This post tells the *rest* of the story about sharing school supplies in Žitni Potok. The pictures in this post are all of children who live in Žitni Potok, or of the village itself. Linking Partners has worked in this village for several years, and this is the third year we have distributed school supplies to the Roma children there.
For the money that we received ($500 per village) we were able to buy 100 packages of school supplies. With LaJuana, we planned for that money to buy around 60 -70 packages, but with the Lord’s help we succeeded for that money to buy even more than we hoped for. All supplies we bought in one shop in Leskovac, and while I was shopping, with me there were brothers from the church.
When I told the owner of the shop who we are, what we do, to who we want to share supplies, where we got money for it – he was surprised with all that he heard and told us that was the first time in his life he met Roma people who want to help someone in this way, and because of that he gave us supplies for a lower price. So, from the beginning of the realization of this idea, we saw that God’s hand was above us and this will really be a blessing for a lot of children, and a big testimony for our church.
Preparation and packing of supplies was done by brothers from the church. Since our room where we meet was flooded, all supplies were brought to Pera’s house and there the brothers had a big job making it all ready for sharing.
School supplies were shared in the primary school in Žitni Potok. For preparation and sharing of the supplies two brothers from church – Petar and Seba, were in charged and two teachers from that school. While they did these things, the director of the school received me in his office and all the time he was talking about how the Evangelical church is different from other churches. This was a great chance to share the Gospel with him and show him that this opportunity is a practical way we can show love, which is the base of our belief. Also, I mentioned how we got supplies, how many people know the needs of that village, and how many people pray for this village. The director of the school (Ivan) simply didn’t have anything to say, he was just so thankful and he also said that he would like to meet these people who think about these children who are forgotten by everyone else.
When we came back to the big hall where all were gathered – teachers, janitors, a few parents, and of course all of the children from school, Ivan told them the reason why they stopped with classes. He called me in front of all, and thanked us for this donation. This was a big encouragement for us.
From a total of 105 children who go to that primary school (from first to eighth grade) almost 80 children are Roma.
When Ivan asked the children, “Do you know this man?”, almost all the children at once loudly said: “Yes, that is Maki from the church.” Ivan was surprised by the reaction of the kids, and this is why. In that school officially there are 105 pupils. Fifteen children left to Germany, ten children weren’t in school, so it means there were 80 children present. From these 80 children, over 60 of them come to our children’s classes (all Roma). That is really a big blessing.
Sharing of school supplies was a really big testimony! Pera shared one part of the supplies with one teacher and Seba, on the other side, did the same with another teacher. Communication between them was really incredible, because the teachers treated them kindly and with great respect. Besides children from Žitni Potok, there was one class of 15 children from a village near called Zlata, and one class of children from the village Kozince. So, supplies were received by children from three villages! This is first time that sharing happened in this way. This tells us that besides the director, other people (councilors of the village, presidents of local communities) recognized that we are group of people who are sincere and responsible. I think this will open a lot of doors for sharing the Gospel in surrounding villages. Till then we’ll pray and wait for right moment.
After we shared supplies, the children and the rest said thanks for that. The director and teachers called us for refreshments and while we talked they said that they want to visit our church and to see how looks our service and how we pray, what makes us different. Thanks to God that we could challenge them in this way. We reminded them that in that village we have people who come to our community and that we have meetings in a few houses in that village.
This kind of service is a big encouragement for our community. Since we don’t have the opportunity to do this always, we all do our best to be better in using these opportunities. I think through this sharing we succeeded in our hopes.
Be a part of sharing school supplies, and opening doors to life-changing work by donating to Linking Partners. Tomorrow on the Linking Partners’ blog: home church and discipleship in Žitni Potok.
