Mar 20: Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Republic of Bulgaria
Europe
See Prayer Information
Geography
Area: 110,912 sq kmBalkan state adjoining Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia and Romania.
Population: 7,497,282 Annual Growth: -0.63%
Capital: Sofia
Urbanites: 71.7%
HDI Rank: 61 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)
Peoples
Peoples: 34 (24% unreached) All peoplesUnreached Peoples Prayer Card
Official language: Bulgarian Languages: 16All languages
Religion
Largest Religion: Christian| Religion | Pop % | Ann Gr | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christians | 5,991,078 | 79.91 | -0.7 |
| Evangelicals | 145,536 | 1.9 | 0.7 |
Answer to Prayer
Significant growth of evangelical and charismatic believers. Evangelicals went from 0.4% of the population in 1980 to close to 2% today. Growth was significant in the 1990s and, with overall population decline, even maintaining the plateaued numbers since 2000 can be seen as progress.For an additional Answer to Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.
Challenge for Prayer
The Orthodox Church needs renewal and new life. A bitter schism weakened and undermined the Church, stemming from the collusion of Orthodox leaders with the former Communist regime. Disunity persists, even at the local level. Orthodoxy is still largely equated to a Bulgarian identity, but this is changing as other religious groups take root and grow. Pray for a genuine move of the Holy Spirit that brings reconciliation of rifts and a full realization of Orthodoxy’s spiritual richness.For an additional 10 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.
