Contextualized evangelization of Calon Gypsies in Brazil

Abstract

The historian Teixeira (2008) states that the gypsy peoples consist of three major ethnic groups and subgroups, namely the Rom, the Sinti and the Calon. The present study will conduct a survey of the historiographical emergence of gypsy peoples in India, their arrival in Europe in the XV century, their dispersion to the Iberian countries (Spain and Portugal) and their deportation to Brazil in the colonial period, with the aim to understand the gypsies’ history and their cultural characteristics. In Brazil, the study will conduct a demographic survey of the Calon gypsies to determine their numbers, their present cultural characteristics, and how they relate to the culture of Brazilians surrounding them. The work will point to perspectives given in the Holy Scriptures in relation to the evangelization of nomadic peoples. The research will also attempt to explain the difficulties and obstacles to an effective and contextualized evangelization of the Calon gypsies. Finally, it will propose the approach that the Brazilian protestant church might use to reach the Calon gypsies and establish indigenous churches by making use of contextualized evangelization.