Published on Operation World (http://www.operationworld.org)
May 04: Croatia
Croatia
Republic of Croatia
Europe
See Prayer Information
Geography
Area: 56,438 sq kmCrescent-shaped country between the Danube River and Adriatic Sea. The land is almost bisected by Bosnia.
Population: 4,409,659 Annual Growth: -0.15%
Capital: Zagreb
Urbanites: 57.8%
HDI Rank: 45 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)
Peoples
Peoples: 32 (9% unreached) All peoplesUnreached Peoples Prayer Card
Official language: Croatian – closely related to Serbian but written in Latin rather than Cyrillic script Languages: 22 All languages
Religion
Largest Religion: Christian| Religion | Pop % | Ann Gr | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christians | 4,055,122 | 91.96 | -0.2 |
| Evangelicals | 19,359 | 0.4 | 0.6 |
Challenges for Prayer
The less reached. Historically, minority groups were the main force among Protestants/Independents, but this is changing. There are still peoples and areas with very little evangelical presence:a) Croatians. Novi Zagreb is a region of the capital with one-eighth of Croatia’s population – but as of 2007, it had no evangelical church. The Istrian Penninsula, the Dalmatian coast and Zagorje in the north are all frontiers for witnessing believers to move into.
b) Romani. These peoples are neglected by evangelicals, but prove very responsive to the gospel, especially the young people. Pray for culturally appropriate churches to emerge among the Romani.
c) Other minorities. Albanians, Slovenes, Italians, Germans and others who have little exposure to or interaction with the good news.
Specialist ministries for prayer:
a) Young people. High unemployment, little confidence in the future, functional godlessness and widespread drug use (80% of teens) show that hope is in short supply. Creative outreach and authentic love will see a response if believers are willing to stick it out. There is a strong focus by evangelicals on ministering to drug addicts.
b) Students. There is a witness among the 25,000 tertiary students through STEP(IFES) and CCCI. More staff and volunteers are needed to reach this searching generation.
c) Other sectors of society include families and business professionals. With both of these groups, CCCI is pioneering helpful means of sharing the gospel and having a positive redemptive effect on society in general.
d) Bibles. The Croatian Bible is available in print, online and in audio format, and an easy-to-read NT has recently been published. There is also a children’s version. Pray for widespread distribution and impact of God’s Word into many lives.
e) Christian publishing. Izvori Publishing House of the Evangelical Church publishes literature and three Christian magazines. Increasing numbers of Christian books, especially on discipleship, are being translated into Croatian. Pray that useful Christian resources will be developed to help disciple believers and to reach unbelievers.
f) Christian media. Radio has wide coverage – more than 30 hours per week in Croatian (IBRA, TWR) across all bandwidths. Internet radio in Croatian is another new and developing ministry. Izvori-Vjere radio ministry is broadcasting on over 52 stations in Croatia and Bosnia. Christian TV in Croatian is also available to more than 60% of the population via eight regional stations.
For an additional 4 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.
