It’s 26º F/-3º C outside. You’re five years old and your only coat is a thin fleece jacket, but at least it’s several sizes too big, so it covers your hands. Your home is made of recycled materials — rough on the outside, finished on the inside, but very little, if any, insulation. It’s COLD!
The University of Rochester Medical Center says this:
The amount of heat you can lose through your head depends upon a number of factors, including how thick your hair is and how much energy you expend in the cold. The ratio of the surface area of a child’s head relative to the child’s body surface area is much greater than that of an adult, so that children lose proportionally more heat through their heads. Hoods and hats are more important to children because of this.
Linking Partners works in many Roma villages in Serbia where the temperature in January averages between 26º to 39º. A few of us got the idea to knit hats for the children there, because we enjoyed knitting as a hobby. Word started to get around, and others asked us if they could join. We went from a stack of 12 hats to a huge duffle bag filled with over 250 hats! To date, we have given out 950 hats in Serbia, and we’ve just begun.
Knitting circles have popped up around the USA, with women gathering to knit warm hats for the Roma children of Serbia. And as we knit, we talk — of course! We share the stories of the children. We talk about the amazing move of the gospel through home churches in the towns and villages — home churches that are led by young men who are still in high school! We pray for the needs of the villages.
And some of us go another step — we donate to provide school supplies, medical care, humanitarian aid, Bibles, support for Roma pastors! And some of us go another step yet — we go to Serbia. We hold Bible clubs for children and teach discipleship training to young believers who then go out into villages where the gospel has never been shared, we minister in hospitals and community gatherings and visits to remote villages. We love on the children, we love their parents and neighbors.
These hats do more than keep children warm. They introduce our Roma pastors and church planters in villages where the gospel has NEVER been shared. They are physical proof of our love for them — love that is then played out in regular visits, Bible clubs for children, home churches for their parents, and often school supplies for the village, the opportunity to participate in Teach A Man to Fish projects, in short — hope for life in many ways.
And sometimes, it all starts with a knitted hat. Forty-three of them came in the mail today! The Willing Hands knitting group of Sherwood First Baptist Church in Arkansas is having a sale of knitted items and beautiful hand-painted portraits of Roma children on December 7 — with 100% of the proceeds going to these precious ones in Serbia. If you’re in the central Arkansas area, come by all day long and do some Christmas shopping!
Would you like to join us? Email us at info@linkingpartners.org about starting a knitting circle where you live. Donate to purchase yarn for the knitters who are already involved in this ministry. Go with us to Serbia and serve these precious people. There’s something for everyone!
