Merinos to share about Gypsy culture at breakfast
FOR RELEASE: Sunday, March 15, 2009
Huntington, Ind.-Linda Merino, along with her husband Dr. Larry Merino, will be the guest speakers at the Huntington University Women's Auxiliary spring semester breakfast 9 a.m. on March 28 at the Habecker Dining Commons. "Here Come the Gypsies: Understanding the Ethnic Group" is the theme of their presentation, which is open to the public. Both men and women in the community are welcome. Sarah Yanovitch
Sarah Yanovitch, an HU freshman vocal performance major from Griswold, Conn., will perform and be accompanied by Joni Killian, adjunct professor in the Department of Music. Yanovitch recently was awarded the First-Year College Women and John Vickers Scholarship at Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio.
Linda Merino and Dr. Larry Merino, associate pastor of outreach at Holy Cross Lutheran in Fort Wayne, are both Gypsies who grew up in California. Despite a sense of belonging to this culture, Larry Merino struggled to find deeper meaning and purpose in life. He became a Christian in his mid-20s as the result of a young woman sharing the Gospel with him. Linda Merino's testimony is similar in that she became a Christian as the result of a Christian who did not judge her culture but modeled the love of Christ. The Merinos were nurtured in their faith at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Santa Clara, Calif.
The Merinos have dedicated their lives to reaching other Gypsies with the Gospel. As Larry Merino said, "For generations, in literature, the opera and movies, Gypsies have been portrayed as a carefree, fun-loving people. But the truth is, we are a people dying without Christ. Millions of Gypsies are still in bondage to fortune-telling, stealing and other lies from the devil. Only the Word of God can free them."
The Merinos will have just returned from an early March trip to Germany and are planning summer travels to the Gypsy Summit Conference and camps for Gypsy children in Slovakia.
Cost of the breakfast buffet is $5.50. Call for reservations by March 25 to Pat Jones at (260) 359-4061, Ruth Seilhamer at (260) 672-8605 or Ruth Weber at (260) 356-0255.
