Merry Christmas from our family

A Brother restored

One Thursday morning at 7:00 AM at the Roma discipleship camp, I was surprised by a lot of yelling, wailing and excited voices. I quickly left my room and entered the hallway to find several Roma all trying to tell me at once that Pawel (Paul) had died.

Pawel was not at the Roma camp, but his daughter and grandchildren were. Many of the Roma at camp were also related to Pawel.

Pawel lived only 4 kilometers from where we held the Roma camp. I had seen him just the day before and had talked with Pawel and he seemed fine.

I began talking with the Roma people at the camp about me remembering when Pawel gave his life to Jesus.

Some of the people started saying, "well, Pawel hasn't been going to the prayer meetings or church, so they said he may not be in Heaven now".

I used those comments as a teachable moment about salvation.

While I was talking to the crowd, they got a phone call that Pawel was not dead.

I said to 4 Roma men, "during today's free time right after Bible study we are going to go to talk to Pawel and find out exactly how his relationship is with Jesus".

I told them I do not want to wonder nor should they wonder if a professing brother or sister is in Heaven or not. We are family and we should know each others spiritual conditions because we help and pray for each other.

Since we were given a second chance to talk with a brother who was once "dead" but now is alive, we need to go and speak with him.

We went to the Roma village and found Pawel and shared why we were there. After a long conversation we all joined Pawel as he prayed a prayer of repentance and asked for restoration from God.

Pawel was broken in spirit and reminded of his love for Jesus which he had let drift away the past several months.

Pawel join a group of other Roma who came to the camp each evening for the worship time.

This photo is of Pawel (he is the man standing in front of me) and those of us who went to share God's word and our love to a brother who had gone astray.

Pawel is dyeing of liver cancer, but he has life eternal with God.

Now the next time we get a phone call about his death, we can have peace knowing our brother is in Heaven.

Pray that God's people will have compassion to help lift up and encourage a fallen brother or sister in the Lord.

Praise God for that phone call, Pawel was not physically dead, but spiritually he had died.

Praise God Pawel is both physically and spiritually alive today!!!!!

We are in the Lord's army and we should never shoot our wounded.

Praise and Glory be to our great God!!!!!

Roma discipleship camp

God allowed us to hold a 5 day Roma discipleship camp in southern Poland.

These 5 days were filled with Bible studies and evening worship times. The worship lasted 3-4 hours every evening and it was a great time of worshiping our God and our Savior.

The Bible studies were a time for us to be in God's word to hear what He had to say to us all.

We had prayer time for each others needs and prayer time to seek God's plans for the future of the Roma ministry. We all asked God to give us more opportunities to share the truth of God's word to more people who need to hear.

God wants us to be his witnesses to all people. I had a witnessing training session also. With role play and scriptures to teach how to effectively share the Gospel message.

Hearts were renewed, refreshed, and revived during this camp. God's spirit was very evident and the fellowship was sweet.

All of us here are very thankful for God's people who gave the funds for this camp to be held!!!!

In Jesus love

Romani website

For those of you who like to read and learn. Here is a really good link which has many other links that you can learn a lot of information about the Romani people.

This will give you a better understanding of the Roma people and and their history. It will also help you to pray more effectively for this people group.

http://www.romani.org/

Thank you for your prayers,

Jerry and Family

Maczek went to be with Jesus today

Please pray for Ania (Maczek's wife) and their family. Maczek was killed today by a train. We don't know the details yet.

The Police just notified Janek (Janek is the Roma Pastor/leader in Tarnow and Maczek's son-in-law) that they found Maczek dead.

This photo is of Agnieszka, daughter in law of Ania & Maczek (left), Ania in the middle, and Maczek on the right. This photo was taken shortly after Maczek's baptism.

Please pray for this family as they have suffered the loss of a husband and father.

Please pray for the Roma people in Tarnow as they mourn the sudden loss of a brother in Christ.

Pray for Ania in Tarnow

Ania (she is the one in the center, cream colored shirt) is in the hospital and will be for a few days. Her blood pressure is really high and her sugar is also real high. She loves Jesus and has asked us all to pray for her.

Thank you for your prayers!!!!!

Never to old to dance

Roma video

This was filmed during a Roma family camp meeting. Worshiping Jesus while singing and dancing is a blessing to us and God.

More Baptism Pics

Zawoja Roma family camp-6 new believers in Jesus

60 people in 1 bed & breakfast lodge for 5 days. 3 languages and 3 different cultures. 1 true God and Savior. God's living word shared daily. God's spirit moved and 6 lives were born again and all of us other 54 people were also touched by God that week.

Here are the baptism photos. Please pray for our new Brothers and Sister in Jesus.

Raise to walk a new life in Jesus

Wyladek heard the Gospel clearly for the first time in his life. He has surrendered his life to Jesus and Wyladek is filled with great joy!!!!
Praise our great God!!!!

Dobranoc... good night

We tucked everyone in for the night. Tomorrow's a long day... we're going to the rynek (town square), packing, traveling to the mountains and getting settled at the pension. Goodnight.

IWC has Arrived

IWC peeps have arrived. Everyone's here. We're on our way to the hotel.

Posted with LifeCast

Follow The IWC wk

Www.Twitter.com/teamromapoland

I'll be updating it all week. Please
Follow us!!!

Posted with LifeCast

IWC has Arrived

IWC peeps have arrived. Everyone's here. We're on our way to the hotel.

Posted with LifeCast

Krosnica Visit

Today we visited a family in a village called Krosnica. They were valley Roma living near a river flowing through the mountains of southern Poland. The family was really nice to us. We're hoping that they will show up for the Family camp we'll be having in a couple of weeks. Here are some pictures from the day.

The Preacher From France

Posted with LifeCast

Roma Church Led By Visitors

Posted with LifeCast

The Guys In The Car On Our Trip In Warsaw

Posted with LifeCast

Warsaw Connections

Today is freezing! When I left my apt this morning I knew it would be a little cool but 50F whith summer clothes is cold. Ha. Jerry said something about the wind and when we turned the corner I found out what he was talking about. It was this chilly strong wind that cut through my pants.

It's been a good day though. We took the train to Warsaw at 8a. At 11a we were in the city center getting something to eat. Then a coworker in Warsaw picked us up and I helped navigate us to the address that henryk had given me for the Roma. We found it without much trouble. We walked into a small concrete room in the back of the building and saw the family that I'd met the last time I was here. The woman recognized me and then the man. Jerry was able to share the gospel with them and invitenthem to one of our Roma camps. They don't have a car much less electricity or running water. So if they are interested in coming to a camp then we'll have to find a way to get them to the camp.

Please pray for this family. Pray that God would work in their hearts and that he would use this as an open door to new Roma communities in the Warsaw area. Pray also that we would have wisdom in how to minister to them.

Posted with LifeCast

Prayer For The Roma Ministries @ A Krakow Church A Few Weeks Ago

Posted with LifeCast

Radosc Roma

Dorota Hury took this pictures. I think it's a really good picture and wanted to share it with you.

Włochy Station

Posted with LifeCast

Ursus

I went to ursus again today. This time I walked around. Pretty soon after I started walking it started raining. Ha. So I just walked and prayed for about an hour after my friend left. Sometimes I wish I were a needy American who can't be left alone. Sometimes I'd rather be taken care of. I work hard to prevent looking like the needy foreigner. Anyways. So my friend introduced me to a new game! You can take the train with a city transit pass. Ha. Of course I had to try it out. It was easy. It dropped me off only a couple of blocks away from starbucks. Ha.

Posted with LifeCast

Krakow Roma Church

Posted with LifeCast

Pictures from Warsaw

After passing out about 100 presents to kids in the Radosc area, Henryk took us to this place behind an abandoned building. He'd heard that there were Roma here but had never contacted them. When he found out that I was looking for Roma, he decided to take me to meet them. We walked in with a couple of big bags full of presents for the kids and immediately the adults and kids started to flock around to see what was in there. We asked if we could take pictures and the man who seemed to be in charged told us we couldn't take pictures. Then he picked up a big stick and started waving it around. One of the ladies was really nice and she said we could take pictures. But this guy waving the stick was more convincing.

While Henryk talked to him a bit, I started walking past him to talk to the women. I shook each of their hands and asked their names and told them mine. They seemed surprised and excited that I wanted to know their names. Finally the leader guy with the big stick relented and we were able to take pictures and talk with the kids while Henryk wrote down all of the kids' names. There were probably like 15 kids there that he got names and ages for.

Since I've been here in Warsaw, God has allowed more connections than I ever dreamed of. I was a little apprehensive about coming because I had never done this before (scouted for Roma), but I did it and God has provided some unique opportunities and new connections. When Henryk finished getting names and they were finished talking, we started to leave and the leader shook my hand and kissed me on the cheek and welcomed me to come back again. I'm hoping that before I leave, I'll get to go to a few more Bazaars in the city and pray walk a few more neighborhoods.

Please pray that God would continue to open doors here in the Warsaw area. Pray that he would create a burning desire in the hearts of the Roma people here so that they would be parched to hear the Word of God. Pray that we will be faithful to share the hope of Christ and the saving story of Christ to these people and that they would believe.

Radość Roma

Saturday I went to deliver presents to kids because today is Children's Day. It was the same foundation that did a children's camp in the mts that I helped with in jauary. While we were riding around, Henryk told me he knew of some Roma in Radość which is a town outside of warsaw. So at the end of the day he took me there. We have out presents. There were about 15 kids and 2 or 3 families living in this run down building. It was a great contact! They invited me back to visit them. Maybe some of them would be interested in going to one of the Roma Family Camps! Pictures to come!!!

Posted with LifeCast

Ursus Roma

Friday evening I went to a family orphanage in Ursus. Derek told me there are Roma in Ursus. It was too late in the evening to go explore that but it's useful information if I can follow up on it.

Posted with LifeCast

Free Bathrooms

So I've been in Warsaw since last Thursday. I've been looking for Roma here in the city. Thursday I met a woman and gave her a DVD. She was in a place I didn't expect to see her--a nice mall. Ever think of FREE BATHROOMS? Free bathroom alert: Starbucks@ul.Nowy Świat.

Posted with LifeCast

Gołąbki... cabbage and more cabbage

A few weeks ago we had two of the Roma women at the Goss's apartment trying to teach us Americans how to make something tasty out of the over abundant cabbage supply. This is Gołąbki. It's ground beef with rice and onions wrapped in a big cabbage leaf. You wrap it like a burrito and then you put it all in a big pot and cook it for about an hour with a block of lard at the bottom to grease it up. It tasted really good. I liked the stuff at the top of the pot that hadn't been touched much by the lard. It was a fun evening. I ate way too much. Ha. You may ask, "Will this meal become a staple in your normal eating habits?" No, I'd like to stay cabbage free. My roommates would probably appreciate it because cabbage can be revengeful. Ha.


My favorite part was when Brenda was asking how much spice to use. Then Paulina said, "Try some so you will know how it will taste in the future." The "it" was the bowl of raw ground beef mixed with rice. haha!!! Brenda skipped the taste test and just took better notes.

Ressurection Day !!!!

We celebrated the day with our Roma brothers and sisters. Then in the afternoon we have English church at "Compass International fellowship".
Jacqui & Kari and other youth on team Krakow led the worship music. I tried to upload the video, but it did not work. Here is a photo.
Thank you all for praying for our family and the Roma people!!!!!

Fuge Roma family camp

What do you get when you have 15 Fuge staff team members and 8 Team Roma members and 2 Polish women to translate for 25 Roma people for 5 days??

You have a great Roma family camp!!!!!!!!

Normally the Roma family camps are evangelistic. We bring Roma families of unbelievers and we place them under the word of God for 5 days in a clean and safe environment and God transforms lives.

This family camp turned out differently as in the last couple of days prior to the camp, all but 1 unbeliever backed out of attending the camp. So we filled the camp with believers in Jesus.

God apparently had a different plan than I had expected. This family camp became a Discipleship camp. It was a time of renewal, revival, and a time of restoration.

God did many great things in the hearts of all who attended.

Relationships were built between the Roma and their brothers and sisters in Jesus from America. God worked in the hearts of the 2 Polish women also. And as always God blessed our team with a chance to serve Jesus with an awesome team from the USA.

There are to many stories to tell and so many photos to choose from to put on this blog.

Just know that this week was a week of God glorifying moments and a time of growing closer to Jesus in our daily walk with our Savior!!!!!!

Thank you for all who prayed for this Roma family camp.

A happy time today.....

Today at 7pm Adam Mirga (who was at the family camp) married Ewa Podwelska (not at the family camp) in Zeslawice (Krakow). We all were invited to be their guests. 2 hours eating, singing, praying, and blessing the newly wed couple. It was a great time!!!!

I was able to share God's word and Andzrej Gil (Big Andrzej) married them.  The wedding was a happy time, but the same families are also mourning the loss of a baby boy. It is a bitter-sweet time for everyone.

Adam & Ewa are both believers in Jesus and we all pray God will bless their marriage and their lives as they continue to love and serve Jesus. Adam & Ewa will stay in Krakow for a few days, then they will move to Adam's village in Szaflary, Poland.

Please join us in prayer for this special day for Adam & Ewa.

A sad day......

The Roma Family Camp was great!!!! (More about the Roma Family camp later)

Yesterday, Sunday when we arrived to the Roma church meeting in Krakow, we were informed that earlier that morning a Roma believer name Ustina went into labor and her son died during the birth. Ustina is home now and physically well. Please pray for Ustina and her husband Romek and their other children. 

This is a sad time for all of the family in Zeslawice (Krakow). The Fuge team that was just here got to know Andrzej & Mihalina at the family camp, Ustina is their daughter. Simon was the little boy at the family camp, the baby boy was his brother.

The funeral arrangements are being made and the funeral will be sometime this week.

Pray that God's peace that passes all understanding will be upon Ustina & Romek and the rest of their family.

Tootsie Rolls

 After writing an article for an RA's magazine upon a request. We have been receiving packages almost daily for a month. These packages started appearing and they are filled with Tootsie rolls for the Roma people. The packages have seemed to stop now. It has been over a week and no more packages have arrive.

We want to say thank you on behalf of the Roma people who have truly enjoyed the Tootsie rolls from America!!!!

Here are a few photos. We will post more photos in a couple weeks after we have a Roma family camp. At the Family camp we will distribute Tootsie rolls daily to many Roma people. They all like the candy, young kids to old people.

Thank you all for your generosity and love!!!

Some Promo Ideas

So I'm working on some promo posters. These will maybe be helpful for people who are preparing to come to Poland to work with us. Hopefully they'll be colorful and useful posters for raising awareness of future trips and support for those trips. Let me know what you think! Or if your group would like a specific poster designed, please let me know!

Szaflary, Poland Roma visit

 We traveled from Krakow to south Poland near Slovakia to a Roma village for a visit and prayer time. We had a great time of fellowship and prayer as we were blessed to see a piece of Heaven. There were in our group, 2 Chinese women from Malaysia, a Polish women and her Colombian husband, and 2 Americans, and some of the Roma people of Szaflary, Poland. We prayed to God in our own native languages.  5 different languages, cultures, colors and customs, but we are all united in one spirit. Jesus made this all possible!!!!!

Thank you Jesus!!!!

Pray for Gustek and family

Pray for Gustek and Kasia and their 8 children as they move to live in England.

They have already found a church in England when Gustek went to find them a home there. We are praising God they will have a new church family. Pray they will grow stronger in the Lord and they will share what Jesus has done in their lives here in Poland.

Z Bogiem

Update on MiHalina Gil

MiHalina and Andrzej want to personally thank everyone for their prayers. MiHalina's bypass surgery went very well and she is recovering greatly. She is in a rehabilitation facility for 2 weeks, then she can return home. (Mihalina is standing in the back with a red sweater on and holding her grandson.)

Everyone is praising God for a successful surgery and answered prayer!!!!

Thank you,

MiHalina & Andrzej Gil and family

Update on MiHalina

MiHalina had a quadruple heart bypass today. She is in intensive care and we all are waiting to see how she pulls through. The Dr.'s said they will tell the family tomorrow evening. Please be in prayer for MiHalina and for her family as they wait in suspense.

The Roma people we work with here, usually never go to the hospital for any surgery. Old fears of communist times and a lack of trust, cause them to just live life until they die at home. This was a big step for this Roma family. They are mostly believers in Jesus and they are praying and trusting in the power of God for healing and life. MiHalina is a believer in Jesus!!!!

Thank you for praying!!!

Christmas Eve dinner at Roma's home

 It is a Polish tradition and for the Roma people also, to have a big feast on Christmas Eve.

Our family has been invited for the past 4 years to join a group of Roma in Zeslawice for the feast.

 We have a time of prayer. Bible reading of the birth of Jesus and then the feast.

This year our family was joined by a young women from Egypt named Laura.  Laura spent the evening enjoying fellowship with all of us.

Thank you Jesus, for allowing us all to fellowship in remembrance of your birth!!!!