Foreigners, not quite like me

Saw a statistic this week that 9 percent of the immigrants here are British, many escaping the socialized health care system in Britain and finding sun in retirement, and 8 percent of the immigrants are Romanians. These are the two biggest blocks of extranjeros (foreigners).

From several discussions I've had with Romanian's here, their culture is a little scary. The women I talked to assured me that the woman I saw in the attempted kidnapping was in danger of violence from these men. They said that the gypsies carry knifes and think nothing of snatching and harming someone they know or putting them to whatever purpose they choose. Also, another Romanian woman told me that she has no Romanian friends because it is too risky. There is a big Romanian mafia, here as well as in their country. She said if a woman has been a girlfriend or live-in partner and she tries to leave, the men see no probelm with dragging her back and maybe locking her up. If they know you, they feel they have license. Apparently it's much worse in Romania. Human trafficking is a big issue in Eastern bloc countries where women are brought out of Romania or wherever with the promise of a job and then forced into prostitution and treated like slaves. Amazing these things can happen in the 22nd Century.

I wonder how much generations of people being told there was no God effects the mentality of a nation. They suffered under some really harsh times in Romania. About half our church here is Romanian, they most often are cleaning people for others since those are the only jobs they can get without papers. The Romanian believers in our church have such great spirits and are very evangelistic toward their friends. They are really inspiring the more I learn.