Monday, March 2, 2009

Gypsy Smith Visits Western Romania

Last October, Alex and I (Wes) visited two Roma churches in two different villages in western Romania in order to share with them about the opportunity for their leaders to attend the Gypsy Smith School in Bucharest. Even though they have already sent some leaders to Bucharest, they asked us if we would be willing to hold a three day course in one of their villages. Due to the distance from Bucharest (12 hours by train), this would allow many more students to attend. We agreed and for the first time GSS was held in a location other than Bucharest. There were twelve church leaders from surrounding villages in attendance for the Biblical Interpretation & Application course.

As wonderful as it was being with these Roma church leaders, what was even more encouraging was the special baptismal service for three Roma. Despite the 30-degree weather outside and no heater inside, people gathered together to witness the first baptisms in their village. The three Roma could have waited until spring, but they refused to wait. They couldn’t wait. They wanted to be baptized as soon as possible and I was honored to be there to witness such an enthusiastic expression of faith.

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