Oh my goodness
folks, one and a half months to go.
I thought month
ten would never come and now here I am, smack dab in the middle of it.
Well, smack dab
in the middle of Draganesti Olt, Romania that is.
This month we
are working with Pastor Raul Costea and the church he has planted here, Hope
Church. We are paired with two other
teams and we all live in the “mission house� together, as well as go out to
work together. It has been a blessing this
month to have a large group of us together, especially since the realities of
going home are just around the corner.
Our ministry
this month is a wide array of activities.
We have been
doing:
Logistics (writing emails for Raul and doing any research he
may need)
Children’s Programs (these are held in various villages and
usually consist of games, songs and a bible story)
Doing yard work/setting up a greenhouse/gardening/heavy
labor
Evangelism in rural villages around Draganesti Olt
Afterschool Program for underprivileged children
And many other
odd jobs.
Pastor Raul has
been great to work with and his heart and passion for the city of Draganesti
Olt is so evident and inspiring. This
town truly is unlike any other place I have lived in before. For one thing, there is a large gypsy
population. Within the gypsy population
there are varying types of gypsy. Here
in Draganesti Olt, we are surrounded by what are called the “rich gypsies�. They live in HUGE homes and drive extremely
nice cars. Unfortunately, their wealth
comes mainly from illegal means, and they are known as a “Romanian mob� of
sorts. There is also a large “poor gypsy�
population, living mainly on the outskirts of town. They typically survive through stealing and deceiving. The third type of gypsy that we occasionally
see pass through town are the “traveling gypsies�. They usually travel with a horse and wagon
cart, along with all their goods.
When I was
younger I often romanticized the life of a gypsy. I don’t know if I got that thought from “Hunchback
of Notre Dame� or some other children’s program, but being here in Romania, I
see that the life of a gypsy is an extremely sad one. It is tradition here for gypsy children to
get married to each other around the age of 11 or 12, and often when their
marriage is consummated, their parents are there watching. They live in a community that forces the children
to grow up quickly and enter into a tough lifestyle, whether they like it or
not.
Because of the
stereotypes and lifestyle that the gypsies live, there is a huge divide between
them and the Romanian people. Even the
church we attend and work with here has to go out into the gypsy community for
church, because some of the Romanian church members have a hard time trusting
them. It is a divide that Raul and other
church leaders are fighting to break, but they also recognize that to bridge
that gap it will take baby steps. I
recognize their wisdom in it, but honestly, when I first heard about the forced
divide that the church was enabling, it got me kind of riled up. This verse
came to mind:
“Therefore,
remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised�
by those who call themselves “the circumcision� (that done in the body by the
hands of men)—remember that at that time you were separate from Christ,
excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the
promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far
away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
For he himself
is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the
dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its
commandments and regulations. His
purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace,
and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by
which he put to death their hostility.
He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those
who were near. For through him we both
have access to the Father by one Spirit.� Ephesians 2:11-18
I am going to
continue to pray that God would break down the barriers. In Christ, we are one.
“You are all
sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized
into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor
free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.� Galatians 3:28
Please lift up
the town of Draganesti Olt in your prayers; let’s bring the light into this dark place.
