Sharing the Story

Sinti couple at home; anonymous

Do you have a story your family needs to hear?
   Last Sunday we worshipped with Sinti Romany believers in a village south of here. A number of other Christian Sinti from France and Belgium had joined them for a special evening service. Several of their Sinti guests from Belgium shared what God had done for them. This is one of those stories.
   The middle-aged woman from Belgium, let's call her Monique, had been very depressed. Her husband misused drugs, beginning with legal ones like alcohol and ending . . . well, there didn't seem to be an end. She was so depressed that she thought of making an end--of her own life.
  One evening, when she was seriously thinking of this, her sister and brother-in-law came to visit. They were Christians. They shared the good news about Jesus with her. Perhaps they had done this before, but this time it took root in her heart. They told her that she could pray by herself and ask Jesus to come into her heart. They were praying for her, too.
After they left, she went into her room by herself, got down on her knees, and prayed. "Jesus, please have my husband come home tonight. Then I will know that you exist, that you care for me. Please take my life."
   When she finished praying, she heard the door open. It was her husband. God had heard and immediately answered her prayer. This was end to her life of misery. Instead of the death she had contemplated, Jesus gave her--and her husband*--new life.
  Reading the story of the man restored to his right mind (Mark 5) reminded me of this other story of Jesus healing and restoring life. The man who had lived among the tombs went and told what Jesus had done, first to his family and neighbors, then throughout the entire region.
Jesus told the man to stay at home. People at home need to hear the God-stories you have to tell.


*He shared his story, too. But that's another blog entry.

You won't throw me out, will you?

Mirecek (in Czech this means “little Mirek”) is about 6 ft 2 in tall and has the biggest hands I’ve ever seen.  He is a Roma man who could be anywhere from 25 to 50 – it’s hard to tell. 

Miricek as one of the three kings

Every year Mirecek plays one of the Wise Men as they go around town raising funds for the local Charitas. Though slightly mentally disabled, he is able to function quite well. He attends the Catholic Church and often hangs around there.  That is how he came to be at our Thanksgiving celebration.

We had it at the Catholic parish hall and when he saw that something was going on, he came to see what it was. Most of us were finished eating and were just sitting around and talking.  When he came in he went to our friend Petr (who also goes to the Catholic Church) and said “Hey Petr, you won’t throw me out, will you?” We didn’t.

We fixed him a plate and he liked everything but the sweet potatoes. He didn’t hang around very long, but I was glad that he was there. Some of our friends were a little surprised, but hopefully they understood a little more about the meaning of Thanksgiving. 

Learning to Read

How many times did you learn to read? Most of us who learn to read only learn to read once. My husband Keith learned to read in English, with the type of letters you are looking at right now. Then, later, he learned to read Cyrillic letters (right). He can read street signs in Moscow. He might not know what they say, but he can read them. When he lived in Korea, he learned to read the Korean alphabet. (See below. This, he says, is one of the easiest alphabets in the world to learn. It was created by King Sejong, around 1445.) Again, he does not always know what the Korean signs on the stores in urban New Jersey mean, but he can read them.
He does know what German means when he reads that (usually) as well as Dutch (more often than German) and some Romani languages. And this is not just because he is a linguist.
Dutch and German use the same alphabet, more or less, that English does. However, each of these languages has its own system for assigning sounds to those letters. For example, "nee" in Dutch is pronounced the same as "neigh" in English. Additionally, each language has its own unique system of sounds. There are sounds in English which do not occur in Dutch or German. The beginning of "the" is an excellent example. Keith could learn these other systems without too much trouble. After all, he already knew how to read.
Keith can read three different alphabets. He can read and understand newspaper articles in three different languages (English, German, Dutch). He only learned to read once.
My point? Learning to read is a big deal. Children shouldn't have to learn another language to learn to read. Studies show that people learn to read best in their own language. Then, like Keith, they can transfer that knowledge to other languages, sometimes even to other alphabets. I'm starting a Multilingual Education (MLE) on-line course to learn more about this. Let me know if you'd like to learn more about this, too.

Encouragement at the Christmas Market

We recently took a little break from our constant traveling to . . . well , , , travel.  Friends in Germany had invited us to visit months ago and we were excited to be able to finally respond.  We loaded the train in Kosice, Slovakia and headed off towards Stuttgart, Germany.  What a blessed time we had.

In addition to connecting with long-time friends, rekindling memories of decades or two ago, we also ran into a family from Kosice.  Though we had met before when Shane had preached at a Roma church in Slovakia, this gave us an opportunity to sit together in their apartment as we shared refreshments, our testimonies and prayer so we could get to know each other better.  As Dezko described himself he said, "We Roma are quick to accept Jesus . . . but then we need someone to always encourage us in our faith."  That wonderful night in Stuttgart was a time of encouragement for us all.  New friendships were made which will last.

With our long-time friends, we visited Christmas markets in Stuttgart, Esslingen, Munich, and Bad Tolz.  That is a lot of Christmas markets!  We enjoyed the seasonal punch, bratwurst, and toasted nuts.  And the people!  It was grand.  Yet, it was the conversations with friends as we strolled through the markets, enjoying the rooftops of the booths especially, which were life-giving and provided lasting memories.  

Gathering with family and friends during this busy holiday season, it is an opportunity for us all to find ways of encouraging each other in our faith.  As you gather with family and friends to observe the holiday season, encourage one another.  Look up for fanciful rooftops and hold tight to those around you.

As part of this season of giving, we encourage you to consider a special gift in support of life-changing ministries around the world.  You can give to the Offering for Global Missions or to a specific ministry you can find in the CBF Gift Catalog.  

The Word of God made Flesh

Last year during Advent we posted a series of reflections called “Spotting Jesus” in which we reflected on the "Advent" of Jesus around us here and now - where does Jesus appear in our everyday life?  We're continuing that series this year, and the first entry is about East Slovak Romany translation of the New Testament that was published only a couple of months ago.

A month ago, I was blessed to be a part of the celebration for the release of that translation.  At that time I purchased a few of these new Bibles, because I knew I'd have lots of opportunities to share them.  Since then, I’ve been giving copies to a few key people, hoping for both feedback on the translation (which I can’t yet read), and praying for opportunities to purchase and distribute more. 

Any translation is a time-consuming process, and there’s cause to celebrate anytime a new translation is released – most especially into a language which has had few or no translations. Before this I had not taken much time to reflect, to understand just how blessed we are as English speakers to have so many versions of the Bible in our language.  When I was a pastor in Virginia and I encountered some problem while preparing Bible studies and sermons, I could go to the shelf in my office and find at least 10 different translations.  If those didn’t help, I could go to the internet and find dozens more.  I certainly didn’t have to go digging into Bibles in one of my weaker second languages (Spanish or Slovak, for instance) just so I could hear what God has to say.

I expected these people to be interested in these new Bibles.  What I didn’t expect was their surprise, wonder and joy!

“You mean this is in Romanes?  ALL of it is in Romanes?”

“And this is even in OUR Romanes (our local dialect)!”

 [calling someone over] “Have you seen this?  It’s a Bible, in our Roma language!”

I didn’t expect the delight on their faces as they read the words aloud.  Many local Roma are not used to reading their own language, but the translation is written so they can pronounce it as if they were reading Slovak.  When they heard the familiar words coming out of their own mouths, their eyes lit up with joy!

To get theological for a moment, perhaps we don’t often realize what a miracle it is that the Word of God can speak to us in our own language.  In a way it’s a miracle similar to the one that happened so many Christmases ago – that’s what we celebrate, that the Living Word, the Son of God, took on human flesh and expressed God in a human way.  In the same way, anytime you read or hear the Written Word and can understand it, you know that this Ancient Word has taken on English form… and you can know that this Word is speaking directly to YOU.

So these past few days, I’ve spotted Jesus in the faces and voices of people hearing God’s Word in their own native language.   I’ve seen reflections of the Word of God as it has been “incarnated” into the English, Slovak and Roma languages.  It’s an amazing thing to behold… an Advent that we too often overlook.

Ashleigh's Goal and student.go

   Through student.go, a ministry of CBF Global Missions which is supported by the Offering for Global Missions, Ashleigh Bugg came to Slovakia this past summer in response to a request we had for a photo journalist.  Ashleigh's assignment was pretty vague - take photos of Roma which show a different side to a much-misunderstood minority.  

Ashleigh graduates this month . . . Oh the Places you will Go!

   We arranged many meetings between Ashleigh and our local partners.  She did a great job interviewing and writing different stories about her experience.  And yes, her photos were great as well.  Over the next several months, many of Ashleigh's photos will begin to appear in different Cooperative Baptist Fellowship publications.  We are thankful to Ashleigh and to student.go for supplementing the ministry among the Roma of Slovakia in such an incredible way.

   If you just can't wait to see Ashleigh's work, you can visit the Presbyterian Student Center at University of Georgia in Athens where a selection of the photographs will be on display for a couple of months.  After the showing in Athens, the photo display will be moved to Birmingham, Alabama where they will be utilized by our partner church, Vestavia Hills Baptist Church.  

   I you just cannot wait, you can see a selection of photos and discover an opportunity to connect with Ashleigh in support of an anti-human trafficking campaign in Slovakia, you can watch this video:  Ashleigh’s Slovak Roma Video

   or you can work through the Prezi found at this link:  Ashleigh’s Slovak Roma Prezi  

   The giving link in the video and Prezi is here:  Ashleigh's Goal

   If you are a student or recent graduate, and of course exceptions are made, you can plan your next semester or summer with student.go here:  student.go

Roma Christians on BBC--Reality TV Worth Watching

The BBC has produced a short film featuring Luton Roma Church for the weekly Songs of Praise program.  It is being transmitted on Sunday 30 November at 4.15 pm (5:15 PM).   

The Roma believers in Luton, England, are immigrants from Romania. Keith has worked with the pastor there to record an overview of the Biblical story in English (English Bible Stories) and in Kalderash Romani (Kalderash Bible Stories).

 

This episode of Songs of Praise can be viewed after it has been aired via the BBC website (Songs of Praise).