Hungarian Gypsy Missions International
Goals and Activities
Hungarian Gypsy Missions International is an independent mission of the Hungarian Pentecostal Church. The activity areas of the HGMI extend throughout the country and the Carpathian Basin. It provides assistance to disadvantaged people, primarily Roma, in addressing their spiritual, emotional, educational, physical and material needs, as well as providing life counseling.
National Network
HGMI has nearly 1000 employees. Through our nationwide network, we provide social and employment services, as well as educational and religious activities, on a daily basis in 270 settlements.
There are 120 communities, congregations, and home groups associated with the HGMI, representing over 6,000 people. Currently, the initiatives of the mission have directly reached over 12,000 Roma individuals and over 10,000 in the field of social services.
Main Activities
The main activities of the Gypsy Mission are present in the fields of faith, social work, education, culture, integration, and employment. These activities include organizing, preparing and implementing family support, education, skill and ability development, knowledge dissemination, community building, and supporting youth learning. The Gypsy Mission also advocates for child- and youth protection, child – and youth representation, support of disadvantaged groups living in deep poverty, including Roma, and aims to provide social equality and integration.
The Gypsy Mission is dedicated to lifelong learning, including formal and informal education and shaping values. Another important area of activity is training and promoting employment for disadvantaged groups in the labor market and initiating job creation programs. It also operates a nationwide network, providing home assistance, food services to those in need, and charity services.
The main activities of the Gypsy Mission are present in the fields of faith, social work, education, culture, integration, and employment. These activities include organizing, preparing and implementing family support, education, skill and ability development, knowledge dissemination, community building, and supporting youth learning. The Gypsy Mission also advocates for child- and youth protection, child – and youth representation, support of disadvantaged groups living in deep poverty, including Roma, and aims to provide social equality and integration.
The Gypsy Mission is dedicated to lifelong learning, including formal and informal education and shaping values. Another important area of activity is training and promoting employment for disadvantaged groups in the labor market and initiating job creation programs. It also operates a nationwide network, providing home assistance, food services to those in need, and charity services.
HGMI considers it their mission to support and help disadvantaged and Roma people to integrate into mainstream society. It engages its staff and volunteers in regular activities to reach and support social groups and individuals who live in exclusion, hopelessness and discrimination due to factors such as their origin, family, health, economic and financial situation.
The Mission’s goal is to help disadvantaged individuals to find themselves and become valuable and constructive members of society. The focus is on providing social support, services, improving the quality of life of marginalized social groups, and promoting equal opportunities without religious, ethnic, racial, or political discrimination.
As the Gypsy Mission believes that through the transformative power of the Gospel, the Roma people can be most effectively integrated into society, the spiritual mission work is at the center of the activities of HGMI.
In addition to religious activities, the most important areas of focus are education, labor market services, job creation, and meeting the physical needs of the Roma. Assistance is not only provided through aid or occasional jobs but is realized through much more sustainable forms of support. The aim of the Gypsy Mission is to collect, apply, and spread good practices and models that are exemplary and can be followed by others.
Hungarian Gypsy Missions International collaborates with international organizations, state organizations, local governments, Roma ethnic self-governments, civil society organizations, and religious communities. It also seeks to contribute to the integration of the Roma in Hungary through projects supported by the European Union and domestic funding.
HGMI is the organizer of the Forum of Protestant Roma-Missionary Rapporteurs, in which Reformed, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Baptist, Adventist, and Methodist Christians consult and set up concepts for the purpose of helping and uplifting the Roma.
Hungarian Gypsy Missions International has 1,000 employees, a significant portion of whom are of Roma origin. It provides social services on a daily basis in approximately 200 settlements and carry out faith-based activities in 270 settlements. Out of these 270 settlements, the employees work on a weekly basis in 75 of them, including Budapest, Körösnagyharsány, Hosszúpályi, Kevermes, Mezőgyán, Kötegyán, Csorvás, Doboz, Lőkösháza, Békéscsaba, Kétegyháza, Elek, Paszab, Ibrány, Kótaj, Rohod, Hajdúhadház, Nagykőrös, Tiszakanyár, Mezőszentgyörgy, Zákányszék, Üllés, Hajdúsámson, Sarkad, Kistelek, Ercsi, Ruzsa, Örkény, Kunágota, Devecser, Kiskunlacháza, Szentes, Dömsöd, Tiszabura, Tatárszentgyörgy, Parasznya, Szekszárd, Kunszentmiklós, Verpelét, Eger, Egerszólát, Egerszalók, Kerecsend, Átány, Kápolna, Tarnabod, Tarnalelesz, Tarnaszentmária, Pétervására, Szajla, Békés, Szeged, Berettyóújfalu, Hajdúsámson, Inárcs, Dabas, Kalocsa, Mezőkövesd, Mátészalka, Miskolc, Ózd, Tatabánya, Pécs, Várpalota, Mátészalka, Nyírvasvári, Szeghalmon, Demecser, Gyula, Geszt, Gyomaendrőd, Mezőberény, and Újkígyós. The number of communities is increasing almost every week on a national scale.
Under the name Hopeful News Community Centre, cultural and religious community programs are organized for Roma and non-Roma people in HGMI’s own properties in four settlements: Békés, Nyírvasvári, Verpelét, and Kevermes, in order to promote peaceful coexistence and effective social participation.
Content of Services:
- Church planting
- Social services
- Education
- Sociological scientific work
- Labor market services
- Employment – business development, project
Networks, collaborations, consulting - Community development – events, intercultural communication
Organizations of the HGMI:
- Social Services Centre
- Hopeful News Educational Operations Centre
- Gypsy Methodology and Research Centre
- Hopeful News Mission and GypsyAid (of the Hungarian Gypsy Missions International)
- PEPITA Donation Centre