Advancing the Gospel in Europe’s Balkan Region, Despite Instability and Hostility

The Balkan Region, home to a rich tapestry of ethnicities and people groups, is often rife with conflict. While beautiful, this diversity frequently contributes to political instability and, sadly, a climate that can be hostile toward the Gospel. Yet, despite these challenges, we are dedicated to finding ways to move forward and share God’s healing Word.

We are excited to share the Good News of Jesus across southeastern Europe through our Balkan Expansion Project, which launched in 2024. This initiative is opening doors for the Gospel in places where many have never heard the message of hope in a clear and personal way. We are especially grateful to partner with Media 7 Balkan, the largest Christian radio network in the region, reaching more than 7 million people through eight FM radio stations, broadcasting in Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Greece. Together, we are bringing the life-changing message of our Lord and Savior, allowing millions to hear the message of the Truth.

The goal of the Balkan Expansion Project is to help Media 7 Balkan establish indigenous Christian television channels and radio stations in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Montenegro. Content aired on these channels will include personal testimonials from local believers to encourage their fellow believers, while inspiring interested viewers to learn more about the transformative power of the Gospel. The heart language television testimonies from each country will later be edited for radio and turned into a radio program that will be broadcast on each of the radio stations.

Progress on licensing and construction of new broadcasting facilities has been hampered by red tape and opposition. However, this has not completely shut down progress, as programs are already being produced and posted online. And, praise God, the new Serbian TV program, entitled “Moja Prica” (“My Story”), featuring a series of testimonies from Serbian believers, is having a great impact! One of the stories published on YouTube had 24,000 views within 4 weeks and attracted the attention of national newspapers, which now encourage people who have issues with addiction to go to church and ask God for a miracle. This is the first time a radical Orthodox country like Serbia (the Russian Orthodox church practically runs the whole country) has spoken positively in secular media about evangelical Christians. The stories have sparked thousands of conversations on social media and resulted in over 400 people engaging in online discipleship program follow-up from local churches.

One listener shared, “What a joy these stories are for all of us! I invite my neighbor friend to watch and talk together about faith and how to live our lives as people who believe in God. She is a wonderful lady, and says she is an orthodox, like everyone else in Serbia, and thinks that changing religion is bad. I have been trying to tell her for years that God wants to fellowship with us. Since we started to watch these stories together, she has changed, and one day told me, ‘I want to have the same relationship with God as these people have.’ My heart is overflowing with joy to see her come to this conclusion by herself. There is so much power in our testimony. Thank you for choosing these people to share. I pray everyone in Serbia will be able to watch and listen to these stories. Beautiful work. I’m praying for much fruit for His Kingdom.”

With Serbia as the largest and most influential country among the surrounding Balkan nations, establishing this work successfully in Serbia is key to the overall success of the project. We plan to continue airing these Serbian stories to encourage and strengthen believers throughout the Balkan region. These are powerful testimonies of salvation that will be broadcast repeatedly for years on both radio and television. They do not lose their impact over time and trust God will use them to change lives each time they are watched or heard.