Prayer Profile:

Culturally Serbia lies between east and west. It has a legacy from 500 years of Turkish Ottoman occupation until the 19th century, and the spiritual heritage of the thousand-year old Serbian Orthodox church, which so strongly shapes the Serbian national identity. There is also a rich mixture of ethnic groups - ethnic Serbs themselves, and large minorities of Hungarians, Slovaks, Romanians, Albanians, Roma gypsies, and more.

The current government seeks to anchor Serbia firmly in the western democratic tradition, with hopes of future EU membership. However the country is still emerging from post-communist transition and the Milosevic era, and faces many political and economic problems. The scars of the 1999 Nato bombing offensive are still felt in the national consciousness, compounded by the secession of Kosovo in 2008.

There are an estimated 10,000 evangelical believers in Serbia, many from ethnic minorities in the north and centre of the country. There are very few such believers in the south, which also has large numbers of unreached Muslim Slavs and Albanians.

Ethnic Serbs generally regard themselves as Christian, being born into the Orthodox tradition. However very few have heard the Gospel, most following a blend of religious traditions and popular superstition. There is a tremendous need for this nation to discover the hope that is found in Jesus Christ alone!

Key Scripture to Pray: "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future" - Jeremiah 29:11

Going Before the Father: Pray for an openness to the Gospel in a land that traditionally has a Christian 'heritage', yet is a place where the Gospel of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is rarely heard.

Pray for the small but growing churches peppered across the country: for Christ-like love and boldness, Christ-centred unity and continued vision.