Hundreds of participants gathered for the first Seventh-day Adventist National Roma Congress in Romania, a meeting that organizers hoped would create a sense of unity in the scattered ethnic group and foster understanding between Roma and non-Roma Adventists.

The congress, which ran August 29 to 31, reached out to the 3,000 to 4,000 Adventist Roma in Europe. The Roma, commonly referred to as gypsies, face ingrained prejudice from non-Roma Europeans, along with accusations that range from petty thieving to murder.

“The event was very beneficial for the Adventist Roma community, but also for the church in Romania,” said Cristian Modan, a ministries director for the church in Euro-Asia. “It gave the [European] church a glimpse of what Christ has done in the lives of so many people, from a community in Europe that is the first group to be discriminated [against].”

About 800 people attended Sabbath services. The meetings covered topics geared toward Roma needs, including ways to cope with the tension between traditional culture and Christianity, and health and family issues.

The Roma are nomadic and travel across Europe, largely in Italy, Spain, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria.

Organizers of the congress said they were pleased with the attendance and are planning a similar event for 2010.