This is the first time in Andy and Lim's ministry that we can visit the families and parents in the Roma village (we have been doing UNA activities with the kids for 3 years). We were put into three groups to go into houses and tell them about the Christmas story and the gospel; and as Andy summed up tonight, we have visited 60 houses out of like 175 houses in the village; and around 25 have shown interest in having bible study sessions!! The families are generally very friendly and welcoming, and many of them are receptive.
Each visit was an interesting journey. There is a strong influence of Jehovah Witnesses over the village. According to Zeljka, missionaries of JW have been working in the village since 1998. Some families expressed that this religion has brought them restrictions and so they do not like it. Yet many are still under the influence of it, that they respect our Bible but did not want to read it, and rejected our offer of further bible study sessions with Andy. It is hard, as during our visits, most of them actually said they believe in God and Jesus; but from what they said, they were clearly not Christians as what we thought in mind. They might be interpreting 'believe' in a different way. We did not want to get into severe debates with them at this point... maybe later in bible sessions? But apart from JW, there are also believers of Orthodox and Islam. And with the strength from God, we have been constantly fighting at the frontier of the spiritual war
As one of our translators and co-workers Palma said, these 10 days is like a big breakthrough!
As one of our translators and co-workers Palma said, these 10 days is like a big breakthrough!