This month I have been teaching English, painting houses, and delivering boxes to villages with people in need. All fun and important things. Doing is one thing, but what I have been learning is much, much more. The villages that we go to are mostly made up of Romani communities. Last month was the first time I learned the meaning of the word “Romani”. For those of you who don’t know like I didn’t, Roma people are a group of people who originally came from northern India and now live in Asia, Europe, and North America. But if you ask me, that is a very inadequate definition of a very large community of people. So what is so different about them? Each village of Romas is different from the next but the majority of them have no legal documents for the land that they live on. They don’t legally get married or “get wed” by a pastor. Many of them don’t have any sort of an education for many different reasons. One reason they don’t have an education is because each Roma village speaks their own language. So since they are settlers who don’t want the country they live in to change their ways, they don’t have any teachers or schools that teach in their language. The schools that are in their communities are taught in the nation’s language, making it all the more challenging for the children so most of them don’t know how to read. Also, the girls/women often don’t have any sort of an education because their tradition is that once a girl hits puberty she is then old enough to be married. Then her parents begin to look for a man to marry her. There is an event twice a year called a “bride market” where different villages get together and there is an auction where the girls that are “of age” are auctioned off for marriage. These girls are often the age of 11 and older. Once married, these girls are generally enslaved to the husband’s family leaving no room to go to school. These people are very closed off to outsiders for many reasons. Outsiders try to take away their language and traditions or tell them they are wrong. How can I blame them for holding on to the things that are comfortable to them because that’s all they know.
The times I have been in these villages I have loved every minute of it. The first time I was in a Roma village was back in Romania. My team and I put on a VBS, played games, sang songs, and told a story to about 30 kids. As I stood in front of these children I saw the sweetest smiles behind the messy faces. I saw joy in the midst of the storm. And I saw the light of the world, Jesus, moving amongst the darkness. Another time I was in a village just out side of the city I am in now where we delivered a stove to a widow who lived in a medal hut not even big enough to fit my car in. She was about 70 years old, missing most of her teeth, but she overflowed with joy knowing she would now be warm through the winter. Shortly after, I attended my first church service in a Roma community with about 40 in attendance and I saw the way the missionaries and pastors who had planted churches in this village love on these people in a way that made my heart overflow. It takes missionaries 10 years before good relationships are formed and to see fruit in these communities. Just last week, Emily and I went to a youth conference in a different village that consisted of ten bible-believing churches in one room. When I walked into the half built church I could not help but feel the Holy Spirit moving within me. There were people of all ages as they worshiped in their native language. My heart was excited as I watched the way they expressed their love to the Lord. In this particular event they worshiped, had two sessions of teaching, and a play that was written and put on by the church hosting the conference. During one of the worship sessions as I sat off to the side of the room with Emily and our translator Maia, the worship team began to dance around holding hands and singing the way we see people dance at weddings. I had never seen so much freedom in a worship service like I did there! As the circle of people holding hands and dancing grew bigger and bigger, Emily and I laughed with joy of the Lord and joined in. Freedom in Christ filled the air and it was a sweet aroma!
As I reflect on what I have learned I ask myself where I stand. In the midst of brokenness, Christ alone still sits on His throne. I don’t understand their customs and traditions. I will never be okay with them auctioning off their daughters. And I will continue to see the enemy as the manipulator that he is. But I will forever hold on to Christ who has won victoriously on the cross for the Romani people and for me. I will rest in the Prince of Peace that He is doing a better job at fighting for freedom in that community better than I can. And I will continue to take every opportunity I can to pour out the love of the Lord onto each person while I can. I will never forget the beautiful faces I have seen. Each individual I met holds a precious, unique, beautiful face that is so valued by God and I am honored to have met them. Please join me as I pray for more freedom in Christ in this community of people and pray with me that the young believers rise up and continue to hold fast to their faith and to the One who offers steadfast love.
