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
 
 

Visiting Orphans

Visiting Children who have been orphaned:

In our last week in Ternopil we had the opportunity to go to two orphanages and love on the children and staff there.

Berzhany – this is a special place, about 45 minutes west of Ternopil. The town is small and very beautiful and historically was a center of study and commerce during Hungarian rule. Now, however, it is small and somewhat impoverished.

There is a state orphanage here where 145 children live. Because summer had begun, most of the children were away at state run sanatoriums, or summer camps. There were about 40 children that were still at the institution, however and we were able to give them a short English class, play games with them, share a meal together and buy them fruit and ice cream (which was a really outrageous treat!)

We also had time with the staff and I was impressed with the heart and love that they have for the children. The orphanage is not a Christian institution, but many of the staff are believers and the director treats all 145 kids as his own. The evidence of the lack of funds was not hard to miss in the building structure and maintenance, but the staff seemed to do their best with what they had.

Once we had spent a couple of hours with the kids, some of them began opening up to us and asking us questions about our families and our lives. One young girl of about 7 years old, asked my team member, Megan, if she wanted to adopt her and take her home. It also was hurtful to see how violent and aggressive the children were towards each other and for a moment I saw into their lives of fighting their way for survival, attention and love.

Personally, I was overwhelmed with the need for love and attention this amount of children requires and over 100 of them were not here! This was a revelatory moment for me, understanding how limited my love is and how much more I need God to fill me with His love that is sufficient for every one of these dear children.

Petting Zoo Outreach:

This was an exciting experience for us all. Our team joined up with one of the regular Orphan Ministry teams from the base at YWAM. This group goes weekly to children’s homes and takes animals from the city ‘zoo’, along with city workers to allow the kids to learn about the animals and mostly to pick them up, pet them and play.

We visited a Christian orphanage in Ternopil and even from the get go there was a greater sense of peace and love in the kids and in the home. This was a testimony to me personally.

The children were ecstatic about the large rabbit, the guinea pig, the turtle and the hamsters. The birds did not get very much attention, but all in all the children had so much fun playing and holding the animals. We were able to talk to some of the kids, most of whom ranged in age from six to ten years old.

Interestingly, there was an older couple that was hanging around and I quickly found out that they were there to adopt one of the boys in our group. The couple were from Italy and had been in Ternopil for a number of weeks and had more weeks to go. This was my first experience seeing the process of foreign adoption taking place. I had a good conversation with the wife and she was so impressed and thankful for such a ministry that would come and visit and play with the kids. I pray that the Lord’s guidance and wisdom will be with them in their transition and with the dear boy that will become their son.

This was our experience in only two of the many, many orphanages in Ukraine. There are so many children needing parents, naturally and spiritually. Let's continue to pray for these kids, that they will know and receive the love that God has for them through the people that are in their lives. That God will raise up and send more people to go and visit and care for and love these children. Each one of them is so precious and dear!

For a larger photo album, please click on this link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=451238&id=741610340&l=c27b437cd1

Praising the Lord that we were able to meet these precious ones and bless them with very little of what we had - our time and some icecream - all in the name of Jesus!
 
Blessing and love as we share all the Lord has given us to share...our lives and the rest!

(this is me sitting on the knee of a statue of some famous guy from Berzhony - a Ukrainian hero of sorts!)

Tail End of English....

“You are going to Chernobyl?”, asked my Mom and Dad simultaneously when I reminded them that the YWAM TESOL Practicum was being held in Ukraine. No, it was not Chernobyl, it was Ternopil, a city and province in Western Ukraine, close to the Polish border.

Needless to say, our time was explosive, but not of the nuclear variety...more along the lines of the love and power of Jesus Christ!

English Classes Wrap - Up

As you were aware from previous emails, we went to Ukraine to serve and minister to the people there by offering FREE English classes by native English speakers. In case you did not know....if you are a native English speaker, you are a hot commodity to foreigners who are so hungry to learn our native language. In my last update I had shared about the large amount of students we were already seeing come to classes...it was amazing! The enthusiasm and interest by the community was overwhelming. Not only were the students excited about English, but they were so grateful that we were giving the classes for free and with lots of love!

We were working with the Youth With a Mission Base in Ternopil, which was established over 15 years ago and is really a “centre” of Christian Ministry for the city of Ternopil. Very wisely, the English classes were advertized in the newspaper and all around the city and for the entire month we were able to serve and reach out to over 100 students, many of whom we and the other missionaries at the base developed strong relationships with. So many of the students truly improved their English skills in such a short time, and as Armand, an African student studying at the Medical University in Ternopil said, “The best thing that has happened to me this week is feeling more confident in being able to have an English conversation. I can say and understand things now that a few weeks ago I could not.”                                                        

                                                   

                                                                                                                           One of my students, Galena, 

                                                                                                                                                                     who is a doctor

Our team had the opportunity to love these people with Jesus’ love by teaching English Grammar – who would have thought!!!!!

For me this was a very valuable experience, in seeing how our practical skills, whatever they may be, serve as one of our greatest gifts and investments into the lives of others who are needing those things that we might see as common. My understanding of evangelism and outreach to foreign people groups has expanded in seeing how many things we can offer and serve to people in a spirit of true love through teaching the English language. Many of our students dream to someday study in English universities, gain higher paying jobs because of their English skills, become English teachers themselves, and my personal favourite: go into English speaking nations as missionaries!

In our classes we were training future and present doctors, business people, children, missionaries, ministers of the Gospel, high school teachers, children from orphanages, etc. What a blessing to meet and relate to such a wide variety of people....people who God loves and longs to be one with through Jesus Christ! It all starts with loving relationships!

The icing on this cake was certainly on the final night of classes. As teachers we decided to throw a big party and encourage conversation, photos, goodbyes and the whole bit! We had a short program where we thanked the students and presented our translator and co-labourer, Tamara, with a gift and card. We had students share some of their English accomplishments, such as the Hokey Pokey song (lol!) and some advanced students read a famous speech. To our surprise the students took over and presented us teachers with flowers, a very official certificate and a Ukrainian gift. We were so amazed and BLESSED! Many hugs and tears were had and our good-bye’s were said!

Lots of laughter.....here is our translator, Tamara (full time missionary) to my right and Oles (missionary to India) to my left.
 
 
We will continue to believe God to complete His good work in each one of the student’s lives. He is faithful to do so!
 
 
 
THANKS AGAIN TO ALL OF YOU FOR PRAYER, LOVE AND SUPPORT! More posts to come following this one.....trying to break it down into bite size peices for you all :)
 
In His love,
Allison
 
 
 
 
 
For a fuller photo album, please click on this link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=451221&id=741610340&l=27e8653a82