The miracle of Leskovac

The year is 1986 and the family of Serbian communist leader Serif has just received the devastating news that their 10-year-old son Trajse has cancer. The local doctors try everything, but nothing helps. Serif and his wife Vasiljka decide to take their child to Belgrade for treatment.

Great hopelessness
Almost everywhere, the Roma live in poverty and without education. Serif, however, has risen through the ranks of the Communist Party and has authority and influence. But he does not have the power to save his son. And as a loyal communist, he must also deny the existence of God. There is no hope for Trajse. Even the doctors in the capital can do nothing for him and give him two months to live. Serif, Vasiljka, their younger son Misha and the entire Roma village have no choice but to watch in agony as the life slowly drains from the boy's body.

Inexplicable heat
One day, two men knock on the door. Everyone knows that they are members of the Roma church. They say: ‘Our God can heal your son.’ The parents agree, lay their hands on Trajse and pray for him. The boy begins to cry and realises things that he will later describe as follows: ‘I felt something hot inside and around me. It was as if a fire was burning through my whole body, going up and down and coming out as heat. And at that moment I knew: God's healing process had begun.’

Trajse is getting healthier and stronger every day. But father Serif wants to know more and sets off to see the doctors in Belgrade. ‘What have you done to the child?’ they ask him. ‘There's no trace of cancer left in his body.’ Serif explains: ‘It's now been two months since we became Christians. We believe that God has healed our son.’

A changed community
The news of Trajse's healing spreads like wildfire in the Roma community. The great change in Serif's family affects the whole community. Revivalist conditions break out in the Roma church in Leskovac. Thousands come to Christ and 40 new churches are built in the area. Serif turned his back on the Communist Party and became a pastor. Years later, he said: ‘Inside me, I always feel the effect of this miracle: the certainty that my son will live. This also meant new life for us. The Roma church has experienced incredible growth.’