Just One Scarf

It is beginning to actually feel like fall here in the southern US; but in Pecs, Hungary, the temps are already those of winter and snow has already begun to descend on the city.

Here is an excerpt from a newsletter sent by my dear friends, Glen and Clista Adkins, missionaries at the Gandhi School in Pecs:

"Leaves of yellow, orange, and red drift and swirl through the air as we walk on the roads. Squashes and pumpkins are appearing at the vegetable stands. Local vendors are setting up their hot chestnut and hot wine stands around town, and local Roma are scavenging and hauling wood on conveyances from wagons to bicycles. Even as the leaves are flying around in the nippy winds, people are scurrying around, trying to get everything ready before the big-time cold hits!"

This really touched my soul when I read it. I could almost feel myself there, in Pecs, smell the hot chestnuts and hot wine. And my heart began to break for the Roma all over again. You see, the Roma are what you may call gypsies. And in Hungary, they are considered lower than second-class citizens. They have long been the outcasts of society there and are still trying to prove themselves and make a good name for their people.

This is where the Gandhi School comes into play. This is a residential high-school expressly for the Roma. This is a place where they can further their education and hopefully better their lives and their family's.

One thing about the Roma...they are incredibly poor, some still living in huts, scavenging for firewood, not to mention having little to no warm clothes for the brutal Hungarian winters.

And yet, here is a bright spot, at least I hope and pray it will be one. Ben is going to Hungary for 10 days in February as part of a mission trip. I wanted to be able to send something with him for the students, and possibly even the staff/faculty at the school. We've sent Christmas stockings one year, but thought that perhaps something a little more practical would be in order for this trip. Coats are too bulky, even to ship. Then one day I was knitting and Ben mentioned me knitting a scarf for the Roma students. Well, I knew that I could knit a few before he left, but there would not be enough time to knit one for every student.

That is where you come in! If you can knit or crochet, would you consider making just one scarf for someone at the Gandhi school? Or maybe you can't knit or crochet, but have a few extra dollars to pick up just one scarf while you are out Christmas shopping. I would be eternally thankful, and I know the Roma would be as well. If we each contributed just one scarf, it would make a world of difference.

Scarves can be dropped off to me or I will gladly come and get it from you.

Thank you for your kindness to these lost and forgotten children of God.