Slovenia
 Population:
2,010,347 July 2006 est.
Ethnic groups:
Slovene 83.1%, Serb 2%, Croat 1.8%, Bosniak 1.1%, other or unspecified 12% 2002 census
Religions:
Catholic 57.8%, Orthodox 2.3%, other Christian 0.9%, Muslim 2.4%, unaffiliated 3.5%, other or unspecified 23%, none 10.1% 2002 census
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Our Ministry in Slovenia
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Who is our ministry partner in Slovenia?
We are partnering with Calvary Chapel Church and a para-church ministry called Josiah Venture.
Who are the people in this community and what are some of the life challenges they face?
Slovenia declared independence from Yugoslavia on June 25th, 1991, shortly after the fall of Communism in the area. Slovenes are now in the challenging process of deciding who they will be as a nation and as a people. Values and beliefs are shifting rapidly. Ten years ago, nearly 90% of Slovenes claimed to be Catholic. That number has now dropped to 46%. Post-Christian Western European culture is quickly filling the ideological void created by Slovenia's independence from the Soviet Union and the Balkan states.
Why is Fellowship involved in this community?
Slovenia is a country with 2 million inhabitants, of which approximately 1000 are evangelical Christians. This places it among the most un-evangelized countries of the world. Of 192 municipalities, only 25 have an evangelical church, and only five of those churches have functioning teen youth groups. The largest of those youth groups has just a handful of students. This means that only a tiny percentage of the youth in this country are presently being reached with the gospel. One pastor lamented, "Our youth are rotting on the vine with no one to harvest them." The cults, on the other hand, are making tremendous in-roads. Jehovah's Witnesses out number all the evangelicals combined by a margin of 3 to 1.
What work and ministry has already been accomplished?
Josiah Venture has teams of missionaries who are focusing their efforts on learning language, sharing the gospel, developing youth groups, building relationships and trust, and assisting the local church. One of those local churches is Calvary Chapel in Celje, where Fellowship sent a team in June of 06’. That team worked alongside of the church and Josiah Venture to facilitate a youth English/Sports camp. Several of the youth responded positively to the Gospel and we have heard reports of conversions in the ensuing followup.
How can Fellowship benefit this community in the months and years to come? What are some of our goals and strategies?
Fellowship can provide great encouragement to the small number of believers in Slovenia through physical resources and manpower. While we were there, our team nearly doubled the size of the local church in Celje. There was mutual blessing as we interacted with our brothers and sisters in Slovenia.
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