Roma Pastors Write to Linking Partners

Back at home -- be it Prokuplje, Leskovac, or Sherwood, Arkansas. We've all returned to our routines, and are looking forward to where God leads in Serbia. We offer this quick update, so that you can share in our excitement.

First, the entrepreneur program "Teach A Man to Fish" is already receiving applications. We are gathering information, and will keep you updated as this program goes forward. A friend in our home church is knowledgeable in raising rabbits, and we are looking into adding them to our program!

We are also receiving letters regarding the Roma Leadership Conference. Here are some excerpts:

Marijan and Slavica, Prokuplje

Great Conference! I see this meetings as new beginning for us. When I am looking in future I think we will remember this Conference as historically important!

Dragan and Danijela, Belgrade

After this Conference we have more desire and vision to work in home church in Belgrade! We learned a lot! We are glad to see that someone has holistic approach in ministry with Roma leaders!

Thank you!

Pastor Goran from Leskovac:

I am glad that I have been with leaders that I have just heard about from North Serbia for many years. I am blessed that we all come together for a strategical meeting and great planning for future!

Also, I was more than blessed to see how great God's idea is for us to start small business. We do not have a lot of opportunity for job but I see God's grace in this!

I also see that your topic of Conference was new concept for me that I would like to know more in future!

Pastor Selim from Leskovac:

I am glad that you called me and my team to be part of this Conference. We are glad that someone cares for Roma people. God is moving and working great things among us. I am also glad to see leaders coming together from north and south! We are blessed by your ministry!

Continue to pray for these Roma leaders, and that God will send a church planting movement to the Roma in Serbia.

Budapest - CRM, Terror Museum, Moving Forward

Okay -- I agree the title sounds a little odd. Those things don't necessarily go together, but they all fit in our final day in Budapest. We started with a meeting at the CRM offices in Hungary. Other than one staff member who is in America right now, and one who had a family emergency, the entire staff is gathered to talk with us.

 Not sure if you can tell, but it was snowing pretty hard while we were meeting. It was a lovely backdrop to a good conversation.

Both Linking Partners and CRM seek to raise up local leaders to plant churches. CRM has a long-established work in Hungary, while Linking Partner is focused on Serbia. There are options of working together -- especially in training. CRM has missionaries in Novi Sad, Serbia, and we see a possibility of assistance in helping the Roma leaders learning English -- which is important because there are far greater resources available in the English language. While we are providing resources in Serbian, they are very limited in availability. When you see leaders so hungry for more understanding, it moves us to want to make that possible!

We left CRM offices and visited the largest Jewish synagogue on the continent. Our guide was fascinating. Her parents were the first ones married after the Jewish ghetto in Budapest was liberated. She showed us her father's name in the garden of remembrance. The last photo above is a weeping willow statue, and each leaf has the name of someone who was killed during the occupations of Hungary. It was a beautiful statue.

Dinner that night was one of those times you can't really explain if you weren't there. The four of us -- Natasha and Rodja, LaJuana and Jim -- talked about the future of Linking Partners. There has been a lot happening in the past year, and we all feel we are poised on the brink of something big happening in the Roma community in Serbia for God. Going forward, Rodja and Natasha will be focusing even more on Linking Partners coordination work. We are excited about what lies ahead.

Oh, and dinner? Well, the ladies ordered "Gypsy Roast" -- which was described as pork, grilled with garlic. They didn't mention the flower made from roasted fat which was on top. After the flowers were relocated to another plate . . . the dinner was delicious! Neither of us had the courage to try the "flower."

We had breakfast coffee and pastries (okay, Jim had hot chocolate) in a neighborhood bakery. Then we headed to the Terror Museum. We walked -- a much longer walk than we would ever make in the USA, unless we were exercising -- but at a leisurely pace, enjoying the beautiful city and one another's company.

The Terror Museum was quite an experience. It is so well done. Everything about it invokes the feelings, the fear, the hopelessness, the oppression, felt during Hungary's times of oppression under both the Germans and the Russians. The exhibits were put together so well. Every little detail  contributed to the overall atmosphere. I have never seen anything like it. We left, sober and introspective.

We returned to our apartments for an afternoon rest, and a beginning on packing. Later, we returned to our first positive experience in Budapest -- the New York Hotel Cafe. Rodja and Natasha treated us all to coffee. Again, we shared the conversations of close friends. While we leave Budapest anxious to be home with family, we also will miss the family God has given us in Serbia.

Thankfully, it won't be too long before we return!

Budapest R&R

We leave the apartment and meet Bobby Booze, who is with Christian Resource Ministries (CRM), and Paul and Jody Hovda and their son Donovan, who are missionaries with CRM. Bobby is going to show us around Budapest. We will talk throughout the day about our interests in Serbia and the Balkans, then meet tomorrow to discuss more details.

 The day starts out with a metro ride. All told, today we ride the metro (subway), tram (above-ground), and city bus -- several times each! It is great to be in a city with public transportation, and to have a guide who is familiar with using it to get around.

 It is snowing lightly, and statues around the city are dusted with white.

 All of us except Bobby pose at one of the city's beautiful bridges. We walked a LOT!!

 It is a city of beautiful architecture.

 

Fisherman's Bastion at the Buda Palace complex.

 One of a row of tiny, whimsical snowmen on a wall near the Fisherman's Bastion.

 Another form of transportation!

 Lunch at a Turkish restaurant - Falafel!

Natasha clowns around with one of the many statues in Budapest. There are many -- two we noticed were one of Ronald Reagan, and one of Roosevelt.

 A beautiful Catholic church we visited. Unlike Serbia, Hungary's religious background is Catholic.

More statues. Horses were very important in Hungary's past, so many statues include horses. They are beautiful pieces of art, right out in the city for everyone to enjoy.

Adventures on the way to Budapest

We woke up to snow in Novi Sad. It was beautiful! We got on the train at 8:30 and rode six and a half hours to Budapest. It was a really nice way to travel. We all enjoyed it very much. Within a couple of hours relaxing and watching the snowy scenery roll by, we had out the binder and were looking at maps of Serbia's regions and municipalities, and strategizing about church planting moving forward. We met some excellent Roma leaders at the conference, in addition to the ones we already know and love, and are very excited because they are spread out in several regions of Serbia. 

It was still snowing when we arrived. You will love this! We got on a cab at the train station in Budapest. The driver was VERY cranky. He would only take pay in Hungarian florins, yelled at me, refused to tell Dad and Rodja what the conversion rate was. We stopped to punch out money from an ATM to pay him. Of course Dad didn't know his pin, so I got out and got money. Got back in, went a half block and asked the cab driver how much farther? He refused to answer. Rodja asked him if he was always this nervous? He said, that's it! Out! He kicked us out of the cab in the middle of the street! It was snowing like crazy, too. We drug our luggage up the street to a very fancy hotel and had a coffee and regrouped. It turns out that we were only two blocks from our hotel, and we walked!

Cab fare:  $0.00
Fancy coffee:  $30.00
Budapest adventure:  Priceless

After a short rest, we  had a typical Hungarian dinner. Some spaetzle-looking dumplings with chicken paprika for me, veal for dad and Natasha, fish for Rodja. It all looked like glop with gravy, but tasted pretty good. It is all we had eaten all day except snacks on the train, and the coffees after the unfortunate taxi incident.

We are staying in an apartment/hotel that the Three Amigos stayed in when they visited Budapest. It is definitely NOT the luxury hotel where we had coffee, but is completely adequate for our needs. The pictures above show the room -- yes, the bed is one foot off the floor! Have I mentioned that I (and my knees) am 55 years old? :-) The last photo is the view out my window. There are still bullet holes from Hungary's troubled past evident in the abandoned buildings. 

Tomorrow is sightseeing with CRM folks, then Tuesday a business seminar for them, and then meet with them to all talk about working together. Our friend, Paul Hovda is affiliated with them, and he and his wife Jody will be with us!

Conference Day Two & Closing

Where to start? Our hearts are full! Yesterday was a full day of learning, sharing, discussions, questions, answers, new challenges, and possibilities. The group met bright and early for breakfast, then started with the conference. Sessions were led by Roma leaders -- Selim, Marijan, And Bora; Serbian leaders -- Rodja; "SerbiAmerican" -- Paul Hovda; and Americans -- Jim and LaJuana. Topics ranged from the characteristics of a leader, and time management, to marriage as a picture of the gospel. We covered tent-making (a la Paul) in support of ministry, the ministry resource benefits of learning English, getting our priorities in Biblical order, the church planting movement, what God is doing in the church today, and the history of the Roma church in Serbia.

Paul

Rodja

Marijan

Discussion was lively, and there were many questions. Church planting information was shared from David Platt's ministry, Francis Chan, and Kurt Urbanek, among others. Culture and context of the Roma community in Serbia prompted questions and suggestions. Some were energized by the new ideas, and others had a more reserved response, but we all agreed that the desire was to make the gospel readily available to all Roma.

Another topic of great interest was business development. Both Serbs and Roma are thirsty for more information about starting small businesses. There is a tremendous need for experienced business people to teach and mentor, as well as for investment in small enterprises that could be the difference between a lifetime of intermittently available hard labor and being able to provide for a family while pursuing ministry such as disciple-making and church planting.

The $500 grant program offers the opportunity for investment in a small business -- chickens, goats, rabbits, or perhaps a sewing maching -- a way to provide for their families, make a small income, learn business principles, and then bless others. Because part of the program is that those who participate, then pass along the gift to another Roma family. A goat received bears a baby, and that one is passed to a new family. One who learns to sew something for sale teaches another that skill. Kingdom principles -- disciples are disciple-makers -- appear in business as well.

Bora, Rodja and Jim, Selim

We also had prayer and praise and worship all through the day. Marijan led in praise and worship, and I know for certain when I stand in heaven among every tongue and tribe and nation singing God's praise, I really hope I can stand with the Roma! Nothing blesses my heart like worshiping with these dear brothers and sisters.

 

Each leader went away from the conference with the first two of an eleven book set of resources in Serbian. They also each received five Life of Christ picture books, and one complete picture Bible. 

We have had a large quantity of the picture Bibles printed, so if they prove valuable in teaching, we can provide more.

 

Each woman received a gift from Linking Partners, and all the women present, as well as the wives at home, were given a hand-knitted scarf that LaJuana made as a gift for them.

Everyone is looking forward to the next annual conference. We have already heard of other Roma leaders who can be invited, and we can't wait to see what God has in store for the Roma community. They are already moving in a mighty way, and we are honored to be able to join them.

Pray for Jim, LaJuana, Rodja, Natasha, Paul, and Jody as we travel to Budapest, Hungary tomorrow to present a business seminar for CRM. Thank you all for reading and keeping us in your prayers.