Serbia
The Republic of Serbia, containing two autonomous provinces – Vojvodina and Kosovo, now make up all that is left of the former Republic of Yugoslavia. It is generally conceded that throughout Serbia’s history there has never been a generation that has not experienced war on their land. The capital city of Belgrade has been destroyed and rebuilt 40 times through the course of its 2300-year history.
Born out of the ashes of World War I, the first Kingdom of Yugoslavia only lived through the period between world wars. The union was disbanded after public protests led to an Axis invasion of Yugoslavia. After the war, the six republics of Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia and Montenegro came together under the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia with the communist leader Tito as president. After Tito’s death, with the economy suffering and political and personal freedoms severely limited, the union began to fail and the countries split apart in the four Yugoslav Wars. Lines between religion and ethnicity, which had become nearly synonymous, began to widen into great chasms, and the three major ethnic groups began a cycle of continuing ethnic/religious warfare.
The remaining republics of Serbia and Montenegro developed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the early 1990’s under the leadership of Slobodan Milosevic. The Serbian public overthrew Milosevic in 2000 and a democratic government was instated. The last remnant of the former Yugoslavia has been known as Serbia and Montenegro since 2003, when the two republics agreed to remain together for three years. In May of 2006, Serbia and Montenegro dissolved the last ties of the former Yugoslavia and split from each other.
Throughout the course of the Yugoslav Wars, the numbers of refugees has become a significant issue in Serbia. In fact, at one point, one out of every ten people living in Serbia was a refugee from one of the surrounding republics, many of them ethnic Serbs driven from their homes by conflict. Programs have begun throughout Serbia to provide shelter and food for the hundreds of thousands of refugees in their borders.
Historically and culturally, ethnic Serbians identify themselves as Serbian Orthodox. Serbians consider themselves protectors of Christianity because of the many years they defied the Islamic Turkish invaders of the Ottoman Empire. Despite this fact, most do not understand what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ or the need to participate in a local body of believers. Out of the 10,000,000 people who inhabit the country, only one in 5000 are born again. There is a definite need for the love of Christ in this war-torn and embittered country. Only He can bring the hope and healing to the divisions in the country as well as in the lives of the people.
If you would like to be a part of bringing the message of hope to all the peoples of Serbia, please contact us at hope4cee@pobox.com.