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ATLANTA – Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel Susan and Wes Craig learned early in their three-year assignment that most Romanians are disgusted by the Roma people, often referred to as gypsies. And that’s what made this one church meeting so powerful.

When Wes traveled to a church to tell its leaders about the Gypsy Smith School, which provides education and training to Roma church leaders and evangelists, he noticed a Romanian man with his hand on the shoulder of a Roma teenaged boy. Their relationship seemed like father and son even though it went against all social norms. Wes saw the gospel at work.

“A Romanian treating a Roma like family is a demonstration of the power of the gospel and a testimony to how God can change hearts and bring love and peace between people who normally don’t have such,” said Wes, a native of Garland, Texas.

Since 2006, the Craigs have worked in Romania among the Roma people who have many physical needs resulting from living in poverty.  The Craigs are part of Project Ruth, which has been working since 1992 in the Ferentari neighborhood of Bucharest to meet needs of Roma children. These children drop out or fall behind in school, and Ruth School provides a way for them to re-enter the educational system with hopes of finishing school.

“At Ruth School, they all are the given the opportunity to receive a school education through grade eight,” said Susan, a native of Houston, Texas. “At the end of the eighth grade they take a national exam, and if they pass, then they can continue their education at an academic high school.”

Susan works in the Project Ruth office, helping to coordinate activities, volunteer trips and day-to-day logistics. 

“I am able to be the presence of Christ in my work environment, either at the office or at the school,” she said. “By serving others, I am showing them not only my love but the love God has for them.”

Wes helps extend theological and leadership education to Roma pastors through his work with Gypsy Smith School. This school for church leaders helps equip Romas like Sandu, Wes’s friend who continues to serve as the administrator of his church even though his non-Christian parents harass him for being a Christian.

“At the school, Roma church leaders are encouraged and further equipped for the ministry God has called them,” Wes said. “For the Roma of Romania to be reached with the gospel, it really must come through Roma reaching Roma, and this is one way we can encourage and support this.”

Project Ruth survives on financial donations and hands-on involvement from churches, which include many Fellowship partner churches. The Craigs’ church, DaySpring Baptist Church in Waco, Texas, provides prayer and encouragement. A group from the church will visit this spring to work alongside the Craigs.

Boulevard Baptist Church in Anderson, S.C., has helped the ministry for years by sponsoring children at Ruth School, raising financial support for projects and sending teams of church members to help in tangible ways.

“Boulevard Baptist Church is an example of how a local church can have a lasting and meaningful missional engagement with a world in need,” Wes said.

Even Fellowship partner churches who don’t know the Craigs are still supporting them by giving to the Fellowship’s Offering for Global Missions, which financially allows CBF field personnel to minister among some of the most neglected people in the world.

“Not only does it provide us the financial means to serve here for three years, but provides us with the necessary funds for ministry,” Wes said.

To support the Craigs and other CBF field personnel by giving to the CBF Offering for Global Missions, visit www.thefellowship.info/ogm.

CBF is a fellowship of Baptist Christians and churches who share a passion for the Great Commission and a commitment to Baptist principles of faith and practice. The Fellowship’s mission is to serve Christians and churches as they discover and fulfill their God-given mission.