An evangelical church has been planted in Serbia’s fourth largest city, with ministry in Serbian and Portuguese.
The new congregation in Kragujevac consists of around 25 people and is the fruit of collaboration between Serbian believers from other towns, missionaries from Brazil, and the Scotland-based Christian organisation Blythswood Care.
Since 2011 Blythswood Serbia has pursued various projects in the city of 150,000 people, which lacked an evangelical witness: an after-school programme, Christian summer camps and study groups using the Serbian edition of Christianity Explored.
This summer, Blythswood Serbia opened Contact Hub, described as a Christian educational site with a mission to positively influence lives through the promotion of Christian values. It also serves as a meeting place for the new church on Sundays.
‘The people who come have different profiles,’ says David Armus, director of Blythswood Serbia. ‘We have parents of children who attend the after-school programme, participants of the Christianity Explored course, and Brazilian football players from a local club.’
Pastor Dragisa Armus, who teaches theology at Balkan Theological Seminary, shares the preaching with Pastor Christian Marquez who is originally from Brazil. David Armus says: ‘We believe that this is only the beginning of God’s plan for the city of Kragujevac.’
Blythswood’s chief executive Jeremy Ross says: ‘If you drive a Fiat, it might have been built in Kragujevac. For many years there hasn’t been a Serbian-speaking evangelical church in this city, but now there is. Please pray that factory workers, their families and many others in that city would hear good news and believe in Jesus.’
