Bosnia-Herzegovina

Challenges for Prayer

Evangelical believers have increased significantly but still represent only a miniscule proportion of the population. From three congregations in 1991, there are now about 35. Only evangelicals are effectively bridging the ethnic fault lines. Baptists and Pentecostals predominate, but several other smaller churches are also at work. Baptists run a seminary in Sarajevo, and both Pentecostals and Baptists have Bible schools. An Evangelical Alliance has been founded for Bosnia. Pray for believers and their witness in this divided land. Bosnia is not a spiritually receptive place; pray that many hearts might open to the gospel.

The unreached:

a) Bosniak Muslims are possibly the least evangelized people in Europe. From a mere handful, the number of believers in Jesus has grown to over 500. Islamic mission activities may cause them to be even harder to reach.

b) The Orthodox Serbs. Having endured under Islamic rule for 500 years, they now find themselves international pariahs. Pray that bitterness and disillusionment might be healed; pray also that the faith for which they suffered so long might come alive and transform this people.

c) The largely Muslim Romani (Gypsy) and the wholly Muslim Turks are contrasting pictures. Among the Turks, there is almost no ministry or response. The Romani are one of the poorest and most despised groups, but also one of the most responsive to the gospel.

d) Student ministry. Among 30,000 tertiary students (the majority in Sarajevo), there are fewer than 40 believers. IFES now works among these students, as does CCCI; pray for lasting fruit.

RESOURCES: OPERATION WORLD