We are cursed, we are cursed.

My mission mobilizer brother, Dave, is coming to the end of his European journey. He is currently spending a few days with Bob and Nancy Hitching, missionaries to the Roma Bayash Gypsies of Croatia. The following is an unedited copy of an email received this morning. The theme of this ReceiveTheWORD blog focuses on the power of the Truth to shatter darkness and break down walls. It is happening in Croatia.

Day 8, July 24. Slavonski Brod, Croatia

The American national anthem is often sung at sporting events and our hearts are filled with pride and gratitude at the greatness of our country as we sing this song together. "...And the star-spangled banner forever shall wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave." Or our throats may choke up a little as we sing "My country, 'tis of thee! Sweet land of liberty! Of thee I sing!"

Now imagine being a part of a culture where the national anthem goes like this: "We are cursed. We are cursed because one of our ancestors stole a nail from the cross of Jesus. No wonder we are cursed." It's difficult to comprehend the national psyche of a people whose identity is captured with such words, whose lore is rooted in the idea that one of your ancestors stole a nail from Jesus' cross and that this loathsome act has forever blighted your ethnic identity.

If you were to overhear a group of people singing lyrics like these, you would undoubtedly be in a Bayash gypsy village, for these are lines taken directly from the Bayash "national anthem" .

Here is the Roma gypsy logic: "We have 90% unemployment. Alcoholism, poverty, and sadness prevail over our communities. No wonder others despise us. Of course we are cursed. Of course God is against us. God is not for us and he will use every opportunity to punish us."

Bob and Nancy Hitching

The Roma Bible Union (RBU), founded by Bob and Nancy Hitching, is coming into Bayash communities with a different message, the message of "Good News". The RBU has created a ministry called "UNA", an acronym that speaks of the positive qualities of oneness, unity, fellowship. The UNA symbol is the bee - the industrious insect that brings sweetness.

The Bayash people are characterized by three oppressive qualities: (1) Insecurity driven by fear. Fear & insecurity are everywhere. Everyone is afraid of the dark. Children are afraid of their parents, wives of their husbands, husbands fear people to whom they owe money. (2) Hopelessness. We have nothing to look forward to so we live "in the moment." (3) Inevitability. Things will never change.

To counteract the "bad news" of this false national image, Bob and Nancy Hitching have created a UNA theme that runs through the ministry of the RBU. They are training UNA children to not believe the words of the anthem. A theme song has been written specifically for the UNA ministry. Here is the core of the UNA anthem written specifically for the Bayash: "God is for us, God is not against us."

One facet of the UNA ministry is the UNA club. These clubs meet regularly in the villages and are for the children. UNA clubs are built on nine major activities:

(1) the banner under which the children run as their name is called out - for some, this may be the first time they have heard their name used in a positive context;

(2) music culturally appropriate to the Bayash with stirring lyrics;

(3) chanting of positive themes, like a pep rally. Imagine scores of little Bayash children animatedly shouting together, "God is for us, God is not against us!"

(4) a coloring book produced specifically for the Bayash - many gypsy children have never even held a crayon in their hands;

(5) a Bible story big book - the typical Bayash home has no books. The average Croatian child upon entering public school has had 800 "read-to" experiences, while most Bayash children have never had anyone ever read a story to them;

(6) a name tag to make them feel special and give them pride in who they are; 

(7) a bright yellow T-shirt with the UNA name on it and a bumblebee image;

(8) fun games will be played;

(9) a prayer of blessing will be prayed over the children.

Yesterday we took a leisurely stroll through a Bayash village. Today we will participate in a UNA festival in that same village. Hordes of children, many of whom have been attending UNA clubs, will descend upon us in an open field. The atmosphere will be joyful, chaotic, frenetic, loud, sweaty, and redemptive. Bob describes this as "not trying to get everybody out of the village into heaven, but getting heaven into the village."

To counteract the three negative themes of the Bayash culture (that I mentioned above), the UNA clubs and festivals are designed to clearly communicate three affirming messages: (1) That in knowing God and being reconciled to God through the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is safety and security; (2) That in a world of hopelessness, the Gospel of Jesus is a message of optimism; (3) The Gospel can change the world because God can change (a) our hearts, (b) our families, and (c) our villages.

Lives are slowly being transformed throughout Bayash villages in Croatia, Serbia, and Hungary. It is hard work and slow, but an RBU team is coming together and growing in numbers. Breakthroughs are occurring and momentum is picking up. Where once the spiritual darkness was impenetrable, now "the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is God's image" is shining (II Cor. 4:4). Now "the glorious gospel about a happy God" (I Tim. 1:11) is bringing joy, purity, brightness, and expectation to impoverished, despised Roma gypsy villages.

Dave

Wash dishes . . . to the glory of God

In his role as a missions mobilizer, my brother Dave has been in Germany and is now on his way to Croatia. This that follows is his update for day six of his journey. - Ray

Day 6 - July 22, 2012

Worms, Germany

As I write these updates, I find my mind turning to you, the reader especially because of the varied responses I get back from people like you. Some are mothers and homemakers, others are government employees, one is a flight attendant, a few are retired, some are in full time ministry, while others work in IT, the medical field, or radio. A true cross-section!

Two things tend to characterize these individuals: (1) a passion for Christ to be made known in all places at all times to all peoples; (2) frequent uncertainty that the daily tasks assigned to me have anything to do with fulfilling the Great Commission. And lest I appear to be exalting "the missionary" and the missionary role unduly, I want to say that I am aware of the crucial part each person plays in the big mosaic of world evangelism.

A young mother wrote me today in response to these updates. She said: "I am blessed to have this reminder as I wipe and spank butts, that our gracious God is at work in my little world and also among the nations."

That is reality. How easy it is to forget that the changing of that diaper, the cooking of a meal, speaking to a customer or making a delivery or chatting with our neighbor is the vital role we are called to play in God's cosmic plan.

When we are involved in the "dailyness" of life and going about the tasks God has called us to, some things just seem mundane, even meaningless.

Elisabeth Elliot had a way of putting the "menial" tasks in context: "This job has been given to me to do. Therefore, it is a gift. Therefore, it is a privilege. Therefore, it is an offering I may make to God. Therefore, it is to be done gladly, if it is done for Him. Here, not somewhere else, I may learn God’s way. In this job, not in some other, God looks for faithfulness." What a great perspective!

Do you believe today that the things on your agenda are the work of mission? That you have been called to do the tasks assigned to you today? Are you convinced that not even illness or affliction can prove to be an impediment to God carrying out his work through you?

I will close with the profound thought of John Henry Newman: "God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. Therefore, I will trust Him. Whatever, wherever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him; if I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. My sickness, or perplexity, or sorrow may be necessary causes of some great end, which is quite beyond us. He does nothing in vain."

Go wash dishes and change diapers and fix computers to the glory of God!

Dave

"But I go out as a missionary

. . . not that I may follow the dictate of common sense, but that I might obey the command of Christ. This command seems to be strictly a missionary injunction so that apart altogether from choice and other lower reasons, my going forth is a matter of obedience to a plain command. And in seeking to assign a reason for going abroad, I would prefer to say that I fail to discover any reason why I should stay at home. - James Gilmour, missionary to the Mongols

In Need Of A New Heart

Life is the mightiest of all possessions. From death to life is the mightiest of all changes. And no change short of this will ever avail to fit a person’s soul for heaven.

It is not a little mending and alteration – a little cleansing and purifying – a little painting and patching – a little whitewashing and varnishing – a little turning over a new leaf and putting on a new outside that is needed. It is the bringing in of something altogether new – the planting within us of a new nature, a new being – a new principle – a new mind. This alone, and nothing less than this, will ever meet the necessities of person’s soul. We need not merely a new skin, but a new heart.

~ J.C. Ryle

Stay or Go?

Should one stay in churches that affirm beliefs and behaviors that stand opposed to the cross of Christ? Should we remain in such an association in order to work against their delusions and possibly help them change course?

It probably depends on the matter in question, but for those who are deciding what to do in the face of today's watershed theological and social issues, I like Dietrich Bonhoeffer's answer: “If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the opposite direction.”

Know and Believe God's Word

Greg Beale's, A New Testament Biblical Theology, scores big points with his perceptive analysis of the ongoing deceptions afflicting the church today. Besides the errors of Adam and Eve and Israel, where they refused to simply trust the truth of God as He spoke, there is the church's continuing failure to simply do what we know . . . be what we profess . . . act on what we say we believe. In spite of all of our knowledge, we still prefer the lie. We still refuse to change our minds, our hearts, our lives. He concludes chapter seven with application for where we live:

The heart of the matter is this: do Christians know God's word, do they believe it, and do they do it? If not, then the lies of the evil one will slip into our lives and churches ever so subtly. When this happens and the process goes unchecked and uncorrected, then the deceptions begin to pour in like an overflowing river (cf. Rev 12:15) . . . Do Christian families make God's word the center of their homes? Do pastors set aside sufficient time to study God's word in preparation for Sunday sermons in order to "be diligent to present yourself approved to God as workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth" (2 Tim 2:15)? If not, then the false teaching of those "who have gone astray from the truth" will make inroads into the church (2 Tim 2:18). (223)

Never grow weary of reading your Bible

Let's heed Bishop Ryle and never grow weary of the slow, steady, growth that comes from the daily, disciplined, increasing, love affair with reading the Bible.

Do not think you are getting no good from the Bible, merely because you do not see that good day by day. The greatest effects are by no means those which make the most noise, and are most easily observed. The greatest effects are often silent, quiet, and hard to detect at the time they are being produced.

Think of the influence of the moon upon the earth, and of the air upon the human lungs. Remember how silently the dew falls, and how imperceptibly the grass grows. There may be far more doing than you think in your soul by your Bible-reading. (J. C. Ryle, Practical Religion, 136)