Slovakia

Be strong and courageous and do the work.
Don’t be afraid or discouraged by the size of the task, for the Lord God, my God is with you.
He will not fail you or forsake you.
He will see to it that the work……. is finished correctly. (2 Chronicles 28:20.)

Before setting out on our summer trip we found that our van was not longer usable so we decided to travel by car and leave the aid in storage. An appeal (which is still open) was launched to raise funds for another vehicle which we hope to have in the New Year. Please pray that the money needed will come in. We spent 19 weeks in Slovakia and were able to get a lot of work done. The building where the Pramen Zivota Fellowship met had been sold and we were only able to use the room for the playgroup for a limited time. We could not find another venue so had to close down. We packed up our equipment and passed it on to the mission house attached to Pastor Peter’s church, Krestanske Spolocenstvo Radostne Srdce (the Fellowship of the Joyful Heart). We attended this fellowship on Sundays and one of the cell groups during the week. When the fellowship went on their annual holiday to Rackova Dolina in the mountains we were invited to go with them. We were able to get to know everyone better and enjoy fellowship in beautiful surroundings. Soon after our arrival Marek, our Gypsy contact in Prievidza was in hospital. We went to visit and pray with him. The next Sunday he testified to a wonderful healing foe which we praise the Lord. He agreed to be the GFC representative in Slovakia and with his help and Pator Peter as advisor, we were able to set up the SHARON Project in Prievidza. Two Gypsy ladies volunteered to take part in the DORCAS Sewing Group and were given material. Marek has contact with a school where the head teacher is keen that the Gypsy children and their parents should all learn handicrafts. In Partizanske we set up the Romani Garage to provide gainful employment for a Gypsy mechanic. This will operate according to Christian principles as part of the SHARON under Marek’s direction. He is keen to revive traditional Gypsy skills and use the project as a means to outreach to his people. Sonnie’s Sports Club did very well. The boys were fitted with football kit and during the season played six matches. They won four so were rightly proud of themselves. The older girls were taken swimming and this proved very popular too. Praise the Lord for the kit and the funds released to GFC for the children’s work. Please pray for the way forward for these activities, for the success of SHARON and for everyone involved in the projects. We were unable to continue the outreach in Handlova as funds had been withdrawn from our contact there and an interpreter could not be found. But we were able to visit the prison in Martin and th Boy’s Home in a nearby village. Some of the boys are bought to church on Sundays and have become Christians. Please keep this area of ministry in your prayers too.

Hungary

Love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:8)

We were in Budapest in May 3rd and 4th for the wedding of Szilvia Dan our interpreter to Joseph Bodnar. It was a happy occasion and it was lovely to meet Pastor Andras, his family and many friends from Verpelet and Kerescend again. Later on the way to Romania we visited briefly and renewed our contact with Pastor Imre and the family in Recsk.

Romania

We spent June in Romania sorting out the problems with the Water Project in Chirileu. It was a difficult time but the Lord gave us a word from Romans 4:17 …..believe in the God who brings the dead back to life and who brings into existence what didn’t exist before. We kept our prayers centred on it. Our case had been referred to the requisite government department in Bucharest and was known to the officials in Tirgu Mures. A new law is now in force to safeguard the interests of the Gypsy people and we were referred to the Primar of San Paul district who has oversight of five villages – Chirileu is one of them. He was eager to show that he was doing his duty by the Gypsies in his care but things move very slowly in Romania.
He informed us that an important paper giving us permission for the project was missing. This was the first that we had heard if it as we had assumed that all the paperwork necessary had been done by the contractors. The significance of Romans 4:17 now began to dawn  on us and we prayed that the paper would be brought into existence. Then the Primar informed us that the permission had been granted for a similar project in 1965 and that would suffice. The dead had indeed been brought back to life! Next a contract needed to be drawn up to bring the water supply under the authority of the Primar’s office. This document was finally signed on the day we left Romania. Although it had been a stressful time we were able to do a number of things when the Primar was away in Bucharest on business. We visited the village of Bahnea to see the work being done there and Sonnie spoke to the Youth Group. We also went to visit the Gypsy churches in San Georg and Levesini and one Sunday we held special Children’s Day Services. Everyone had a lovely time and the box of oranges we had brought as a treat contained just enough to go round. Praise the Lord! We gave our copy of the JESUS film and the remainder or our supply of literature to the young Gypsy pastor. He will make good use of them. We also visited a school for the deaf in Cluj to deliver some handicraft materials and met the new doctors working in San Paul district. They were glad to have the medical supplies we had brought.

VISITORS

The TOUGH TALK team was in Partizanske in May and their visit was greatly enjoyed by all the Gypsy youngsters. Other visitors welcomed to our apartment this summer were Adrian Coe from Peterborough, Ferenc Sandor, our interpreter, from Tirgu Mures and Kathy Clevenger from Mercy Ships, Lausanne. If anyone would like to visit GFC next summer please let us know.

HOME NEWS

When we get home we are busy with meetings, dinners and other engagements. Recently Sonnie joined a rally to make a stand for Romanis everywhere. Those at the Woodside Caravan site neat Hatch in Bedfordshire were facing eviction from their own ground over a planning permission issue.
Two helpful books on Romani issues are “On the Verge: the Gypsies of England” by Donald Kenrick and Sian Bakewell and “ We are the Romani People” by Ian Hancock published by the University of Hertfordshire Press and obtainable from their Learning and Information Services, College Lane, Hatfield AL10 9AB.
You will find a wealth of information in them.

CHANGES

At our AGM in November we discussed various changes that need to be mad at GFC. Decisions will be made at the Trustees meeting in Jan. 2003 and details will be found in our Easter Newsletter. We would appreciate your prayers for the future development of the work.
There have been problems with our email and we apologise if any messages have been overlooked.
Please note our new E-mail and Web-site addresses.

E-mail: gypsies4christ@yahoo.co.uk
Web-Site: www.gypsiesforchrist.org

We apologise to those who tried to phone us when we were in Slovakia – there was an error in the code. The correct number is 00421 38 749 6928.

THANK YOU

As always  we thank the Woodford Christian Life Church for enabling us to send out our Newsletters, for their prayers and all the valuable support they give us. We appreciate it very much! We thank everyone who supports the GFC in any way.

What is done in secret will be rewarded in Heaven

GREETNGS FOR CHRISTMAS AND 2003 FROM THE TRUSTEES & TEAM FOR GYPSIES FOR CHRIST

“YOU ARE THE CHOSEN RACE, THE KING’S PRIESTS, A HOLY NATION, GODS OWN PEOPLE, CHOSEN TO PROCLAIM THE WONDERFUL ACTS OF GOD, WHO CALLED YOU OUT OF DARKNES INTO HIS OWN MARVELOUS LIGHT” (1 PETER 2:9)