English with a group of Roma in Košice in late July. Pray for Kendall as she begins her summer of ministry.  You can follow Kendall's adventures at her blog:  Kendall Ratliffe.  If you send her an encouraging letter or care package quickly, she will be sure to receive it at:  

Kendall Ratliffe

DKP Bethel o.s.

Pražská 992/14

Litoměřice

41201  Czech Republic

Gandhi Ensemble to tour USA!

The Gandhi Roma High School Ensemble under the direction of Glen Adkins, assisted by Clista Adkins, will tour the USA this summer. This very talented group sing traditional Roma (Gypsy) music as well as Hungarian and American. Make plans to attend one of the concerts listed below - load up the church bus, invite your friends - all concerts are free! See you there!

June 23, 6:45pm, CBF Commissioning Service, Pritchard Memorial Baptist Church, Charlotte, NC

June 24, 9:00pm, CBF General Assembly, Resource Fair, Charlotte Convention Center, Hall B, Charlotte, NC

June 27, 8:45am, 11:00am, 6:30pm, First Baptist Church, Greenville, SC

June 28, 7:00pm, First Baptist Church, Greensboro, NC

June 29, 7:00pm, Fort Trial Baptist Church, Bassett, VA

June 30, 6:15pm, University Baptist Church, Charlottesville, VA

July 4, 9:40am, 11:00am First Baptist Church, Augusta, GA

July 6, Time TBA, Northminster Baptist Church, Jackson, MS

July 7, 6:00pm, First Baptist Church, Shreveport, LA

July 8, 8:00pm, Montego Plaza, Dallas, TX

July 9, The Hartford Insurance, Frisco TX; Hotchkiss Insurance, Carrollton, TX

July 11, 8:15am, 10:30am, 5:00pm, First Baptist Church, Huntsville, AL

July 12, 4:30pm Hymn Society for the United States and Canada Conference, Sanford University, Birmingham, AL (Conference registrants only)

CBF Commissioning Service - June 23

The CBF Gypsy Ministries team would like to invite you to join us at the CBF Missionary Commissioning Service on June 23rd at 6:45PM. Rachel (Stephen) Brunclikova will be commissioned as an Affiliate field personnel ministering among the Roma of the Czech Republic. The service will be held at Pritchard Baptist Church, Charlotte, NC. Because of medical treatments after an operation, Rachel will be commissioned in absentia.

Rachel is already known to people who are familiar with CBF Global Missions with the Roma. She began her service years ago as a Global Service Corp missionary when she served in Litomerice, Czech Republic. After graduating from Truett Seminary in Waco, TX, Rachel returned to Global Missions, this time as field personnel serving in Kosice, Slovakia. Rachel left CBF to marry Vlada, a Czech national. Ask her about the story that has brought her back to Roma missions.

Join us in praise for Rachel, Vlada and their son Michal Patrik (who will be four years old in July). Pray for Rachel as she continues to heal and as she begins her ministry. As an Affiliate, Rachel must raise 100% of her financial support – she is not funded through the Offering for Global Missions. Pray that God will lay a burden for all the people of the Czech Republic – Roma and non-Roma – and that God will lead individuals and churches to invest in the ministry of Rachel Brunclikova.

If you or your church feel lead to give to Rachel's support, please contact us and we'll provide the information needed. Thank you.

See you at the Commissioning and the General Assembly!