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Roma/Gypsy Communities in Hungary Hear the Gospel Call
Open-air Gospel preaching by Roma pastor Janos Kajcza from Oradea, Romania, came to the Roma/Gypsy communities in Boldog, Retkozberencs, and Kékcse, Hungary, during the week of September 12 to 16, 2016.
Each day began with fellowship and prayer and then door-to-door visitation by Pastor Kajcza, members of the MEK Team and Roma Christians from the village.
The evening meetings started with music and singing led by Kalman Hamza, Roma MEK worker. This was followed by a powerful testimony by Roma team-member, Sandor, whose life was completely turned away from drug dealing and addiction by his conversion to Jesus Christ. Then Pastor Janos preached with great power about being delivered from the kingdom of darkness, where there is no life, to the Kingdom of God’s beloved Son.
In Boldog, over fifty Roma adults witnessed the proceedings both nights. Meanwhile, MEK workers held an outreach program for about 30 children one block away.
When Pastor Kajcza gave the invitation to receive Christ or to rededicate your life to Christ, over 20 adult community members stood up. While others watched on, Janos challenged them to put away their specific sinful habits that kept them from fellowship with God and better relationships with each other. Names were then recorded for future follow-up by the MEK Team. The first evening ended with a community dinner of Gypsy bean gulyas prepared by the Christians of the village.
After the last crusade meeting in Boldog, Roma Christians in the village hosted a joyous dinner celebration for all those who participated in the evangelistic campaign. As we all ate chicken paprikas, we praised God for what we were witnessing God doing in this community.
Then it was off to do one-day crusades in Retkozberencs and Kékcse in east Hungary, organized by MEK Team members Hessel Keuter and Kálman Hamza and local Roma believers. At the conclusion of both evening meetings, 10 to 15 villagers came forward to stand for Jesus Christ. Hessel and Kálman will now follow-up on each of these and seek to add them to the CHE Groups they have begun in both villages.
We praise and thank our Lord for the work He did in each place, setting prisoners free from darkness and death
Bela Kadét’s Dream is Coming True, Thanks to God and American Entrepreneur
Just over a year ago, Bela and Andi Kadét began a new adventure with several other family members from the Roma community in Boldog. Together they met weekly with MEK workers, Laci and Eszter, to learn how to start savings groups and begin their own successful micro-enterprise, built upon a relationship with Jesus Christ and godly business principles.
Bela has always had a dream and he’s always been an entrepreneur. After the Communist era, the Hungarian government returned to his father a beautiful two and one-half hectares of land his family once owned. While other Roma soon sold their newly recovered parcels, Bela’s father kept his and passed it down to him. Bela would not sell it either. His goal was, one day, when he had enough money, to farm it. As a believer in Jesus Christ, he also wanted this dream-farm to be a model to show other Roma how they too could break their cycle of poverty.
Bela did something rather rare for many Roma. He worked hard at a full-time factory job for 10 years, knowing the toxic fumes at the plastic molding factory where endangering his life. Meanwhile he raised some pigs and chickens at his home. But there was never enough money to start his farm, build a barn and buy sufficient livestock to be an independent businessman.
When the micro-enterprise course was completed, Bela worked with Laci to write up a business and marketing plan for his farming enterprise on his own land. Bela soon qualified to be the first entrepreneur to receive a MEK revolving loan provided by American Christian entrepreneurs.
First he purchased the materials to build a temporary barn-shelter and with the new space increased his number of pigs to eight and goats to four. He also harvested his first crop of feed for his livestock. Recently, one of his sows birthed eight piglets. Thanks to the Lord and MEK Hungary, Bela and Andi are on their way to achieving their dream.
How has this affected the Roma in Boldog? Other villagers are now asking more questions about what MEK and wholistic community development are all about. More importantly, Bela and Andi took key roles in the community evangelistic outreach in Boldog in the middle of September that saw many receive Christ or rededicate their lives to Him. Livestock and the Bible: this is what wholistic community development is about.
For more news go to our website justaseck.wordpress.com.