Gospels launched in Romani language

A translation of the Gospels in the Roma language was launched in southern Serbia at the end of May.

The Roma or Romani people – often called 'gypsies' – trace their ancestry back to India and worldwide speak several different forms of the Roma language.

The one spoken in Leskovac where the launch took place is around 800 years old. It's spoken across the former Yugoslavia, Romania and Bulgaria, meaning that these Gospels could ultimately reach some 8.5 million people.

And there's a real need for this, says Pastor Bakic: the Roma church in Leskovac is thriving, and across Serbia, the Roma people are becoming Christians.

In Leskovac some 10,000 Roma have become Christians, since the first person converted from nominal Islam back in 1976. Currently, the Roma in Leskovac read the Bible in Serbian, a language particularly familiar to the children who are educated in it. But, says Vera Mitic, General Secretary of the Bible Society of Serbia, having even part of the Bible in the language you speak at home makes a big difference to how you understand it.

'It's a special feeling to have the Bible in your own language,' she says. 'It's the most important book you can have. It means a lot for the identity of the people.'

Among the congregation is 70-year-old Batijarevic Ferija who's walked 4km to attend the service. It's the first time that she's left her home since suffering a stroke in February.

'This is the most important evening of my life,' she says, clutching her copy of the Gospels. 'We have a saying, this is "balm for my soul".'

The Gospels took four years and £43,000 to translate, produce and distribute. They're being given away for free by the Bible Society of Serbia.