Ministries:

• Daniela Ministry Patraoia is a small, predominantly Gypsy, village northwest of Bucharest and is similar to multiple other small Romanian villages in which Calvary Chapel ministers.

Gypsy Ministries in other parts of Romania:

• Calvary Chapel Vladeasa
  

Roma (Gypsy) Overview

The Roma People (singular Rom; sometimes Rroma, Rrom), sometimes called "Romany Folk" in the United Kingdom, often referred to as Gypsies or Gipsies, are a diverse ethnic group who live primarily in Southern and Eastern Europe, Western Asia, Latin America, the southern part of the United States and the Middle East. They are believed to have originated mostly from the Punjab and Rajasthan regions of India. They began their migration to Europe and North Africa via the Iranian plateau around 1050.^[18]

Traditionally most Roma spoke Romani (Romany), an Indo-Aryan language. Today, however, most Roma speak the dominant language of their region of residence.

Roma
Roma in Vladeasa Area of Romania
Total population	8 to 10 million
Regions with significant populations	Albania: 70,000   Argentina: 300,000 Bosnia and Herzegovina: 17,000 Brazil: 678,000[1] Bulgaria:313,000 (1992 census), 700,000 - 800,000 est[2] Croatia: 14,000[3] Czech Republic: 12,000[4] ; 300,000 according to NGOs France Finland: 10,000[5] Germany: 100,000 (mostly Sinti) Greece: 200,000 according to the Greek government; 300,000-350,000 according to the Greek Helsinki Monitor [6] Hungary: 190,046 (2001 census), 500,000 est.[6] Iran: 110,000[7] Italy Republic of Macedonia: 53,879[8] Moldova Poland: 15,000–50,000 est.[9] Portugal: 40,000[10] Romania: 535,140 (2002 census), Independent estimates range from 1 to 2 million people[11] Russia: 183,000[12] Serbia, Montenegro Slovakia: 92,500[13] Spain: 600,000–800,000 est.[14] Turkey: 2-5 million[15][16] United Kingdom: 1,000 Ukraine: 48,000[17]
Language	Romani, languages of native region
Religion	Christianity, Islam
Related ethnic groups	Doms, Domba, Lyuli, Europeans and Indo-Aryans.

Population

Worldwide, there are an estimated 8 to 10 million Roma, most of whom reside in Europe. Although the largest Roma populations are found in the Balkan peninsula, significant numbers may also be found in the Americas, the former Soviet Union, Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.

The Roma recognize divisions among themselves based in part on territorial, cultural and dialectal differences. Some authorities recognize five main groups:

1. Kalderash are the most numerous, traditionally coppersmiths, from the Balkans, many of whom migrated to central Europe and North America;
2. Gitanos (also called Calé) mostly in the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa, and southern France; associated with entertainment;
3. Sinti (also known as Manush) mostly in Alsace and other regions of France and Germany; often travelling showmen and circus people;
4. Romnichal (Rom'nies) mainly in Britain and North America; and
5. Erlides (also known as Yerlii or Arli) settled in Southeastern Europe and Turkey.

Each of these main divisions may be further divided into two or more subgroups distinguished by occupational specialization or territorial origin, or both. Some of these group names are: Machvaya (Machwaya), Lovari, Churari, Rudari, Boyash, Ludar, Luri, Xoraxai, Ungaritza, Bashaldé, Ursari and Romungro.

History

Main article: History of the Roma people

First arrival of the Roma outside Berne in the 15th century, described by the chronicler as getoufte heiden "baptized heathens" and drawn with dark skin and wearing Saracen style clothes and weapons (Spiezer Schilling, p. 749).

Linguistic and genetic evidence indicates the Roma originated on the Indian Subcontinent[7]. The cause of the Roma diaspora is unknown. One theory suggests the Roma were originally low-caste Hindus recruited into an army of mercenaries, granted warrior caste status, and sent westwards to resist Islamic military expansion. Or perhaps the Muslim conquerors of northern India took the Roma as slaves and brought them home, where they became a distinct community; Mahmud of Ghazni reportedly took 500,000 prisoners during a Turkish/Persian invasion of Sindh and Punjab. Why the Roma did not return to India, choosing instead to travel west into Europe, is an enigma, but may relate to military service under the Muslims.

Contemporary scholars have suggested one of the first written references to the Roma, under the term "Atsingani", (derived from the Greek atsinganoi), dates from the Byzantine era during a time of famine in the 9th century. In the year 800 A.D., Saint Athanasia gave food to "foreigners called the Atsingani" near Thrace. Later, in 803 A.D., Theophanes the Confessor wrote that Emperor Nikephoros I had the help of the "Atsingani" to put down a riot with their "knowledge of magic".

"Atsinganoi" was used to refer to itinerant fortune tellers, ventriloquists and wizards who visited the Emperor Constantine IX in the year 1054.^[19] The hagiographical text, The Life of St. George the Anchorite, mentions that the "Atsingani" were called on by Constantine to help rid his forests of the wild animals which were killing off his livestock. They are later described as sorcerers and evildoers and accused of trying to poison the Emperor's favorite hound.

In 1322 a Franciscan monk named Simon Simeonis described people in likeness to the "atsingani" living in Crete and in 1350 Ludolphus of Sudheim mentioned a similar people with a unique language who he called Mandapolos, a word which some theorize was possibly derived from the Greek word mantes (meaning prophet or fortune teller).^[20]

Around 1360, an independent Romani fiefdom (called the Feudum Acinganorum) was established in Corfu and became "a settled community and an important and established part of the economy."^[21]

By the 14th century, the Roma had reached the Balkans; by 1424, Germany; and by the 16th century, Scotland and Sweden. Some Roma migrated from Persia through North Africa, reaching Europe via Spain in the 15th century. The two currents met in France. Roma began immigrating to the United States in colonial times, with small groups in Virginia and French Louisiana. Larger-scale immigration began in the 1860s, with groups of Romnichal from Britain. The largest number immigrated in the early 1900s, mainly from the Vlax group of Kalderash. Many Roma also settled in Latin America.

Wherever they arrived in Europe, curiosity was soon followed by hostility and xenophobia. Roma were enslaved for five centuries in Romania until abolition in 1864. Elsewhere in Europe, they were subject to ethnic cleansing, abduction of their children, and forced labor. During World War II, the Nazis murdered 200,000 to 800,000 Roma in an attempted genocide known as the Porajmos. Like the Jews, they were sentenced to forced labour and imprisonment in concentration camps. They were often killed on sight, especially by the Einsatzgruppen on the Eastern Front.

In Communist Eastern Europe, Roma experienced assimilation schemes and restrictions of cultural freedom. The Romani language and Roma music were banned from public performance in Bulgaria. In Czechoslovakia, they were labeled a "socially degraded stratum," and Roma women were sterilized as part of a state policy to reduce their population. This policy was implemented with large financial incentives, threats of denying future social welfare payments, misinformation, and involuntary sterilization (Silverman 1995; Helsinki Watch 1991). In the early 1990s, Germany deported tens of thousands of illegal immigrants to Eastern Europe. Sixty percent of some 100,000 Romanian nationals deported under a 1992 treaty were Roma.

 Society and culture

Main article: Roma society and culture

A Gipsy Family - Facsimile of a woodcut in the "Cosmographie Universelle" of Munster: in folio, Basle, 1552.

The traditional Roma place a high value on the extended family. Virginity is essential in unmarried women. Both men and women often marry young; there has been controversy in several countries over the Roma practice of child marriage. Roma law establishes that the man’s family must pay a dower to the bride's parents.

Roma social behaviour is strictly regulated by purity laws ("marime" or "marhime"), still respected by most Roma and among Sinti groups by the older generations. This regulation affects many aspects of life, and is applied to actions, people and things: parts of the human body are considered impure: the genital organs, because they produce impure emissions, and the lower body. Fingernails and toenails must be filed with an emery board, as cutting them with a clipper is taboo. Clothes for the lower body, as well as the clothes of menstruating women are washed separately. Items used for eating are also washed in a different place. Childbirth is considered impure, and must occur outside the dwelling place. The mother is considered impure for forty days. Death is considered impure, and affects the whole family of the dead, who remain impure for a period of time. Many of these practices are also present in cultures such as the Balinese. However, in contrast to the practice of cremating the dead, Roma dead must be buried. It is possible that this tradition was adapted from Abrahamic religions after the Roma left the Indian subcontinent.

Religion

Roma have usually adopted the dominant religion of the host country while often preserving aspects of their particular belief systems and indigenous religion and worship. Most Eastern European Roma are Catholic, Orthodox Christian or Muslim. Those in Western Europe and the United States are mostly Catholic or Protestant. Most Roma in Latin America are Orthodox. In Turkey, Egypt, and the southern Balkans, the Roma are split into Christian and Muslim populations.

Roma religion has a highly developed sense of morality, taboos, and the supernatural, though it is often denigrated by organized religions. It has been suggested that while still in India the Roma people belonged to the Hindu religion, this theory being supported by the Romani word for "cross", trushul, which is the word which describes Shiva's trident (Trishula).

Since World War II, a growing number of Roma have embraced Evangelical movements. Over the past half-century, Roma have become ministers and created their own churches and missionary organizations for the first time.[8] In some countries, the majority of Roma now belong to the Roma churches. This unexpected change has greatly contributed to a better image of Roma in society. The work they perform is seen as more legitimate, and they have begun to obtain legal permits for commercial activities.

Evangelical Roma churches exist today in every country where Roma are settled. The movement is particularly strong in France and Spain; there are more than one thousand Roma churches (known as "Filadelfia") in Spain, with almost one hundred in Madrid alone. In Germany, the most numerous group is that of Polish Roma, having their main church in Mannheim. Other important and numerous Romani assemblies exist in Los Angeles, Houston, Buenos Aires and Mexico. Some groups in Romania and Chile have joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

In the Balkans, the Roma of Macedonia, Kosovo (Southern province of Serbia) and Albania have been particularly active in Islamic mystical brotherhoods (Sufism). Muslim Roma immigrants to Western Europe and America have brought these traditions with them.

Music

Main article: Roma music

Roma music is very important in Eastern European cultures such as Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Albania, Hungary, Russia and Romania, and the style and performance practices of Roma musicians have influenced European classical composers such as Franz Liszt and Johannes Brahms. The lăutari who perform at traditional Romanian weddings are virtually all Roma, although their music draws from a vast variety of ethnic traditions—for example Romanian, Turkish, Jewish, and Slavic—as well as Roma traditions. Probably the most internationally prominent contemporary performers in the lăutar tradition are Taraful Haiducilor. Many famous classical musicians, such as the Hungarian pianist Georges Cziffra, are Roma, as are many prominent performers of manele. Zdob şi Zdub, one of the most prominent rock bands in Moldova, although not Roma themselves, draw heavily on Roma music, as do Spitalul de Urgenţă in Romania, Goran Bregović in Serbia and Darko Rundek in Croatia.

The distinctive sound of Roma music has also strongly influenced bolero, jazz, flamenco (especially cante jondo) in Europe. European-style Gypsy jazz is still widely practised among the original creators (the Roma People); one who acknowledged this artistic debt was guitarist Django Reinhardt.

The Roma of Turkey have achieved musical acclaim from local audiences. They perform for special holidays. Their music is usually performed on traditonal Turkish instruments such as the darbuka and saz. One of the most prominent Turkish Roma groups are Gypsy Music of Constantinople.

Later, Roma people who came to the Americas contributed to almost every musical style. Salsa, rumba, mambo and guajira from Cuba, the tondero, zamacueca and marinera from Peru, mariachi music from Mexico, "llanero" from the borders of Venezuela and Colombia, and even American country music have all been influenced by their mournful violins and soulful guitar.

The Roma anthem is called Gelem, Gelem.

Language

Main article: Romani language

Most Roma speak Romani, an Indo-Aryan language. Today, however, most Roma also speak the dominant language of their region of residence. Romani is not currently spoken in India.

Some Roma have developed creole languages or mixed languages, including:

• Caló or Iberian-Romani, which uses the Romani lexicon and Spanish grammar (the calé).
• Romungro or Carpathian Romani
• Lomavren or Armenian-Romani
• Angloromani or English-Romani
• Romano-Greek or Greek-Romani
• Traveller Norwegian/Swedish or Norwegian/Swedish-Romani
• Romano-Serbian or Serbian-Romani
• Boyash, a dialect of Romanian with Hungarian and Romani loanwords
• Sinti-Manouche-Sinti (Romani with German grammar)