FRIENDS OF THE GYPSY ROMA

ABOUT US

Bringing Jesus to the Roma

The primary purpose of our mission is to bring the Light of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Roma in northwestern Romania. We are intent upon reaching out to the them with compassion and the love of Jesus, giving them the respect and dignity that they deserve and ministering to their needs, for they are precious in the sight of the Lord.

According to the publication Operation World, The Definitive Prayer Guide To All Nations, the Roma are the most spiritually responsive ethnicity in Romania to the Gospel. We are finding that there are vast opportunities to minister to these people who have been despised and persecuted for 1,000 years. God can make a difference in their lives, but we must also realize that the window for reaching them with the Truth could close at any time!

Reading Roma mother reading new material

James 5:16 “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous person avails much.”

Please take time out of your busy schedule to pray earnestly for our mission and the Roma that many of them will be "rescued from the power of the darkness of this world and transformed into the Kingdom of God’s dear Son.

Please pray for the Roma and

consider a financial gift to this ministry.

MINISTRY HIGHLIGHTS

SUMMER BIBLE DAY CAMPS

Similar to Vacation Bible Schools, children memorize Bible verses, learn Christian songs, hear Bible stories, play games and learn about Jesus and His forgiveness of sins. These children are the future pastors, laypeople and evangelists that will minister to their people.

BIBLE TRAINING SCHOOLS

II Timothy 2:2 teaches, "Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others." We have accepted Paul's charge and today are teaching Roma pastors and laypeople so they can pass the Gospel on to others.

CRAFT PROJECT

This ministry helps ladies earn money so they can buy food and other necessities for their families. This also gives them the opportunity to hear the Gospel, and some for the first time, hear that God loves them.

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LATEST NEWSLETTERS

JANUARY NEWSLETTER

January 25, 2019

Update for Summer Bible Camps

Open Newsletter

SEPTEMBER NEWSLETTER

September 28, 2018

Roma Ladies' Craft Project

Open Newsletter

CONTACT US

Rodney “Gipsy” Smith

31 March 1860 – 4 August 1947

Rodney “Gipsy” Smith was a British evangelist who conducted evangelistic campaigns
in the United States and Great Britain for over 70 years. He was an early member of The Salvation
Army and a contemporary of Fanny Crosby and acquaintance of G. Campbell Morgan and H. A.
Ironside.

Smith was born in a Romani bender tent in Epping Forest, six miles northeast of London. Today the
site is marked with a large, commemorative stone in the woods near Waterworks Corner, Woodford
Green. Smith received no education, and his family made a living selling baskets, tinware, and
clothespegs. His father, Cornelius (1831-1922), and his mother, Mary provided a home that was
happy in their vardo (caravan).

Aged 16, Smith's conversion came as a result of a combination of various factors; the witness of his
father, hearing Ira Sankey sing and a visit to the home of John Bunyan in Bedford all contributed. He
taught himself to read and write and began to practice preaching. He would sing hymns to the
people he met and was known as "the singing gypsy boy."

At a convention at the Christian Mission (later to become The Salvation Army) headquarters in
London, William Booth noticed the Gypsies and realized the potential in young Smith. On 25 June
1877 Smith accepted the invitation of Booth to be an evangelist with and for the Mission. For six
years (1877–1882) he served on street corners and mission halls.

He traveled extensively around the world on evangelistic crusades, drawing crowds numbering in the
hundreds of thousands throughout his life. Busy as he was, he never grew tired of visiting Romani
encampments whenever he could on both sides of the Atlantic. Gipsy never wrote a sermon out for
preaching purposes. Smith wrote several books and could sing as well as he preached. Sometimes
he would interrupt his sermon and burst into song. Several of these hymns he would sing were
recorded by Columbia Records.

Although he was a Methodist, ministers of all denominations loved
him. It is said that he never had a meeting without conversions. Gipsy Smith made as many as 30
trips to the United States and was actively preaching in many parts of the world until he died in 1947.