by Lynn Blase, Entrust, Serbia
Kucura, a village in northern Serbia. Pastor Sasha Subotin opens the Sunday service with a welcome to the 60 believers gathered to worship. It is the only evangelical church in Kucura and it is Roma. Pastor Sasha is also Roma.
Becoming a believer at 14, he was immediately thrust into serving in the church. It was the late 1990s and a spiritual awakening was sweeping through northern Serbia. The needs in the church were great and Sasha has the heart of a servant.
“I started cleaning toilets at my church. Then I started with children’s ministry, home groups, and at 16 I became the second pastor at my church. At that time, we had 11 home groups.”
His training came from his pastor and some time at a regional Bible school.
Today Sasha and his wife, Danijela, serve more than just the believers in the church. Using his gift combination of humanitarian and evangelist, he delivers food to Roma villages throughout northern Serbia, sharing the gospel after he has fed the hungry poor.
“The Roma come quick to Jesus. They accept him and love him. Roma are extremely poor, seven times poorer than non-Roma. In Serbia, the average age of death for Roma men is 49; for Roma women it is 47. There is an urgency to spread the gospel. I want to share Jesus’ love.”
Sasha sees a brighter future ahead. “A new generation of children are changing the way of life. They are seeking education and good jobs. In Kucura and nearby villages, most Roma children finish high school and 30% are enrolled in the university.”
Sasha recently launched a new ministry for young children called Ruhama. “In my 25 years of ministry, 26 children died. I have a big pain in my heart. We want to help children and their mothers, many of whom are single.”
Entrust’s Jim and Lynn Blase saw Sasha’s need of help. Lynn now leads in-depth Bible studies with Roma women. Jim and Lynn have conducted discipleship workshops. They’re working with lay leaders, assisting them in making new disciples and encouraging them to write Bible studies for their own people.
“I appreciate that Jim and Lynn do not force their ways on us but are willing to work according to our ways,” Sasha says. “I do not feel pressure when they share ideas.”
He also appreciates that they’ve not abandoned him over the past five years. Roma ministry takes time. “You need a century to disciple a Roma believer.”
Get to know the Roma
Forget caravans and crystal balls!
While Roma may love music, dance and brightly colored clothing, they are not the stereotyped characters we might think of.
They migrated out of India centuries ago. The vast majority – upwards of 10 million – now live in Central Europe, with more in Asia, the Americas and Australia.
Serbia is home to about 150,000 Roma. Many live in predominantly Roma towns and villages. While they likely know Serbian, they also speak their own language and preserve their own culture.
Some experience poverty and discrimination, but more and more are entering mainstream society.
The Joshua Project says 65% of Serbian Roma call themselves Christians, while less than half of one percent are committed followers of Jesus.
Here’s the story of one devoted Roma pastor, the kind of leader Entrust is here to serve.
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