Pray for Zagreb, CROATIA

Pray for Zagreb

Having lived in Zagreb for nearly three years, we have seen a city that looks good on the outside, but if you take a closer look at its inhabitants, they carry an underlying pain.

There are the elderly, who dig through the trash, hoping to find bottles to be redeemed for a voucher. Second, the middle aged generation that hustles from place to place with very little hope of enjoying their dreams. This group actually has this sadness on their face that will break your heart. Now the youth are really interesting; they try their best to stay upbeat enjoying their electronic toys, but underneath there is hopelessness. As for so many the only hope they see for their future is outside of Croatia as unemployment among young adults remains around 48%.

Of course we know that the solution is transformation through the presence of Jesus because when he shows up everything begins to change. Zagreb has seen some small, isolated revivals in the past, but nothing that could be measured as having impacted the culture.

There is hope! I (Jerry) attended a meeting of local pastors a few weeks ago. This meeting was organized by an international evangelical group that is seeking to unify pastors and churches to arise to the challenge of evangelizing their country. I was amazed at how many pastors were present. We had round-table discussions to isolate the hindrances of evangelism in Croatia and how to take steps to overcome those hindrances. There seemed to be a critical honesty there of what hasn’t worked, a desire to implement new ideas and most of all a brotherly love for one another.

George Otis, Jr, whom has studied spiritual revivals, outpourings and transformation, says that there are two elements that are first steps to spiritual renewal, first is desperate prayer and the second is unity of pastors (spiritual leaders). At this meeting, there was a hope of unity. At the Upper Room Zagreb, we consistently pray and foster unity and it is one of the core values of IST, so naturally we are very encouraged to see signs of forward movement.
 
Prayer Points:
1)    Let us pray for the city of Zagreb, asking the Lord for mercy to come for people who have not yet sought Him or don’t know where to find Him.
2)    Pray that there is relief for the many hurting and struggling in Zagreb and in Croatia. May the presence of God fall upon us as a blanket, transforming and bringing hope.
3)    The real hope of any culture is the Church of Jesus Christ. Let us pray for the church in Zagreb. This movement toward unity is a real positive sign.
4)    The above mentioned meeting is an initiative of the Lausanne Movement  https://www.lausanne.org. Pray that the spirit of love for one another grows and a desire to see this city and country evangelized catches on fire. May this take root and not be just another event in the minds of the spiritual leaders.
5)    Pray for desperate prayer to break out in Zagreb. We are seeing 10-13 Christians each week sacrifice their time to come to the Upper Room Zagreb House of Prayer to lift up Jesus and pray for this city and country. Pray that the Lord would take our bowls of prayer and pour them back on the city and country as blessings. May His presence overflow from the Upper Room into the streets of Zagreb!

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