AGWM personnel in Slovakia, John and Daralena Bean, hosted a team of 39 Roma (Gypsy) from New Jersey who came to minister to their own people in Slovakia. They were able to go into 4 new villages and share the Gospel. The Roma were so eager to hear the gospel. In the village of Kamena Polruba, the mayor of the city came with several others and dedicated their lives to Christ. But there is an interesting back story with this Roma team! About 25 years ago, there was a young Roma couple in New Jersey who wanted to get married. They went to the Orthodox Church and asked the pastor if he would marry them and he refused to do so. It happened that one of the family members of this couple knew of an Assemblies of God pastor, so they went to him and asked if he would marry them. He consented to do so under some stipulations. 1. He wanted the couple who was getting married to bring their entire family to the marriage counseling sessions. 2. After they were married, they had to agree to bring their entire Roma family to one Sunday morning service at the Assemblies of God church. They agreed to the stipulations and sometime later after they were married, there were 80 Roma who came to that Pastor’s A/G church as they promised. The pastor preached and all 80 of them gave their lives to Christ.
Out of that group God called several of these Roma to be preachers and pastors. When the Beans were home on Furlough in 2013, they were contacted by this Roma Pastor who had heard of their work with the Roma in Slovakia. They have earnestly been trying to find out where their people originated and where some of their people may live in Europe. So the Beans went to New Jersey and preached for them and found out very quickly that they had many traditions and cultural similarities as those who live in Slovakia. God brought them back to minister to their own people!
AGWM personnel in Slovakia, John and Daralena Bean, hosted a team of 39 Roma (Gypsy) from New Jersey who came to minister to their own people in Slovakia. They were able to go into 4 new villages and share the Gospel. The Roma were so eager to hear the gospel. In the village of Kamena Polruba, the mayor of the city came with several others and dedicated their lives to Christ. But there is an interesting back story with this Roma team!
About 25 years ago, there was a young Roma couple in New Jersey who wanted to get married. They went to the Orthodox Church and asked the pastor if he would marry them and he refused to do so. It happened that one of the family members of this couple knew of an Assemblies of God pastor, so they went to him and asked if he would marry them. He consented to do so under some stipulations. 1. He wanted the couple who was getting married to bring their entire family to the marriage counseling sessions. 2. After they were married, they had to agree to bring their entire Roma family to one Sunday morning service at the Assemblies of God church. They agreed to the stipulations and sometime later after they were married, there were 80 Roma who came to that Pastor’s A/G church as they promised. The pastor preached and all 80 of them gave their lives to Christ.
Out of that group God called several of these Roma to be preachers and pastors. When the Beans were home on Furlough in 2013, they were contacted by this Roma Pastor who had heard of their work with the Roma in Slovakia. They have earnestly been trying to find out where their people originated and where some of their people may live in Europe. So the Beans went to New Jersey and preached for them and found out very quickly that they had many traditions and cultural similarities as those who live in Slovakia. God brought them back to minister to their own people!
AGWM Personnel in Romania, the Dascalescus, tell of the exciting events held this summer in Romania. They organized children outreaches in the surrounding villages and had hundreds of them hear the gospel message for the first time and respond to it!
The message of Jesus Christ was taken to the streets of Zamora, Spain this summer through singing, distributing Gospel tracts, personal conversations, and open air preaching. These evangelism efforts were taken by AGWM Personnel, Bill and Diane Jackson along with members of their church. Seeds of the Gospel were sown!
Romina heard the singing and preaching out on the street, gave her life to Christ, and now is a faithful follower. Ramon lived for the bottle. Now he lives for Christ. Rosario was involved in Santeria but now she follows Christ. Ambrosio had threatened his wife with divorce because she is a believer. Now he is, too! Laura is a Gypsy that Diane had in her Sunday School class years ago in Zamora. They moved to Toro. When the Jacksons started the church in Toro, she and her family started attending. She has decided to follow Jesus.
Sunday afternoon, June 26, 2016 Suzanne Spolarich, AGWM Personnel in France had the privilege and delight of baptizing Emmanuelle N'Kodia, a university student.
In 2013 Emmanuelle decided to quit a Sunday job and come to The Bridge on a more regular basis, making this a priority. She met me and Guy, a leader with me in our University Students and Young Professionals group. I remember when she started coming to our small group. She was very interested and just couldn’t get enough of God’s Word. She became more active in the group and started serving at The Bridge.