The Balkans have a long history of conflict and division. Yet the Lord is at work, uniting his people to transform the region through the hope of the gospel. Pastor Amir*, director of our Balkan Institute for Missions (BIM), shares how the Lord has been using the organization to bring churches and ministry leaders together, and equip them for evanglism, and mobilize believers for missions.

Amir, it’s been a few years since the Balkan Institute for Missions (BIM) launched. How has ministry developed since those early days?

This is the fourth year now. When BIM began, the vision was simple but ambitious: we wanted to see churches in the Balkans area equipped and mobilized for missions, particularly among Muslim peoples.

What started as a handful of relationships and a few training initiatives here and there has now become a network serving local churches and leaders across the Balkans, and even beyond. 

Today, BIM is involved in leadership development, missions training, evangelism, and ministry among Muslims. We’ve conducted training events across the region, created outreach opportunities, and developed strategic partnerships with churches and leaders. We’ve had opportunities to train hundreds of leaders. Just recently, 77 people attended training in Bulgaria, and more than 90 signed up for an event in Bosnia.

One of the pillars of BIM is networking, which we see as a powerful tool in God’s kingdom. Unless we know the right people in the right places, we’re not going to serve the region effectively. 

Partnerships have been essential. In Bosnia, for example, we spent three years building trust with local leaders and churches. We travel, meet people, identify needs, and ask how we can help. Trust is the main principle. We share life together, share ministry needs, and learn to work together. That trust then develops into effective partnerships and networking. 

We don’t want to come in and take over. We want to work together for the same purpose. Through these partnerships, we’ve created opportunities for churches and leaders to be equipped and mobilized for God’s mission.

We started small, but now we’re seeing requests from outside the Balkans as well. Churches and leaders from places like Germany, Ireland, Slovakia, Moldova, and Armenia are asking for help to reach Muslims and mobilize their churches.

We started with a simple vision, but over these past few years, God has revealed more and more of what BIM can become. I’m grateful to see how God is using a small ministry to take significant steps forward.

That’s quite an achievement in such a short time. Which countries or people groups are you focused on?

Our primary focus is the Balkans, particularly Kosovo, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and North Macedonia, where there are significant Muslim populations. We are also working in Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, and other surrounding countries.

While the Balkans is our focus, we are increasingly seeing opportunities beyond the region. Churches and leaders from places like Germany, Ireland, Slovakia, Moldova, and Armenia have asked for help in reaching Muslim communities and mobilizing their churches.

We’re also seeing opportunities among the Albanian diaspora in Western Europe. Many people have left Kosovo and Albania to find work, as times are tough, but migration can also create opportunities for the gospel. Together with local partners, we’ve established Albanian-speaking fellowships in places like Switzerland and Germany.

Looking back, what has surprised or encouraged you most?

The biggest encouragement has been seeing people mobilized for God’s mission. We’ve watched believers, pastors, church leaders, students, and missionaries travel long distances to attend our training events because they are hungry to learn and grow. At a recent training in Sarajevo, people came from 13 different countries.

What has surprised me most is the willingness of people to work together across ethnic barriers. In the Balkans, this is significant. Some of those countries were at war with one another only a generation ago.

To see Albanians, Serbians, Croats, Bosnians, and others coming together under the name of Jesus—praying together, learning together, planning ministry—is deeply encouraging. In the Balkans, missions sometimes means reconciliation. The Balkans have a history of conflict and division, but the gospel unites people around Christ and his mission.

Where are you seeing the clearest signs of spiritual impact right now?

What I’m seeing is leaders becoming more confident in ministry to Muslims, and then equipping others to do the same. 

Some of the people who attended our training courses have told us, “We now have enough material to go home and train our own people.” That’s a clear sign of spiritual impact. It’s one thing to learn yourself, but it’s another when you begin multiplying that training and discipling others to do the same. 

We’re also seeing young believers develop a vision for missions. At one of our recent training events, a young man from Slovakia told me he wanted to serve in a Muslim country and become involved in cross-cultural ministry. That was interesting, because he was from an Orthodox background. When you see young people willing to go and serve in the most difficult places, it’s clear that God is at work.

We’re also seeing churches and ministries that historically worked in isolation begin to pray and serve together. This kind of unity multiplies the impact of ministry.

What challenges or obstacles have emerged along the way?

Of course, there are obstacles and challenges along the way, but I think the encouragements outweigh them. 

The challenges are both spiritual and practical. One of the spiritual obstacles is that local churches can struggle to develop a missionary mindset. Economic challenges also affect that, because people tend to focus on survival rather than multiplication. But that’s a poverty mindset—we’re not here just to survive, we’re here to thrive, flourish, and take part in God’s mission. 

There is also fear when it comes to ministry to Muslims. Many pastors tell us, “We don’t even know how to start.” They’re not well-equipped, they lack confidence, and there are often misunderstandings about Muslim ministry.

On the practical side, resources are often limited. Leaders sometimes want to attend training but cannot afford the travel costs. There is also a need for quality training materials in local languages, so churches and leaders have resources they can use in their own context.

What are some of the greatest spiritual or practical needs in the region today?

We really hope for BIM to expand in terms of training. The whole region needs it. We also want to strengthen partnerships, develop new leaders, and create more resources in local languages. 

The goal is multiplication. Not just doing ministry ourselves, but equipping others to do it effectively. That’s the vision. 

As we’ve grown, we’ve also seen the need for better follow-up. Training events are important, but we need people on the ground who can continue building relationships, encouraging leaders, and helping churches put what they’ve learned into practice.

Why do the Balkans matter strategically for missions today?

The Balkans sit at a crossroads, connecting Europe with the Middle East and Asia. Historically, cultures, religions, and empires have met here, making the region diverse. 

The region also contains some of the largest indigenous Muslim populations in Europe. That makes it a unique bridge for the gospel and for equipping churches to engage Muslim communities. 

I often say that if we want to reach Europe, we cannot neglect the Balkans. A strong church in the Balkans can play a significant role, not only in reaching its own communities, but by sending missionaries to the rest of Europe and beyond.

What do you wish more Christians understood about ministry in the Balkans?

The Balkans have primarily been seen through the lens of conflict and division, and while we cannot neglect those realities, they do not tell the whole story. There are faithful churches, committed leaders, and people who are searching for hope, so God is at work here. 

The Balkans should not only be seen as a mission field, but increasingly as a place from which missionaries and leaders are sent out to the nations. 

What new opportunities do you see right now? 

We’re seeing growing openness among younger generations of Muslims who are asking spiritual questions and looking for meaningful answers, because they’re not finding them in Islam. 

At the same time, technology is creating opportunities as well for training, discipleship, and evangelism that are reaching across national borders more easily than ever before. 

I also believe we have a unique opportunity right now. Kosovo and other parts of the Balkans remain very open to outside influence and gospel ministry. But I’m not sure that will always be the case. We see Islam growing stronger, more influence coming from abroad, and greater religious activity than before.

So we have to invest strategically in the Balkans. God is at work here, and we should take advantage of this opportunity now, while it exists, not 20 years from now.

This can impact all of Europe. We’re so connected through the diaspora, through other mission agencies. God is at work in the Balkans.

What are your hopes for the next few years?

We’re still a small ministry, and when I see the requests coming in, I wish we’d started earlier. We could need 10 people on staff just to accommodate all the needs! 

Right now, one of our immediate needs is administrative support. But longer-term, we would love to see people serving alongside us in different countries across the region, helping us to establish and expand the work that God is already doing. 

We need people who can help us follow up, strengthen relationships, and continue the work after training events. We don’t necessarily need full-time people in every place, but we need people connected to those countries who can help mobilize the work and keep it moving forward.

Whatever we have done so far, we want to maintain it, but also multiply it.

How can we be praying for BIM and the Balkans?

Pray for spiritual awakening throughout the region. This region has been devastated by wars and conflicts and different spirits coming in. So my first prayer is spiritual awakening, you know, because salvation is God’s work. We’re His instruments, but ultimately it’s the Holy Spirit who convicts hearts and draws people to Christ.

Pray also that the churches would develop a stronger vision for God’s mission, for reaching both their neighbors and the nations,

We need prayers for wisdom, for protection, for endurance for ministry leaders. There is fear, misunderstanding, a lack of respect, and still many tensions among different ethnicities. 

For open doors among Muslim communities, and for people to come to Christ. 

For BIM, for expansion as we seek to faithfully serve the church and equip leaders, and for the gospel to spread throughout the Balkans. For the resources we need, and for the right people to join us. 

Beyond those broader prayer needs, there are two practical projects you can pray for are a media studio and a café ministry. We want to create a media studio like the one in Lebanon, because there’s a big opportunity for online evangelism, and we need to take advantage of technology. 

We’d also love to recreate the MEC Café. That could work very well here. In a Muslim context, inviting other people for coffee works! If these projects begin well in Kosovo, they could also be replicated around the Balkans.