The Evangelical Church in the village of Rankovce has a long history of working with and alongside the Roma people of the village, with active Bible schools, youth groups, and school support clubs. But in recent years the leaders have recognized the need to have a worship service that more closely serves the needs of their Roma members. Like most of us, Roma love to worship God in their own language and in a musical style they can identify with. The band M5 began playing together to lead worship for those services.

Since its beginning, the group has included both Roma and non-Roma members. Marián Galdun, the group’s lead singer, has found that music can bring people together in a way nothing else can. “I used to play for children’s and youth groups growing up,” he recalls, “and I remember going to this camp once when I played with two other guys –Marek and Dano. They’re non-Roma. We started this group, then we added more members. I was the onlyRoma of the group, but it was not a problem. The music connected us. When we worship, the music connects us to God and to each other.”

“Every single person has this problem, that we look at someone else and we say, ‘Hmm, there’s a Gypsy,’ or we say, ‘Hmm, there’s a non-Roma.’ Every single person needs to break down that barrier. And that can only happen through Christ.”