Reaching out to the Romas
May 7, 2008?David Pandy-Szekeres has mixed his missionary work with chronicling through photographs the harsh life of gypsies also known as Romas -- living in a corner of the Ukraine called Sub-Carpathia.
A Presbyterian missionary in Eastern Europe, Pandy-Szekeres stopped in Grand Rapids, Mich., this week to talk about the gritty but evocative photographs he has taken of the gypsy town in which he helps run an elementary school on behalf of the Hungarian Reformed Church.
â??We are here in the U.S. to give a real good report and testimonyâ ?? of the efforts he and his wife, Anna, have undertaken to bring education to gypsies as well as others living in that corner of Ukraine, says Szekeres.
Szekeres came here to thank Christian Reformed World Mission personnel for their support in sending many teachers overseas in recent years to help in the schools overseen by the Hungarian Reformed Church.
With the photo exhibit, he wants to let people in the CRC know more about his ministry to the Roma people.
Some of his photos of gypsy life are on display at Woodlawn Christian Reformed Ministry Center near the campus of Calvin College. He will speak there on Sunday.
Taken over the last several years, his photos show roads that are rutted and muddy, ramshackle homes, and gypsy youngsters who are dressed in patched, worn-looking clothes.
The photos also show, however, smiles on the faces of elementary school students and expressions of strength and determination on the faces of adults.
Then there is one depicting Rev. Daniel Szabo, a seminary professor and evangelist, conducting a worship service for the people in the impoverished Roma community. Szabo, a colleague and mentor of Pandy-Szekers, is also in the United States to help talk about the work going on in Hungary and surrounding countries.
Christian Reformed World Missions has been active in Eastern Europe since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s. At that time, it began sending Christian teachers to various schools in Hungary, Romania and the Ukraine. Under communist leaders, many schools had been closed.
â??By the Lordâ??s grace, we have been able to re-open many schools,â?? says Szabo, who is currently president of the Hungarian Evangelical Alliance. â??Weâ??ve also been able to open homes for older people, for children and for the handicapped.â??
Although he doesnâ??t work for CRWM, Szabo has helped to coordinate the efforts to expand education in the area. In addition, Szabo teaches at the Saárospatak Theological Seminary, which had been closed for 40 years until the fall of the Soviet Union.
Persecution of Protestants during the counter-reformation, harassment by the Nazis, and subsequent communist rule damaged and challenged the Christian church in his part of the world, and yet the gospel has always triumphed, says Szabo.
â??Our history shows time and again how we have been under oppression, but in spite of all the troubles and terrible losses, the Lord has been gracious to us,â?? he says. â??We have great testimonies of Godâ??s mighty power.â??
Some of this power, says Szabo, is reflected in the work that Pandy-Szekeres and his wife are doing among the gypsies in the town of Nagydobrony. â??The Lord has put it on the heart of the Hungarian Reformed Church to develop connections and share the gospel with the gypsies,â?? says Szabo.
Discrimination has followed the gypsies, a traditionally transient population found in many areas of Europe, throughout the ages across the world. Today, very few gypsies lead a nomadic lifestyle for which they have been known. Instead, they have been forced to settle down.
In the Ukraine, Roma children are sometimes denied access to public education, says Pandy-Szekeres. As a response to this, the Hungarian Reformed Church helped to launch the small school in Nagydobrony.
â??We are teaching them about the Lord and the Bible,â?? says Pandy -Szerkes. â??We are holding bigger gatherings for spiritual learning and fellowship. We are trying to help themâ?? as they undergo the often painful and frustrating process of assimilation into the larger Ukrainian community.
--Chris Meehan, CRC Communications
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Chris Meehan News and Media Relations Christian Reformed Church in North America www.crcna.org