"I have two new brothers!"

Yesterday at my regular Sunday gadjio church we had three gadjio baptisms.  Two were of guys who are taking an active role in our Wednesday Luton Roma Church.  I invited folk to share during the service.  One Roma woman who comes both Sunday and Wednesday came forward and said "Now I have two new brothers!  They are closer to me than my own brother."  This was an extraordinary thing to say.  Clearly she understands at a deep level that the fellowship of the baptised transcends mere blood relationships.  Furthermore, she was challenging us all to see that fellowship in Christ transcends racial differences too.  She has very close relations with her own kith and kin.  But she has already begun to experience a new kind of sister/brother love that goes beyond what she had known in life thus far.  This is in no way a repudiation of her Roma ethnicity of which she should be proud.  Neither is a rejection of her own people.  Rather she is glimpsing a new kind of humanity in which all are invited to discover their identity in Christ.  All other ties, whilst significant here on earth, fall away when viewed against the backdrop of eternity - foretaste of which we experience in the here and now.  Her simple statement is thus prophetic, pointing to the future God has prepared for us all.  "Chi amperetsia t'avel, chi voia te kerdiol per phuv sar ando rhaio!  Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven!"