urgently prayers amid thefts and threats against its members and Evangelical Christians in the divided former Yugoslav republic.
This Christmas "we had another break-in in our Baptist Union/Bible Institute/ Church building" in the capital Sarajevo, said Tomislav Dobutovic, Overseer of the Baptist Church in Bosnia-Herzegovina, in a statement obtained by BosNewsLife.
He said it was "the fourth break-in in the last two months and at least the tenth one" in the past two years. "This time all the cash from all the institutions we run from this building was taken as well as some of the archives, financial records, documentation and photos of baptismal services," he explained.
It was not immediately clear what the amount of the stolen money was. But it came as a major set back for especially his church’s Bible Institute, which claims to be the only place of continuing education for Protestant church leaders in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
PRAYERS FOR PROTECTION
Dobutovic said the situation forces his Baptist Church in Bosnia- Herzegovina, the youngest member of the European Baptist Federation, to ask for "prayers for the Lord’s provision and protection."
He also asked prayers for "strength and courage for our believers," in the troubled country, which has a large Muslim population. Dobutovic stressed the thefts were part "of just one of several in a series of attacks" against evangelical Christians, despite the presence of thousands of NATO-led peacekeepers who arrived after 200,000 people died in the 1992-1995 ethnic conflict.
"During the last 6 years, archives have been stolen, we have received threatening phone calls, and other Christian workers in the country have experienced theft in their homes and offices," noted Dobutovic.
RELIGIOUS LAW
He also expressed concern about a new religious law being debated in the government. If adopted, the legislation would in his words "restrict evangelical Christians" in Bosnia-Herzegovina where nearly 50 percent of the over 3 million population are Muslims.
The other half are mainly Serbs and Croats who mostly belong to the Serbian Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches. Evangelicals have argued that these traditional denominations have focused more on national identity, than a personal relationship with Christ.
"We look forward in faith to a day when the Protestant Churches of Bosnia-Herzegovina, guided by the Spirit and founded on prayer, live and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in all parts of the country and provide the reconciling, transforming power" that this nation "so badly needs," the Baptist Church in Bosnia-Herzegovina said.
"It would be helpful for the Baptist World Alliance and the European Baptist Federation and other unions to protest on our behalf to the Office of the High Commissioner of the United Nations for Bosnia-Herzegovina and to the Bosnian government," Dobutovic added.
