在斯洛伐克的罗马村，有2000名居民承认自己是基督徒。但是却从来没有人去过教会，也没人读过《圣经》。

在1993年斯洛伐克独立后，许多传教士便开始到拉库西（Rakúsy）传道。最早来此传教的是一对夫妇， 他们每个星期天都会在主干道上宣讲。然而，人们虽然聚集听道，但是因为他们从未读过《圣经》，所以并不能完全明白这些道理。

有一位村民名叫彼得‧米兹迦（Peter Mižigar），对他来说，比起听道，他对自己的乐队表演更感兴趣，他会在婚礼和丧礼上演奏低音吉他。乐队里成员中还有彼得的弟弟帕沃尔（Pavol），成员们会用在乐队赚到的钱拿去买醉。不过彼得从来不会在表演时喝酒，因为他在乐队里也负责开车。

在彼得清醒着表演的时候，他注意到观众都分为两种：一些观众文质彬彬，智慧充足；另一些观众则粗野不堪。其他的乐队成员并没有发现观众素质的不同，因为他们都醉醺醺的。

但是这两组人的区别在他们喝酒后会消失了。在音乐会上，彼得讶异地看着这些他们。当人们喝醉时，有钱的人们会把衬衫脱下，和粗劣的人并无不同。因此，每一次的活动甚至是葬礼都以醉酒互殴结束。

某次在捷克共和国演奏时，一名醉汉突然攻击彼得和乐队的其他成员。之后，他和弟弟就决定退出乐团。「我不要再演奏世俗的音乐，我想要为上帝演奏，」帕沃尔说。

从探访此地的传教士那里，帕沃尔听见过基督教的音乐。

很快地，彼得、帕沃尔和其他的乐队成员，便在帕沃尔家里演奏基督教音乐。之后，在一次的聚会中，彼得在桌子上注意到了一本《圣经》。

「这是什么书？」他问道，并把它拿了起来。

然而，帕沃尔从彼得的手里拿走了《圣经》。他说：「把书放下，这不适合你。」

帕沃尔正在研读《圣经》，而且他不想与彼得分享。

于是当帕沃尔和其他的成员在弹奏时， 彼得把《圣经》塞到了一只胳膊下面，然后离开了屋子。一个月后，彼得开始在家里读《圣经》，先是《启示录》， 再来是《四福音书》。不久，他向帕沃尔承认自己把《圣经》拿走了。弟弟帕沃尔只好嘱咐彼得，阅读完后，一定要把《圣经》归还给他。

有一天，彼得翻到了马可福音16： 16，上面写道，「耶稣说：『信而受洗的必然得救。』」

彼得合起了《圣经》并再次打开。同一节经文又出现在他的眼前：「信而受洗的必然得救。」彼得三次合起了《圣经》又打开，每次打开时都出现同一节经文。彼得匆忙地拿起了《圣经》跑到弟弟家。那时帕沃尔正和两个朋友在一起。

「请帮我施洗，」彼得说。

彼得对受洗一无所知。他只是想听耶稣的话受洗。

「你想让我给你施洗？」帕沃尔说。

「是的！这里清楚地写着，无论是谁，只要受洗就会得救，」彼得回答道。

帕沃尔犹豫着，但是彼得却很坚定。就这样，两兄弟和他们的两个朋友来到在聚居地外的一条三英尺（一米）深的小溪，并互相帮对方施洗。他们向上帝承认自己的罪，并寻求原谅。之后，他们无比快乐，谈论着天堂也为他们的受洗而感到欢欣。

那天之后，这四名男子都不再咒骂、远离烟酒。邻居们都很惊讶。因为之前，当这些男子喝醉时，人们都惊恐地逃离他们。这四个朋友决定每天一起学习《圣经》，有时他们会从晚上学习到隔天早上。

其他人也加入了查经小组。彼得的客厅里经常挤了50到100个人。

一天，在深夜的聚会里，彼得注意到马可福音16：9，这段经文的开头这样说道：「在七日的第一日清早，耶稣复活了…。」彼得记得耶稣和他的门徒在第七日，也就是星期六的时候休息。因此，彼得想知道为什么那些来到他们这的传教士是在星期天聚会。

但是，没有一个传教士能够回答彼得的问题。

查经小组继续研读，在发现上帝的第四条诫命后，他们开始遵守安息日。

有一天，彼得向一位来探访罗马亲戚的陌生人提起他对于星期日的困惑。这个男子名叫乔西夫（Josif），正好是一位复临信徒，他告诉彼得，有一间教堂是遵守《圣经》中的安息日的。在彼得的邀请下，乔西夫到他们的研经小组进行分享。之后，乔西夫带着彼得和他的朋友们去了本地的复临教会。那时，彼得对宁静庄重的圣餐仪式印象非常深刻。

从那次拜访复临教会后，彼得的客厅成为安息日的聚会场所，也举办各种教会节目。

在2015年，彼得和他的弟弟帕沃尔， 以及小组的其他24名圣经学习小组的成员都受洗加入了安息日会，并且在接下来的两年里，又有十几个人也受了洗。此外，他们于2018年在聚居点的郊区建了一间复临教堂，每个安息天都都约有100人到这里聚会。

上帝在彼得的客厅里建立了教堂的根基。

Roma Village Finds Sabbath

The 2,000 inhabitants of a Roma settlement in Slovakia considered themselves Christian. But none attended church. None had ever read the Bible.

After Slovakia’s independence in 1993, various missionaries started coming to the Rakúsy settlement. The first, a married couple, preached on the main street every Sunday. People gathered to listen but understood little because they had never read the Bible.

One villager, Peter Mižigar, was more interested in performing in his band than listening to the preaching. He played bass guitar at weddings and funerals. Usually, the band members, including his younger brother Pavol, spent the band’s earnings on alcohol. But Peter never drank while performing. He was the designated driver.

While performing sober, he noticed that every audience consisted of two groups: one with good manners and high intelligence, and the other with a more primitive attitude. The other musicians didn’t notice because they drank.

Peter watched the crowd with fascination at concerts. The distinctions between the two groups of Roma disappeared as they drank. When people were drunk, the rich ones stripped to the waist and behaved the same as those who were poor. Every event ended with a drunken fistfight, even the funerals.

When an audience turned on Peter and the other musicians in a drunken frenzy in the Czech Republic, Peter and his brother decided to quit. “I’m going to stop playing worldly music,” Pavol said. “I would like to play to God.”

Pavol had been listening to Christian music shared by visiting missionaries.

Soon, Peter, Pavol, and the other band members were playing Christian music at Pavol’s house. During one session, Peter noticed a Bible lying on the table.

“What kind of book is this?” he asked, picking it up.

Pavol snatched it away. “Put it down,” he said. “It’s not for you.”

Pavol was studying the Bible and didn’t want to share it.

While Pavol and the others were playing, Peter slipped the Bible under an arm and left the house. At home, he read the Bible for the next month, going through Revelation and then the gospels. After a while, he admitted to his brother that he had taken the Bible. As the younger brother, Pavol could ask only that Peter returned it once he finished.

One day, Peter came across Mark 16:16, where Jesus said, “He who believes and is

baptized will be saved.”

He closed the Bible and opened it. The same verse stared back at him. “He who believes and is baptized will be saved.” Three times Peter closed and opened the Bible, and every time it opened to the same verse. Peter grabbed the Bible and ran to his brother’s house. Pavol was jamming with two friends.

“Please come and baptize me,” Peter said.

He didn’t know anything about baptism. He just wanted to obey Jesus and be baptized.

“You want me to baptize you?” Pavol said.

“Yes, it is written here clearly that whoever is baptized will be saved,” Peter replied.

Pavol was hesitant, but Peter was adamant. The two brothers and their two friends waded into a three-foot (onemeter) deep brook outside the settlement and baptized one another. They confessed their sins to God and sought forgiveness. Afterward, they experienced a tremendous joy and spoke about all of heaven rejoicing about their baptism.

After that day, the four men stopped cursing, smoking, and drinking. Neighbors were astonished. Before, when the men had drunk, people had fled in fear.

The four friends decided to study the Bible together daily. Sometimes they started at night and read until morning.

Other people joined the Bible group. Often 50 to 100 people were packed in Peter’s joint living room and kitchen.

During a late-night session, Peter’s attention was drawn to Mark 16:9, which begins, “Now when He rose on the first day of the week.” Peter remembered that Jesus and his followers had rested on the seventh day, Saturday, and wondered why missionaries visiting his settlement worshipped on Sunday.

No missionaries were able to answer Peter’s question.

The Bible study group kept on reading and found the fourth commandment. They began to keep the Sabbath.

One day, Peter mentioned his perplexity about Sunday to a stranger visiting a Roma relative. The man, Josif, happened to be a Seventh-day Adventist, and he told Peter that there is a church that keeps the biblical Sabbath. At Peter’s invitation, Josif spoke to the Bible group. Later Josif took Peter and his friends to visit Adventist churches in the area. Peter especially was impressed with the quiet reverence of an Adventist communion service.

Peter’s living room became an Adventist house church with Sabbath worship services and other programs.

Peter, his brother, and 24 other members of the Bible group were baptized into the Adventist Church in 2015. Ten more people were baptized over the next two years. In 2018, an Adventist church was constructed on the outskirts of the settlement, and it is packed with about 100 people every Sabbath.

This is the church that God built from the ground up in Peter’s living room.