Population: 32,000
Primary Language: Bulgarian
Primary Religion: Islam (98.00%)
Status of Gospel: Unreached; Few evangelicals (0.40%) and few who identify as Christians (2.00%)
Profile: The Pomaks are a Slavic people who live in the Balkan region of southern Europe. They are usually considered to be a type of Bulgarian since they speak a Bulgarian dialect, have Bulgarian features, and have cultural practices similar to the Bulgarians. They are distinguished, however, by their non-Bulgarian names and their devotion to Islam, rather than to Orthodox Christianity. The Pomaks probably converted to Islam in the 1370s. Tradition says that they did not voluntarily accept Islam, but were forced to do so. As time went by, they gradually began to adopt various Muslim customs, such as the veiling of women.
Prayer Points:
- Pray that the Pomak would find their lost identity in Jesus.
- Pray for Christian pastors to be raised up and trained among the Pomak.
- Ask God to give Pomak believers creative ways of witnessing, such as using Christian weddings and holidays.
- Pray for student outreach among the Pomak.
- Ask the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers to work among the Pomaks.
- Ask God to create a hunger within the hearts of the Pomaks to know the Truth.
- Pray that God will give the small number of Pomak believers boldness to share Christ with their own people.
- Ask God to raise up teams of intercessors who will faithfully stand in the gap for the Pomaks.
- Ask the Lord to bring forth triumphant churches among the Pomaks for the glory of His name!