Pray for the Roma People

Week of April 7-13, 2014

The communist governments in Eastern Europe worked hard to settle the Roma (Gypsy) populations in their respective countries. The Roma people, who traveled around a lot without established homes, just did not work well in with a highly controlled economy.

In the mid-1980s I traveled a great deal on trains and buses in the former Yugoslavia and Hungary.  I would see the Roma in the train and bus stations camped out on the pavement or around benches. They would have all their belongings with them and often things they were selling. I was amazed how they could live like that. The new democratic governments in Easter Europe have continued to encourage the Roma to settle and most have complied. Now you see Roma settlements in many East European cities. In some places there are complete villages of just Roma people. They remain true to some of their own tribal structures, with a leader or strong man in charge that helps to keep order. This leader is respected and often becomes the lesion between city officials and the Roma people.  To provide for their families, the Roma do travel to other locations, even other countries for seasonal work but most now have a place they call home.

Much like in any other populations there are some who live in better conditions than others, but it is common to see their homes as pieced together shacks, small, not well ventilated or too ventilated that families crowd into. Most cities now have water going into Roma villages, but generally there are still only outdoor toilets.
However, a remarkable thing is happening; they are accepting Jesus by the hundreds! Foreign missionaries and local Christians are reaching out to them with humanitarian aid and the message of salvation. We also see many efforts to bring Bible training and social help to improve the quality of their lives. Whole villages are being transformed by the power of the Gospel. Villages, which were once ravaged by crime are now becoming peaceful and safe communities.

There have been many studies conducted in universities across Europe concerning this paradigm shift among the Roma. They are amazed because it does not fit the prevailing humanistic worldview.

Prayer Points:
1)    Lord, You are faithful and You have a time of visitation for every people group. We are amazed how You have opened doors into the Roma communities. Pray that many more Roma will accept Jesus into their hearts.
2)    Let us pray for the leaders in the Roma communities. Because of the respect they carry, when these leaders accept Jesus, many in their family and in the whole community will follow suit.
3)    There is a big need in the Roma communities to plant churches. Pray for Roma churches to be planted that specifically minister to Roma needs.
4)    Pray that pastors will be raised up with a passion to lead the communities into transforming grace.
5)    Teaching for Roma church leaders is needed desperately. The Roma Christians are so hungry for the truth and they need teaching and deliverance from their destructive lifestyles. Pray that God would send anointed teachers into the Roma churches to lay out Gospel truth. Pray that God would raise up teachers among the Roma Christians.
6)    For so many years governments have held back education from the Roma communities. A great percentage of Roma can’t read or write. Let us pray for gifted teachers to give of their time and provide classes and much needed education to the Roma.

It is so encouraging to see the efforts of groups like Lighthouse of Life church in Zagreb for example. Lighthouse is bringing education not only of basic academics, but Bible training as well in order to disciple the many who have come to know Jesus through their efforts. They are now sending Roma evangelist out to other Roma villages. There are several such groups which are doing solid work, and of course, we at European Initiative, have sowed into the Roma in Romania for the past six years.

7)    Let us take a moment to celebrate what Jesus is doing for the Roma people!
8)    Let us pray for more Roma evangelist. They are travelers; having the knowledge and ability to travel at low expense. The network they have across the world is naturally setup for quick evangelization. Release them, Lord, into the harvest fields.




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Pray for Croatia

Week of March 24-30, 2014

This is the third month for Zuzanna and me living in Croatia, interacting with pastors, church workers and the Croatian people. We are beginning to understand the needs, hindrances and church conditions of this unique nation.

⦁    Most Croatians are Catholic  –  over 90% - they follow the traditions and beliefs of the Catholic Church and most often there is no real dedication to righteousness
⦁    Very few evangelical churches – less than 0.5% – most villages  and small towns do not have an evangelical church at all
⦁    According to some pastors, even among the evangelicals there is a lack of righteousness – they love to come to church, worship, listen to preaching and even get prayed for but live secular lives the rest of the week
⦁    We found a few groups here in Zagreb who are sold out to Him and live the gospel. They present hope for this city. We look forward to finding more such groups throughout the country
⦁    There is very little evangelism outside the churches in Croatia
⦁    There are a few churches reaching out to the Roma (Gypsies) - the Roma are very open to the Gospel. Though this is hard work, those who are reaching out to the Roma, are seeing real fruit
⦁    There is a “silent protest” by the Catholics against abortion that is being conducted in front of hospitals which perform abortions. They call it “40 days of Life”. This is being carried out during the days of Lent. This cannot be ignored by the media or the public due to its length.
⦁    God is on the move – a number of foreign missionaries have moved to Croatia in recent years, and especially this past year – they are passionate about evangelism and are stirring up the local Christians
⦁    Here is a real positive thing happening in Croatia, the churches are taking steps toward unity. This is significant as the Balkans is filled with disunity and constant church splits over nominal issues
⦁    A major victory for Evangelicals recently - the government granted full equality of religious freedom – equal rights to all religious groups

We love living in this country! We are making new friends weekly and we have seen God’s hand in opening doors to networking. Here at European Initiative Balkans (EIB), we are busy planning several outreaches in the city squares and malls of Zagreb, the capital. We are partnering with 10 churches who will actively take part in sharing the gospel.

Lets Pray:
1)    Thank the Lord for the Croatian Catholics and their concerns for the unborn. Let us pray that government officials would take up their cause and pass legislation to stop abortion.
2)    Thank the Lord for more missionaries coming to Croatia. Pray they will focus on stirring up the Croatian Christians to pray for and evangelize their country.
3)    Let us thank the Lord for religious equality being accepted by the Croatian government. Let us honor Pastor Mario Ducic and the activism he lead that brought about these results.
4)    May the evangelical churches now be active through acts of kindness to change the minds of the population that often times still considers all non-Catholics a cult. Also, pray for the media, may they align with this government edict and stop slandering non-Catholics.
5)    Pray that true intercession would be stirred up for the country.  There are some churches who conduct special times of prayer but it seems orchestrated and not Holy Spirit led.
6)    Pray that a full time house of prayer would arise here in Zagreb, Croatia. Pray that those called by the Lord to intercede would join together t to pray.
7)    Please pray for us at EIB as we organize outreaches in Croatia. Pray for deepened cooperation among the churches, favor with government agencies and open hearts by the Croatian people.
8)    Let us also pray for a team from Bethel Church in Redding, California who is ministering in Zagreb this week. May the Lord touch many as they witness on the streets and hold a faith building seminar.


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Pray for the Roma People

Week of Feb. 24 - March 2, 2014

Before we move forward with our prayer topics of the week, Zuzanna and I would like to express our heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you praying for me during the past two months as I battled with my health. The diagnoses is a serious and chronic heart condition and we appreciate your continued prayers as we believe for a miracle in the form of a renewed heart.

The Roma are a distinct people group with a common language and history. Often referred to as Gypsies, the Roma are the largest minority group in Europe, with population estimated as high as 14 million. Numbers are difficult to determine because of a verity of reasons, some of which are that Roma are sometimes not counted in census statistics due to their nomadic lifestyle, yet other times for some reason the Roma do not indicate on censuses their Roma ethnicity.

The Romanians and the citizens of Rome complain about the word Roma being used but the term "Rom" means "people" in Romani, the mother language of the Roma.

Although the Roma never claimed to be Egyptians, the term "gypsy", which stems from "Egyptian", was given to the Roma by Europeans who thought that they originated from Egypt. The more popular theory is that the Roma originated from India.

Though this people group for so long has been considered the outcast of society, God has not forgotten them. Many Roma are coming to Jesus, not only in the Balkans but in other parts of Europe. 

Recently, European Initiative conducted its 6th annual outreach to the Roma in the Transylvanian region of Romania. We worked with four Roma communities in Romania, where we distributed bags of groceries,coats and boots. We shared the gospel in homes, where many came to the saving knowledge of Christ, and the local Roma churches were strengthened. Here is a 3 minute video of the outreach http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90xR4kpN7as&feature=c4-overview&list=UU7XcSP0N1IM_rT32JfDTjyg

1. Thank You Lord for bringing many Roma to salvation. Truly, You desire that none perish. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 (NIV)
2. Whether they become part of established churches or they gravitate to their own culturally distinct churches, let us pray that above all they will be cared for by loving pastors.
3. Let us rejoice in the beneficial things built into their culture that can be of redemptive value. Tight family units, tribal, honor given to patriarchal leadership, and culturally connected throughout every country. 
4. In their tribal communities when one gets saved many times others easily follow. Lord, we ask for deep and true conversions and not just religious acts to satisfy others.
5. Lord, we ask that You speak directly to family and tribal patriarchs. Because of the respect afforded the elder male, many in the family will come to faith in You. Lord, send your word from family to family and from nation to nation. Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, Your God reigns!
6. With many Roma coming to know Jesus in the past few years, and many churches springing up, there is a need for scriptural teaching and the operation of the five-fold ministry. Lord raise up more Bible schools throughout the Balkans to train those that are called to evangelize, pastor, and teach the Roma people. May the present Bible schools embrace the Roma in their countries. Pray for the Lighthouse of Life congregation in Zagreb, Croatia who has recently begun a mini Bible school in a Roma village they work in, training up future leaders in the Roman community.

The Roma culture needs full transformation. Their primitive and often pagan lifestyle brings with it deep challenges, from hygiene to education to incest and many others issues. This is a people group in need of   workers who are willing to lay down their lives for the transformation of the Roma people.

1. Lord, we ask that you bring to the surface the leaders in each community that You select and who will have open hearts to be instrumental in bringing change to their communities. 
2. We pray for Your strategies to be deposited into organizations like Buckner Romania, who are laying down their lives for the Roma. 
3. We thank you for entrepreneurial investors like the Elias Reyes model in Subotica, Serbia, which helps Christian Roma with small businesses. Lord, release more such creative ideas into the Body of Christ aimed at helping this people group.
4. We pray for the release of many funds that are needed to bring training and education along with the Gospel.
5. There are many Roma churches outside of the Balkans that are mature in the faith; May they be senders of missionaries to the struggling Balkan churches.

"And I will sow her for Myself in the land. I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion, And I will say to those who were not My people, 'You are My people!' And they will say, 'You are my God!'" Hosea 2:23 (NIV)

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Pray for Bulgaria

Week of Dec. 2-8, 2013

In the News: Squalid camps and bleak prospects greet Syrians at EU's door

Over 11,100 refugees, most of them Syrians, have entered Bulgaria illegally this year, crossing the porous 274-kilometre (170-mile) border with Turkey.

That may be a drop in the ocean compared to the two million refugees sheltering in Syria's neighbouring countries, but they are overwhelming the European Union's poorest nation.

Bulgaria's three refugee facilities were quickly overfilled. Authorities hastily opened four more shelters in dilapidated former schools or deserted army camps, like the one in Harmanli, where 1,254 Syrian and Afghan refugees are registered.

On an AFP visit of the Harmanli camp, thick black smoke from improvised stoves filled the area, as children waded barefoot in freezing puddles and their mothers cooked on open fires outside rows of khaki tents and metal containers.

Coughing could be heard everywhere. Many complained about not being able to get simple medicine or proper treatment for chronic illnesses.

The camp's inhabitants are not allowed to leave except to buy food, which is not provided by the cash-strapped Bulgarian government. They are given no money either, forking out whatever they still have to pay for bread and potatoes, the cheapest foods available.  

Over the past year, with the rebel insurgents in Syria, I have heard reports of many Christians having to leave Syria because of persecution. I have not been able to confirm if these refugees in Bulgaria are Christians but either way I am moved by their story.

1)      There are many things to pray for concerning Bulgaria but let us pray for these refugees from Syria.

2)      May the Christians among the refugees be visited with special grace as they endure these hard times. Let us pray that their distress would be changed to hope and their hope changed to physical relief.

3)      Let us pray that the Bulgarian Christians would be moved by the needs of these refugees and take the opportunity to minister Jesus’ love with humanitarian aid.

4)      Not only Bulgarian Christians, but let’s pray that Christians worldwide would get involved to help these displaced Syrians.

5)      Recently the European Commission allocated EUR 5.6 million to Bulgaria to help with the refugee problem. Let us pray this money will be handled by honest people that are dedicated to truly helping the suffering in the camps. Let’s pray that there would be adequate rations of food and medicine.

6)      As we have prayed for many Balkan countries, let us pray for unity and acceptance among ethnic groups in Bulgaria, let us pray for an end to hatred.

7)      We want to pray for the Christians to set the example of acceptance. Let us pray for those Bulgarian churches that exclude Gypsies, Turks, etc. Lord, speak to them about how we are to be all things to all people.

1 Corinthians 9:19-22  For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more;  and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law;  to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law;  to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.

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Pray for Romania - Part 2

Published Jan.20, 2013

Thank you so much for your prayers for our outreach to Romania. As I am writing this, we have finished the outreach. We estimate 200 people were prayed for to receive Jesus. So let me thank you again for your prayers and financial support. This was the third time for me to be on this yearly outreach and the second for Zuzanna, my wife. Zuzanna, being skilled in management and logistics, organized and lead the team. The following is a recap of the 2013 Romanian Outreach to the poor of Transylvania. We assembled a team of 19 foreign workers and joined up with about that many Romanian Christian workers.

1)    We shipped from America donated coats, shoes, hats, gloves and stuffed animals to the host church in Romania (many of you helped us fight the spiritual battle to get the shoes past customs)
2)    Our host church, City on a Hill, rented the community centers in four villages; Ormanis, Augustin, Belin and Apata. Then we organized a system of first going house to house giving out tickets which gave the ticket holder the right to redeem shoes or a coat for each member of their family. (a ticket for each member of the family)
3)    Each day we had one team going house to house inviting the family to a performance and passing out tickets Also we had one team transporting the shoes and coats to that day’s village community center. There was no home we were not welcomed into. We only went to the poor areas where mainly the Gypsies lived. We ask them to be at the community at a set time.
4)    In all the villages they were at the door of the community center an hour ahead of time. When the time came for the program to start, we would let them in, checking for tickets. Problems arose with many people showing up without a ticket and wanting to get in. And by the way, village Gypsies, Romanians and Hungarians do not line up but push forward in mass. I think our door people had the worse job.
5)    Once they were in and seated (in Belin and Apata there was limited seating and many had to stand) the program begin; Introductions were made, there was an acrobatic performance, someone gave a testimony and then the Gospel was presented. There was a blanket prayer invitation for salvation and then those that had prayed the prayer were asked to come forward for personal prayer. We took names and addresses to be given to the host church for follow-up.
6)    Then row by row they would file out (push) to the distribution area to get their gift items. At all venues they had to go out the same door they came in. This was a problem for our door-men because of the dissatisfied ones pressing the exit door.
7)    We would then pack up what was left over and start preparing for the next day.
To our knowledge, this type of humanitarian aid distribution had never been tried in this part of Romania. I would like to say that everything went perfect but it didn’t. We were not ready for a dissatisfied crowd. We saw greed, hatred and real disrespect.

If you are following the Praying for the Balkans, Project prayer directives, you realize we are off track. For four years now I have been doing research on the Balkan countries on a weekly basis and publishing a prayer directive of the important prayers to focus on that week. The directive had two main purposes, 1) to provide news of current and also historic events affecting the weeks’ targeted country, 2) build urgency among intercessors to focus on the spiritual dryness of the countries on the Balkan Peninsula.

1)    Please pray for the past outreach in Romania. First pray for those that heard the Gospel but did not receive Jesus. Pray that the Holy Spirit would continue to pursue them.
2)    Pray for those that we prayed with to receive Jesus. Especially pray for the host church as they go follow up. May relationships grow that will help these new Christians to grow.
3)    Pray that the negative impressions caused by the dissatisfied ones would be smoothed out.
4)    This trip was organized by European Initiative (Berlin, Germany). Having unforeseen things happen, may we be wise concerning future outreaches. (There was levels of warfare we breached that was revelatory of God’s love for Romania and Satan’s determination to stay the course)

Pray for Romania

Week of Dec. 31,2012 - Jan. 6,2013

This Romanian man took off his ragged coat and put on the new coat European Initiative brought him, Jan. 2012.

In this sequence of Praying for the Balkans; praying for Romania comes at an opportune, if not critical time. This will be the 5th consecutive year for European Initiative, which is primarily an evangelical ministry working out of Berlin, Germany, to conduct an outreach to Romania in January. The purpose is to bring warm outer-garments (coats, gloves, hats, shoes, boots) to the very poor, primarily Gypsy population in central Romania. By giving away these items, we are able to get into homes and reach families to share the love of Jesus. Last year, January 2012, we saw over 80 people accept Jesus as Savior. Last year we only reached one village, this year we are geared up to reach six villages. We are believing for many to come into the Kingdom. The outreach dates are January 10th thru 16th. Zuzanna and I are in charge of organizing and managing this outreach. We ask for your prayers of covering and enabling so we may partner with the Lord in blessing the people of Romania.

As I have reported in the past, Zuzanna and I have committed to serving with European Initiative. For us, 2013 will be mainly spent setting up a European Initiative base in Zagreb, Croatia; a base to serve the Balkan countries. (We expect to actually move there in June, 2013)

Let us focus our prayers this week on the final preparations for the 2013 Romanian Outreach:
1)    We have an urgent need to pray right now for the shipment of shoes to get released out of the Romanian Customs at the Black Sea port of Constanta. Because these boots and shoes are new branded shoes the authorities are demanding documentation that they were actually donated as “not to be sold”. Let us pray that even though we are in the middle of this holiday time, the documentation will be satisfied and the container of shoes released within hours.
2)    Let us pray that the “Crocs” shoe company, which make this donation, will make this a priority and quickly produce the documentation.
3)    Let us pray that the Romanian Customs will quickly process this shipment and release the container to its destination.

Final preparations for the team of 18 people from America and Europe:
4)    Pray that each team member will have their financial needs meet for the trip.
5)    Pray for Angelic protection, over each team member’s health, travel, luggage and their families and possessions back home. May this be a season of special covering. We rebuke any demon that has an assignment against this team. James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
6)    (We are confident every team member is divinely chosen for this outreach) As each team member submits to You, Jesus, may Your grace, anointing and destiny be full in their lives and ready to spill over in the heart of Romania.

There is also a team of local church workers assembling in Romania:
7)    Lord, we thank You and we are amazed at what You are doing trough “City on a Hill” church in Apata, Romania. (Click link for Google map location of Apata in Romania, Click Here)
8)    Let us pray for Pastor Eduard and City on a Hill as they prepare for this outreach. Lord, we pray  for each Romanian team member as they prepare to assist with translation, logistics and accommodations.  Lord, put an expectation in their hearts to see Your glory over the coming days.

The unreached of Romania:
9)     Lord, we ask for the nation of Romania. We believe it can be a “sheep nation” and we pray against the enemy and all his plans for Romania.
10)    Let us pray for the people in the villages around Apata. May their hearts be prepared by the Holy Spirit to receive the Gospel. Although the Gypsies in this area are down trodden and poverty stricken, may this be the season of turning for them.
11)    Lord, we pray for every individual touched by this outreach; the people in the villages, the City on a Hill church members, the foreign team, and even the custom agents that are holding up the shipment.
12)    We also pray for the Crocs company, Operation Blessing (they first took the donation of shoes); May blessings be on their operations and staff. May profit and peace be their portion.
13)    Let us pray for special blessings on those that gave toward this outreach. They have a major part in this outreach and can rejoice with the angels over every soul that comes to Jesus.

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

Pray for Roma People

Week of Dec. 3 - 9, 2012

Evangelical fervor has swept through the one-million-strong gypsy population in Spain at the speed of a Mediterranean brush fire. According to the Spanish Association of Gypsy Presence, about 30 per cent of gypsies in Spain are Alleluyas. The Church of Philadelphia itself says it has 90,000 officially baptized members and about 500 churches across Spain. There are now 70 churches in Madrid alone; ten years ago there was only one. 

  http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gypsies-for-jesus-1572555.html

The Catholic Church has been taken completely by surprise by this sudden upsurge in religious activity. Its priests say they are too overstretched to meet the needs of the gypsies and some are even critical of the cult for being too spiritual.

1. “Too spiritual,” Oh yes, Praise the Lord! The Lord has not forgotten the Roma people. He said He would pour out Holy Spirit on all flesh. Lord, thank You for what You are doing in Spain and we believe for an out pouring in the Balkans.
2. Actually it is happening in the Balkans with reports of Roma revival in Serbia, Macedonia, etc. Lord, You are seeking out the despised and pouring out a blessing.

The Roma are a distinct people group with a common language and history. Often referred to as Gypsies, the Roma are the largest minority group in Europe, with a population of 7-15 million. Numbers are difficult to determine because the Roma are not usually counted in census statistics since their nomadic history and wartime persecution forced them to move without many of their documents.

The Romanians and the citizens of Rome complain about the word Roma being used but the term "Rom" means "people" in Romani, the mother language of the Roma.

Although the Roma never claimed to be Egyptians, the term "gypsy", which stems from "Egyptian", was given to the Roma by Europeans who incorrectly thought that they originated from Egypt. (It is well established now that they originated in India.)

3. Lord we thank You for bringing many Roma to salvation. Truly Lord, You desire that none perish. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 (New International Version)
4. Lord, we ask for your direction for the Roma people. Do they become part of established churches or do they gravitate to their own culturally distinct churches. Let us pray that above all they will be cared for by loving pastors.
5. Let us rejoice in the beneficial things built into their culture that can be of redemptive value. Tight family units, tribal, honor given to patriarchal leadership, and culturally connected throughout every country.
6. Lord, let not materialism and individualism pull families apart. May they stay true to their family connections.
7. Tribal can be good because if one gets saved many times others easily follow. Lord, we ask for deep and true conversions and not just religious acts to satisfy others.
8. Lord, we ask that You speak directly to family and tribal patriarchs. Because of the respect afforded the elder male, many in the family will come to faith in You. Lord, send your word from family to family and from nation to nation. Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, Your God reigns!
9. With many gypsies coming to know Jesus in the past few years, and many churches springing up, there is a need for scriptural teaching and the operation of the five-fold ministry. Lord raise up more Bible schools throughout the Balkans to train those that are called to evangelize, pastor, and teach the Roma people. May the present Bible schools embrace the Roma in their countries.
10. There are many Gypsy churches outside of the Balkans that are mature in the faith; May they be senders of missionaries to the struggling Balkan churches.
11. Lord, we ask that You release finances for ministry to and through the Roma people.

"And I will sow her for Myself in the land. I will also have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion, And I will say to those who were not My people, 'You are My people!' And they will say, 'You are my God!'" Hosea 2:23 (NIV)

Norway's biggest church, the (Lutheran) Church of Norway, has apologized to the nation's Romanies—once known as gypsies—for its ill treatment of their people in the past. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2000/decemberweb-only/56.0.html

Personal Note: The more I pray for these people the more my heart is broken for them. I can’t wait to visit many Roma’s homes in January 2013.

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

Pray for Romania

Week of Oct. 1-7, 2012

I want to promote a ministry; Heart 2 Heart, check out this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=029w0arDv20

History, The Orphans of Romania – Romania was under a Communist dictator named Nicolae Ceaușescu from 1965 to 1989. Having complete controlling power he set out on a plan to make Romania great. Two of the obsessions he had was to make the capital city of Bucharest the Paris of Eastern Europe and to raise the falling birth-rate of the Romanian ethnic population. Ceausescu set up a policy of taking resources from the country side and other Romanian cities to build up the capital. Also he banded all contraceptives for women and taxed families that did not have four or more children. The capital was built with amazing avenues, buildings and canals but the rest of the country was plunged into dire poverty. As the families had more and more children, they could not take care of them and starvation began to be epidemic. Mothers felt the most humane thing to do was abandon their new-born children at the hospital. Orphanages were set up but were under staffed. The children were left unattended and those that survived were mentally scared.  

1)    First of all let us thank the Lord for all the agencies that came in to minister to the orphans after communism fell. Lord, You heard the cry of the abandoned ones.
2)    Let us pray for the funding of these agencies. Lord, bless their efforts above and beyond.
3)    May each person giving their time and/or their money to these orphans be rewarded in this life and the life to come.
4)    The new government has addressed the problem and has been working hard to reverse the abandonment of the orphans. Lord, we thank You for the caring heart You are developing in the government. We pray that the Romanian government would leave a legacy of having brought many orphans to full citizenship.
5)    The very thing every orphan lacks is a family relationship. They desire to have parents that not only love them but they desire to love in return. Lord, we ask that You fill that hole in their hearts with Yourself. Help us as Christians to care for the orphans.
James 1:27
Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
John 14:18
I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

Another ministry I want to honor for their outreach to Romania is European Initiative, of which my wife and I have became a part of, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crLcyqPM90I&feature=player_embedded. This coming January 2013 EI will have their 5th outreach to the Gypsies in Romania. I want to personally invite you to join us on this outreach; Your life will forever be changed as Jesus uses you to minister to the very, very poor. Send email inquires to djerilo@aol.com.

6)    Let us pray for European Initiative and the burden of compassion they have for the poor of Romania.
7)    Let us pray for the coming 5th outreach in January, 2013. Lord, touch the hearts of those You desire to come. May faith arise and the finances follow in for their airfare and lodging.
8)    Let us pray for the container of boots and shoes that need to be shipped from Virginia to Romania to be used in the outreach. Also pray for the safe delivery of the coats from New Orleans to Romania. The shoes are ready and the coats are coming together. We pray for the (anonymous) company that donated the shoes and all the churches and individuals giving the coats.
9)    The only thing holding up the above shipments is the money for shipping. Oh, Lord, we pray that that money will be released quickly. Let it be loosed in the name of Jesus.
10)    We ask for the Holy Spirit and the host of angel to begin preparing the hearts of those in the villages that He is sending us to; salvations, healings, spirit of poverty broken, etc.

Interesting Picture: http://pinterest.com/pin/35043703320666019/

Pray for Bulgaria

Roma Teenage Girls >


Just as in other parts of the Balkans, the Roma people (gypsies) in Bulgaria are generally treated as second class citizens, who regularly face social exclusion, racism, substandard education, hostility, joblessness, rampant illness, inadequate housing, lower life expectancy, unrest, living on desperate margins, stereotypes, mistrust, rights violations, discrimination, marginalization, appalling living conditions, prejudice, human rights abuse, etc.


1)    Let us pray for the hearts of the Bulgarian people. Overall the Bulgarians are a good people but there is this prejudge against the Roma. Lord, we ask for You to create trust among the races in Bulgaria.
2)    We want to especially pray for Bulgarian Christians. Let us pray that many would be moved with compassion to reach out to the Roma people.
3)    We know there are Roma churches being raised up in Bulgaria. All over the Balkans God is moving among the Roma. Lord, we just want to praise You for bringing them to the table.
4)    Lord, we pray for healthy interaction between Bulgarian Christians and the Roma Christians. The redeemed of both races will stand before the Lord’s throne and praise Him together, for eternity.
5)    Lord, we know the Roma as a people group, have many problems; They are known for their dishonesty and disrespect to others. Lord, we know You have a new nature for us all. Lord, let your heavenly standard spread throughout the Roma communities.
6)    The Roma have decided to live among other cultures rather than seek a nation of their own. Lord, help them to respect their host country.

The Balkan Networks, an organization located in Romania, has sent out a call to intercessors to set aside September 2nd to pray for the Balkan countries. Let us join in, this coming Sunday, and pray for God’s favor for the Balkans. I recommend you read over their website.

Welcome to Balkan networks - http://www.balkannetworks.org/

This website has been created to join together followers of Jesus in the Balkan region. We believe that God is “moving” in the Balkans and wants [us] to stand together in unity with Kingdom minded people.

We would like to invite followers of Jesus to stand together in a day of prayer for the region on 2nd September 2012.

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More Good News in Bulgaria (from Eurovangelism)  http://www.eurovangelism.org.uk/countries/bulgaria

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