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Pneuma 33 (2011) 351-369
Te Pentecostal Movement among Bulgaria’s Gypsies
Miroslav Atanasov
Bulgarian Evangelical Teological Institute, Mladost, Bulgaria;
Te Way of the Carpenter, Waxhaw, North Carolina
bromiro@yahoo.com
Abstract
Te Pentecostal Movement among Bulgaria’s Gypsies discusses the Pentecostal movement among the most marginalized ethnic group on the European continent — the Roma, more widely known as ‘Gypsies.’ Tis movement started about sixty years ago, but continues to be a powerful force of impact among this people. It has transformed the Roma communities in positive and constructive ways and advanced their integration into society. Te article begins by introduc- ing the Roma as a minority and briefly explores the historical relationship between them and Christianity. It reviews Roma Pentecostalism as an international phenomenon impacting these socially stigmatized people wherever they live. It gives some of the movement’s historical high- lights in Europe, focusing on Bulgaria where the author’s field research took place. It outlines the main factors contributing to its phenomenal growth and reviews some of the important changes the movement has brought about in the Roma communities and culture.
Keywords
Gypsy, Gypsies, Roma, Pentecostal, Bulgaria
Introduction
“For centuries, the Gypsies have been the object of much fascination and little understanding.”1 Tere are many stereotypes about them and their lifestyle. On the one hand, there are the romantic portrayals of them as simple children of nature associated with campfires, violins, travel, and freedom. Te negative sinister stereotypes, on the other hand, describe them as thieves, vagabonds, beggars, fortune-tellers, and menaces to society.2
1
Anne Sutherland, Gypsies: Te Hidden Americans (Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, 1975), ix-xi.
2
Joe Ridholls, Traveling Home: God’s Work of Revival among Gypsy Folk (London: Marshall Pickering, 1986), 41.
© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2011 DOI: 10.1163/157007411X592684
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M. Atanasov / Pneuma 33 (2011) 351-369
Tis ethnic group is a significant part of the European demographic mosaic.
It has been called by different names, including Gypsies, Zigeuner, Gitanos,
Heiden, Tsigani, Tinkers, Travelers, and Sinti, but Roma ( Romani, Rom) has been the officially accepted name for it since 1971. Te exact number of the Roma population is unclear, but the average estimate is about 12 million worldwide,3 not counting the Gypsy tribes of India.
Te Roma arrived on the European continent during the Middle Ages. Te Europeans assumed they were from Egypt and called them “Egyptians” or “Gypsies.” Tis actually proved to be a misnomer, because eighteenth-century linguists showed that this peculiar ethnos spoke a language from North India. Recent DNA evidence has confirmed the Roma’s Indian origins. Teir ances- tors left their homeland in large numbers around the eleventh and twelfth centuries and the descendants are presently found mostly in Europe and the Americas. Even though traditionally the Gypsies have been nomads, a great number of them have become sedentary.4
Because of their unique lifestyle and customs, some of which were quite strange for Europeans, the Roma have for centuries been victims of prejudice, hatred, and persecution. Tey were banished from many European territories, “enslaved by the princes of Romania; massacred by the Nazis, forcibly assimi-
lated by the communist regimes; and most recently, evicted from their settle-
ments by nationalist mobs throughout the new ‘democracies’ of Eastern
Europe.”5
One impressive fact about the Roma is their ability to survive and adjust in
the midst of adversity. Like the Jews, they have been able largely to preserve
their distinct and diverse cultural traditions against all odds. Tey have built
various mechanisms of ethnic survival, which remains a priority in their social
agenda. In Eastern Europe they still battle poverty, illiteracy, poor health, and
discrimination.
In 2005 twelve European countries launched an initiative called Decade of
Roma Inclusion (2005-2015), which is the first multinational attempt to battle
the multiple problems of Europe’s Roma population. In Bulgaria “Te Gypsy
Problem” is often a subject of public discussions, but the thinking on it is
3
Ian Hancock, We are the Romani People (Hertfordshire, UK: University of Hertfordshire Press, 2002), xvii.
4
Charles Duff, A Mysterious People: An Introduction to the Gypsies of All Countries (London: Hamish Hamilton Ltd., 1965), 17.
5
Isabel Fonseca, Bury Me Standing (New York: Vintage Press, 1995), back cover.
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M. Atanasov / Pneuma 33 (2011) 351-369
353
superficial, because many do not have sufficient knowledge of this ethnic minority.6
Tis article begins by introducing the Roma as a minority group and briefly explores the historical relationship between them and Christianity. It reviews Roma Pentecostalism as an international phenomenon impacting these socially stigmatized people wherever they live. It gives some of the movement’s his- torical highlights in Europe, focusing on Bulgaria, where the author’s field research took place. It outlines the main factors contributing to its phenome- nal growth and reviews some of the important changes the movement has brought about in the Roma communities and culture.
Te Roma and Christianity
When the Roma first arrived in Europe in the Middle Ages they were carrying letters from the Pope, stating that they were on a pilgrimage of penance. Tese letters served to protect them for a period, but when their authenticity was questioned toward the end of the fifteenth century, policies of persecution towards them were initiated.7 Between the years 1497 and 1774, the Holy Roman Empire issued a total of 146 decrees against the Gypsies.8 In 1568 Pope Pius V banished them from the realm of the Empire. Priests of the East- ern Rite were threatened with excommunication if they sanctioned Roma marriages. In many churches in Western Europe, the Roma were denied entrance and they had to listen to the worship through the windows outside.9 Te Catholic Church was hostile to them in the Italian states and refused to give them communion. In 1635 the bishops in Portugal excommunicated Gypsies who would not go to confession in Lent. In many German states Gypsy children were taken from their parents in order to be baptized and raised in Christian homes. Kaiser Joseph II issued a decree in 1782 that forced all the Gypsies in Hungary and Transylvania to go to church every Sunday, undergo instruction, and observe Christian religious duties.10
6
Elena Marushiakova and Vesselin Popov, Te Gypsies in Bulgaria (Sofia: Club 90 Publishers, 1993), 7.
7
Dora Yates, “Te Pope and the Gypsies,” Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society 45 (1966): 73-74.
8
Gilad Margalit, “Te Image of the Gypsy in German Christendom,” Patterns of Prejudice 33 (1996): 77.
9
Jeffrey Kaplan and Bron Taylor, eds., “Romany Religion,” Te Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature (radoc.net:8088/Romanes_and_Religion.htm), 10.
10
Margalit, “Te Image of the Gypsy in German Christendom,” 79-80.
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Tere are several reasons for the hostility of the Church toward the Gypsies:
1. Tey seemed to be insincere and lacking in religious convictions. Tey
were viewed as a deceptive group of people who should be isolated from
the unwary flock, lest they caused spiritual contamination.
2. Te European aristocracy was fascinated with their ability to tell for-
tunes and often employed Gypsy women for that purpose. Tis turned
many aristocrats from the Catholic clergy to fortune-tellers for the meet-
ing of their spiritual needs. Te Church threatened to excommunicate
people who had their fortunes told by Gypsies.
3. Te Gypsies had created problems for the medieval rulers and were
denied citizenship. Tis meant they had to travel without legal status
and were limited to practicing a few crafts: metalwork, entertainment,
folk medicine, and horse trade. Te medieval alliance of Church and
State did not work in the Gypsies’ favor.11
On the eastern side of Europe there were also tensions between the Church and the Roma. Te greatest example of oppression was the Gypsy slavery in the Northern Balkans (present-day Romania), which lasted for about five cen- turies. When in the fourteenth century many Roma were enslaved in the prin- cipalities of the Wallachia, Moldova, and Transylvania, the Church was a major beneficiary of their labor. Te sclavi monastivesti (slaves of the monaster- ies) had the responsibilities of grooming, cooking, and coaching.12 Slavery was not combated or questioned by the Church at the institutional level.13 As the times changed some people in the Romanian clergy raised voices in defense of the Gypsy slaves. In 1766 the metropolitan and the bishops of Moldova decided to discontinue the division of Gypsy families due to slave trade because “even though they are called Gypsies, the Lord created them too, and they should not be divided like cattle.”14 Toward the end of the eighteenth century some of the Romanian clergy expressed the need to baptize and teach the groups of traveling Gypsies that were outside the Church’s dominion.
11
Marlene Sway, “Gypsies as a Perpetual Minority: A Case Study,” Humboldt Journal of Social Relations 3, no. 1 (1975): 48.
12
Patrin Web Journal, “Romani Slavery” (geocities.com/Paris/5121/slavery.htm, 1996).
13
Viorel Achim, Te Gypsies in the History of Romania (Bucharest, Romania: Editura Enciclo- pedica, 1998), 96.
14
Ibid., 47.
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Te attitude of the early Reformation toward the Roma was not much bet- ter than that of medieval Catholicism. Martin Luther preached against the social and moral behavior of the Gypsies and denounced their fortune-tellers as liars. He said they would baptize their children multiple times in order to receive more gifts from Christian godfathers. In a sermon in 1543, Luther accused both the Jews and Gypsies of “mak[ing] it difficult for people by charging high prices, spying for other countries, poisoning the water, burning, kidnapping children, and cheating in all kinds of ways in order to cause damage.”15
Heinrich Grellman published a book on the Gypsies in 1783. In it he criti- cized the European Church, which was sending missionaries to evangelize pagans in remote parts of the world, but would not undertake such initiatives in reaching the Gypsies, who were in a desperate need “here in our midst.”16 Unfortunately, for the most part until the nineteenth century the Protestant churches, like the Catholic and the Orthodox, did not show much concern for the souls of the Gypsies.
In the 1830s the International Bible Society in London undertook the chal- lenge of propagating the Gospel and preparing a Bible translation for the Gyp- sies. George Borrow was sent to Spain as a missionary of the Society. He translated the New Testament into the Gypsy language and wrote several books and articles contributing to the scholarship on Gypsies.17
One of the most famous and loved evangelists was a British Gypsy by the name of Rodney Smith, who became better known as “Gypsy Smith.” Rodney grew up as a traveling Gypsy and never attended school. He experienced Christian conversion after losing his mother when he was still a teenager and was soon called to preach.18 General William Booth, who knew the family, accepted him for ministry training. Rodney became a powerful evangelist in the Salvation Army and got promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. Smith’s min- istry grew over the years and soon he was preaching to crowds of two to three thousand. Hundreds were converted during his services.19 Smith’s evangelistic
15
Margalit, “Te Image of the Gypsy in German Christendom,” 77-80.
16
Margalit (ibid.) cites H. Grellman’s Die Zigeuner (Te Gypsies), published in 1783. Tis German text, translated into a number of languages, is considered a classic work of early Roma scholarship.
17
Magdaena Slavkova, Te Gypsy Evangelicals in Bulgaria (Sofia: Paradigma, 2007), 60.
18
Gypsy Smith, Gypsy Smith: His Life and Work by Himself (London: Tomas Law Publishers, 1902), 71-75.
19
Sue R. Staley, Great Soul Winners (Harrisburg, PA: Te Evangelical Press, 1926), 165-71.
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ministry took him around the world, including the United States and Australia. He had a very fruitful ministry, which included services not just in churches, but also in prisons and hospitals.20
Even though Gypsy Smith had become a minister to the nations, his heart was still burdened for his own people. Upon hearing of this burden, a Scottish lady donated a wagon for a “parsonage on wheels.” Tat was the beginning of the “Gypsy Gospel Wagon Mission.” Here is how the world-renowned evan- gelist describes this outreach endeavor:
My people have quick eyes, quick ears, and ready tongues. But for years — nay, for centuries — their hearts have been blinded to the things of God. Tere is hardly a race on the face of this globe to whom religion is so utterly foreign a thing. Te Gypsies are slow to comprehend the plan of salvation, and even when they have understood it, they are slow to use it, because for one thing, their trade is declining; they are depend- ing more and more on fortune-telling, and they know very well that if they become Christians that lying practice must cease… I am fully confident that the Gypsy Gospel Wagon Mission is the leaven that will, in course of time, leaven the whole lump.21
Even though Gypsy Smith’s worldwide ministry did not allow him to devote more effort to this work, the Wagon Mission played a part in planting the seeds of the gospel among them.
Te evangelical faith was planted among the Bulgarian Gypsies in the 1920s in the village of Golintsi, which today is part of the town of Lom in northwest- ern Bulgaria. Tis Baptist church claims to be the first Gypsy evangelical church in the world.
Roma Pentecostalism
One very interesting phenomenon that has recently attracted the attention of researchers of the Roma worldwide is the massive conversion of Gypsies to Pentecostalism in the second half of the twentieth century. Without a doubt this has been the most successful movement in history in converting the Roma around the world to the Christian faith.22 Tis impressive phenomenon deserves serious scholarly attention and analysis.23
20
Ibid., 185-87.
21
Smith, Gypsy Smith, 243-44.
22
Kaplan and Taylor, “Romany Religion,” 11.
23
Miroslav Atanasov, Gypsy Pentecostals (Lexington, KY: Emeth Press, 2010).
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Te Movement in Western Europe
France is often seen as the cradle of Gypsy Pentecostalism, because from there the stage for the movement among the Roma, particularly in the West, was set. Te revival among the French Gypsies, most of whom had traditionally been Catholic, was kindled by a remarkable healing of a young Roma man that took place in Lisieux, Normandy in 1950. Doctors had given up on the man, who had tubercular peritonitis, but after a Pentecostal pastor prayed for him, the life and health of the terminally ill man was restored. Te news of the miracle spread quickly among the Gypsies of France and they started convert- ing to Christ.24
Te movement grew remarkably under the leadership of a French Assem- blies of God minister by the name of Clement le Cossec. Tis gajo25 pastor became the pioneer leader of the Roma Pentecostal movement in France as well as in many other countries around the world. Le Cossec selected young Gypsy men, taught them to read and write, and prepared them for ministry to their own people. Eventually, the French Roma Pentecostal churches were turned over to the leadership of the Gypsies. Teir organization was later named ‘Life and Light Fellowship’ and Jimmy Meier became its president. Even though the group is currently autonomous, they maintain French Assem- blies of God doctrine and practice.
Since the Roma had come to the continent before the creation of the nation- states, their tribal and family relations cross most national boundaries. Tese intergroup relations have been very effective in spreading the Pentecostal faith among Gypsies around the world.
Le Cossec traveled to many countries in Europe to launch Gypsy ministries. Ten the movement was spread to the United States and presently the God’s Gypsy Christian Church has congregations in most large American cities. It was also planted in the countries of Latin America in which Gypsies lived. Le Cossec even brought the faith to the Gypsy groups in India, where a Bible School was started that trained hundreds of ministers.
Te Gypsies in Europe have been instrumental for evangelizing the coun- tries where they live. Even though the exact numbers are difficult to ascertain, this report estimates that the self-proclaimed born-again Gypsies in Europe total about one million.
24
Ridholls, Traveling Home, 28-30.
25
A term used by Gypsies to identify non-Gypsies.
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In France, for example, Life and Light Fellowship claims approximately 130,000 Gypsy believers or about a third of the Gypsy population in the country. Tis movement has started 210 churches and has trained over 1,300 pastors.26 Te Philadelphia Evangelical Church was registered in 1969 as the Church of the Gitanos,27 who were on the very bottom of Spain’s social scale. Philadelphia is presently the largest Pentecostal denomination in Spain and the movement grows faster among the Gitanos than among any other group there. Tat has been the case in most of Europe. Te Pentecostal Gitano believ- ers are also called ‘alleluias.’28 Tey have already established about 500 Gypsy churches and trained 2,000 ministers. According to conservative estimates, more than 15 percent of the Spanish Gitanos are born-again believers. Life and Light also estimates that 7 percent of the Gypsies in England, a total of 25,000, are part of their fellowship. One thousand Gypsies in Finland — 25 percent of the Finnish Roma — are born again and part of the organization. In the town of Leskovac in Serbia, the Gypsy branch of the Pentecostal Church is growing rapidly.29
Jimmy Meier, president of Life and Light Fellowship, says that the Gypsy revival in Europe is fully Pentecostal in doctrine and practice. Many critics have said there is much emotionalism and little true repentance among the Gypsies. To that Meier responds:
Biblical truth causes the Gypsy converts to change their lives completely. Tere is no more fighting, stealing, and drinking. We try to approach people with grace, not judg- ing them prematurely. Tere have been many baptized sinners among us who later on were truly converted. Our love for nature, music and a life on the move does not change. We pray to keep our culture.30
Te Life and Light Fellowship has started a mission organization to work among the Gypsies in Eastern and Central Europe, called “Gypsy and Travel- ers International Evangelical Fellowship” (GATIEF), whose president is Rene Zanellato. Teir ministry has spread among the gypsies all over the world. Te vision and objective of GATIEF is to “establish mission work and train Romany to lead their own people.” Tey do this by holding seminars, starting
26
Tomas Dixon, “Unparalleled Revival Touches Europe’s Gypsies,” Charisma News Service (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Khangiri_Church/message/63, 2003).
27
Spanish Gypsies.
28
Paloma Gay y Blasco, Gypsies in Madrid: Sex, Gender and the Performance of Identity (Oxford: Berg Publishers, 1999), 12.
29
Dixon, “Unparalleled Revival,” n.p.
30
Ibid.
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churches, Bible schools, orphanages, and national Roma Christian organiza- tions. Tey distribute videos, audiocassettes, and literature in Romanes. In Russia they have TV programs in ten cities and a Bible School. Tey cooperate with other international ministries such as: Full Gospel Fellowship of America, Cornerstone, Gypsy Christian Movement — USA, Los Angeles Romany Church, and Gypsy Fellowship Trust of India.31
Tis Gypsy movement is a vibrant witness for Christianity in the post- Christian context of the old continent. Says Patrick Johnson:
. . . evangelicals in Europe exist as an “irrelevant” Christian remnant. One salient point where the movement of God contradicts this assessment, he notes, is in the “turning of the Gypsy people to Christ.” Tis is especially notable in Spain, which is in the midst of a cultural renaissance that has enabled Protestantism to take root and spring to life for the first time in the country’s history. And one of the fastest-growing expres- sions of Protestantism in Spain arises from the Gypsy churches. One wonders how, in the land of los conquistadores (“the conquerors”) and Don Quijote, this disenfranchised reviled minority has become the catalyst for this surprising movement of God.32
Te Gypsy Pentecostals of Bulgaria
Te Gypsy Pentecostal movement in Bulgaria began independently from the one in Western Europe.33 Even though there is information about individual Spirit-filled Roma believers going back to 1929 in the cities of Pernik and Montana, there was no massive movement toward the Pentecostal faith among this ethnos until the second half of the twentieth century. Te first local Spirit- filled Roma congregation was formed in the city of Yambol. Tere a group of Roma converted under the ministry of the Yambol Pentecostal Church began having service in their own quarter. Among this early group of believers there was a Roma ironsmith by the name of Pavel Georgiev Pavlov, better known as Shaban. Local believers testify that God gave him the gift of healing and many miracles happened in his ministry. Even though Shaban was never officially ordained, his work was regarded as apostolic and many were converted. From Yambol he and other Roma began to spread the gospel among their people in towns and villages around Bulgaria when the Communist Regime still ruled
31
Frank Dawson, “Christian Outreach to Romany in Central Europe and Russia,” East-West Church Ministry Report 10, no. 3 (2002): 2.
32
Wendy M. Zoba, cited in “Te Gypsy Reformation,” Christianity Today 43, no. 2, (1999): 51.
33
Te Roma believers in Bulgaria were not able to establish serious relations with those in the West until the 1990s — after the end of the Cold War.
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the country. Tis was the usual pattern in which churches were planted at that time:
Someone would come from a village and receive a healing from God. Ten, we were invited to their village to preach the Word. When people heard brother Shaban was in town, they wanted to come. Everywhere he encouraged the Roma to open their homes and gather regularly for prayer, worship, and sharing from the Bible. Tus, gradually a congregation would be started.34
All of them at the time were laymen, so the Roma Pentecostal movement in Bulgaria began as a lay movement. Tese Roma Christians became passionate witnesses to others of their new found faith. Brother Mehmed, a local pastor, remembers:
Many miracles and wonders happened in our meetings. We had no official structure, hierarchy, or organization, but we saw many come to repentance. As people all over Bulgaria heard about what was happening in Yambol, they wanted to come and see the revival. Tus, Yambol became the “Gypsy Pentecost,” the “New Jerusalem.”35
In the region of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, the leader of the Church of God, Pavel Ignatov, played a key role in the spreading of the Gospel among the Roma. He had the spiritual sensitivity and believed that the divine kairos of visitation had come for the most despised people in his land. Te first Roma families in Sofia came to faith in his house church during the time of Com- munist persecution. One of those families was that of Hasan Chinchiri, a famous Roma violinist. Tis started a revival movement among the Roma in Sofia and the region. Pavel Ignatov believed that God had called him to accept this ethnos as a major target of his church’s evangelistic and social outreach. Here is how he describes this calling:
One of the most important changes was the work of the Church of God among the ethnic minorities. In the 1980s we began an active outreach to the Roma and Turkish minorities in Bulgaria. It is difficult to pinpoint a definite starting point of this minis- try or a specific decision of a church council on the matter. Te Church of God leader- ship had not been tolerant toward some characteristics of the Roma population, mainly their inconsistency . . . but in the early 1980s God opened the door of the church to many of the minority people. Ten, by revelation from heaven, I adopted the following principles:
34
Yambol Roma believers, Conversations with the author, Yambol, Bulgaria, August 2006. 35
Ibid.
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1. We should not stereotype people, because of their ethnicity.
2. We should recognize and promote indigenous leaders from these same minori-
ties for ministry among them.
3. Te Church of God’s success will largely depend on its attitude toward these
ethnic minorities.
Te active outreach to the minorities began after I was elected National Overseer of the Bulgarian Church of God in 1982.36
Te leadership of the Church of God quickly began to apply these God-given principles. On December 25, 1983, they ordained Zheliazko Milev as pastor. Having become the first ordained Pentecostal Roma minister in Bulgaria, Milev was soon appointed to the National Council of the denomination and given responsibility for the Roma work.
Opponents of the church were particularly concerned with this ministry:
Te totalitarian regime considered this ministry a major threat to its power. When I was arrested in 1987, I was given an ultimatum to stop our minority outreach to spare myself from being interned. Of course, I did not agree to these terms, nor was I willing to make any ‘deals’ with the government.37
After Pavel Ignatov was exiled to the mountain village of Mihalkovo the per- secution against the Sofia church intensified and the police sealed his house. Previously, during such dangerous times, the underground congregation would join other official Protestant churches in the city, such as the Congrega- tional, the Pentecostal (Assembly of God), or the Methodist. At this time, however, all were afraid to accept them, because they did not want to draw the attention of the Communist Secret Services. Eventually, the persecuted con- gregation found a haven where they could resume their services: an upper room of a Roma house in the Hristo Botev Gypsy quarter of Sofia. Tey gave this church the New Testament name “Te Upper Room” and conducted wor- ship services there until the end of the Communist Regime. When the Bulgar- ian Church of God came out in the open after 1989, it was officially registered and experienced great growth. Te first two sanctuaries that it constructed in 1992 were for the Roma churches in the towns of Samokov and Ihtiman. Tus, being a visionary leader, Pavel Ignatov made the Roma ministry a priority on the Church of God agenda. Another helpful factor was the fact that the denomination, having just recently come out of persecution, lacked
36
Pavel Ignatov, Te Bloodless Persecution of the Church (Sofia, Bulgaria: Lik, 2004), 122-23. 37
Ibid.
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stringent structural limitations. Tat made it more flexible and effective in accommodating the growing Roma movement.
Presently, the Roma are the majority of the total evangelical constituency in Bulgaria. Most of the Roma evangelicals are Pentecostal in belief and practice.38 Roma Pentecostal churches exist in most Roma communities around the country. It is hard to find a Roma quarter in a city or a village without believ- ers. Itinerant evangelists, Bible teachers, and missionaries quickly take note of that fact.
Te former Chairman of the Pentecostal Union,39 Rev. Victor Virchev, said:
Te Roma are an easier territory, more vulnerable to the gospel, and greater attention is paid to them. With their hospitality and emotionalism, they bring freshness to the evangelical churches. Before 1990 we had mostly mixed churches; there were some Roma churches, but they were not officially registered. After the changes in the coun- try, the Roma desired to start their own churches in the mahali.40 Te oldest Roma church registered in our Union was the one in Stara Zagora with pastor Assen Raikov; Raikov was later appointed as the coordinator for our minority ministries in Bulgaria and sits on the leadership council. One third of the churches in the Pentecostal Union are Roma, which have about seven to eight thousand members. We also have thou- sands of Roma in the mixed churches, led by ethnic Bulgarian pastors.41
Estimating the exact number of the Roma Pentecostal believers and churches in Bulgaria is difficult, because church statistics have not been kept based on ethnicity. Te approximate number of Roma churches in Bulgaria is currently between 700 and 800. Te majority of them are Pentecostal, while no more than 100 of them are spread among the Baptist, Methodist, Congregational, and Seventh-Day Adventist denominations. Te number of Roma Pentecostal preachers, ordained elders, and deacons is more than 600.
Pentecostal Christianity has touched most of the Roma community in Bul- garia. At present there is rarely a Roma who is not aware of the faith. Tere has never been a thorough sociological survey to inform the public of the number of Roma Pentecostals or evangelicals in Bulgaria. Te leadership of the Asso- ciation of Roma Pastors, however, estimates approximately 50,000 Roma Pen-
38
We should keep in mind the fact that the Bulgarian Pentecostals make up the majority of all evangelical Christians in the country — more than 85 percent.
39
Tat is the largest Protestant denomination in the country. It was officially registered in 1928 and is connected with the Assemblies of God.
40
Designated Roma quarters (singular mahala).
41
Victor Virchev, Interview with the Author, Sofia, Bulgaria, August 2006.
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tecostal believers in Bulgaria — a conservative estimate referring mainly to regular churchgoers; the number of Roma who self-identify as Protestants, however, is several times higher. Tis movement has become such a significant force in Bulgaria that political parties are courting its leaders for votes during election times.
Te Roma are presently the most receptive ethnic population to the Pente- costal message in Bulgaria.42 Te factors that contribute to this greater recep- tivity, according to my research, are as follows:
1. Inherent religiosity. Te Roma are a deeply religious people group who desire to experience God in a personal way. Tey find their spiritual home in the Pentecostal churches, because there, according to their testimonies, they can experience divine power. Tey have wandered and suffered for centuries, but the eschatological hope for a better life beyond this world encourages them and gives them joy.
2. Love. Te Pentecostal churches have effectively demonstrated Christian love for the Roma while the official Orthodox Church has completely ignored them. Churches have been constructed in many Roma neighborhoods. Te active outreach and attention has deeply touched the souls of these despised people — the social lepers of Bulgaria.
3. Emotions. Pentecostalism gives the Roma the freedom to express the full range of human emotions. Tus it becomes an outlet for their temperamental psyche and provides a haven from their daily struggles and an opportunity for spiritual catharsis. While other evangelical traditions focus more on engaging the intellect, the Pentecostals have appealed to their emotional and oral culture.
4. Healing. Because of their cultural pragmatism the Roma desire tangible proofs that the Christian faith is effective. Many Roma Pentecostal believers have converted to Christ as a result of a major life crisis — most often a physical sickness in their family that received a divine intervention. Most Roma cannot afford medical treatment and their health is poorer than that of others. Tey view miraculous healings as expressions of divine love and favor. Te regular prayers for healing in the Pentecostal churches attract thousands to the services.
5. Simplicity. Te Pentecostal churches present Christianity in a simple and understandable way even for those who are illiterate or less educated, as
42
Tis has been a phenomenon observed throughout Christian history. Church growth does not take place evenly among all the various groups within a society: some are more receptive than others to believing and converting.
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many of the Roma are. Tey come to faith in Christ with humility and child- like faith.
6. Equality. Being the most marginal group in Bulgarian society as well as in most of Europe, the Roma are treated as inferior by all other ethnic groups. Te Pentecostal churches have made them feel equal and normal, not just an ethnic minority. No other religious confession accepts these social outcasts as equal to existing followers of other ethnic populations. A Roma family from Dobrich shared their motives for their evangelical faith:
We go to this church, because the pastor considers us equal with the Bulgarians; because he speaks of human suffering and views us as human beings equal with the others. Tis is not done by anyone else in the city; also we go because these services are interesting — like watching a film. People around us think that we are only able to steal and fight, but in the church we have been assured that we are normal human beings as all others, and that God will help us.43
Having the status of social outcasts, the Roma have nothing to lose by becom- ing Pentecostal; at the same time, most people among the Bulgarian majority population feel that since the country is officially Orthodox they will sink in status if they join Pentecostal churches. Terefore, the Roma are discovering a new identity in this version of the Christian faith that improves their social standing.
7. Social Networks. Te close-knit community of the Roma is a key factor in the quick dissemination of the faith. Teir relationships include a large circle of people in their own town as well as in other villages. In this web of relations the Gospel message travels fast and reaches Roma quarters around the country.
8. Indigenous character. Te movement has been planted by others but has grown in the Gypsy cultural soil. Te indigenous nature of the movement has contributed greatly to its success. Te churches are in the Roma quarters, the believers worship freely in their own Roma language and music style, and their pastors are Roma pastors (this would not have been possible if there were a high academic requirement for ordination as is the case in mainline churches). Te fact that Roma leaders, who best understand their people, can be pro- moted to shepherd the churches in this movement is a key factor for its con- tinual growth.
43
Maria Simeonova and Stoian Tsenov, Cultural Problems of the Roma in the Process of Affirma- tion of the Bulgarian Ethnic Model (International Center for Minority Issues and Intercultural Cooperation, Sofia, Bulgaria, February 2003), 97.
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9. Music. Tere are two things, according to Kabuli, that define the Gypsies — “their music and their exclusion from society.”44 Music has been a major dynamic in the growth of Roma Pentecostalism around the world. One of Pentecostal Christianity’s greatest strengths is that it allows the Roma to express themselves freely through their indigenous music. Te music used in the public mahala crusades is especially effective in the evangelistic endeavor. “Te easiest way to witness the gospel to Roma is through music.”45 Since the Roma are less used to dealing with the written word, music provides a power- ful vehicle of evangelism and discipleship. Te Roma love of music makes music a primary method of transformational discourse in their churches. Te fact that music is employed as a major method of Roma evangelism overcomes the hurdle of literacy.
Te massive conversion to the Christian faith through the Pentecostal movement has brought about some fundamental changes in the Roma neigh- borhoods. To many observers the spiritual revival and cultural revitalization in these marginal communities is obvious.
1. New Ethics, Customs, and Traditions
Assen Christov, pastor from Razlog and leader in the Roma movement, shares:
Te role of the evangelical church in our country during the democratic period is one of the main factors for positive development in the social and spiritual situation in the Roma quarter in Razlog. Te same is true of the other towns and villages where these churches are present. Te evangelical church helps people establish new ethical norms of behavior. It makes people better and improves their relationships. Tis affects both the adults and the children. People who have heard the good news and believed in Christ are motivated also to become better citizens of the country.46
Te impact of the Pentecostal faith is clearly seen in the Roma family relations and values. In the Roma quarters in which the church has a strong presence and influence, there is a decrease in adultery, domestic violence, and early mar- riages — all problems observed in those communities prior to the emergence of the movement. Te status of women, which traditionally is low among Roma, is raised and they receive a higher level of respect and honor. Te
44
Dimitar Atanasov Kabuli, Te World and the Gypsies (Varna, Bulgaria: Steno Publishing House, 2004), 46.
45
Iliana Tsankova, Interview with the author, Razlog, Bulgaria, August 2006.
46
Information shared with the author.
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parents realize the seriousness of their pedagogical functions; the families of evangelical Roma take more seriously the responsibility for their children’s education. Many churches also have social ministries that reach out to the poor and abandoned children in their neighborhoods; thus they take on the role of educator and benefactor.
Te Pentecostal revival has contributed to the reduction of socially destruc- tive behaviors among the Roma, such as drinking, fighting, prostitution, vio- lence, theft, and fraudulent crimes. Many among them get delivered from vicious habits such as drug addiction, smoking, cursing, and sexual immoral- ity. Teir homes are cleaner and their personal hygiene better than before. Teir speech changes and their relationships among one another as well as with the outsider gajo improve. Tis changes the image of the Roma quarters around Bulgaria. Believers and unbelievers alike testify to these changes. Certain folk customs are being discontinued in the Roma neighborhoods, because they are viewed as contradictory to the ethical code of the newly found religion. Fortune-telling, witchcraft, and the courban47 are some examples of such traditional practices that are being left behind.
One impressive result of Pentecostal evangelism outreach has been the sig- nificant decrease of the influence of Islam in the Roma neighborhoods. In my research I found that in the past the hojas 48 used to perform funerals in those neighborhoods for even non-Muslim Roma, because the Orthodox priests simply had refused to do it. After the evangelization process, however, the funerals are mostly performed by the Christian pastors. Also there are many Roma Muslims who have converted to the Christian faith and their spiritual home is mainly in the Pentecostal churches. Te quarter in Kazanluk in which the majority professed Islam in the past is a good example. Even though Prot- estant Christianity invaded an occupied territory, it has in fact become the dominant religion there. Te Kazanlak Roma used to identify themselves as ethnic Turks.49 Tey no longer do. While in 1992, 95 percent of the Roma in Kazanlak, according to a survey, were Muslims, in 2003 the majority of them,
47
Tis is a custom sanctioned by both the Orthodox Church and the Muslim community in Bulgaria: an individual or a family buys an animal, a cow or a lamb, for example, to be slain for a specific holiday or a memorial. Evangelical believers reject it, because they consider it a sacrifi- cial offering.
48
Imams or Muslim clerics.
49
Tis is common among Roma since many of them want to abandon their true identity, because of the low status ascribed to it.
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more than 90 percent, identified themselves as Christians.50 Tis is a result of the activities of the Roma Spirit-filled church pastored by Mitko Banev.
2. Renewed Identity
In Bulgaria, Roma identity is defined by their darker skin color, language, secluded communities, certain cultural customs and traditions, and their com- mon ethnic problems. Te most important identity attributed to the Roma in Bulgaria is the negative label given them by the majority population. When- ever a gajo has a positive impression as a result of interaction with Roma, this is usually lifted up as an exception. Te discriminatory attitude has caused a number of Roma, especially those who have experienced social lift and moved out of the Roma community, to disown their ethnic identity.
Pentecostalism has helped many Roma construct a new and more positive self-image.51 Te Roma believers start living like new people who have found meaning and purpose in life. Tis new Christian identity helps them deal with their ethnic problems in more peaceful and constructive ways. Tey are no longer ashamed, but rather proud of their identity. Te Roma believers do not deny the degree of truth about the negative stereotypes attached to their eth- nos. Tey deal with them, however, by placing them in their own past while criticizing other Roma who behave in such socially unacceptable ways. Many personal stories demonstrate that, in their social predicament, the Roma seek their “existential values” not in their “ethnocultural treasury,” but in the faith. Even though some observers are of the opinion that the evangeli- cal success is due to good organization and abundant resources, the truth is actually that the religion brings personal meaning to their lives and helps them view themselves not just as an ethnic minority. Te humane religious messages dealing with practical issues become a key factor in the formation of this newly discovered identity. Te faith is not simply the way to heaven for them, but the source of purpose and direction in this life. It helps them respect themselves more and brings them into a “Promised Land” where all are equally important before God.52
A key in the formation of this new identity is the preaching of the Roma pastors. Teir sermons and teachings lead the parishioners to radical changes
50
Evgenia Dolapchieva, “Te Roma Mahala in Kazanluk: History, Tradition, Present” (Mas- ter’s Tesis, Sofia University, 2003), 50-55.
51
Ibid.
52
Traian Popkochev, Social-Pedagogical Profile of the Roma Family (Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria: Neofit Rilski University Publications, 2004), 44.
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and provide reeducation, which in turn has a powerful impact on Roma neigh- borhoods.
3. Integration
For many Roma their worst predicament is the isolation from the rest of soci- ety. Te main goal of government policies in regard to them is integration. Te truth is, however, that no other agency or political or charitable organization has been able to move the Roma toward integration as much as the spiritual movement through evangelical churches. Te Pentecostal movement is the best integrator of the Roma into the life of Bulgarian society.53
Te Roma worldview is transformed by the Protestant message and beliefs. It raises their self-understanding, causing them gradually to abandon the vic- tim mentality and leave the shadow of the majority population. Tey promote leaders to participate in social and political life. Teir mediation function helps them balance the interests of their group and contributes to their social integration.
Conclusion
In my research on the subject over several years, I found that the ratio of Pen- tecostal believers among the Roma communities throughout Europe is signifi- cant. Tis vibrant type of Christianity has been diffused among them wherever they are.54 In Bulgaria, for example, the Pentecostals among the Roma in some communities number 15 percent, in others 50 percent; in Kazanlak, as men- tioned earlier, 90 percent claim to be Christians — all of them associating with a Pentecostal congregation.55
Te Roma Pentecostals believe they are a chosen people. People have said that they might become instrumental in the stirring of a spiritual awakening on the old continent, where the Christian remnants are slowly disappearing behind cold cathedral walls. Te Gypsy Pentecostal faith, however, is vibrant. We can see the Roma churches in Bulgaria in most of the towns and villages
53
Tis process does not threaten the existence of a distinct Roma culture. While correcting and modifying certain aspects of their culture, it gives it a freedom of expression through the Roma songs and music style used during worship.
54
Tis can be seen not only in the European countries, but also in the United States and Latin America.
55
Of course, not all of them are necessarily regular churchgoers, which applies to other tradi- tions as well, but still, the numbers who claim this church as their own are quite significant.
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in which Roma live. Could the story of the Celtic Christianity movement, which from the margins brought about a Christian revival to the slumbering Europe of the early Middle Ages, be once again repeated? Could the most marginalized people of Europe become instrumental in rekindling the Chris- tian faith on this post-Christian continent? Te Roma believe institutional Western Christianity is a spent source and hope that this spiritual fire will spread from their mahalas to many other places.
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