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Easter 2000 - Newsletter 19

"See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come...." (Song of Songs 2:11-12)

The Lord gave us this verse for the year 2000 as we move into a new phase of work and witness. Some of the 'flowers' we have seen include the completion of the Water Project in Chirileu, Romania; the provision of an apartment in Partizanske, Slovakia as a base for our work; and, with the help of Gypsies For Christ, the purchase of the building for the Gypsy church in Verpelet.

A few years ago we would not have considered such developments possible, but as we have faithfully followed the Lord's leading, doors have opened and our vision has been enlarged. We believe more firmly than ever that NOTHING is too hard for our God. At the same time, we give thanks for your partnership with us in prayer and giving, and your loyal support, which helps us to keep going when things are differcult or discouraging.

SLOVAKIA - In January, Pastor Stano Olej and his family visited London for two weeks as the guests of the Woodford Christian Life Church. As they met with our pastor, elders and members of the fellowship, they saw how the church was run and got new ideas to take home. Being the first time they had been out of their country, or in an aeroplane, it was a real adventure for them. On their return home, Stano and Alicia decided to work full time in the church - a real step of faith - and have started two house groups. They also plan to have a 'Mums and Tots' group, and we will be taking out some equipment for them.

Please pray for Stano and Alicia (and baby Tatiana) and the Pramen Zivota Fellowship as they embark on all these new ventures.

HUNGARY - Pastor Andras sent this message to everyone: "We have received your gift and with grateful hearts we want to share our joy with you. On February 28th we bought the building and the surrounding territory. Our Lord has provided!"

Thank you all for your gifts but the 'Chairs for Verpelet' Project is still open and we will take any further donations over when we visit.

Andras has invited us to the Gypsy Convention in Budapest from May 17 - 21. We are looking forward to this very much and would value your prayers.

ROMANIA - GFC has been offered a tract of arable/pasture land near Chirileu on which to set up an organic farm to benefit the Gypsy people of the area. As with our previous project, we feel the Lord wants us to go ahead and He has given us the name 'Sharon ' for it. (Sharon means a level place or plain and is one of the richest agriculture districts of Israel.) Again, it will be an expensive venture but we are confident that provision will be made from "the King's Treasury." (Ezra 6:4) Please keep this exciting project in your prayers together with the preliminary meetings we will be having about it this summer.

PAKISTAN - We are sorry that Pastor Basharat Ureem could not be with us last year for the AGM as he had hoped but he has kept in touch by telephone and fax.

He has outreach events planned in March (20 days), July (15 days) and December (20 days). We will report on these when we get full details, but, meanwhile, please keep Bash, his family and the outreach teams in your prayers.

Transport is a major problem as Bash and the team travel long distances to towns and outlying villages, so they are saving up to buy a van.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN - This year we will be travelling to Eastern Europe with two vehicles and accompanied by Golden Spearman and his wife, Julie. We plan to leave on April 28th and should reach Partizanske, Slovakia, where we will spend two weeks, by May 1st.

In addition to all the other work we do, we will be setting up the Gypsies For Christ base in the apartment given to us for this purpose. It is hoped that in the future short stay teams from the Woodford Christian Life Fellowship will be accomodated there while they do evangelistic outreach in the town and give support to Stano and Alicia.

On May 15th, we will move on to NE Hungary and go with the group from Verpelet to the Gypsy Convention in Budapest. For the rest of our stay we will be working alongside Andras and the other pastors and supporting them in their work.

We will then go on to spend June in Romania where we will be inspecting the work done on the Water Project and holding a service of thanksgiving in the village of Chirileu. We will also be having talks with our Romanian contacts about the Sharon farming project and setting up a base for our work there. (We would value your prayers for the release of fiances.) We will be renewing contacts with our Christian friends and helping, encouraging and supporting them in their work in every way we can.

We hope to give Goldie and Julie a real insight into life and work in Eastern Europe and we would value your prayers for us while we are away from April 28th to June 30th.

We will be taking our annual working holiday in Jersey from August 1st - 15th when we will renew our contacts with all our friends and supporters there and share our vision with them. We will report on any further developments and all our travels in our next Newsletter.

HOME NEWS - Terry Hurst has now started up his own Gospel Waggon Mission (not to be confused with the Romani Gospel Waggon or our Vardo Project.) We wish Terry well. GFC gave him a computer to get his office started. At work, he has been promoted to Funeral Director. He continues to make contact with Gypsies through his work. Please pray for Terry, Lin and the family, that God will bless them in His service.

BOOK CORNER - 'Romanichal Gypsies' by Thomas Acton and David Gallant in the Threatened Cultures Series, is a charming, informative and beautifully illustrated volume. Written primarily for children, it will appeal to all ages. It would be good to see a copy in every school library. This book describes the wealth of Romanichal culture and tradition, and explains why this way of life is under constant threat, as fewer places allow caravans to stop. Published by Wayland at £10.99 it is a very good buy.

ROMANI PRAYER LINK - Thank you for giving us your prayer requests. As we will be away for quite a long period, please send them directly to our prayer Co-ordinator, Mrs. Sheila Irving, 76 Sandhurst Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN2 3JT. She will give them all the attention they require.

THANK YOU - We are very grateful to our Pastor, the elders and all at the Woodford Christian Life Church for their support in so many ways, and in particular, for enabling us to send out our Newsletters three times a year.

"For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ ALL will be made alive."