Central Europe

Posted on July 4, 2019 by Bill Hutchison

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Thank you for joining us this month as we take up “The Invitation” and join together with thousands of YWAMers from around the world as we pray and hear from God about Central Europe.

From left to right, top to bottom: Mytilene, the biggest town on Lesvos; Faith and Conflict Journey in Bosnia and Herzegovina; the Church in Sandanski, Bulgaria
Photo credits: Micah Stailey, YWAM Bosnia Herzegovina, YWAM Bulgaria

This month, please join YWAM in prayer for a very diverse part of the world. This is a place where many countries have been at war with each other or have oppressed each other. It’s a place where Catholicism, Islam and Orthodoxy meet. Please pray with us for Central Europe and for YWAM’s work there.

The YWAM Central Europe area is made up of 16 countries: Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia with a combined population of over 130 million people. At present YWAM has about 250 full-time staff working here, with almost half working in Romania.

There is much division and disunity within and between these countries. The word “balkanise”, which is named after the Balkan peninsula where many Central European countries are found, means “to divide (a region or body) into smaller mutually hostile states or groups.” Our biggest mandate as YWAM Central Europe is to come against this propensity to divide and instead reconcile, and work together in unity within countries and across borders.

Other significant issues in Central Europe include the post-communism way of thinking that is prevalent in Central Europe; human trafficking due to the high numbers of young people seeking better economic conditions through migration; a heavy flow of refugees wanting to reach the richer countries of the European Union that instead find themselves in camps unable to reach “the promised land”; and the discrimination of the Romani or Roma people.

Please join YWAM’s global prayer day, called The Invitation, this month and pray for Central Europe. You are particularly invited to pray during our prayer day, July 11. If you only have a few moments to pray please pray for unity and reconciliation in and among these nations. Pray also for those that are lost, marginalized and victimized in Central Europe. We would love to receive stories from you regarding how you prayed. You can email us at prayer@ywam.org.

Map of Central Europe Locations
Design credit: Matthew McCaigue

Prepare to Pray:

If you are praying with a group, consider this activity as a way to focus on Central Europe. You will need to prepare:

  1. A large poster size hand drawn map using the above picture as a reference for the group to use or a black and white print for each participant of a simple line map of the region. (You may even click on the above picture, save it as a picture, and print as a full page or larger photo for each participant.)
  2. A selection of random images pre-cut from magazines (these could include landscapes, objects, people alone or in groups – avoid anything with lots of writing). Spread the images on a table so that they can easily be seen.
  3. Scissors and glue.

Before looking at the images, remind everyone that this is a way of preparing our hearts to listen to God’s desires for the region. Everyone is to chose from the images a selection of four to eight that they are drawn to. They may notice these images in particular because they feel attracted to an aspect of beauty, peace, connection or abundance. Or they may especially notice an image that repels them because it portrays an element of disorder, fear or scarcity. Resist the desire to over-think the exercise, or to try to ‘make meaning.’ Everyone should simply choose those images that seem to draw their attention.

In a prayerful way–listening to God and noticing one’s own feelings–allow a few minutes for people to stick their images on the map. It may be that they want to arrange them along boundary lines between nations, or on particular nations. This does not need to take long.

Finally, leave some time for people to reflect on the map collage they have created. They might do this in pairs. Be open to the possibility that God may use the pictures, or the way they have been arranged, to speak to people as they move to prayer. Rather than trying to explain or make the pictures mean anything, simply be sensitive to how they might reflect, in some way, the heart of God for the people of Central Europe. Hold onto this sense of God’s longings for the region as you go to prayer.

Left to right, top to bottom: YWAM’s workers in Greece; YWAM Romania Staff Gathering; YWAM Central Europe Staff Gathering; Young missionaries From Germany, Poland, USA and Eqypt Gather in Warsaw
Photo credits: YWAM Greece, YWAM Romania, YWAM CE, YWAM Poland

Pray for Central Europe:

  • Pray for a spirit of unity and reconciliation amongst the nations in Central Europe.
  • Pray that the gospel of the Kingdom will be preached and demonstrated in practical ways to bring revival and engagement among the youth who are looking for a valid alternative.
  • Pray for ways to impact the nations, so that migration to the West is not seen as the only alternative, but instead young people will want to stay in their home countries and make a difference there.
  • Pray for those caught in the web of human trafficking, that they will be able to get out and find help and healing. More than one million people work in the multi-billion dollar commercial sex industry in Europe. Many have been trafficked from Central and Eastern Europe and are stigmatized, isolated and trapped. Please pray for their freedom, fresh opportunities for safe dignified work and committed people who will help them start a new life.
  • Pray for refugees in Central Europe, especially those coming from a Muslim background, to find Jesus while they are in these crisis situations.
  • Pray for the marginalized Roma community to rise up and take their place in society so they can impact not only on their own community, but also the nations where they live.
  • Praise God for the increase of YWAM staff in Central Europe in recent years!

And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

Luke 10:2 (ESV)

  • Pray for more workers – there is a real need in our region, and so few workers. In fact, we have two countries, Montenegro and Moldova where there is no full-time YWAM presence. There are also four other countries where there are less than five staff in total: Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Macedonia. Pray especially for Slovenia which until this year had no YWAM presence!

Left to right: Outreach to Roma in Albania; Youth Conference in Albania
Photo credits: YWAM Elbasan, YWAM Albania

Take Action

  • Dig deeper. Read: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33690.Balkan_Ghosts
  • Refugees: We are making a call out to all men! We are working with demographics of mainly Muslim men and there is a limit to how far cross-gender ministry can reach. Please pray for men to join our schools and long-term ministry. It is a real case of the harvest being ripe but we do not have enough workers who can specifically minister to these men. Please contact info@ywamlesvos.com for more information on the programs, school, and long-term opportunities we offer.
  • Trafficking:
    • Consider this real-life experience:
      • Adri’s* father was in the sex industry and told her from a young age that she would grow up to become a prostitute. Unfortunately, his prediction became true and Adri was trafficked in her teens to be exploited for sex. She is one of the thousands of women who have been made vulnerable due to poverty and abuse and have been exploited in the multi-billion euro commercial sex industry of Europe.
    • Come help us minister to these ladies caught in the trap of human trafficking. HOPE DIES LAST is a justice ministry reaching out creatively to trafficked, marginalized and exploited people. They create media for under-resourced organizations and address the root causes of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. Hope Dies Last works throughout Central Europe and is based out of Budapest, Hungary. https://www.hopedieslast.org/

Sign Language DTS YWAM Constanta Romania

Trafficked!
Photo credits: Hope Dies Last

  • If you are interested in prayer and communication, you can be part of The Invitation. Contact us at prayer@ywam.org. We need an administrator/coordinator; photographers/videographers; researchers; and translators for French and Indonesian.
  • Share on facebook.com/youthwithamission, post a picture and add a comment about how you prayed.
  • Go to twitter.com; search for #praywithywam and tweet about your prayer time/post a picture. You can also post a photo on Instagram and use the same hashtag, #praywithywam.
  • Send an email to prayer@ywam.org letting us know how you prayed and what God revealed to you.

How We Prayed

 June 2019 – Mozambique

  • YWAM Diriamba, Nicaragua prayed and sensed God giving them words including verses from 1 Kings, Philippians, Joshua, Joel and Genesis. They saw that God sent ravens to feed Elijah and they asked for similar for Mozambique. They sensed that God desires people be healed internally.
  • Several posted on Facebook and shared The Invitation to Pray for Mozambique 93 times. One asked for blessings for YWAM and the people of Mozambique, another thanked the Lord for those who will go, another thanked the Lord for providing aid and one shared Jeremiah 29:11.
  • A young man from Goma, Democratic Republic Congo reported that he prayed and sensed God would provide the people with hope.

Future Topics:

  • August 8, 2019: Human Trafficking
  • September 12: Hindu World

Don’t Miss The Invitation:

  • Sign up for prayer updates. Go to ywam.org, find the “Stay Connected” box on the home page, put in your email address and click “Sign Up.”
  • Download prayer updates in a specific language. Go to ywam.org/theinvitation. (Currently available in Spanish, Portuguese, French, Indonesian, Korean or request other languages.)
  • Join the conversation about how God is leading in these prayer times. Comment on the Facebook page on the second Thursday at facebook.com/youthwithamission or on Twitter @ywam, hashtag #praywithywam. You can also post a photo on Instagram and use the same hashtag, #praywithywam.
  • You can now listen to The Invitation as a podcast. To sign up or listen to past episodes, go to: ywampodcast.net/prayer.
  • If you sense God giving you a word or a direction for YWAM’s prayer, please contact us: prayer@ywam.org.

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