This past month I have mainly been doing evangelism in different local parks trying to build relationships within Craiova and spreading the word of multiple events our ministry partners were hosting. However, I also had a few opportunities to participate in children ministry in Roma villages. A team of myself and a few of my squad mates had the opportunity to present a Bible story, sing songs, play some games, and pass out some goodies to children within these communities.
Now for some background, Roma communities are also called gypsy villages but they prefer the term Roma. They unfortunately are sometimes ostracized by Romanians and often practice witchcraft. So, being able to share the love of Jesus to these children was an amazing experience that I would have loved to do everyday if I could.
The first day we went to a Roma village we told the story of the lost sheep and the shepherd that left the 99 to find the 1 lost sheep. We got to bring some of the children in on the skit and they loved it! They were a part of the herd of sheep and it was amazing to see how their faces lit up. We also sang songs like Jesus loves me and Jesus loves the little children. They also loved to play freeze dance with us! We brought a bluetooth speaker and played some praise music and we all had our own little circle of kids dance along with us. Lastly, we were able to pass out some treats to these children and they looked amazed and appreciative of the time we spent with them.
Photo Taken by: Renee DePhillips
We also had the opportunity to return to this village along with another one a few days later. We told the story of Zacchaeus and how Jesus saw him and picked him out of the crowd. We also sang the Zacchaeus song as well along with a few others. The children loved this skit since we were getting silly with the presentation. My squad mate Taylor played Zacchaeus and Bailee played the tree he climbed! The kids loved it! Then going to the next village it was a very different group of kids and they too liked our story and enjoyed playing games with us.
Overall, I know I love children’s ministry but this was a whole different ball game. The Lord truly blessed me with these opportunities to minister to these children specifically. I don’t know where they are now but, I do know that they know the name of Jesus and that is what matters. I pray that knowing his name will grow within them and that they are able to know him more and more as they grow up. I know that God has a plan for them just like he has a plan for me and I am so happy and blessed that part of his plan for me included these kids.
Photo Taken By: Renee DePhillips
