Keep doing what you’re doing

   In May we visited with Mary, director of the community center where the Detva fellowship meets for worship and Bible study.  Mary is Roma. She’s been active in her community for years.  Her bubbly personality and joyous smile are contagious.  The purpose of the meeting was to see how we could work together to benefit the Detva community.  Mary was honest with her skepticism about having a group of Baptists, which she called "some sort of sect," meeting in her building.  

  She talked about her hesitation of allowing religious groups to use her facilities because over the years she’s seen more than one group come and go, creating chaos in their wake.  She continued, "but what changed my mind about allowing you to be here is Lenka.  I have worked with her for years.  She has changed so much since you have started your work.  She used to be so angry - abnormal - screaming at her children all the time.  … She was always upset.  But now, I can see a difference in her life, so keep doing what you are doing."  

•    Praise God for the love of Christ, which is able to redeem and transform persons.  
•    Praise God for the testimony of authentic, effective ministry which can even transform communities.  
•    Pray for the believers in Detva as they continue to grow.  
•    A woman from the group will give birth in July and is worried about the pregnancy – pray that God will give her peace and for a healthy baby.  
•    Praise God for the gift to purchase Bibles for the Detva fellowship!

The Roma of Central Europe “feel fear”

Can Roma (“gypsies”) from “liberal, democratic, EU countries” really be refugees, fleeing persecution? If I were a Roma person living in Central Europe I know I would not feel safe. Last year, while we were filming the documentary Never Come Back, Malcolm Hamilton and I visited Roma enclaves in the Czech Republic and Hungary. A first glance, it seemed to us that those communities were not that different from poor and underserviced First Nations communities in Canada. But make no mistake about it: The challenge the Central European Roma face is not merely one of poverty, fuelled by well-documented discrimination in housing to employment and education. The far bigger challenge is the constant threat of intimidation and violence from a growing crew of aggressive neo-Nazi and skinheads. http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/1173524--the-roma-of-central-europe-feel-fear

One Girl With a Big Heart + Silly Bandz = Lots of Smiles

One Girl With a Big Heart + Silly Bandz = Lots of Smiles

Sarah Ramsey had an idea. Silly Bandz (little rubber band size bracelets in many shapes) were fading as a fad. She and her friends had lots and lots because they were fun to trade. What to do when a fashion statement no longer speaks? Sarah decided to collect as many as she could and send them to other children who could appreciate the silly fun of the bands. She was very successful in soliciting her school and church friends. Now, what to do with the several thousand she collected?

Sarah's church, College Park Baptist in Greensboro, NC, is our sending church. And more importantly they have been long time supporters of the Ruth School where we now minister. An email arrived from Sarah's mom, "Would the students at the Ruth School like some Silly Bandz?" With a little help from couriers coming our way from CBF MO we soon had more Silly Bandz than we could count. And Sarah, being so thoughtful, had categorized the Bandz according to their shapes, making it easier to figure out what they were. (I confess I am not very knowledgeable about Silly Bandz.) Now how could we best distribute them?

This past week we had a team from Bonsack Baptist Church in Roanoke, VA doing Club for our students. One day the story was about Joseph and his coat of many colors. Suddenly it all made sense! We couldn't give each child a coat but we could give them multiple bright colored bracelets to wear as a reminder to ask God for help during those difficult times. Each child got 10 and soon they were trading back and forth, grinning from ear to ear. They loved their bracelets!

This is a great example of people working together and God using several groups to bring about a wonderful thing. One girl had the idea to collect bracelets and carried through with it, many contributed to the stock, three men from Missouri carried them across the ocean, and a team of youth distributed them reminding the Ruth Students of God's love for them. Thank you Sarah Ramsey for being the caring young lady you are. Thank you God for working in our lives to bring about such a happy moment.

Day 7: My Disciples Have Love for One Another

Join us in praising God for the following ways He is at work with the Romany

A young man who graduated from the Ruth School four years earlier returned to school, successfully completed high school, and received a scholarship to Polytechnic Engineering University in October 2011.

A small group of believers in Detva, Slovakia, were touched by the ministry of Romany believers from Cinobana. The group in Detva asked to have regular meetings, modeled after the one in Cinobana. The first meeting took place this past January 25. Praise the Lord for this next phase of the partnership where a successful model of ministry is going to be reproduced in another community.

Women in the Romany village of Vulcanesti, Moldova, have begun making and selling handicrafts.

The Ruth School in Bucharest, Romania, has a new principal, Mrs. Holban. Weekly chapel services started this year for children and staff.

The last two sessions of the Gypsy Smith pastors’ training school have been filled to capacity. More Romany church leaders want to attend the sessions than can be accommodated.

Jon and Tanya Parks have been commissioned to join CBF’s Romany Team. They will be teaching English at a Romany elementary school in Slovakia.

Even though Sinti Romany traditionally oppose having their language written down, Sinti leaders in Germany are not only becoming convinced of the need for God's word in their own language, they are also spreading the printed New Testament as language-learning material among their own people.

An outreach to Romanian Romany immigrants in England is growing. The local pastor is partnering to produce appropriate media materials in this language.

Yet another Student.Go team touched the lives of many Romany children during their ministry this summer.

Various team members faced health issues this past year . . . and can rejoice in on-going healing.

A Romany leader in the Czech Republic shows Christ’s love to others by running a Roma Education Center. A side benefit: increased understanding between Romany and Czech in his home community.

A new commandment I give you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples,if you have love for one another. John 13:34-35

Day 6: Poverty/Transformational Ministries

The first time Keith Holmes visited Romany Christians in Moldova, they asked him if he could help them support their families in a way that honored Christ. After several false starts, three believers received micro-economic development loans. Three years later, none of those businesses still existed.

Believers still dreamed of being positive examples to their non-Christian neighbors. Keith’s wife Mary arranged for micro-economic development loans for two other believers to expand businesses they were already involved with. Due to the economic crisis, one had to leave the country to repay this loan. The other earned enough to support his family, but not enough to buy their own home. He chose to earn more money faster in a way that resulted in his leaving the church. Another training session was organized. Everyone interested in the training had left the country to work abroad.

Over a decade after that first visit, even with no visable success, loving our Romany brothers and sisters means continuing to hope with them and work with them.
Together, we have faith that more is being transformed than meets the eye.

Prayer requests:
-At least three Romany will actually attend the next training session;
-Long-term help to develop employment opportunities in Moldova;
-That each Christian, wherever we live, will use our daily economic choices to show our love for one another—shopping, working, employing, planning, giving.

Day 5: Education/Training Ministries

The Roma people across Europe face many challenges today–they are pushed to the edges of towns, treated unequally, and many people simply do not understand them. But not all the problems come from other Europeans. The fact is that some of the Roma have lived up to all those negative stereotypes they are known for today. They are mistreated, so they mistreat others … and the cycle continues.

This kind of cycle can be disrupted through education–among Roma and any other marginalized people. Many Roma children never make it to school, or stay for just a few years. The literacy rate among Roma is far below the average for most other European peoples. As a result, few have learned to improve themselves, to resist the mistreatment cycle, or to use their resources wisely. Imagine what could happen when even a small generation of Roma children can break this cycle, setting a powerful example for their people! Make no mistake–education itself is not the answer. But God’s love, along with the patience and compassion of others, can make a huge difference.

Prayer requests:
-For schools that teach and train Roma students – for persistence and for necessary resources
-For parents to have open hearts to allow their children to stay in school.
-For educated Roma leaders to set examples for their people, living lives that will soften the hearts of those who hate and fear them.

Day 4: Justice and Peace Making

Discrimination against the Roma has taken many forms throughout history. One of the most shocking is the forced sterilization of women. In 2004, the European Roma Rights Centre expressed suspicion that Romany women underwent forced sterilization in Czechoslovakia and later the Czech Republic between the years of 1971 and 1991.

It is estimated that as many as 1000 women were forced or coerced into signing documents which authorized medical workers to terminate their fertility. Under a decree valid until 1991, 10,000 crowns could be paid out if a woman underwent such an operation.

In 2009 the Czech government apologized for the sterilizations and recently the government’s Council for Human Rights has recommended compensation be paid to these women. Although these steps toward justice are welcome, there are many more that need to be taken.


Prayer requests:
-Pray for the Roma women who are seeking compensation. May they find not only justice, but also peace in the process.
-Pray for those who seek justice for the Roma.