Croatia

In 1918, the Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes formed a kingdom known after 1929 as Yugoslavia. Following World War II, Yugoslavia became an independent communist state under the strong hand of Marshal TITO. Although Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, it took four years of sporadic, but often bitter, fighting before occupying Serb armies were mostly cleared from Croatian lands. Under UN supervision the last Serb-held enclave in eastern Slavonia was returned to Croatia in 1998.

Croatia, a parliamentary democracy recognized since 1992, is geographically, culturally and historically in the very heart of Europe. While covering only a relatively small area and with only 4.8 million inhabitants, it has had an unenviable role as the border between East and West. Through its culture and traditions, Croatia has always been in the European, Mediterranean, Catholic West- and it is a bulwark of Christianity bordering the East. It is a country where cultures meet.

YWAM in CROATIA:
Throughout the 70's and 80's YWAM teams encouraged believers and engaged in evangelism in cafes of Zagreb and in campgrounds around the country. Following a DTS outreach to Croatia in 1993, Lisa Bell returned to former Yugoslavia to establish a base and was joined by Les and Debbie Smith. They began humanitarian activities and developed toward longer-term goals of evangelism and discipleship. A small staff now engage in running DTS's, friendship evangelism, intercession, worship, facilitating short-term teams and partnering with other organizations.

prayer needs:
- for more staff for the YWAM work, especially for DTS's.
- for unity in the churches.
- for the economy to stabilize and grow.
- for the high suicide rate and widespread depression.