In March this year we started going in a Roma neighborhood in one of the villages near Medias. We wanted to start again the children’s ministry that once took place there and now was stopped.

From the very beginning we were excited to see children’s openness. They would come to us, hug us and curiously ask us question after question. In a short time we started building friendships with them and their families through our children programs. Twice a week we would gather all the children together and climb on a hill to play football, tell bible stories and sing about Jesus. If there is a word to describe this season in our ministry, it’s playfulness and joy.

As summer came we started being more and more concerned about the many illiterate children from the zone. How was it to have 9 years and still be in the first grade? God started opening us doors in a local school and we began a summer school in one of the school’s classes. Together with almost 20 Roma children we started a long adventure of learning reading and writing skills.

When summer turned into autumn and schools started we felt God guiding us to continue working with our literacy project. The school director received us with open arms and gave our project a name, “school after school”. Now we continue meeting twice a week to do eat, play and to do homework together.

I don’t know a thing more beautiful than these children’s smiling faces. I can see how much they enjoy coming to school, how excited they get of learning just to write a number 5. At the same time I know that many times they choose to stay home, to work or to take care of their smaller family members. That is why, every time we meet, we encourage them to come to school and to see the beauty of learning.

We can see how, little by little, God is working in these children. One of the boys, a 13-years-old, kept telling us “I cannot do this” every time we taught him a new letter. We stayed next to him and patiently explained him everything again and again. Now he’s growing in his self-confidence, and proudly he comes to show us his beautiful handwriting. We always pray when closing the program in school. Many times we hear him and the other children praying: “God, thank you for teaching me to write this new letter.”

King's Kids team, YWAM Mediaș