Pomak of Bulgaria

General Information:

The Pomaks of Bulgaria are a Slavic people that live primarily in the Rodopy Mountains of Bulgaria. As a minority group, they are living in the midst of a different culture and are struggling to define and preserve their own identity. They are descendants of Christian Slavs and are presently living in primarily “Christian” Bulgaria, so they have a familiarity with Christian tradition as well as ethnic and linguistic similarities with their countrymen. However, they were converted to Islam during the Ottoman rule and were more recently ruled by atheistic communists. With the newfound freedoms of the past decade, the Pomaks are finding their identity again. However, many are resistant to Christianity because of perceived mistreatment and prejudice from their “Christian” hosts. Instead, they are embracing Islam once again. They are one of our region’s Unreached People Groups. Please pray for workers to be called out to help lead the task of bringing the Gospel to the Pomaks. We want to help them find their identity in Christ alone.

population: 300,000

language: Bulgarian

dominant religion: Islam

location: Bulgaria