Challenges for Prayer

1 Serbian nationalism, based on centuries of resentment of their victimization at the hands of other nations (Turks, Austrians, Germans, Croats, etc

2 The Balkan Wars have left an untidy range of unresolved issues:

a) The Bosnian Republic partitioned between Serbs, Croats and Bosnians

b) The future of Kosovo and its angry Albanian majority bent on seizing areas in surrounding states which have Albanian populations

c) The several million displaced people whose homes and lands were destroyed and expropriated with little likelihood of return

d) The need for justice and for perpetrators of atrocities to be apprehended and sentenced

3 Democracy in both republics is fragile and democratic institutions need to be strengthened

4 Protestantism has had a long history among the Hungarian and Slovak minorities in Vojvodina, but little impact on Serbs or Albanians

5 Evangelical believers among Serbs number only a few thousand

6 Crucial issues for Evangelicals to deal with:

a) Unity

b) Leadership training is limited and widespread poverty hinders the flow of people into ministry

c) Cooperation in outreach and church planting

7 Outreach challenges

a) Many areas in the centre and south have very few believers

b) Students

c) War refugees are scattered all over Europe and the Balkans

Geography

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Area 102,173 sq.km. Balkan state comprising two republics, Serbia and Montenegro.

Population (2000) 10,640,150 +0.14%AGR

Capital Belgrade 1,750,000.

Peoples

Slav 74.5%; Albanian 16.5%; Other 9%.

Literacy 93%. Official language Serbian. All languages 14. Languages with Scriptures 5Bi 3NT 2por.

Economy

Poor and impoverished by 45 years of Communism followed by 13 years of self-seeking despotism. HDI & Public debt n.a. Income/person $1,900 (6% of USA).

Politics

The division of the Roman empire nearly 1,700 years ago created a major cultural and religious fault-line between the Catholic northwest and the Byzantine southeast of that region.

Religion

Strong links between ethnicity and religion have exacerbated tensions in the Balkans for centuries.

Churches in Yugoslavia

Missionaries from Yugoslavia

29 in 8 agencies to 5 countries.

Missionaries to Yugoslavia

52 in 17 agencies from 9 countries

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