Slovenia has an ancient ancestry and was ruled by Germanic peoples for 1000 years.

One person in history changed Slovenia forever. Under the rule of the Habsburgs from Germany, most Slovenes were farmers with little education. Important people spoke German and even the bishop in his new seat in Ljubljana did not care for the Slovenian language.

Primož Trubar (1508-1586) was born during this time period. Under the influence of Martin Luther, he wanted to give his people God’s word in their own language. Although he had to leave Slovenia to live in Germany, he completed the first Slovenian translation of the Bible. Today he is on one of the Slovene Tolar bills. Through his work he not only gave the Slovenes a Bible in their own language, but he also preserved the Slovene language, which might have disappeared under the influence of foreign rulers.
After WWI, Slovenia joined the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians. After WWII, Slovenia became part of the Yugoslav Federation, and has only had self-rule since 1991.
In 1991, after Slovenia's declaration of independence, Yugoslavia responded with a military attack but had to withdraw its army after only two weeks. Since then, there has been peace in Slovenia, as well as freedom to share the Gospel. Despite of this freedom, there are few believers and churches and this is a spiritually needy country.

SEND works with a Brethren Church in Maribor

The first missionaries from SEND came to Slovenia from Germany in 1996. There were only a handful of Christians and few evangelical churches and missionaries. Most of the missionaries had been and still are in Ljubljana, the capitol of Slovenia (population of 300,000). A Slovene pastor asked them to go to Maribor, the second biggest city (120.000 people). There was no church, but a few believers came together for Bible study every few weeks.

While they learned Slovenian, they met with the few believers for Bible study.   Since that time, the church has grown and 20-30 people are attending the Sunday morning service each week.  There are also groups who meet during the week in different Bible studies.  These groups enable the church to invite unbelievers and to help believers grow in their faith.

Slovenes cannot take for granted a church where they can hear God’s word preached. There are still many towns and villages without any evangelical church.

SEND is praying that God will continue to give direction for church planting in Slovenia. At the moment, the area just southeast from Maribor which includes the town of Ptuj, is the next target.