Minute for Mission: International Roma Day

In Belgrade, Serbia, many Roma families live in settlements scattered about the city. In one that we visited, the streets were flooded, water mixed with sewage, and there were mounds of garbage between and behind their homes. Trucks drive through the settlement daily, and one day recently, one truck ran over a Roma child. The public response was to blame the victim — Roma chooses to live this way. But who chooses to live in a slum?

The Roma are still one of the most marginalized people in Europe (and elsewhere in the world). Maintaining their cultural traditions and language, people too often perceive a threat, where none is intended. The stereotypes against Roma are ugly.

Many Roma adults are functionally illiterate, because they were not welcome in schools or faced discrimination that did not motivate them to stay. Access to well-paying jobs is rare, if not nonexistent. If a job is advertised, Roma are not welcome to apply. The kind of work they might find pays so little that they cannot support their family, and any job takes away the small stipend they receive from the state.

The Center for Youth Integration (CYI), an NGO in Belgrade, is trying to change the future for Roma children in Serbia today. Roma children do have access to school, but if they are not clean or do not have shoes and good clothing, they face discrimination from other children. They often end up in the back of the class. The slum-like conditions of the settlements make good hygiene very difficult. Recognizing the very real barriers to education, CYI works with the parents and the children to change the future. They have established day centers across the city that provide showers and laundry machines, clothing closets, warm meals, tutoring and encouragement. The centers are open seven days a week. The children are always welcome. When we visited on a Sunday morning, the center was full of kids working on homework, having a warm lunch and playing games.

The word “integration” is perhaps a misnomer. No one is trying to erase Roma culture, which is distinct and beautiful. CYI is working to erase the barriers to inclusion in Serbian society and to change the narrative.

Ellen Smith, Regional Liaison for Central and Eastern Europe

Let us join in prayer for:

• Rick Jones, Director of Communications, Interim Unified Agency
• Rebecca Jordahl, Administrator, Church Relations, Board of Pensions 

Let us pray:

Dear Lord, open our hearts and minds to those suffering from discrimination, that we may sit together at one table, discovering our commonality in the midst of our differences. We give thanks to Jesus for teaching us to love our neighbor as we do ourselves. Amen.

Minute for Mission: International Roma Day

April 8, 2024

In Belgrade, Serbia, many Roma families live in settlements scattered about the city. In one that we visited, the streets were flooded, water mixed with sewage, and there were mounds of garbage between and behind their homes. Trucks drive through the settlement daily, and one day recently, one truck ran over a Roma child. The public response was to blame the victim — Roma chooses to live this way. But who chooses to live in a slum?

The Roma are still one of the most marginalized people in Europe (and elsewhere in the world). Maintaining their cultural traditions and language, people too often perceive a threat, where none is intended. The stereotypes against Roma are ugly. 

Many Roma adults are functionally illiterate, because they were not welcome in schools or faced discrimination that did not motivate them to stay. Access to well-paying jobs is rare, if not nonexistent. If a job is advertised, Roma are not welcome to apply. The kind of work they might find pays so little that they cannot support their family, and any job takes away the small stipend they receive from the state.

The Center for Youth Integration (CYI), an NGO in Belgrade, is trying to change the future for Roma children in Serbia today. Roma children do have access to school, but if they are not clean or do not have shoes and good clothing, they face discrimination from other children. They often end up in the back of the class. The slum-like conditions of the settlements make good hygiene very difficult. Recognizing the very real barriers to education, CYI works with the parents and the children to change the future. They have established day centers across the city that provide showers and laundry machines, clothing closets, warm meals, tutoring and encouragement. The centers are open seven days a week. The children are always welcome. When we visited on a Sunday morning, the center was full of kids working on homework, having a warm lunch and playing games.

The word “integration” is perhaps a misnomer. No one is trying to erase Roma culture, which is distinct and beautiful. CYI is working to erase the barriers to inclusion in Serbian society and to change the narrative.

Ellen Smith, Regional Liaison for Central and Eastern Europe

Today’s Focus: International Roma Day

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Barry Ensign-George, Manager, Theology & Worship, Presbyterian Mission Agency  
Kurt Esslinger and Hyeyoung Lee Mission co-workers serving in Korea, World Mission, Presbyterian Mission Agency  

Let us pray

Dear Lord, open our hearts and minds to those suffering from discrimination, that we may sit together at one table, discovering our commonality in the midst of our differences. We give thanks to Jesus for teaching us to love our neighbor as we do ourselves. Amen.

Minute for Mission: International Roma Day

April 8, 2023

Two women at the annual Roma conference. (provided).

It humbles me the extent to which our Roma friends and colleagues practice hospitality, always laying a table for us with whatever they have. They are among the poorest of the poor, marginalized by a society that feels threatened by an alien culture living in their midst. I don’t use the word alien as a negative, just a reality. They are a people with deep traditions, a strong sense of family and community, their own language, their own music, their own style of dress. They do not wish to be assimilated, but they do wish to live in peace with their neighbors, if it is only possible. Often, should a job be posted, as soon as a Roma man or woman applies, it is not available. The Roma are also subject to violence (pogroms) and blamed for any bad incident that takes place in a community. It is assumed that they will steal what is not nailed down.

Andrey Beskorovaniy is in the middle of the picture. (provided).

Andrey Beskorovaniy is pastor of a Roma church in the city of Kursk. He is also leader of a network of pastors and missionaries engaged in ministry with Roma across Russia. Before the conflict in Donbas, this network included Ukrainians as well. He himself is Baptist, but he does not let denominational differences define the network or his ministry. He crosses boundaries without even noticing them. In normal times, he is constantly on the road to visit Roma communities for evangelizations, installation of new pastors and conflict resolution. In these days of Covid, he is at work visiting the struggling Roma families closer to home, carrying a few staples like tea and cooking oil and the love of Christ. He loves his people and he wants them to know the power of transformation and the hope we have in Christ.

Ellen Smith, Regional Liaison for Central and Eastern Europe, Presbyterian Mission Agency World Mission

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Ahmad Abri, Lead Web Developer, Communications Ministry, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Angielee Acevedo, Housekeeper, Stony Point Center, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us pray

Dear Lord, open our eyes to the alien in our midst, that we may sit together at one table, discovering our commonality in the midst of our differences. We give thanks for the bounty of your love that brings about transformation. Amen.

Minute for Mission: International Roma Day

April 8, 2022

Even with the challenges of the pandemic, gathering is still important. (Photo provided by Ellen Smith)

Some words can’t be adequately translated — the foreign-language version just doesn’t do justice to the original. One such word is tabor, a Romani word signifying a group of Roma people, typically related by blood and/or marriage, who live and travel together. The old photograph shows the tabor of pastor Andrey Beskorovainiy, complete with tent. Before the Roma of the Soviet Union were forced to settle in one place in the 1950s, many Roma tabors would travel around the country in search of temporary or seasonal work, usually in agriculture. In most cases, the Roma, physically and culturally distinct from their Slavic neighbors, were not allowed to stay in any one place once their services were no longer required. In a very real sense, the tabor was home. Even today, when most Roma in Russia and Ukraine are geographically stable, the tabor remains an important part of Roma life. The dominant Slavic culture is still hostile to the Roma, and the tabor helps to preserve the Romani language and culture.

Contemporary Roma Christians long to be accepted in the larger church community, but not to be assimilated into that community. They want to pray and to sing in their own language, and to worship in a way that resonates with their own culture. For Pastor Andrey’s congregation, their church has become the tabor, a safe and familiar gathering. Even with the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, the church has continued to gather as much as possible, maintaining the all-important fellowship of believers, and Pastor Andrey has continued to visit other Roma groups to spread the good news of the gospel.

Alan Smith, former mission co‐worker in Russia, World Mission, Presbyterian Mission Agency

 Alan Smith ended his service in September 2020, but his wife, Ellen Smith, took over his responsibilities working alongside the Roma people. To view her profile, please go to pcusa.org/ellen-smith.  

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff

Ronnika Muhammad, Payroll Specialist, Administrative Services Group (A Corp)
Julie Mullins, Acquisitions Editor, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation

Let us pray

Almighty God, you call all people to yourself. Guide and protect our Roma brothers and sisters as they seek to follow your will for their lives. Amen.

Minute for Mission: International Roma Day

April 8, 2021

Andrey Beskorovaniy is in the middle of the picture. (provided).

It humbles me the extent to which our Roma friends and colleagues practice hospitality, always laying a table for us with whatever they have. They are among the poorest of the poor, marginalized by a society that feels threatened by an alien culture living in their midst. I don’t use the word alien as a negative, just a reality. They are a people with deep traditions, a strong sense of family and community, their own language, their own music, their own style of dress. They do not wish to be assimilated, but they do wish to live in peace with their neighbors, if it is only possible. Often, should a job be posted, as soon as a Roma man or woman applies, it is not available. The Roma are also subject to violence (pogroms) and blamed for any bad incident that takes place in a community. It is assumed that they will steal what is not nailed down.

Andrey Beskorovaniy is pastor of a Roma church in the city of Kursk. He is also leader of a network of pastors and missionaries engaged in ministry with Roma across Russia. Before the conflict in Donbas, this network included Ukrainians as well. He himself is Baptist, but he does not let denominational differences define the network or his ministry. He crosses boundaries without even noticing them. In normal times, he is constantly on the road to visit Roma communities for evangelizations, installation of new pastors and conflict resolution. In these days of COVID-19, he is at work visiting the struggling Roma families closer to home, carrying a few staples like tea and cooking oil and the love of Christ. He loves his people and he wants them to know the power of transformation and the hope we have in Christ.

Ellen Smith, Regional Liaison for Central and Eastern Europe, Presbyterian Mission Agency World Mission

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff

Maggie Harmon, Presbyterian Foundation
Cheri Harper, Presbyterian Women

Let us pray:

Dear Lord, open our eyes to the alien in our midst, that we may sit together at one table, discovering our commonality in the midst of our differences. We give thanks for the bounty of your love that brings about transformation.