I asked a missionary in Serbia to give me his perspective of the national and spiritual conditions there. His report is very insightful and revealing.
Greg Sivulka’s report:
1. Church - Generally speaking, most of the Christian churches in Serbia have fallen into a state of apathy. The excitement of a personal, daily walk with the Lord has died down and as a result, the care and concern for reaching the lost has also died down to a minimum lull. Many pastors in full-time ministry are overloaded with various activities and are in desperate need of rest. Most churches are struggling financially to keep bills paid and keep staff out of poverty.
2. Non-believers - Please pray for God to change the mentality of the people of Serbia. Many consider us [Evangelical Churches] a dangerous sect/cult. Many young people that show an interest in coming to church and/or hanging out with believers are often forbidden to do so by their parents. Women interested in the Lord are often hindered and sometimes even physically abused by their husbands.
Please pray that God would bring down the pride level of non-believers. Many times, even when people realize their need for a Savior, they often refuse to come to him because of pride. Two things that you very rarely hear in Serbia, generally speaking, are "I'm sorry," and "I don't know." This to me is a sign that there are very high strongholds of pride that still need to come down.
Please pray that the devil would be thwarted in his plans to keep people in spiritual darkness here in Serbia. Many seeds have been sown, through various different means (Jesus film, one-on-one evangelism, humanitarian aid distribution....), but the devil is continuing to keep the blinders on people's spiritual sight. Pray for the Lord to turn the lights on! www.SerbianOutreach.com
1. Ask the Lord to let your heart burn for the Serbian evangelical churches. The pressures are intense and the battle is hard. They truly need a prayer covering. Let us stand in the gap and build up a hedge.
2. Let us pray for a spiritual assault on the principalities and strongholds in Serbia. May those that have a burden for Serbia be awakened to this crucial hour. Daniel was only one man and he stood against the Prince of Persia; we are many, may we too send up a cry that empowers warring angels. (Daniel chapter 10)
3. Let us pray for more intercessors to be raised up to pray for Serbia. Let us also pray for gatekeepers to be raised up for the major cities in Serbia. (Men and women, saints that make it their priority and sacrifice their time to keep a spiritual watch over their city)
4. Lord, we ask for the financial struggles of churches to be lightened. This generally is proceeded by believers sacrificial giving. May the saints learn to give their money, time and talents to the house of faith. Lord, may the Serbian Christians learn the joy of giving.
5. Lord, we ask for your favor to be upon those that have found that freedom of giving. May they be entrusted with more of heaven’s riches.
6. Pride is such a yoke of bondage. To break the Serbs will, it will take a sovereign move of the Holy Spirit. War didn’t bring them to their knees and neither did poverty. Lord, please release Your love on the Serbian people and raise up believers who will overflow with Your love into their communities.
7. The health system is very poor in Serbia. Those that have the financial means usually take their health issues to other countries. Let us pray the Lord would engineer a solution. We can ask for men and women of faith to lay hands on the sick and we can pray for more money to flow into the hospitals; we put it in Your hands Lord to touch the physically hurting of Serbia. Either way, the Serbian people need a miracle for their health.
Jeremiah 33:2-3 NKJV
“Thus says the Lord who made it, the Lord who formed it to establish it (the Lord is His name): ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’
8. Lord, we ask that You put the above verse in every Serbian Christian’s heart. May we all just seek more of You, Jesus.
9. Let us also pray for Greg and Jelena and their three children as they minister in Serbia. They have a ministry to the families with special needs children. The Sivulka’s need a home and a car so they can be fully effective.
A Praise Report from a Serbian youth pastor:
Wow, we had a great teen camp last week. 62 teenagers (plus the staff) came together for five days where we experienced Gods love and His power. It was truly amazing to see how God touched so many hearts trough worship and teachings.
There was a girl who used to cut herself and got freed from her depression. Another one confessed her sin to one of the leaders and experienced a spiritual breakthrough after that. Many others got filled with the Holy Spirit and many gave their hearts to God.
Thank you for all your prayers and support,
Arpod Sabo
Please leave a Comment or Reaction so we will know you Prayed.
No comments:
Post a Comment