A few years ago, I heard about a hurting, abused, guilt-burdened woman who lives in Ukraine. Her name is Helen.
Helen is a member of a people group called the Roma people, what we might call the Gypsy people. She lives in a village in Western Ukraine called Gat that is filled with 2 room clay and wooden huts. About 500 other Roma people live there. They are considered an unreached people group in Ukraine.
Helen is married. Her husband, Zoltan, travels to find work in Kiev or Moscow and is gone several months at a time. When he’s home, he drinks and he’s abusive. Helen has been beaten many, many times. They have 3 children, two of them are teens. The money is tight. The pressure is high. Helen works a little as a cleaning lady for some local offices. It’s a hard life.
Several ago, when Zoltan returned from working in the big city, Helen became pregnant. And Zoltan pushed her to have an abortion. Helen is abused. Helen is scared. Helen's future is bleak. Helen feels guilty because of a past abortion. What’s going to happen to her? Who’s going to help her?
Enter Emery and Clara Lazslo? Emery was working in Cleveland as a research chemical engineer. They have 5 kids and 7 grandkids. They were living the American dream.
But they knew that the Kingdom dream is bigger and better than the American dream. So, they began to pursue the Kingdom dream. They applied to the International Mission Board and were appointed as missionaries to the Ukraine. They took a 60% cut in pay and left behind a house, their kids and their grandkids.
Now, they are missionaries in Western Ukraine. They ditched the American dream for the Kingdom dream.
Has it been worth it?
Emery and Clara are focused on a people group called the Roma people, what we might call the Gypsy people.
Clara decided that the best way to reach some of these Roma women in a little town called Gat was to start a women’s group and to teach knitting. She supplied the yarn and the lessons and the women and girls started showing up, “Come and see the American missionary from Hungary!”
You guessed it. A lady in that village named Helen started attending the knitting sessions and then the little church that the Lazslos had started. Emery and Clara found out that Helen’s heart was wounded, not only from the abuse, but from that abortion she’d had in the past. The guilt was great. She needed forgiveness. And when she heard about Jesus and His forgiveness, she decided to follow Jesus. Jesus set her free.
But remember, she was pregnant. And Zoltan, her husband, was pushing Helen to have an abortion. But now, she was following Jesus. And because Jesus had changed her life, she knew that Jesus wanted her to keep the baby and she had the courage to do it. She said, “I told my husband, ‘You can do with me whatever you want. You can beat me and you can kill me, but you cannot grab God from my heart.’” She is so changed – so full of life and hope – that one day at church, Helen asked, “I have a desire to fall on my knees before God and pray. May I?”
That little congregation that Emery and Clara started in Gat has been praying for peace in her home. God is answering those prayers. Tonight, I will be speaking at the Gypsy church in Gat. The service was supposed to start at 5:00. But guess who asked for the service to be started at 6:00 so he could come? Zoltan! We hope that he will allow us to have a one-on-one conversation about the gospel. Please pray that he will come to faith.
Helen’s baby is now 4. I met him two nights ago. Imagine that you are looking into his little eyes. And think, “This little boy is alive today because Emery and Clara ditched the American Dream for the Kingdom Dream and they reached this boy’s mother for Christ.”
We are privileged to be part of an ongoing miracle here in Western Ukraine. May God grant more fruit for His glory!
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