Clista & Glen Adkins
Location: Pecs, Hungary
Hometown: Greenville, S.C.
Commissioned: 2007
The Gandhi School in Pecs, Hungary, where Clista and Glen Adkins serve as Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel, provides unique educational opportunities for 250 Romany youth.
“Glen and I hope that we can help [the students] to understand that God loves them,” said Clista, who teaches English classes at the school. “To understand that God loves Roma people, that they are part of the larger family of God, and that God’s gift of love in Jesus Christ was for Roma just as much as it was for everyone else. We have this goal in mind in everything we do.”
Only 3 percent of Roma attend a university, and less than 20 percent attend high school. Those who do enroll in a public school are often placed in classes for students with mental disabilities in order to separate them from non-Roma. The Gandhi School provides a nurturing alternative for Roma, who come from impoverished backgrounds.
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