CEE Story From The Mission Field
Tingling Ears
April 8, 2003
1 Samuel 3:11 - "See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears it tingle."
Missionary Boyd Hatchell’s ears were tingling recently as God showed him a glimpse of what He was doing with the Romany (gypsy) people in Eastern Europe. Boyd is the Strategy Coordinator for this people group in Romania and he was amazed at what God accomplished during the first Baptist Romany missions conference.
"If one year ago, you had whispered in my ear that there would be 70 missionaries, pastors, and church planters gathered in Bucharest for this conference my ears would have tingled. If you had whispered in my ear one year ago, that they would come from Moldova, Bulgaria, Slovakia, and South Africa, Brazil, America, and Romania, my ears would have tingled. If you had whispered in my ear one year ago, that the Romanian Baptist Union and local association would have not only endorsed the project, but contributed financially, my ears would have tingled.” That’s exactly what God accomplished…and more.
1 Samuel 3:21b - "And there the Lord continued to appear to Him and to reveal Himself to Samuel through His word."
The motto, 'Unity in Mission among the Roma', was more than a slogan before the conference had concluded. Shared ideas, vision, experiences, and sorrows united the pastors and church planters. Inspired preaching and humble prayers rekindled the vision for a LIGHT in every Roma community, beginning in Romania and moving much further. New ideas for evangelism, Bible study, ministry projects, worship, and outreach all grew from an affirmation of the real message - the power of Jesus Christ to change lives. Several projects that were highlighted included youth ministry through local churches. The conference needs were not only met but exceeded due to the generous support of local Romany and Romanian churches, Brazilian Baptists, Project Ruth, private donors in the US, and IMB Cooperative Program and Lottie Moon.
1 Samuel 4:1 - "And Samuel's word came to all Israel."
The true test of any conference probably lies somewhere in the future. For Samuel, his words reached to everyone in Israel. May it be said of the remaining 1.7 million Roma in Romania who have not accepted Christ that each one will hear and respond in faith. One of the most exciting things was to hear the Roma say that they don't need to wait for teams from America to come and reach the Roma, but they need to take the initiative for reaching their own people.