Gypsy (Roma) Women's Conference: Saturday

Wednesday and Thursday: Apalina, The Market, and Gornesti

On Wednesday I, Bonnie, went to Targu Mures to   I had never been to her apartment and wanted to see it. We went out for lunch, ran some errands and visited at her place for the rest of the afternoon.
see Adel Nagy.

Zech went with Attila to Apalina. They walked through the streets with Attila pointing out the differences in the people of the Hungarian speaking and the Romanian speaking streets. Along the walk they visited in some homes. Zech had opportunity to hear their stories, see their situations and experience their hospitality. Floyd stayed at Attila and Adel’s house catching up on his work for other projects.

Later in the afternoon Adel took Zechariah shopping downtown.

In the evening we had a wonderful dinner in the home of Isti and Annamaria Kalanyos from Gornesti.  Wednesday night is the mid-week service at the church in Gornesti.  Floyd led the group in discussing how to reach the community with the love of Jesus in tangible ways. It was a good session.

On the way home we stopped by some members’ house to pick up large cast iron goulash pots to be used on Saturday.

Thursday March 10

Today we went to the market.  Every Thursday is market day in Reghin.  It was cloudy and drizzling rain so it was not a real busy morning there.  Suited us just fine because it meant we did not have to wait in line for very long to buy mic. The market has the best mic around.  It is a seasoned roll of ground meat grilled on an open fire. Delicious! Along with a plate of hot French fries it is a meal fit for kings!  Zech discovered them for the first time and really liked them.  I believe he ate 5 or 6!

Some gypsies from the Glodendi make beautiful, hand-woven reed baskets and had them for sale at the market.  We did a little shopping.

Thursday night is mid- week service in Peris.  Miklos, the gypsy, his wife Katie, and Florin accompanied us to the service.

Following the service Zech and Attila once again went off to play soccer with the village boys.  The team they played was the best in the area. Having practiced up earlier in the week our guys were really on their game!  They returned home victorious full of excitement laughing and sharing tales of their athletic feats!

Zech gives testimony at Glodeni

Micklos shares his testimony at Peris

Attila greets a first timer at Peris

Tuesday: Farm, Glodeni, and WOMAN'S DAY

On Tuesday Attila took Floyd, Zech and me to Glodeni to visit the kindergarten classes sponsored by the mission.  There are two; each has between ten and twelve children ages four to six.  It was lunch time in Zozo’s class.  You have never seen such little ones pack away so many sandwiches!  For most of them it is the only food they have each day.  They sang and recited colors and numbers.  They have learned the days of the week and the names of the months.  Annamaria the other teacher was out sick  so her group was watching a movie with the substitute teacher when we popped in to see them.

After visiting the classes we went to visit the farm land.  It is beautiful property just outside the village. It consists of 16 hects. (Due to the rain we had to walk about a mile or so after we had driven for a way) Attila shared the plan for developing the land to produce crops.  This will provide income for the mission work as the produce is sold.  Jobs will be created for the gypsies as they help work the fields and bring in the harvest. There was evidence of the presence of wild pigs and groundhogs but we did not see any.

 We also went and saw the tractor that had been purchased last week with funds from the Teleios Christmas catalog. It is kept at a church member, Attila Ratei’s, home in Glodendi.  As we drove through the village many of the children from camp days saw us and began waving a shouting to me. It was a very special feeling seeing their smiles and hearing “It’s Bonnie”!

Traveling back to Reghin, we stopped in the village of Peris to look at the newly purchased house and land there.  This location is the site of the latest partnership project. It will serve as a group home for foster gypsy children.   The house is large enough to accommodate foster parents and up to 10 children. The house requires some renovations but is spacious, solidly built and has beautiful parquet flooring. In the courtyard is an old building that will be torn down.  At the rear is a small barn, some stalls and lots of area for gardening. The property is located on the main street of the village and the kindergarten is just across the street.  Very convenient to everything!  Cleaning the courtyard and demolition of the old out building is projected to begin around the first week in April. It is so exciting to see this dream becoming a reality! We would have lingered but a hail storm with cold rain began to pour down on us down on us so we hurried back to the van and continued on to Reghin.

 When we arrived back in Reghin Attila dropped me off at his house saying the guys had a project to do.  It wasn’t too long before they arrived back to the house bearing gifts. Adel, her mother and I received bouquets of beautiful flowers!  March 8 is Women’s Day throughout the world.  It is celebrated big in Romania.  It is a day when women are treated special. Women are showered with gifts of candy and flowers. Their contributions to family and community are recognized.   In the cities restaurants are packed giving women a break from cooking for the day.  Some businesses reserve the entire restaurant for their employees and families.  We tried three before we found one that could take us for dinner.  Prior to eating we went bowling in Targur Mures.  We were alone at the bowling alley because there was a free concert in town for Women’s Day. None of us are pros but we sure had fun!

The weather had turned cold and rainy again so Zech decided to forgo the nightly soccer game. We were all tired from the walk around the land and celebrating anyway.