Signs of love...

We delivered 10 hampers to nearly all of the Roma families - a total of 27 were made up by the good folk at Christchurch.   Few things communicate the unconditional love of God as well as a Christmas gift like this.  Two other things they would love to have - "Brado Kretchunosko" [xmas tree] and "Stelutsia" [lights].   Maybe one day!

One thing we got wrong though.  The 3 families who went without [as we ran out] heard about it and no words could explain...

Next year:  Count. Make. Deliver. Pray. 

Mentoring Scheme in pipe-line

Luton has a growing number of Christian projects underway that reach out to the most needy of our town. Having seen the London Roma Support Group and heard about the Peterborough Support Group, we hope to launch something similar here soon.  For two years now nearly all the mentoring work has been done by me and one other guy.  We've learnt a lot about the complex, multiple needs of the Roma who have come to Luton.  We continue to do what we can to help them navigate their way through to some kind of a life here, but we can only really scratch the surface.  The plan now is to recruit volunteers to help in this holistic mission, offer some training, and set some good boundaries and accountability.   Below and on the right you will find the two flyers we plan to put out after Christmas.

Steps towards becoming a Mentor …

1.     Initial discussion with team leader, Martin Burrell

2.     Shadow an experienced mentor on a home visit

3.     Apply in writing, giving two references. 

4.     CRB application

5.     Attend an initial two hour induction session

6.     Visit your Roma family with Martin or Richard

7.     Continue to make regular weekly visits

8.     Attend a second induction session

9.     Ongoing training programme for all our mentors

10. Monthly meeting with Martin to monitor work in progress

11. Termly mentors meetings to pray, share and learn from one another

‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Matt 25:40

FACE TO FACE

In the image of God he made them” Gen 1:27

Despite being the largest ethnic minority in Europe, Roma have experienced persecution and discrimination for centuries.  The continuous discrimination and social exclusion of this community has resulted in various problems, including poor health; the shortest life expectancy and the lowest educational attainment of all ethnic groups in Britain; extreme poverty; homelessness; and limited employability skills and rights.

In the face of such difficulties, our aim is to communicate the unconditional love of God through befriending the Roma families in our midst.  All our gifts of empathy and sensitivity are needed to build trust over a period of time.  We learn to meet them where they are at, try to avoid imposing our culture on them, and come to discover the risen presence of Jesus along the way.   The training sessions are aimed at helping us understand Roma culture, avoid some of the pitfalls, and be more effective as a team of mentors. 

“They are poor yet make many rich”

Here are some of the things a mentor might do…

·      Read and explain official letters

·      Register family with GP

·      Contact people from other agencies in Luton regarding schooling, health, accommodation, employment and benefit matters.

·      Help with learning English

·      Help children with homework

·      Learn some Romani phrases

·      Maybe offer a lift to Wednesday Roma Church, or to Sunday church.

·      Enjoy food offered

·      Show photos of your family

·      Find things they need e.g. furniture, kitchenware

·      Pray for them

“There is neither Jew nor Gentile,

 neither slave nor free,

nor is there male and female,

for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Gal 3:28

Mantelo comes to preach

When Pastor Stevo from London is not with us, it's a hard act to follow... to put it mildly!  But this week one of our Roma women invited Pastor Mantelo to come and preach.  He leads leads a Roma church in Walthamstow.  As well as sharing the word of God, he invited two of his own congregation to give testimonies.  The were from non-Romani speaking Roma who speak Romanian.  Mantelo invited me to sit up front with him, so he could translate into Romani for me.  Powerful, life changing stories of men coming out of alcohol abuse and the rest and into a living faith. In spite of the church having no heating that night, we were warmed by the singing and wonderful accordion playing of the visiting worship leader.