Gypsy Communities Receive First-Ever Bible Translation in their Unique Dialect
After receiving a Bible distributed by EEM, elderly Romani woman exclaims, 'God speaks our language!’
FORT WORTH, Texas, Aug. 29, 2024 — For the first-time ever, disadvantaged Romani (Gypsy) communities in Slovakia and Hungary have received God’s Word in their unique dialect. This is just one example of the impact of EEM’s Hope Campaign – launching Sept. 1 – in providing free Bibles for all throughout Eastern Europe and beyond.
EEM (Eastern European Mission), a ministry that has faithfully provided Bibles in former Communist bloc countries for more than 60 years, recently partnered with Hungarian Gypsy Missions International (HGMI) and the Slovakian pastor who translated the Bible into the regional Romani dialect, to distribute God’s Word to the Gypsy people of Eastern Europe. HGMI is a local Christian ministry with a focus on humanitarian aid and Gospel-sharing efforts to the vulnerable Romani people of the region.
Historically, this has been a widely oppressed community, experiencing persecution, violence, murder, forced sterilization and social ostracization for more than 1000 years to the present day. This traveling people group continues to endure social injustices, forcing them to feel lost, forgotten and unwanted.
“It’s a broken culture. The ‘normal’ culture around them doesn’t like the Gypsy people,” EEM regional representative Jon Mark Smith explained. “They’re treated worse than dogs. They are hated. They live in poverty, they have no running water, and most of them have no roofs over their heads. Their children aren’t even allowed to attend public schools in many of the nations in the region – they have to start their own schools.”
The Western perspective of the word “Gypsy” often holds a derogatory connotation. However, throughout Eastern Europe, this title is more descriptive, less offensive and often claimed by the Romani people, making HGMI’s ministry name appropriate, as they actively minister to these culturally forgotten and despised people.
There are many different Romani dialects, as the people are nomadic and have lived in regions throughout central and eastern Europe. In the region served by HGMI in Slovakia and Hungary, the people recognized their need for God’s Word in their own dialect. “We hear the preaching, we hear the Bible being taught, but we want to read it for ourselves in our own language,” was a common request among this group.
A local Slovakian pastor, Marek, felt God impress upon his heart the need to develop a Bible translation for the regional Romani dialect, for those who had never read the Word of God in their language before. He then worked for 15 years on putting together an accurate translation of the Bible in this dialect, a language used by the Romani people throughout various nations in Eastern Europe. Near the end of that 15 years, God led Marek to EEM, which was able to publish this new translation, with nearly 10,000 copies already distributed to members of this community throughout the region by HGMI, and another 10,000 being requested.
“Reading the Word of God for the very first time in their language was transformative for these people who have long felt forgotten and overlooked by the world,” said EEM regional director Monty Tuttle. “Men were emotional holding their Bibles up in church, just outpouring their hearts to one another. With tears in her eyes, one woman exclaimed, ‘God speaks our language.’ In essence, what she’s saying is that ‘God loves us. He truly cares about us – that he would stoop so low to speak our language.’”
This has been the vision of EEM since its inception and the goal of every year’s fall Hope Campaign – to provide Bibles for those who have never had them in their own heart language, so that they truly “get it” when it comes to God’s Word and the Gospel message. The 2024 goal is to raise funds to provide 970,000 Bibles to fulfill the requests coming in from throughout the region, such as the additional 10,000 Romani language Bibles.
To learn more about EEM, visit https://www.eem.org/. For more information on Hungarian Gypsy Missions International, go to: http://gypsymissions.org/.
About EEM
EEM (Eastern European Mission) was established in 1961 to provide Bibles and Bible-based materials throughout the former communist bloc countries in Eastern Europe. Today, EEM publishes and prints Bibles and New Testaments as well as Teen Bibles, Children’s Bibles and coloring books, distributing them through a vast network of partner churches and organizations reaching more than 35+ countries in 25+ different languages, including Farsi and Arabic. www.eem.org.
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Media Contact:
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Melany Ethridge, 214-912-8934