CEE PRAY for Barriers to be broken
Breaking through walls of illiteracy
“I’d wanted to learn about God, but I can’t read, so that has prevented me,” said Edward, a young Roma living in Macedonia.
People like Edward are the reason IMB missionary Betty Easter is working hard to establish educational centers that not only can house reading and writing classes, but also provide an atmosphere to foster relationships that will lead people to Christ.
Betty’s first contact with literacy training came through Fatma, the first Romany woman in Macedonia to graduate from the local university in the last 15 years. Fatma has established an educational center in Topana, the oldest Romany settlement in Skopje. Though she is not yet a believer, Fatma is providing an open door for Betty’s team to minister through her center.
Betty first provided a language teacher for the center who is a believer. Then Karen Blackburn, a health specialist, joined Betty’s team and even more opportunities opened up. They recently held their first health clinic in Topana, offering general check-ups as well as longer-term care.
Betty and Karen also have opened their own educational center in Gjorge Petrov, a Skopje neighborhood where they hope to plant the area’s first evangelical church. The new educational center is named “Svetlonosets,” meaning, “light bearer.” Karen has held her first general health seminar there and classes about reading and writing in Macedonian and English have begun. A Romany believer named Mimosa and a young Macedonian girl with a heart for missions are teaching at the center.
“This is an open door into the Romany community,” Mimosa said. “They come because they know they need the skills and are grateful for the help.”
Illiteracy is one of the biggest problems facing the Romany people. Under communism the state required and funded education for every child. Now school is still free, but the books are unaffordable for Roma, limiting them in their learning. This crisis snowballs as the illiterate cannot get good jobs, which keeps them unemployed and too poor to educate their own children.
Maritsa is a young Romany girl who was caught in this cycle until she came to church, where she started a personal relationship with the Lord and made friends with young Macedonian believers. The church became her family and with the help of her friends, she learned to read and write. With these abilities she has enrolled in a cosmetology school.
“It’s wonderful,” Maritsa said. “Learning how to read and write has given me a way to change my path. God has really blessed me.”
Literacy training not only offers a future, but also an eternal hope for the Roma. The personal handling of God’s Word is the most effective tool for breaking through centuries of unbelief. Not many things are strong enough to penetrate the layers of untruth in their culture, but the Word of God is “sharper than any two-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12).
This is the gift Betty and Karen want to give to every Roma. To help make this happen, these women recently received tracts and portions of Scripture in the Romany language as well as recordings of the Word for the illiterate. Betty wants the Romany people to be able to read the Bible in their heart language so it can change their lives.