Pray for Serbia

Week of Oct. 28 - Nov. 3, 2013

We are praying for Serbia this week and I am blessed to have Pastor Viktor Sabo form Serbia staying in my home. He is not only a pastor but an apostolic leader in the country. I so appreciate Viktor’s valuable insight into this weeks ‘Prayer for the Balkans’ project.

1)    Pray for the visitation of the Lord, that the people would see His glory – Lord, we ask that the bowls of intercession for Serbia would spill over and reach Your throne. May a stream of blessing flow from heaven to Serbia.
2)    There are many effects of war, pain and apathy - Let us pray for hope, the Lord’s hope, to arise. Lord, reverse the effects of war, struggles of life and hopelessness. May blessings of economic recovery, social wellbeing and God’s redemptive political justice be released for Serbia. 
3)    Pray for a change in the atmosphere – Jesus, we know that when You implement Your plan, a divine peace will follow. Let us pray for a new generation to arise that can rise above the heartaches of the past. Lord foster humane dignity in the new generation and  restore hope.
4)    Pray for repentance, humility, believers first – 2 Chronicles 7:14 If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Christians, the Lord’s people, can bring blessings upon the land through repentance. May a holy fear of God be proclaimed in the churches. May Christians rise from repentance and walk in forgiveness.
5)    There needs to be reconciliation of leaders and unity – Let us pray for unity among Christian leaders in Serbia. There is only one kingdom, His Kingdom; a pastor or leader does not have his own kingdom. Division is rooted deep in the culture, it is spiritual. Let us pray that the spirit of division be broken and replaced with the spirit of unity.
6)    Recognize the destination of the nation, war in heavenly places – There is a need in Serbia for leaders to understand God’s purposes for the nation. 1 Chronicles 12:32 “the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do,” Lord, raise up leaders that hear from You and know the spiritual needs of Serbia. Lord release Your strategy to meet those needs. May these have heaven’s authority to proclaim the will of the Lord for the country.
7)    Let us pray for new wine skins, new springs, break old blockages – Lord, we ask for new springs of fresh water to move through the churches and fill new wine skins. May those man-made dams be broken down that have held back the streams of blessing.
8)    Pray for this young generation to stand, to be free from the fear of man – Fear and fear of man is a snare holding back the church in Serbia from overcoming. Lord, we ask that boldness arise through the youth that will break the fear of man in the churches. May the older saints recognize Jesus moving in the youth and dare not criticize or try to limit. It is time for the older generation to celebrate how God is moving through the youth. Let the youth be a vessel in changing Serbia. For a good teaching on the Fear of man go to: http://gatewaypeople.com/sermons/174786
9)    Pray for revival among the Orthodox – Talking about old wineskins, let us pray for renewal to come to the Serbian Orthodox Church. They can move the hearts of the Serbian people.
10)    Pray for Belgrade, a sleeping giant. His power to come to the churches, the city’s population is 1.5 million with only 700 evangelical Christians – Belgrade the capital city of Serbia is a very complex and hard city. Many intellectuals left the country leaving a vacuum in political decision quality, but also an imbalance in culture and development.  It is the center of the country but there are very few Christians. Belgrade needs dedicated intercessors that will consistently stand in the gap.



Please leave a Comment or Reaction so we will know you Prayed.

Pray for Romania

Week of Oct. 21-27, 2013

Romania has received a lot of attention since the fall of its former dictator Ceausescu. The fallen leader left the country in a devastating state; most of us remember its Orphanages overflowing with neglected children. Romania became the focus of many ministries and as a result, it is the most evangelized among the Balkan countries today.

Operation Christmas Child, a project of international Christian relief and evangelism organization Samaritan’s Purse, has collected more than 100 million shoebox gifts since 1993 [giving them to needy children around the world]. Through simple gifts and a message of hope, children learn they are loved and not forgotten

Livia grew up in an orphanage in Romania. She took baths in dirty water, wore the same clothes for weeks at a time, and never celebrated a birthday. When she was younger, she asked for hair clips, but thought no one was listening. When Livia was 12-years-old, she received a shoebox from Operation Christmas Child. It was handed to her by Connie Satterfield, who was in Romania to help distribute the boxes. Livia ran to her as soon as she got off the bus, and never let her go. When Livia was told that the people who sent the boxes prayed for her and loved her, she asked, “How can people from thousands of miles away love me?”

When she opened her box, at the very top was a set of hair clips. She was so excited she put every single one in her hair.  

The battle for the children of Romania continues even today. It is taking a generation to reverse the wreckage left by the dictator. European Initiative (EI), our parent organization has conducted Humanitarian outreaches into Romania for six consecutive years. For our next outreach in January 2014 we are partnering with Buckner Romania, based in Turgu Mures. Our team will minister in the public schools, to the foster children, and to the mothers. We will bring the message of the Cross in word and in deed. We will bless the poor with warm coats, boots and shoes.

Let us pray:

1)    Lord, we ask for Your direction in the planning of this outreach to Romania. Show Zuzanna and me (the organizers) your heart and plan for this specific outreach. Give us fresh insight to your purposes for Turgu Mures.

2)    We pray for the team, that just the right people will hear Your calling them to go on this trip. Lord even now, prepare these, clear their calendars, and provide their funding.

3)    Let us pray that the needed funds will come in for the Humanitarian aspect of this outreach. We will be purchasing shoes, boots and coats in Romania this year.

4)    Pray for the Buckner team in Romania, that they would be blessed even as they prepare.

Another recent story describes the harsh reality of an orphan’s fate, approaching adulthood; he was released from an orphanage without any preparation, a place to go or any life skills.

Laurentiu Ierusalim grew up in an orphanage after he was abandoned in a hospital at birth. Now 26, he says he was told he’d be discharged only the day before he had to leave.

“I spent the entire first day standing in front of the orphanage,” he says. “I didn’t know what to do, so I slept in a playground across the street.”

Ierusalim stayed homeless. Bundled in a warm sweatshirt, his dark eyes cast downward, he describes spending three years moving from city to city, knocking on doors to ask for work, food and shelter.

Read his full story  

5)      About 2,000 Romanian orphans are released each year to the streets because they have come of age. They do not know how to cope with the real world. Let us pray that angels would guide them to safety, and to Christians that will show them love.

6)      Let us pray that the Romanian churches would become heart-broken for these homeless children. James 1:27 “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction”

7)      The state provides little, by way of formalized life-training programs or ongoing support for the estimated 70,000 children who fall under the care of the Department of Child Protection, let alone the tens of thousands more believed to live on the streets. Let us pray that the state would open their doors for the churches to work with these children.

8)      My the Body of Christ at large awaken and not pull back but increase its involvement with the volatile  state of the Orphan children and youth of Romania.

Please leave a Comment or Reaction so we will know you Prayed.

Pray for Montenegro

Week of Oct. 14-20, 2013

Country facts

Population: 677 000

Elevation: 0 - 8000 ft (0 - 2400 m) mostly mountainous

Primary language: Montenegrin

Ethnicity: 60% Montenegrin, 30% Serbian, 7% Albanian

Religion: One of the most unevangelised countries in all of Europe

Economy: Tourism, mining, metalwork, tobacco, grapes, olives, lumber milling

In my research I came across Faith Community Church in Montenegro, pastors Stan and Vicki Surbatovich. http://christianitymontenegro.org/ After reading their Beliefs statement and their Vision statement, I am encouraged in the Lord that His hand is upon them and that we should lift up their needs in prayer.

Prayer and Praise Bulletin Points:

  

1. Praise God that there is a season for everything, and that now is the season for the rhythms and routines of weekly and monthly bible studies and fellowship events.  Pray for those of us leading these studies and pray for those who come to hear:  that believers would grow and that the unbelievers would hear and respond to the Word of God.

2. Praise for the continued ministry of Samaritan's Purse Christmas Shoebox outreach in Montenegro and for those people willing to serve on the national team.  Pray particularly for Stan as the main coordinator because he will have an increasingly heavy workload regarding the project as the Christmas season draws near.

3. Praise for the excitement and energy of the Operation Mobilization team coming.  Pray that they would accomplish the physical projects without injury, and that they would both encourage and be encouraged as they engage in active witnessing.

4. There continues to be an acute need for work opportunities for believers.  Montenegro used to export a significant amount of medicinal and culinary herbs before the wars of the 90's, and that trade has never been resumed.  Milan and Stan will be going on an exploratory trip to a major natural product trade fair to investigate the possibilities.

Hebrews 7:24-26 (NIV)

But because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.  Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

Let us enter into the ministry of Jesus and pray for Montenegro.

5. Spiritually Montenegro is dark. The country’s name is translated “black mountain”. Let us thank the Lord that there is a light shining forth through Faith Community Church.

6. As King David encouraged himself let us be assured our intercession for the Light to shine in Montenegro will dispel the darkness.  2 Samuel 22:29 “For thou art my lamp, O Lord: and the Lord will lighten my darkness.”

7. Lord, we come to stand in the gap for Montenegro and ask for a move of the Holy Spirit to empower the Christians to do the work of ministry. May they be bold, full of faith and always abounding in good works that glorify the Father.

8. Let the day come when there will be rejoicing across Montenegro because the Light has come and the land is full of the goodness of the Lord.

Please leave a Comment or Reaction so we will know you Prayed.

Pray for Macedonia

Week of Oct.7-13, 1913

In the News: Mother Teresa finds prominence among Balkans

SKOPJE, Macedonia: The world's greatest modern-day saint - Mother Teresa is all set to come alive in her home town.

The prime minister of Macedonia has decided to name Balkan region's longest and most important highway after the founder of Missionaries of Charity.


As part of the government's plan to familiarize people of the entire region with Mother Teresa - who was born … in Skopje on August 26, 1910 with her family being of Albanian descent, Bronze plaques with her teaching are being drilled into prominent buildings and busy side walks across town.

The government is also giving thought to a proposal whether Mother Teresa's picture can be put on the currency note.

A massive 60 feet statue of the greatest humanitarian of modern times is also coming up in one of the city's main boulevards,…

According to the Nobel Institute that awarded Mother Teresa the Nobel peace prize, Mother Teresa felt a strong calling from God at the age of 12 and knew she had to be a missionary to spread the love of Christ.
 

Mother Teresa exemplifies the strong humanitarian efforts and heart of the Catholic Church. We must applaud the Catholics and their work with the poor. At age 12 Mother Teresa knew she had to spread the love of Christ and she was successful. On one of her rear visits to the White House, Mother Teresa boldly told President Clinton that he needed to stand up against abortion in America.

Let us pray:
1.    Lord, we ask You to bless the Macedonian government for making Mother Teresa and her teaching an important symbol in the country.
2.    May her statue, bronze plaques with her teaching on prominent buildings and the highway named after her, be an inspiration to Macedonia. May Mother Teresa be a role model to a new generation and her values be a guide to many.
3.    Let us pray that parents and teachers will present Mother Teresa as she was. An example of Jesus.
4.    Lord we pray that Macedonia and the Balkans, would be blessed in return as a result of Mother Teresa’s labor among the poor.  Macedonia’s population living below the poverty level is 30.4% vs. India’s 29.8% and is highest among all 12 Balkan countries (CIA Fact Sheet). Lord, provide much needed Humanitarian Aid to Macedonia and the region.

In the News: Bulgarian and Albanian 'historians' gather to negate Macedonian history - end up fighting each other ...

A 'scientific' conference in Struga was organized by Albanian and Bulgar[ian] 'historians'  to commemorate a Struga/Debar revolt against the Serb army in 1913. According to the organizers of the meeting, it was Albanians and Bulgars who organized the revolt.  Joining the conference were professors from Sofia, Pristina and Tetovo.

What should have been a happy occasion for the Bulgars and Albanians in negating Macedonian history quickly turned into a nasty verbal fight between the two sides.

According to the Albanians it was them who organized and led the revolt, but the representatives from Sofia thought otherwise and claimed it was them who organized the revolt.

The verbal insults came close to a fist fight after Bulgarian representatives started mocking their Albanian colleagues about their contribution to the revolt.

I’m sure many Macedonians are laughing over this but there is a sad reality behind this dispute. Ethnic hatred is a curse all across the Balkans. All you have to do is go on Facebook or Twitter and read the continuing hatred fired back and forth. The key to the healing of those nations will be found in these people groups acknowledging the wrongs they inflected on others and repenting to one another.  

5.    This is a prayer subject that goes deep. There are wrongs that go back over a thousand years that have never been set right. Let us pray for the people groups to recognize these wrongs, recant, repent and decide to forgive.
6.    Some say it will take generations to heal these hatreds but let us pray that God will do a quick work. God can change hearts in a moment.  We can pray and believe for a “great awaking” in the Balkans.
7.    May the Holy Spirit go across the Balkans into every church, every born again believer’s heart and every pastor to lead them in repentance for their respective nations.
8.    What if national repentance started in Macedonia? Let us pray that Macedonian Christians would examine their hearts and carry repentance across the Balkans. What if the glorification of Mother Teresa (whom was ethnically Albanian) could be the trip-line to spiritual change in Macedonia?
9.    As intercessors, ask the Lord for His heart for the Balkan people and the pain they live with.

Zechariah 1:1-3
In the eighth month of the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,  “The Lord has been very angry with your fathers.  Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Return to Me,” says the Lord of hosts, “and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts.

Please leave a Comment or Reaction so we will know you Prayed.

Pray for Kosovo

Week of Sept. 30 - Oct. 6, 2013

In the News: EU to Deploy 100 Kosovo Election Observers

Samuel Zbogar, head of the EU Office in Pristina, announced that more than 100 European observers will monitor the elections due to be held throughout Kosovo on November 3.

The EU High Representative, Catherine Ashton, decided to deploy an observer mission for local elections in Kosovo on September 19, appointing an Italian lawmaker in the European Parliament, Roberto Gualitieri, as head of mission.

Zbogar noted that the mission was being sent to Kosovo on the request of President Atifete Jahjaga of Kosovo, and because civil society groups in Kosovo had urged the EU “to send a mission in order not to repeat the problems seen in the electoral process [in Kosovo] in the past”.    

1. As we pray for Kosovo it is important to ask God to raise up godly men and women to lead that nation. May this election on November 3rd, be a step in that direction.
2. Lord, You direct the heart of kings (Pr. 21:1), may You direct this election.
3. During this per-election time period, let us pray that corrupt candidates will be exposed and trusted ones will gain favor.

I read an unconfirmed report that 80% of young adults are unemployed or working in black-market jobs. A CIA intelligence report says that the overall unemployment rate is 45.3%.

4. These are disturbing statistics that breed poverty and crime. Let us ask the Lord for a solution that will bring the nation out of poverty. God has a plan; He is looking for worthy men and women to trust His plan with. Oh, Lord, may those that know Your ways come forth with a burden for Kosovo.
5. Like most of the Balkan nations, people have left for better living and better future abroad, this is called a “brain drain”. Let us pray that some of those would return with skills and a determination to rebuild Kosovo.
6. Let us pray for intercessors. May the Lord raise up many to stand in the gap and cry out for souls in Kosovo.
7. Let us also pray for the fivefold ministry. May the Lord raise up Apostles, Prophets, Teachers, Pastors and Evangelist. Kosovo needs men and women that can hear His voice and are willing to lay down all for Him in a hard place.

Please leave a Comment or Reaction so we will know you Prayed.