"Wash each other's feet and you will be blessed!"

Last night we celebrated the 60th birthday of one guy who has worked steadfastly to improve the lot of the Luton Roma for two years now.  As he drove across Luton to pick up the local Roma, we kept the secret celebration from him. But he must have guessed by the number coming out of the houses that something was up.  When no seats were left something unprecedented happened.  The Roma guys got in their cars to drive their families into church.  On arrival the lights were turned out and the cake bearing 60 burning candles was brought in to the singing of "mulsantreyaske, la mult san" which I'd just learnt the night before at the birthday of a 3 year old.  Later we had 7 Roma guys role up at worship and they stayed as we heard to story of Jesus' footwashing and the last supper.   The minibus driver had done plenty of "footwashing" for the Roma.  Wash each other's feet, said Jesus, and you will be blessed.  We are being.  Massively.  Just a few days earlier triplets were born to a couple who we had just rescued.

How is the wheel to be mended?

The crushed wheel -

E rota phagi

When I saw this image on the Internet it made an immediate impact.  Something precious has been crushed by overwhelming force.  I was intrigued to see how the Roma would react if shown it at our weekly service. 

The very first thing they saw in it was an angry fist pointing upwards.   I pointed out that the blue represents the sky, and the green represents the green grass of the earth.  They still didn't recognise what I had seen.  I went on to explain that this was a broken wheel, thinking that they would then get it.  But they only saw the damage done to the broken wheel....

The Roma Flag - Wheel
Blue Sky - Green Ear

... only then did I show them this second image. The Roma Flag.  The waggon wheel travelling across the land with the blue sky above. A symbol of freedom.  Immediately they recognised their flag.  I went on to say how the life of the Roma people had been damaged by the gadgios [non-Roma people] over many centuries.  Who was going to repair what had been done?   

It strikes me the fist in the first image might be understood as a militant response of Roma activists.  "We are going to fight back!"  I suggested another interpretation:   

"God wants to repair the broken wheel.  Only he can do this.  He is doing this through those that believe he is a liberator-God, poised to set the captives free.  As this happens in our little Romani church, the lives of those who come will be changed. Luton will be changed.  The world will notice.  What the world has broken, God can restore.  This will be a sign to the world that God reigns."  

It's hard to know how this was received.  The pain may be so deep, so buried in the dust of the centuries, that the Roma cannot see what has happened in any kind of objective way.  But the room filled with silence for a few moments.  The sound of silence is very rare amongst the Roma. Someone is usually talking or laughing.  After the wind, the earthquake and the fire comes... the sound of sheer silence... God speaks....

International Women's Day

As people around the world are thinking about women's rights, many of us are conscious of the subjugation of Roma women.  It's got me thinking about our weekly gathering where we have almost only women and children coming. We have been looking at how Jesus deals with women for some months now.  I'm only just beginning to realise just how revolutionary Jesus approach must have been within his patriarchal community.  The men thought they were top dogs.  Having women brought to centre stage must have been deeply alarming for the the men folk of the day.

Last night we looked at the way Jesus draws the attention of the men in the temple to a lone widow.  The men are rich and give out of their riches to the temple treasury.  This poor widow gives all she has - out of her poverty.  Jesus must have shocked the men at two levels.  Firstly, it was a woman who is setting the example - giving beyond her means as a response to her knowledge of the generosity of God.  Secondly, because it is a woman who is now centre stage.  "The mighty shall be cast down. The humble lifted up."  As Mary sang.  Jesus arrives and the process begins to roll.  2,000 years later it is still underway.

The widow was enacting what it looks like to fulfil Jesus' summary of the Law, to love God with all the resources he has given - however meagre.   I then invited Richard to come and give out £1 coins to each of the women there, explaining that I could afford as I am rich. He followed this by then giving out 10p coins to each woman.  We put a plate out on the side.  "Here's an experiment.  You can either keep your £1.50, take all the money on the plate, put  your £1.50  on the plate, or give 10% [10p] as the Bible invites us to do.  Let me know what happens over the week to come.  God is ready to bless your generosity by opening the floodgates of heaven on you."   Actually, I have got the language yet to put it as nicely as that.  But I think they got the point.  God's greatest gift to us, is FREEDOM.   

Home-grown worship songs and stories

Our last meeting was the best we've had since beginning LRC last May.  Thank you Lord for prevailing over us and bringing peace and order into our gathering!  The Roma seem to have come to terms with the fact that the London Roma have pulled out from coming every fortnight to lead us.  This was a blow at the time.  The reason given was that our Roma men are not coming.  My sense was that the time had come to rise to the challenge to lead ourselves and make the whole thing home grown.

We now have a small number of songs of our own in Romani.  I have to put on my ethnomusicologists' hat and record, write up, and then sing the new songs.  We had Jeannot with us on guitar the first week, and then last week Trevor.  On retreat last week my director suggested I wrote a song.  See below.

To hold the attention during Bible Story time we did a powerpoint showing 12 slides of the story of Jairus's daughter.   This seemed to make a huge difference.

We've also begun singing the UNA club song which will head up the UNA FESTIVAL which we are planning for 2-4 August.   Gradually the kids are getting it.

But best of all is "The Wise Man built his house upon the rock."  I took my first attempt at the story line to one Roma home.  Once we'd got it into Luton-Romani, the girls (who had been educated in Belgium) sang the whole song in French. Word perfect.  Somewhat out of tune.  I suggested they had a go at writing a version in Romani and was amazed when 2 days later that had it all ready.  See below.  A 9 year old girl from another home now sings it from memory every time she sees me.  Intonation coming slowly.  This is so promising and a real breakthrough.  Communities are formed around communal singing.  But none of our Roma here seem to have ever really sung before.   We have far to go, but have turned a corner.

See our new songs in column opposite....