Population:
10.4 million
Evangelical population:
0.49%
People groups:
51
Unreached people groups:
10
Greece
Known as the cradle of Western civilization, ironically Greece has a population that is largely ignorant of the Bible. While only 3.6 percent of the people on the country’s mainland and 227 inhabited islands are non-religious, the vast majority of the population knows little about the gospel or biblical faith. More than 83 percent of the population identify as Christian, most in name only as they belong to traditional churches that give little attention to the Bible; 94.6 percent identifying as Christian belong to the Greek Orthodox Church, and 3.6 percent to the Roman Catholic Church. Nearly 8 percent of the population is Muslim.
When protests in Syria in 2011 grew into an armed rebellion that included various jihadist forces, the embattled country’s people began pouring out to other countries, including Greece. By 2015, 385,525 refugees had arrived in Greece by sea, with only 8 percent of them applying for asylum as they were in transit to other parts of Europe.
There are now more than 50,000 refugees in Greece, mostly Syrian, but also many from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and parts of Africa. Of those refugees, 40,000 are living in Greek reception centers built to accommodate only 6,000. They are also facing an increasingly hostile society.
Refugees often arrive with only the clothes on their back. The practical aid that local missionaries have provided has led many refugees to want to know about Christ. Local missionaries who provide aid offer Bible studies and, for those who accept Christ, intensive discipleship training. They also undertake visits to refugee camps for Bible studies with various groups twice a month.
An indigenous ministry provides food and other basic items, with local missionaries spending much of their days trying to meet urgent physical needs – from diapers and baby formula to securing interpreters to accompany refugees to doctors appointments and hospitals. Missionaries also help refugees get their children registered for school, obtain tax numbers and apply for asylum. Donations are sought for these efforts to bring the love of Christ to the physically and spiritually troubled.
Sources: Joshua Project, Wikipedia, Missions Insider
How to Pray for Greece
- Pray that refugees will not perish in transit on dangerous seas or from hostilities they encounter upon arrival but will receive the aid and orientation they need to begin their lives anew.
- Pray for workers trained as counselors, interpreters, and evangelists to be available for arriving refugees.
- Pray for Bible-believing churches to bring honor to Christ’s name as they make His salvation known to various ethnic groups.
More stories from Greece
Provide Aid to Desperate Refugees in Greece
A refugee with a serious disease could not obtain critical blood transfusions because he didn’t have the legal papers that hospitals required. A local missionary found a way for him to receive Emergency Room care at a hospital, where doctors found his condition so critical that they treated him for nearly a week – enabling him to get medical documentation he needed to apply for asylum.
Help Plant Biblical Churches in Chad
Over the course of three months earlier this year, native Christian workers planted several house churches as they led 72 people to Christ. “We call on God first and foremost for the salvation of unreached peoples,” the ministry leader said. “Rescue implies a danger and therefore an urgency that requires a quick and powerful response. So, the whole Body of Christ is urged to pray.”
Partner in Gospel Outreach in Greece
A refugee mother of three children who had fled her abusive husband received aid from a native ministry, including medical and legal assistance. Workers recently led her and her friend to faith in Christ. Refugees who have never heard the gospel learn about the Savior from workers amid the numerous opportunities that arise in the course of receiving aid.
Help Spread the Gospel in Greece
Refugees have learned of Christ’s love for the first time from native Christian workers who provided them aid. Sharing the gospel with refugees in ministry offices, weekly Bible studies, home visits and online calls, workers have seen Muslims who might otherwise never have heard about Christ come to saving faith.
Refugee Mother in Greece Seeks Missing Children
Native Christian workers assisting a refugee mother in Greece had learned that two of her three children were lost somewhere near Greece’s 132-mile border with Turkey. When she went to police to report them missing, they put her in jail for lack of legal documents and sent the 5-year-old, autistic son with her to a children’s hospital. “The situation was very bad, and the woman was very frustrated,” the ministry leader said. “The autistic child, who was very much dependent on his mother, was asking for her and didn’t eat anything.”
Provide Critical Aid to Refugees in Greece
As economic turmoil causes governmental and other programs to fade, more refugees are seeking ways to survive. “The projects and organizations working with refugees are closing one after the other, leading the people to despair and pushing them to leave the country as quickly as they can,” a native ministry leader said.
