OUTREACH TO LOCAL GYPSY COMMUNITIES

David and two young men from our church went with boldness and faith to

“Iris”, one of the poorest communities in Cluj. It is an impoverished slum area,

crime- ridden and violent, a neighborhood where mostly Gypsies live and

everyone else avoids. With an unheard of approach, they went door to door,

knocked and offered to pray for the sick in each household. The first person they

prayed for was an old man with aches and pains all over. After being healed, he

was pain free and started bending and twisting, movements he couldn’t have done

before. Many other healings followed.

Since then a team has gone weekly to the

same area. Starting with a couple of

worship songs, God fills the place with

His presence. A simple message to stir

up faith is followed by prayer. Then the

miracles start to happen. A girl with

hepatitis and pain in her liver was

healed; a young lady who was

completely deaf in one ear and could

only hear very little with the other ear could suddenly hear clearly with both ears!

A young boy came with a cast on his broken arm. His arm was instantly restored

as soon as hands were laid on him! And there have been

countless other healings and deliverances.

But the story doesn’t stop there. Gabi, one of the young

ladies who saw all of this with her own eyes told her

sister, Susana what she had seen God do. Gabi must have

been convincing because her sister then invited David to

come with his team to her neighborhood, in Ira, another

community of Gypsies in another corner of the city.

David asked me to join the team in ministering to this new area. Susana invited

neighbors, relatives and friends. As we started, I counted 19 adults and 15 children

gathered around in her courtyard. We sang and David shared a simple message

about healing. God’s presence was so tangible. Then we offered to pray. The

response was slow at first. We prayed for a lady with severe back pains. She was

healed and tried out her “new” back…with no pain and complete freedom of

movement. Another came with a painful knee problem. We prayed and God

healed her too. You could see the excitement on her face. The atmosphere became

charged with reactions of wonder! The third person confessed that she had AIDS.

God touched her powerfully as we prayed.

Aft er that I looked up and there were no longer

19 adults but now about 50! They were all

straining to see and then pressing forward for

prayer for their healing too. We prayed for a lady

paralyzed on her right side and who had been in a

wheelchair for years… She said she felt heat

throbbing through her right arm and leg. Many

others were healed and delivered on the spot. God

had their attention now.

By the second meeting we began to hear peoples’ stories. The

lady with AIDS had gone for a blood test. The doctor marveled

that this was the best result she had ever had with her blood! The

lady paralyzed on her right side told us that she had walked with

assistance across the courtyard. She demonstrated how she could

now move her foot, open and close her hand, bend her arm at the

elbow and raise her arm over her head.