Christ for the Romani: Slovakia Camp Report

This month began with a last-minute trip to help at a Roma youth camp in Hermanovce, Slovakia. This was such a wonderful experience. During my five days there, I was able to meet Roma youth, Roma Christian leaders, Slovak Christians, and some missionaries who have been involved in this region for many years. The Lord showed me some absolutely stunning answers to prayers that I and others were praying more than a decade ago. I can't tell you how humbling and thrilling it was to see.

The camp was established for youth at two Roma churches in eastern Slovakia--one in Hlinne and one in Sabinov. About 20 kids were there, along with youth leaders and camp helpers. Each day began with breakfast and group Bible study, followed by small group times. Then there were great activities, more camp food (yum...), and a lesson from Scripture in the evenings around the campfire. Though large-group times were conducted in Slovak, much of the socializing among the teens was in Romani. What this meant was that the non-Roma helpers ended up in much the same position as me--in a state of minor culture shock. Still, the young people were happy to teach us Romani words and songs and made a point of including us in conversation. Some even put up with my bad Czech and were able to understand me! Some pictures are included below.

I was there as an "observer" rather than as a helper this time around. This gave me lots of opportunity for conversation and questions, and what I learned from the leaders, both Roma and non-Roma, encouraged and enriched me. For example, I was able to ask one of the youth leaders (who is also an elder of the church) in Sabinov about the history of their congregation, the challenges Roma believers face, and how I (and you) can pray for them. I have done a lot of reading about Roma people, but book-learning is nowhere near as valuable as hearing and seeing what is happening on the "front lines." I was deeply blessed by my conversation with this man, Marek Olah. How can we pray for Roma churches? Pray for:

Discipleship that would break down the strongholds such as alcoholism and gambling that keep drawing people back
Multiplication of Christian leaders and quality training for them
Unity in the Body of Christ
Clear priorities of loving and serving people in the name of Christ over building projects and church programming (which are still important and need to be balanced)

I was so thrilled to see the number of non-Roma volunteers at this camp. For several, this was the very first involvement in this kind of ministry, and they struggled a bit with their fears and prejudices and with the above-mentioned culture shock. But they stuck it out, trusting God to work on their hearts even as they obediently served. This was HUGE for these young people. Please pray that fruit would spring out of this experience for them in the form of hearts more tuned to mission and to ministry among "the least of these," and that "the dividing wall of hostility" that Paul talks about in the letter to the Ephesians would continue to be broken down as God's people obediently seek to serve one another in this way.

What a great week. Praise the Lord!