Celebrating Statehood Day - June 25th

Hello sweet friends!

Our family is Springfield for Missionary Training, and as we spend our days learning about how to better understand and reach the people of Slovenia, we wanted to tell you all a little about an important day in Slovenian culture.

You may remember, that Slovenians celebrate Independence Day on December 26th.  On June 25th however, they celebrate Statehood Day!  In Slovene, it is called dan državnosti, which literally translates to day of statehood.

Historically Slovenia was under the rule of the many different countries and empires.  It became a part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, until 1991 when it gained independence.

The disintegration of Yugoslavia occurred due to the weakening of communism and its ideological dominance during the end of the Cold War.

The call for a separate nation spread through Yugoslavia. This was keenly observed in Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia Herzegovina, but to a lesser extent in Slovenia. These republics wanted greater autonomy in the Federation. In January 1990, the League of Communists broke up in to small republics.

On January 20, 1990, during the fourteenth meeting of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the republics were not able to agree on the main governance issues prompting the Croatian and the Slovenian delegates to leave the congress. This was the beginning of the disintegration of Yugoslavia.

The first free elections were held. On December 23, 1990, 88 percent voted for an independent nation, and on June 25, 1991, the Republic of Slovenia proclaimed its independence. The next day, Slovenia and Croatia recognized each other as independent states. A war for ten days, which they ultimately won, followed when the Slovenians rejected Yugoslavian military interference.

From everything we've learned and read about Slovenia, national pride, and the ability to self-govern is very important to who they are.  This is very exciting news!  This means that, as a country they are still defining who they are.  There is a strong sense of community, and what better community is there, than the body of Christ?  We already love the country of Slovenia, its people and their customs.  We celebrate their independence with them, and are overjoyed that the chains of communism have been broken.

Now, we pray that God would prepare and soften the hearts of the people He will place in our path, that they might be willing to hear of the freedom from spiritual bondage in Christ!

We ask that you stand with us in prayer, as we continue to prepare to convey a message of hope for the people of Slovenia!