Serbia/ELION
Christian Television and Video Production
The fall of communism led to the fracturing of the former Yugoslavia. Since the 1990's there has been much turbulence in the Balkans due to ethnic and religious differences. One of the more recent entities to emerge from this turmoil has been Serbia. The country has some 7.5 million people, with almost 2 million in the capital of Belgrade. Though religious freedom is written into the constitution, preferential treatment is given to the Orthodox Church, the predominant religion in Serbia. Protestants of all types would probably number less than 100,000 in the country.
Into this situation, God has called dedicated Christians, even from other parts of the Balkans, to invest their lives in serving the Lord and preparing for greater impact of the Gospel. To these He is calling out He is also giving a big vision.
And talk about a big vision...Sasko Bogeski has one. He and his wife, Ira, have felt God's hand upon them for several years, and the Lord has given them a vision for ministry. What is their vision? To quote Sasko, it is that, "Every person in Serbia be transformed into the likeness of Christ and living in God's will." And Sasko and Ira see as their mission that, "God's Word would be freely proclaimed in Serbia through media." To that end, they have formed ELION, a spiritual ministry that will enable believers to reach out to people outside the church walls or outside other ministries with the message of hope in Christ.
Though they have little in the way of equipment or facilities, they are using what they have to serve the Lord and take His message of hope to the people of Serbia. Ira has been a translator/interpreter for many years at a Bible school in Serbia. Sasko, after finishing his studies, stayed and began producing videos. Now they work to translate and dub Christian TV programming into the Serbian language.
They see several phases of growth for their ELION media ministry, from a video production studio, to the ability to program via the Internet and cable TV. The third phase would be the establishment of a training center for those who want to use media to reach Serbia for Christ.
At this point, ELION is in need of a digital video camera and editing software and computer.
Cost for initial phase: $15,000-20,000.
You, your ministry, organization, or station can help. Contact Ron Harris at rharris@nrb.org or call (817) 446-1094.
