CEE Pray for New Churches
Christian camp sparks fire in Romany hearts, leads to church start
“Communism may not have been best, but at least we had community.”
This general sentiment reveals a deep and unmet need in the lives of Polish Roma—a need International Mission Board (IMB) missionaries Jerry and Brenda Goss want to meet with the Gospel through a new church plant in Nowa Huta.
Jerry and Brenda moved to Poland four years ago to share Christ with the Roma. When they recognized the people’s need for connection they saw a hunger for something greater. Jerry and Brenda decided to host a camp designed to get the Roma out of their environment of poverty and despair and into one of hope and joy. From this camp a church was born.
“We take whole families and get them out of their villages and out of their surroundings. We give them a real bed, three meals a day, a porcelain toilet and a hot shower. There’s no fighting or alcohol—it’s a safe, clean place,” Jerry said.
It is also a time to show Roma that there are people who love them, have compassion for them and want to help meet their needs.
“For many, it is a first to see that someone cares about them,” Jerry said. “Nobody cares about Roma, especially not the ‘gadje’ or white people. This is an amazing opportunity for them.”
Even more important than the caring and provision, however, is the spiritual atmosphere surrounding the Roma at the camp. Worship and Bible study are the focus of the five-day retreat. Jerry and Brenda hosted the first camp two years ago and it resulted in a church plant in Nowa Huta. The 87 people who came to the first camp were not believers from four different Romany clans. There they encountered God for the first time.
“They listened to us worship a God they didn’t know and they got to see something they had never seen,” Brenda said. “God used it to break down barriers.”
One Romany man, Andrzej, began sensing God at work during the camp, but did not want to make an emotional decision. He went home and thought the situation over before giving his life to Christ. Andrzej’s decision was a pivotal one for his family; his wife and son soon came to know the Lord and then more distant relatives became believers. This large family began meeting in Andrzej’s apartment for prayer and Bible study every night.
“They wanted to pray and they had such a hunger,” Jerry said. “They wanted more, but they couldn’t read and didn’t know the Bible, so six nights a week we would go and worship with the family. If there was a night I couldn’t make it, they would have a prayer meeting without me. They would invite all the people in the apartment building—Roma and Poles—to come join them. They witnessed to all the families. They knew only basics, but they would tell what they knew.”
The excitement did not stop there. This little group began to pray for an outreach in the nearby city of Nowa Huta. Eight months later a team from Texas arrived to hold an event in the city.
Again Jerry and Brenda focused on meeting the need for community. They set up in the park and grilled sausages, played Frisbee and volleyball and welcomed Roma and Poles alike. The response was great and the Romany believers began praying for God to provide a place for them to have a ministry center.
One-and-a-half years later God gave them space to rent in the middle of the highest Romany population that has become a location for community outreach as well as a church. This center houses a food bank, a clothes closet, English as a Second Language and Polish as a Second Language classes and job-skills training, such as painting, dry-walling, insulating and construction.
Now the believers meet in the ministry center in Nowa Huta every Sunday and one other day during the week. They also meet another night at their homes to pray and fellowship.
The church has sent out two missionaries. Janek is Andrzej’s son who has gone to start a church in the village where his mother-in-law lives. Many there have already come to Christ as a result of his witness. His cousin Rafal has also given his life to full-time ministry and is looking for an open door into Wroclaw, a city three hours west of Krakow.
Both Janek and Rafal travel with Jerry sharing the good news of Christ. They also help with the annual family camps Jerry and Brenda hold each summer. The Romany believers give their testimonies and share all God is doing in their lives with families who have never met Jesus.
“It’s a good work God is doing,” Jerry said. “I look forward to seeing what the future holds.”