Thessaloniki Roma Church Visit

Robert, Annie & Vula

August 21, 2022 – An Unforgettable Visit to the Thessaloniki Roma Church
Annie & Robert Ching of Gilead Bible Church, San Ramon, CA

Today, Vula took us to the Roma village of Thessaloniki for Sunday worship. This village is located in a garbage dump outside of Thessaloniki’s International Airport. We visited 5 years ago when the relationship among the dwellers was fair and houses were adequate. Today, it is filthier and more desolate, and hidden from the bustling freeway. Four years ago, a fierce fire broke out in the village which burned down their houses. The church and the Sunday School buildings were loitered. Consequently, many families were dispersed and scattered. Fewer houses were rebuilt with much inferior materials like corrugated tin sheets, paper cardboards cover with tarps – more like shacks than houses. The church building was erected by several faithful families using broken doors and windows picked up in the dumps. Dangling wires, missing light bulbs and leaky roofs were common. The new cross is made with two twigs, a symbol of forever victory! There are many children, but no place for them to have Sunday School, and there is no teacher.

Roma village

Roma church building

Yet, as we entered this awesome place of worship, we were quickly and deeply moved by the Roma believers’ joy and readiness to worship. Today, worship music was avoided to honor the death in a believer’s family. Pastor John began with the reading of Psalm 40, followed by a beautiful vocal singing of “I Know Who Holds Tomorrow” by his wife, Katerina. We felt an awe-inspiring sense of profound comfort upon this suffering congregation. While the church body is going through trials and suffering themselves, the communal prayer was offered to remember those being persecuted in India and Syria. Brother Robert gave a simple message on God’s everlasting love from Romans 8:35-39. It was truly a refreshing moment of true worship to God. We were blessed and honored to sit next to our fellow Roma Christians on this Lord’s Day! Thank you so much, Oh Lord, for loving us regardless of differences and race.

Roma church service

Brother Robert gives message

A boy raised his hand at the beginning of worship and asked, “Are we going to have Sunday School today?” Pastor John answered a resounding “Yes”. The backdrop of this amazing question happened like this: Since the old church building was no longer usable, there is no space to hold any classes like before. Further, since the Covid outbreak, children’s Sunday School was stopped. But God’s plan for today exceeded the children’s expectation! A month ago, the first Roma believer of this village became very sick and was taken Home to the Lord. The church family was in mourning for her. But Vula brought us along today and we prepared a Sunday School lesson nonetheless. The daughter, who is also a leader of the church, opened the house of her late mother for Sunday School! Her house was just across from the church. The Lord knew the right time, the right place and the right people to give the children a long-awaited Sunday School time! Yes, there would be Sunday School today!

Sunday school

Annie gave a simple lesson on sunflowers 🌻 based on John 8:12 “I am the Light of the world. He that follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the Light of life.” Vula was a terrific interpreter from English to Greek! The children engaged with good spirits and listening ears. Snack time with chocolates, juice, bananas, and sunflower seeds filled all those who lined up with little open hands and smiling faces. A Roma sister stepped up to be our helper! Our impromptu team was incredible. The joy of the Lord filled the hearts of the youth and adults with laughter, hugs and love, in the house where the first believer of this village had lived. God’s love has no boundaries and His salvation can reach even to a ghetto in the middle of the dumps that is obscured and neglected by the outside world.

Vula with youth

Chocolate!

After this amazing Sunday lesson, two young teens came to show Vula a note book written in Chinese pin-yin and Greek. They have self-taught themselves Chinese using the internet. Vula showed me their proud work and I was dumbfounded by such incredible interest to learn the Chinese language. They even wanted to go to China someday to find Chinese Christians to teach them more of the Chinese language! Their desires touched my heart deeply – reaching out across the world to learn Chinese in a far away land. At the end of the visit, all the children learned to say sunflower in Chinese: Taiyang Hua 太陽花 🌻 Praise God for this amazing cross-cultural experience that was done in the love of Jesus Christ!

Annie impressed by Chinese language interest

Group