501c3 IRS Registration RBU, Inc, EIN# 47-3479821
INTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP TEAM
Board of Directors
Bob Hitching, Miša Bakić, Pandy Brazeau, Natasha Avdagić, Jelle Huisman and Laura Dreyer
ASSOCIATE GENERAL DIRECTORS
BOB HITCHING and MIŠA BAKIC
UNA KLUB LEADER BILJANA NIKOLIĆ
Pastor Djeno Nikolić - Pastor of Roma Church in East Croatia
The History
In 2001, Nancy Hitching visited Croatia on a survey trip to look at the possibilities of Her and her husband Bob working on projects to bring the Light of the Gospel to the Bayash Roma in Croatia.
In 2002 we made first contact with the Bayash Roma at a deeper level when God brought Natasha Bogdan Avdagić into our lives. Natasha has worked alongside Bob and Nancy and continues to have an active leadership role in RBU.
Through Natasha the first steps of the Bayash Bible translation came into being, the first Bayash language Children's Bible the UNA Club and then the mentoring programme.
The ministry was originally based in West Croatia and then branched out into East Croatia, Hungary and Serbia.
In 2022, Serbian Arli Roma Christian leader, Miša Bakić who has worked with The Roma Bible Union for some years was appointed as Associate General Director of RBU responsible for all ministry projects not related to the Bayash people.
In 2022, Bob and Nancy moved their ministry center of gravity to Osijek in Eastern Croatia and live within 30 minutes of the Hungarian, Serbian and Bosnian borders.
Bob's focus is the raising up of a Bayash Church and mission strategies whereas Nancy's focus is on project development.
They both have independent writing and teaching ministries.
The Seven Ministry Pillars Of The Roma Bible Union
- To Function As A Mother Tongue Ministry Advocate
- To Own No Property
- To Function As A Virtual Administrative Structure
- To Build Ministry Around The Concept Of Brands
- To Function With A Seamless Orientation Concerning Real-Time And Space And Collapsed Time And Space
- To Hold To A Non-Denominational And Inter-Denominational View Of The Church
- To Be In A Position To Disband Quickly And Realign Ministry Brands
To Function As A Mother Tongue Ministry Advocates
The vision of RBU is to provide ministry projects, platforms and initiatives in the mother tongues of majority and minority languages
To Own No Property
Due to the ever changing nature of the geographic scope of the ministry we are committed to not be forced into a geostrategic location by the ownership of property
To Function As A Virtual Administrative Structure
Our ability to be stealth, nimble and rapid response in belief and practice we have chosen to minimise costs and layers of bureaucracy by functioning at the Administrative level within a virtual framework.
To Build Ministry Around The Concept INNOVATION, INCUBATION AND DUPLICATION
We have developed virtual training centers online to make this process happen.
To Function With A Seamless Orientation Concerning Real-Time And Space And Collapsed Time And Space
We see the new European consciousness as being an integrated one of both virtual and real space-time which is reflected in all our ministry projects.
To Hold To A Non-Denominational And Inter-Denominational View Of The Church
We hold very strongly to the conviction that the categories that have dominated Christianity since the 16th Century are moving into irrelevance.
To Be In A Position To Disband Quickly And Realign Ministry Brands
We believe that we should be in a position to disband very quickly at both the project level and also at the meta level. In short, we can disband RBU quickly if God leads us to with all the ministry projects and Brands being placed into other ministries.