Attila and Adel: For the Love of the Gypsy

This is Apalina, a large Gypsy community that sits on the edge of Reghin. Attila and Adel Toth have a calling to serve this community in Jesus Christ. Our hope is that this summer, the Apalina church building will be completed as a transformational center for the community (see below). Over the past week of staying with Attila and Adel, their passion and heart for the people of Apalina is so evident. I cannot even list the number of ways in which they serve. In the past few days, Attila has counseled with more than one family where the father is going to prison; helped others get a national identity card (before this they were “unknown” to the government and technically did not exist); arranged medical care; delivered clothes and food; helped them find jobs; and all this while serving in regular pastoral responsibilities. There is not a day that they are not serving in Apalina.

Today, we visited with Samuel and his family of 12 children. He lives on the top of the hill that overlooks the church property. You can see the foundation of the church from his house. Samuel recently made the decision to follow Jesus Christ. His home is on the edge of a garbage site. His children and wife go through the garbage to find items that they can sell. Visiting with Samuel and his family was a powerful reminder of why Attila and Adel are serving in Apalina. The Gypsies of Apalina trust Attila and Adel and he is constantly greeting, talking, and waving as we walk the street.

I hope that you can see the “fence” around Samuel’s house. He came Sunday night so upset because he had to spend the day putting his fence back up. Seems some other Gypsies stole his “fence.” He had gotten it back and was putting it back up to protect his place. The challenges of life in Apalina are difficult.

The older man and girl are grandfather and granddaughter. Her father(a Gypsy) went to work in Spain to try and make some money for the family. While he is away, his wife left him and is "married" to another man. She left the children with his father. Now, the children live with their grandfather and grandmother. The real tragedy is that the Gypsy man in Spain has been tricked. He has no money to come home. All of his money is being used to pay for his expenses. Basically, he is slave of a deceitful "boss." The "boss" took advantage of his desire to provide for his family and now he appears to be trapped in Spain. This is not an isolated situation. Other Gypsies are in a similar situation. Since they are "only Gypsies" there are few who care. Please pray for the man, his family, and for those who are seeking for find a way for him to come home.

The pictures of the concrete piles and building are to show where many of the Gypsies work. They are getting the scrap metal from abandoned factories to sell. This is hard and dangerous work, but it is legal. Just a few years ago this was a huge steel producing factory. Now, this is all that is left. Today, the Gypsies were digging deep in the ground to get cables and pipes out of the ground to sell. They break the concrete pillars and floors with sledge hammers to get the rebar (steel rods) to sell. Attila "loaned" a group of Gypsy men enough to buy bread since they had not had any breakfast or lunch. They will pay him back when they sell the scrap metal.

Adel, Piroska, and Moni spent the day making cabbage rolls for the Saturday training. Piroska and Moni are members of the Apalina church. They had a great time together (and the cabbage rolls were really delicious as you'll see on the Saturday blog!)

This is very hard work for Attila and Adel. They are so grateful for your encouragement, prayers, and partnership.

Teleios partners are making a tremendous difference in Apalina through your prayers, support, and mission teams. The Apalina building also requires a fence. An entrance to the property over a ditch was constructed for delivering materials for the foundation. Now, some of the people are using the entrance to bring trash onto the property for dumping. A fence was in plans eventually, but, the fence seems to be needed sooner rather than later. Join us in prayer as construction on the building moves forward. More partners are needed to bring this vision to a reality.