New Perspectives on Indigenous Mission: Evangelical Roma in Europe
The Roma are people characterised by a mosaic of cultures, languages, and identities, who are often misunderstood or ignored. Their ancestors, migrating from northwest India, were noted in Constantinople over a thousand years ago and by the fifteenth century were settled throughout Europe.[i] Despite their long history in Europe, for complex reasons they are still often viewed as separate from other Europeans, as ‘Other,’ or the perpetual ‘stranger.’[ii] Their presence has been conceptualised and described in different ways, whether accurately or inaccurately as a perpetually nomadic people, Europe’s largest minority, diverse minority groups spread over European nations, a diaspora people, or a stateless nation. Often the Roma were not—and sometimes still are not—consulted or listened to regarding how they identify and understand themselves. This article takes the position that Roma groups are both distinct and diverse ethnic minorities but are also an intrinsic part of the European peoples. This cultural, geographic, and identity agility is certainly an asset when it comes to mission in Europe — in an age of rising nationalism, the growth of conversions among the Roma forms a Christian identity not associated with a national identity.
Aspects of evangelical Christianity among Roma
Numerous revivals have occurred among Roma communities across the European continent since the 1950s, characterised by healings, radical transformations, and rapid growth of mission movements that expanded through familial and migratory patterns. These evangelical movements — which are largely although not exclusively Pentecostal — are a unique sociological and spiritual phenomenon in the European landscape. In Romania, for example, evangelical Roma communities (like Boldești-Scăieni in Prahova county) were not formed through large evangelistic crusades or massive church gatherings. Rather, they often emerged in response to the immediate needs of their members. They developed organically, starting with a family or a small group of neighbours who were converted, becoming a nucleus that gradually attracted new members through personal relationships and the practical demonstration of a transformed life. As another example, in Serbia, many Roma Pentecostals were attracted to the church through testimonies or experiences of healing and an emphasis on a dynamic and expressive spirituality.
“In Romania, evangelical Roma communities often emerged in response to the immediate needs of their members. ”
The numerical growth of these communities is evidence of their success in emphasising the immediacy of God’s help and provision and also providing a sense of belonging and a new identity. This growth is directly linked to the active social involvement of the churches. The model of "integrated" or "holistic" mission is central to this dynamic. Many Roma evangelical churches do not limit themselves to holding religious services but become community centres that address concrete problems. In Southeastern Europe, for example, Roma leaders have a vision both for evangelism and social uplift in terms of education, jobs, family health, etc.[i]
In this way, Roma evangelical churches in many contexts offer hygiene programmes, additional education for children (after-school programmes), family counselling, basic medical care, and material assistance. This approach demonstrates that the Gospel is not just an abstract message, but a living force that brings real and practical change to everyday life, offering hope and dignity in a context of profound marginalisation.
Gender dynamics and leadership
One practical example is a shift in gender dynamics and leadership structures in some of the movements. In traditional Roma society, women's roles are often limited to the domestic sphere. However, within some evangelical churches, women have begun to play more of an active role, even becoming the "pillars" of the community. They are often the first to convert and bring faith to their families and communities—for example, women played a catalytic role in many of the revivals. Through visions, dreams, and healings, they become spiritual influencers, contributing to the harmonisation of social relations and challenging traditional patriarchal norms.
This has begun to impact some movements in terms of theological education. For example, in Bucharest, Romania, the Brethren Timotheus Institute and Baptist Faculty at the University of Bucharest are in favour of enrolling women in theological studies—although no Roma women are yet enrolling. In Southeastern Europe and Germany, Roma women attend the Roma Bible School and are given opportunities to develop their giftings as well as practice preaching and teaching — although their local pastor may restrict this in their home church. Within the Hungarian Gypsy Mission International’s (HGMI) Transformational Mission Training programme, although they are open to women, they have a hard time recruiting woman. In all of their 220 churches, they have only one female elder, although women are involved in other ways.[ii]
This ambivalence illustrates the fact that although in many ways, evangelical movements have raised the status of women, theological opinions regarding women’s roles and capabilities are far from uniform. Not only that, other cultural and familial norms still strongly shape women’s identities and roles in the church. Thus, in some Roma contexts and movements, women’s roles remain strictly limited in churches and even prohibited from Bible schools or theological training. However, in most churches, women are involved in other ways, encouraged to sing, lead Sunday schools, offer a testimony, or hospitality.
Moreover, in some contexts, the seasonal departure of men to work abroad has opened up more space for female leadership, demonstrating that these communities adapt and thrive even in the absence of traditional authority structures. Thus, although evangelical women are active agents of social and spiritual change, a crucial aspect for the future of the Roma evangelical movement is to further encourage and empower women’s giftings to serve in different ways that can both honour their culture as well as their own callings.
“A crucial aspect for the future of the Roma evangelical movement is to further encourage and empower women’s giftings to serve in different ways that can both honour their culture as well as their own callings.”
Transitioning from Mission to the Roma to Mission by the Roma
In the 1950s and 1960s, revivals in Western Europe birthed large and primarily Roma-led movements in France, Spain, and England. Vie et Lumière (Life and Light), for example, has an international mission reach through Gypsies and Travellers International Evangelical Fellowship (GATIEF) that does evangelism, leadership training, Bible schools, and some humanitarian aid all across Europe and into Russia and Central Asia. Further, some movements in Central and Eastern Europe, such as Duhovni Centar [Spiritual Centre] movement in Serbia or Rugul Aprins [Burning Bush] movement from Romania are also primarily Roma ethnic revivals, although several key Serbians and Romanians played critical roles.
However, mission among the Roma in Eastern Europe, including countries such as Romania and Bulgaria, is undergoing significant evolution. In some contexts, such as Bulgaria from the interwar period, mission was dominated by the efforts of foreign missionaries who arrived in the region with the vision of converting and uplifting a marginalised population. These missionaries, often from Western Europe or the United States, also brought their cultural values and practices along with the message of the Gospel.
“However, one of the most important chapters in the recent history of the Roma mission in Eastern Europe is the transition from dependence on foreign mission to indigenous mission”
However, one of the most important chapters in the recent history of the Roma mission in Eastern Europe is the transition from dependence on foreign mission to indigenous mission. This process took shape as Roma workers began to become not only beneficiaries of the mission but also active leaders. They realised that in order to be truly effective, the Christian message had to be adapted and integrated into the cultural, social, and linguistic context of the Roma. This shift meant moving the focus from Western church practices and structures to an expression of faith that resonates with the hearts of the Roma. This process has been fuelled by several factors in various contexts: capitalising on cultural fluidity, Bible translation, indigenous equipping for mission, and church planting among the Roma diaspora in Western Europe.
Roma mission workers as cultural "translators"
In many contexts, Roma evangelical leaders have become true cultural translators. Through their life experiences, they understand the specific challenges in their communities: poverty, discrimination, lack of education, and the destruction of traditional social structures. In this way, they have been able to present the message of Christ not just as a religion, but as a source of hope, dignity, and practical solutions to everyday problems. For example, instead of imposing a strictly structured church model, they have created communities based on relationships, family values, and vibrant, spontaneous worship that reflects their own spirituality.
In Romania, the Roma evangelical movement has grown exponentially, often through leaders trained in their own churches who have founded thousands of churches in villages and cities. They have managed to integrate Romanian cultural elements into worship, demonstrating that being a Christian can fulfil and contribute to one’s cultural identity. As a result, there are now more than 800 Pentecostal, Baptist, Evangelical, and independent evangelical churches.[iii] However, this growth also has its challenges as many preachers and church leaders are lacking theological education. Due to this, spiritual gifts can be mismanaged, and some important dogmatic aspects are misunderstood and thus misapplied.
“There are now more than 800 Pentecostal, Baptist, Evangelical, and independent evangelical Roma churches in Romania ”
In Bulgaria, after a complex history, some evangelical Roma leaders have created support networks and social programmes that directly address the needs of communities, from children's education to healthcare and family counselling, providing a model of resilience in the face of marginalisation. Bulgarian Roma leaders have also been creating a youth movement that spans churches, focusing on mentoring individuals and families towards emotional and spiritual health as well as doing leadership development.
In Serbia, where Roma face similar challenges but in a different historical and political context, Roma Christians have demonstrated remarkable adaptability, building bridges between Roma and Serbian communities and Pentecostal movements, promoting social integration while maintaining a distinct cultural identity.
The role of Bible translations
A crucial tool in this "translation of the message" has been the growing numbers of Bible translations into various dialects of the Romani language as most Roma have only ever read the Bible in their second language. Foreign missionaries were often the first to initiate these projects, but local Roma workers have taken on the role of completing and distributing them. A Bible in their own language allows the Roma to understand the message of the Gospel deeply, not just cognitively, but at the level of the heart.
Currently, there are completed or in-process dialect translations in Bulgaria, Serbia, Slovakia, Macedonia, and Slovenia as well as standard Romani in Romania, which facilitates cross-border understanding of Scripture. The process of Bible translation seems to be rapidly expediting. For example, in Serbia in 2026, the entire New Testament will be released in three different Romani dialects, and the organisation plans to start on dialects in Croatia, another in Macedonia, and 2-3 in Bulgaria. Scriptural engagement with the new translations has diverse results. For Serbian Roma migrants in Germany, for example, Scripture in their dialect has been quickly incorporated in their churches as they rarely have need to use the Serbian language anymore. For Roma in Serbia, it is harder to make that transition as churches have been deeply formed using Serbian translations for thirty years.
Indigenous Training
Another shift in Central and Eastern Europe is a growing movement and desire for theological education. For example, in Southeastern Europe, the travelling Roma Bible school began in 2022, with the primary leadership and teaching done by Roma leaders. The school, which has Roma and non-Roma students from Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, and Macedonia, will graduate its second generation in December 2025. The school expanded to the diaspora of Serbian Roma in Germany in 2023, graduating its first class of 27 students from several cities in September 2025. Now, Serbian Roma diaspora in Sweden are asking for the school and Czech, Slovak, and Bulgarian Roma also expressed interest in developing their own contextual school. At least for the travelling school in Southeastern Europe, the point is not to be exclusive, but to train anyone regardless of their education level and in accordance with the culture and needs of Roma communities.
Mission on the move: Diversity of church movements in diaspora
In some contexts, there is a noticeable opening up of Roma churches toward the local population and their neighbours who are also beneficiaries of social and educational programmes. In addition, some Roma Christians have the missional vision to reach not just their own people, but the majority cultures around them. Other movements, even as they spread from Eastern Europe to Western through migration, tend to be internally focused on just their Roma group, due to culture and language constraints. Still others intentionally travel to Western Europe to evangelise amongst their own Roma diaspora groups. In addition, although a number of Roma Christians work in partnership with non-Roma, there are some movements who prefer not to work at all with non-Roma, believing that there is no place at all for non-Roma to engage in mission among the Roma.
There are numerous church plants in Western Europe from Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Czech Republic. One example of this is the Pentecostal movement Rugul Aprins (Burning Bush) in the town of Toflea, Romania. This movement has six branches in the main cities of Romania, and in the diaspora there are six churches in Germany, two churches in Spain, and ten churches in England, with a total of over 7,000 believers. The members of this community speak Romani, the Ursari dialect, and Romanian. Including the European branches, services are in Romanian, which indicates an exclusive attitude towards locals or other immigrants. In fact, Roma migrants do not always have an impact on other immigrants or Roma in other countries.
In another example, although Serbian Roma migrants initially went to Germany for economic or asylum reasons, starting around 2020, God radically transformed their focus to mission and church planting among their own diaspora group. Now there are four churches in four cities with leaders already planning for more house groups in different cities.
The Blessing of Intercultural Friendship
Despite its growth in numbers, visibility, and potential to unite transnational communities through initiatives such as Bible translations into Romani dialects, the movements still face many challenges. For example, the social, economic, and religious marginalisation and prejudice toward Roma communities in many contexts remains profound. In Christian circles, there has long been a divide between Roma and non-Roma churches and mission movements—two Christianities existing in parallel universes. All too often, there is still racism and/or paternalism existing in the majority churches toward the Roma. On the other hand, some Roma communities maintain an exclusive attitude, limiting their interactions to their own ethnic group, even in the diaspora.
In the last decade, however, there has been more work to bridge this divide from both sides. Roma Networks, a grassroots movement, has done important work towards this end: for example, relational advocacy in other evangelical networks, joint initiatives which foster intercultural partnerships, and even their leadership model which includes a Board of three Roma and three non-Roma. In Bolddesti-Sacieni, Romania, the Roma Brethren Church is reaching local Romanians by receiving young students into their afterschool programmes, feeding poor Romanians and, more recently, building (on a parcel of land given by the Mayor) several houses for adult orphans which by law are supposed to live in the institutionalised system. The Roma Bible school has both Roma and non-Roma students which will foster relationships and mission partnership for years to come. On the other side, movements such as Lausanne Europe and the European Evangelical Alliance are increasingly including Roma leaders as important voices in the church in Europe.
“Movements such as Lausanne Europe and the European Evangelical Alliance are increasingly including Roma leaders as important voices in the church in Europe. ”
This priority to bridge the divide is not just about working together to accomplish things, rather, the witness of reconciliation and relationship is in itself a powerful picture of God’s mission to reconcile all things. Intercultural friendship in mission means having one’s perceptions of God expanded through different cultural expressions, blind spots revealed, and the mutual blessing of sharing gifts in relationship.
Transformative Mission
The Roma evangelical movement in Europe is not just a religious phenomenon, but a transformative force of indigenous origin that has redefined the identity, cohesion, and resilience of Roma communities. The transition from foreign-led overseas missions to a bottom-up approach fuelled by Roma workers is a crucial step. These Roma leaders have become true "cultural translators," contextualising the Christian message for their own culture and demonstrating that the Gospel is not an imposed belief but a relevant response to the deep needs of the community.
The success of these movements is due to its integrated mission model, which combines spiritual development with concrete practical action. Often, Roma evangelical churches function as community centres that attempt to address problems such as poverty, lack of education, and social marginalisation, as well as strengthening a sense of hope and dignity. In addition, the movement has brought about notable changes in gender dynamics and leadership structures, giving women a more active role within the community, although there is still much critical work that needs to be done in this area. Despite ongoing challenges, evangelical Christianity offers Roma a path to building a new identity and finding a sense of belonging, demonstrating that the impetus to bring about profound and lasting change lies within the community itself.
Rafael Nastase and Melody J. Wachsmuth
Endnotes
[i] Wachsmuth, Melody. “From Personal Conversions to Social Change: Roma Christians in Southeastern Europe,” Revista ETHNE, 2(1), 168–188. https://anais.unievangelica.edu.br/index.php/ethne/article/view/9568
[ii] Wachsmuth, Melody. “The Role of Theological Education in social and religious empowerment of the Roma.” Romani Studies 35:2 (2025).
[iii] Năstase, Rafael. Ecce Romo: o perspectivă teologică a transformării comunităţilor de romi din România. Bucureşti:Editura Universităţii din Bucureşti - Bucharest University Press, 2025, p.25
Picture by Gmihail at Serbian Wikipedia