Let me introduce to you…the least of these:
At first I thought that here in Viile Tecii we were ministering to “the least of these.” I thought the gypsies in this village were poor, were in need. Until our host Abi took us just down the road through a little field….
That is where the “least of these” are. A group of outcasts, 20 or 30 Gypsy men, women and children who are unwanted, unwelcome, and cast aside. They don’t have a home. They don’t have a land to call theirs. They were kicked out of the last place they settled in. No body wants them, the whole country of Romania would rather they disappear. Now they find themselves just across a field from Viile Tecii, and have been there about a year. You can see the church steeple from where they stay. But they are not allowed in the village. They are too dirty.
The children are full of dirt, I can see lice in their hair. I can smell and see they haven’t bathed in a long, long time. Most do not have shoes. Some do not have pants or shirts.
But this doesn’t stop them from running to us with open arms when we come visit them. They are full of smiles and joy, so eager and excited to play with us, to let us hold them, spin them in the air, love on them, and just spend time with them. Each one, individually, is so, so precious and absolutely beautiful.
Here are some of the faces of “the least of these”:
