Belgrade has a suburb called Zamen a part of which has a large Roma community. The homes are only a few hundred yards from the main road but as you approach it you enter into what looks like another world … heaps of decomposing rubbish with its unsavoury odour, cars and motorbikes moving at unacceptable speeds in such narrow and confined spaces. However first impressions can be misleading and very soon the residents greet you with a warm smile and a friendly welcome, especially when you are accompanied by a staff member of Bread of Life or a believer from the Roma church. Do you speak German? … a question that indicates someone has been working in Germany and has had to return home because of the economic situation, bringing more deprivation to this impoverished area.
In the middle of this densely populated, close-knit community there is a fragrance which the Christians and their influence have brought to the Roma people … a fragrance which is gradually spreading.
Classes on Saturday afternoons?? Such an arrangement would hardly meet with much enthusiasm from children here at home. Imagine the groans of protest! However, this was not a typical school classroom, this was a special group of young people, and this was a special kind of class – IT and computer skills for children from the large Roma community located in one suburb of Belgrade!
The class is part of Bread of Life’s regular outreach to this large gypsy community and the children are enthusiastic and committed. This is due in large measure to the warm personal relationships that have been built up over many years between Bread of Life workers and the community there. It was so encouraging to see the rapport between Jasmina and Roma people of all ages as we walked through their narrow streets and paths.
Actually the IT class began in a very non-tech manner – with the SGA team teaching the kids how to make and launch paper aeroplanes! There was a lot of laughter and fun before they got down to serious learning. Graded exercises are set to teach computer skills, and it was obvious [and humbling!] to realize that some of these kids were already more computer literate than their western visitors! There are after school classes to enable the children to catch up on their education, safe and warm places conducive to learning, whilst seeing Christian love demonstrated in a practical way.
Bread of Life has built many bridges like this into the Roma community and it has given workers many opportunities to share the Gospel in a very natural yet powerful way. Parents are deeply appreciative of the help and encouragement given to their children, and the trust gained through years of practical ministry in the name of Christ has provided an invaluable platform for sharing the good news of the Gospel.
This was very evident at our next stop that Saturday afternoon – a children’s meeting in the small church building tucked away in a corner of the sprawling housing settlement. The meeting room was packed – standing room only – and every child without exception sang the Gospel choruses with enthusiasm so that the place seemed to shake with the noise. The story of the Lost Son, told with all the drama and excitement typical of Roma culture, held the children’s attention fast, and their quick and ready answers to questions showed that they were taking it all in!
It was obvious to the team that a deep and sustained spiritual work is being carried on in this community, assisted and supported by SGA’s friends in Bread of Life. This impression was further confirmed when the team conducted the service in the Roma church on the following Sunday. The young pastor who has been ministering there for eight years has seen the work grow from nothing to around thirty, with others attending. They are now saving towards a new building, more visible in the community and more suited to their growing needs.
It seems clear that a healthy balance has been struck in that Roma community as the believers reach out in practical support and social action, and also take the opportunities provided to present clearly the Gospel of Christ. The work has many needs but the chief need as expressed by the believers themselves is of prayer. They know that only the Spirit’s work can penetrate the darkness of sin in human hearts, and that only such a work of the Spirit will endure and grow in the context of the deprivation and poverty which is the situation in their mission field. Here, in this corner of the large city of Belgrade, there is an unmistakeable aroma of Christ and the Christians’ desire is that this fragrance of the Lord will pervade the entire community.
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