Where is that Bosnia and Herzegovina?
This very young country is situated in the southwestern Balkans in the center of what once was Yugoslavia. Probably you remember BiH (the official country code) from the recent war, but most people don't have a good picture of what it looks like.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is situated between the Adriatic sea in the south and the plains of the Vojvodina in the north. The country is being crossed by the Dinaric Alps, a mountain range, connected to the Alps, with peaks up to 2500 m. Because of this unique geographical situation, the climate is very different throughout the country. And so is the culture. The south is also known as Herzegovina and has a nice mediterranean climate. The north has an alpine climate which gives excellent opporunities for skiing. In winter you can drive from the olympic skiing resort to palm trees in less than 2 hours! In general BiH has a rural character, even the cities are not large.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is a unique country on the European continent. It is the meeting point of West and East. Sarajevo advertizes with the statement that it is the only city in Europe where you can find a Catholic church, Orthodox church, mosque and synagogue within 100m. This results in a complex society, which, due to the war, is still very much divided.
For more information, check out these website:
Our team in Sarajevo
Currently there is not yet a team in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but in Sarajevo are two co-workers working with the national IFES movement, called
EUSFBiH. A co-worker is like a staffworker from a different IFES movement. They are not in a team, because there are not enough people to form a team and/or there are no team leaders. EUSFBiH stands for Evanđeosko Udruženje Studenata u Federaciji Bosne i Hercegovine, which can be translated as Evangelical Union of Students in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The movement is not an official member of IFES, because it has been established just recently. There is one general secretary, a Bosnian, who is also fulltime staffworker. In total there are about 10 students active in 4 different groups. The general secretary and the 2 co-workers all live and work in Sarajevo.
What does the Team do?
The team is working with the Christian students throughout the country, to train them in Bible study skills, evangelism and living a Christian life. This basically means a great deal of the work is encouraging them, because it is very difficult to be an evangelical Christian in this country. The team also works with non-Christian students, mainly in Sarajevo. EUS' strategy is to spread the gospel through friendships, which are made through service activities like English classes, computer classes and seminars on the universities.
What are the main areas of ministry?
There are four main areas of ministry:
- evangelism;
- encouraging young national believers,
- learning from them and helping them grow in Christ;
- and helping the development of pioneering student groups.
What is the present state of the work?
EUS is working in 4 of 6 larger university cities and in none of the smaller cities that have some faculties. A 5th group is about to be pioneered. The work has only recently begun and is therefore still very fragile. The evangelical churches in BiH are also very young and small, so it is not easy to find believing students. Due to the war there is not much trust among people, especially not towards Christians. Therefore growth goes very slowly, but in the past years there always has been some progress. Also because of the communist background of the country, it is not easy to hand over the work to student leaders. A lot of leadership development has still to be done.
For more information, check out these website:
What special requirements are there for joining the Sarajevo InterAction Team?
People who want to join the Sarajevo team should be willing to serve at least two years and accept all the policies that IFES maintains. There are no special requirements at the time of writing. All general requirements are listed below.
Visa: A visa is required for everybody who does not have a Croation or Serbian passport. Without visa citizens of the European Union and the United States can stay inside the country for 3 months. Application for a visa will be done after you have found a permanent address. Note that you need the following papers for a visa:
- Original diploma from a university
- Original papers of your health and pension insurance
Language learning: You are expected to do a language study during your first year and possibly your second year. Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian are South-Slavic languages and differ quite a lot from the Romanic and Germanic languages. It is helpful if you have learnt at least one foreign language. French, German and Latin may help a lot to understand the language (especially the grammar) better. You can study the language at special language schools or with a private teacher.
What about accommodation, living costs, courses, jobs for InterAction Team Members?
The standard of living in BiH is comparable to that of any other Central-European country. The costs of living are about half the amount that is common in North-Western Europe (Germany, France and Holland), though some products might have a similar price. Your accomodation probably will be a flat, which you can share with somebody else. Flats usually are offered with furniture and the monthly rent is €100-250 (excluding electricity, heating, water, etc.). For the general services like electricity and water you should expect about €75 p/m. Telecommunication (incl. broadband internet) will be around €40-50. A language course can be up to € 1000 a year, but a private teacher is less expensive. You should not forget to calculate traveling costs into your budget. EUS does not pay traveling inside the country and since you will probably be visiting student group every forthnight, you should expect up to €50 for bus fares. Your journey to BiH will probably also expensive, as there are no cheap flights available. Eurolines buses might be the best option, a single ticket being just over € 100. Currently we have no experience with jobs next to your InterAction work. Since the unemployment rate is very high (in some cities up to 90%!) it is probably very difficult to find a job, especially part-time jobs (they are very rare). Also don't forget the IFES InterAction fee, inquire the InterAction office for the current fee.
Your yearly budget will be approx. €8000-9000.
Note: The Bosnian currency is the Bosnian Mark (BAM), which is approx. €0.50.
