The Gypsy Camp

Gypsy Camp


What an amazing experience – all around! Our team had the opportunity to go to a Roma Youth Conference on our last weekend in Ukraine. “Roma” is the rebranded name for Gypsy, because there has been and still exist so much racism and discrimination associated with the term gypsy throughout all of Europe and the world.

We went to the historic city of Mukachevo, which once was a part of Hungary and has one of the largest Roma communities. The Roma church was hosting a youth conference for the weekend and we went to be a part. It was an incredible experience....we drove through the beautiful city, crossed the rail road tracks and were all of a sudden in the gypsy camp. The conditions were very similar to Guatemala – the roads were dirt, there were children all around playing on the streets in dirty clothes, with dirty faces. Many homes are without running water, etc. and there are a lot of evidences of poverty, both spiritual and physical, that can be seen just from walking down the street. All of the brothers and sisters that we met that were involved and had desires to see change and improvement had at some point gone 'out' and done training with Youth with a Mission. This was an encouragement!

The church was special as well. The first thing that we all noticed was the music and worship...such passion and outward expression of praise and worship. AND THE BEATS – a confirmation that music is part of the culture...so much so that the two drummers in the worship team were around 7 and 8 years old! The conference speaker was a man from Operation Mobilization, a missions organization, from Hungary. He was a gem – an older gentleman that has given his life to reaching out and mobilizing outreach. Thankfully he spoke English, so we connected quickly. All of the worship, service and preaching and teaching was done in Hungarian, so we had to go through a few translators to get it into English.

I was greatly impacted by the children, and also by the overwhelming need for the Word of God to be taught in this place. Yes, it was a church setting, but in my heart I knew that culture and gypsy way of life still is lord over so many of the families represented and that the room and need for true transformation by God’s word and Spirit is too much for a human heart to bear or even do something about. The Spirit of God is and will do a mighty work in the midst of these people! One entire service, I was so overwhelmed with the need for true transformation of spirit that I simply sat and wept and wept before Jesus, crying out for Him to move!

The youth Pastor, Carlos, was very friendly and hospitable and they invited us to eat meals with them and to be together as much as possible. This was special! We stayed with the Senior Pastor and his wife, who are Ukrainian. This man, the Pastor, was one of the first people to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the gypsies over 25 years ago. He shared that for the first 10 years he went around as a travelling evangelist to gypsy camps and within the last 15 or so years planted the church in Mukachevo and now 16 other church plants in other gypsy villages. It was such a great honour to meet this family and to connect with them! They are champions with hearts full of love and mercy. I hope in the Lord that someday I will be able to work more with them!

A little aside....on the Saturday night, there was a Praise concert...and Carlos, the Youth Pastor, asked if I would bring a song....so I agreed, with the understanding that I would sing in English and no one would understand! It was such a blessing and honour to bring a song to Jesus in the midst of such a crowd and group! For me, it was an honour to serve them with something so dear to me – my heart of love to God!

After the conference ended we had a short time to tour around Mukachevo...we even went to the castle! It was INCREDIBLE! This was my first time in a real castle...and in the company of dear friends and family in the Lord was a memory that I hold dear. After this we made the 6 hour drive back to Ternopil and packed and prepared to go home! It was a wonderful way to wrap up our adventure....and also wet our appetite for more outreach and ministry in Ukraine!

Praise be to Jesus for all He continued through our visit and all that He will do in the future. This people group are dearly loved by God and He has great plans for them!
 
Love,
Allison
 
For more photos of the time in Mukachevo click on this link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=451221&id=741610340&l=27e8653a82