EUROPE: Nine Obstacles to Faith in the Former Communist Countries

communist-bloc-map

Source: Pioneers in Europe, October 2016

Many [missionaries] serve in nations that are currently communist or have been communist within recent history. Current communist nations include China, Cuba, Laos, Vietnam, and North Korea. Previous communist nations in Europe include Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union.

What happens to a people group that has endured communism? What barriers does communism create for gospel receptivity? The list below was compiled with input from Pioneers [members] located around the globe, serving in nations that are currently or formerly communist.

  1. Communism creates a culture of secrecy.
  2. Under communism Christians often become desensitized to compromise.
  3. Communism [celebrates] the material world, science, and intellect.
  4. People who live or have lived under communism find the concept of grace very hard to digest.
  5. On the opposite side of the same coin, communism produces people who work to earn favor.
  6. In communist cultures leaders are not kind or trustworthy.
  7. Under communism the collective good of the people is considered far more worthwhile than the independence of individuals.
  8. People under communism are very afraid of the repercussions they will face if they believe.
  9. Missionaries often find life in communist or post-communist cultures very difficult and oppressive.

Pray for people groups around the globe who currently suffer under communism or have been raised under communism and have not yet shed its oppression. Pray that the God of grace would move hearts to believe and follow him, that his grace would be found sufficient for them (2 Corinthians 12:9), and that he would be exalted among the nations and in all the earth (Psalm 46:10).

ยป Read full story and see How Did the Church Survive? (Pioneers USA).

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