The Balkans produce more history than they can consume.
Winston Churchill
When most people in the West hear the word “Balkan,” they often think of Northern Europe bordering Scandinavia and the Russian Federation. But those are the “Baltics.” The the Balkans are bordered on the northwest by Italy, on the north by Hungary, on the north and northeast by Moldova and Ukraine, and the south by Greece and Turkey or the Aegean Sea.
All of the nation states in the Balkans figure prominently in the history and development of Europe, but also in the development of Christianity.
After the event of Pentecost, we learn in the Book of Acts and the Epistles where many of the Apostles went to evangelize the Good News of Christ Jesus. In the Book of Acts we also learn about the Apostle Paul, arguably the most influential figure in the Christian Movement next to Jesus himself. We are all familiar with the Damascus event, where Saul of Tarsus was on his way to a persecution of Christians in the region, when he encountered a blinding light and Christ asking,
“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied.
Acts 9: 4-5
After this life changing encounter with the Risen Christ, Saul became Paul, and the rest, as they say, is history. Paul did not have an easy time of it, in fact he kept getting run out of whatever town he was trying to preach in, until he had a vision of a man who asked Paul to come to Macedonia to help his community (Acts 16: 9-10). This was Paul’s invitation to enter Europe, and from Asia Minor where he was trying to create a Christian Community, the way to Europe was through the Balkans.
Throughout the region, in Greece, Bulgaria, Albania and Northern Macedonia, many places claim to have hosted Paul. All of the Churches who received letters in the Book of Revelation are in the Balkans. The Balkans are a bridge between East and West, and an excellent place to minister and spread the Gospel, not only in the time of Paul, but now.
Many of the nations were under the yoke of state imposed atheism. While the organized and institutional churches did their best to maintain rituals and customs, when Communism fell in the early 1990’s, the people were hungry.
The Galloways heard the call to go to the Balkans, Bulgaria to be specific to help the locals in spreading the good news and love of Jesus.