A letter from James Adams serving in Germany
august 2015- who is our neighbor?
Dear Friends:
On August 29, 2002, Madalin Voicu, one of the most well-known Romani politicians in Romania and one of two Romani representatives in the Romanian parliament, made the following statement:
Our Gypsies are stupid. They could at least be crafty, but they aren't. They are just primitives and they manage to irritate the entire society which is already watching them closely. ... They run through the country and Europe barefoot, slimy and dirty, wearing clothes which are more likely to disgust you than make you feel sorry for them. ... Begging, soliciting and being disorganized will never bring them any advantages.
This quote graphically illustrates that Romanian society harbors one of the worst cases of social stigma in Europe. And this attitude prevails today as the Roma population has grown immensely, far surpassing the growth rate of the general population of Romania.
Romania's population has fallen by more than 12 percent since 2002 as hundreds of thousands leave the poverty-stricken nation for richer countries, such as Great Britain. Yet each Roma woman typically gives birth to 5 to 8 children in contrast to the birthrate in Romania last measured at 1.53 in 2013, according to the World Bank.
There is such need in Romania for Roma children to attend schools; where do we begin? Adrian, a Romanian national living in Bucharest, committed his life to seeing improvements in Romanian society as he finished his university studies. Adi discovered that Habitat for Humanity in Romania was also committed to serving orphans and Roma people. Habitat for Humanity Romania searches for opportunities of service and then recruits local building specialists to design and source the building materials. As he gained experience in identifying and leading others in this practical form of service he discovered a kindergarten exclusively for Roma children whose parents and older siblings had never learned to read. Adi offered this service project to groups that came to serve Romania on several occasions, but it was never received with any enthusiasm. Adi told me, "If you will just come and see the building these little kids gather in, your heart will melt for them. You will see the local teachers teaching the little ones with great dedication." Because Adi had helped us select previous projects, we knew he was aware of the direst needs in Romania. Black Forest Academy (BFA), along with Frei Evangelische School of Loerrach (FES), accepted the invitation to partner with the local Romanian Habitat for Humanity.
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BFA Team unloading insulation for the Medical Clinic with help from the local Roma students
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German high school students with Jay Adams smoothing cement stucco over the newly installed insulation
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Roma child hugs returning German high school student who built indoor bathrooms for her school
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Roma youth excited to show off their new soccer ball signed by German & BFA Team members
Nancy and I have been serving children of missionaries at Black Forest Academy in Germany since 1992. In 2012 we began bringing teams of students and staff to Romania to bring the love of God and the Good News of the gospel to the Roma people (pejoratively called “Gypsies” because of their history of communal migration). Roma people are not to be confused with the Romani, who are citizens of Romania. The Roma people have no land of their own, and are treated with discrimination wherever they live. We continue to use education to impart dignity and hope to the Roma people.
Many times I have been asked why missionary kid students of Black Forest Academy and German nationals from the Frei Evangelische School of Loerrach would partner together to refurbish and build an addition onto a school for Roma children in Romania. As young people, these teens want to find an area of the world where they can make an impact. When they discovered that poverty exists so close to their own homes and schools, they decided to raise the funds to help others who live less than a two-hour plane ride away from their own backyard. Another aspect of this partnership is that even though the teens attend two different schools just 15 minutes from each other in Germany, these students have no other context for getting to know each other.
Students and teachers come together for the five months prior to the weeklong project to read Scripture, pray, raise funds, and do team building. When we arrived in the community of Caracal, Romania, in March 2015 we found living conditions similar to the partnership project in Vizuresti, Romania, that we undertook in April 2014. The Economist magazine ran an article on Vizuresti called “Bottom of the Heap” in June 2008. For a more complete description of the children we are seeking to educate see http://www.economist.com/node/11579339. In Vizuresti there exists one dirt-floor hut after dirt-floor hut, which form a cluster of shacks in a muddy field. An occasional scrawny horse-drawn cart goes down the one-lane rut-filled, mud-slopped road carrying a pig. Our team of 25 worked to place insulation on the soon-to-open medical clinic and carried Sheetrock into the shell of a building as we constructed bathroom walls. A plumber followed our team and installed the toilets and running water, which are now functional.
Caracal is a much larger town and has a school for the non-Roma children. Most Roma kids who attend the Roma kindergarten never enroll in the local primary school, however, due to discrimination that exists among the local Romanians. The “Gypsies” are not welcome. Our team toured the local public school and saw their modern computers, artwork and typical school furniture…and then we went back to where we were renovating a Roma kindergarten, flicking stucco onto cement walls without insulation.
At lunch on Day 3 of our building project, five little Roma children joined our street game of soccer. These kids won our hearts, and their parents watched without emotion as half our team began to play soccer with their children and the other half of our team continued to work diligently on the building project. It may be difficult to believe, but these Roma parents do not value education whatsoever.
That evening, after cleanup and supper, our students from BFA and FES each shared (1) something they were thankful for, (2) how God was teaching them something new, and (3) an obscure detail of their personal lives. Teenager after teenager began to sob as one girl said the bedroom of her home in Germany was average size but bigger than the entire shack that housed a Roma family of eight.
Does our Christian faith mean that we sacrifice to bring a cup of water to share with the masses of needy people? We did travel across Europe to share our lives with the children and parents of these two villages during Easter breaks in 2015 and 2014. The majority of our direct contacts with the Roma children were the spontaneous soccer games. The language barrier prevented in-depth conversations, but smiles and hugs between students were well received and understood.
We are to love the Lord with all our heart and all our strength. We are to love our neighbor as ourselves. “Lord, who is our neighbor?”
This year Syrian refugees have arrived in our small town in Germany. How can we reach out to them? Germany, unlike Romania, is welcoming refugees of all ages into their schools. Yet the potential for discrimination obviously exists. Each person and each community will respond differently. Thank you for choosing to support our efforts to bring the light of Christ into these communities.
We pray you will join us with your financial gifts to enable the partnership project to occur again next Easter, in 2016. Gifts can be designated for our service through ECO account E074690.
Please contact us at jayandnancyadams@gmail.com to learn more details and join with us in prayer.
Sincerely in Christ,
Jay & Nancy Adams
The 2015 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 328
Read more about Jay and Nancy Adams' ministry
Blogs: homesforthehomeless2013.blogspot.fr and
www.romaniahome.wordpress.com
Write to Jay and Nancy Adams
Individuals: Give online to E074690 for Jay and Nancy Adams' sending and support
