Early History of the Balkan Call

I want to tell you a story about prayer. I want to tell you about the revelation of persistent, united prayer that changed a person’s life, is changing the Church, is changing a nation, and is now even changing an entire region of the world. 

That person is me. That nation is North Macedonia. That region is the Balkans. 

In October of 2000, my family obeyed God’s call to move to the country then called the Republic of Macedonia. For the first couple of months, it was all we could do to find housing and get settled. And then, just three months after we arrived, at the end of January 2001, a war broke out in our nation. Fighters from Kosovo, our neighbor to the north, came into our country and started shooting police officers. From that first shot, the war and fighting only increased for the next six months. Multiple times, we had to stay indoors for days. Finally, by July, things were so unpredictable that I sent my wife and kids back to the United States for a month. 

On one occasion that month, I was driving some young people in my van through an area we had been told was safe. However, upon entering the area, we could see fire and hear gunshots and shells being fired. I told the people in my van to start worshiping and praying to Jesus. As we drove through that area, I could feel the oppression of evil pressing down on the van, but the Lord’s favor protected us, and we made it safely through. 

Finally, in October of 2001, the Ohrid Peace Agreement was signed, and the war ended. But it wasn’t over for me. This war and fighting had completely shocked me not only physically, but also emotionally and spiritually. Why was I here? I could not imagine how people who have lived peaceably as neighbors for decades and even centuries would think that killing one another would lead to any good outcome. 

Finally, I had a heart-to-heart conversation with the Lord. It had taken years of preparation for us to be here. Our “Welcome to Macedonia” was a war. I could not imagine anything that we could do to make a difference in the short or long term. I asked the Lord one question: “What is it going to take to see transformation and revival come to this nation and the Balkan region?” One thing I have learned about prayer is that when you ask God a sincere question, he will always answer you. It may not be the answer you were expecting. It may not be the timing you expect. But if you sit in your prayer room, he will answer you. And his answer was simple but powerful: “The key to breakthrough is prayer.” 

I said to the Lord, “Thank you for answering, but I have no idea what that means. I don’t know much about prayer, and I don’t know how it would be the breakthrough to anything!” And then he said, “Jesus, my son, is the great intercessor, and he can teach you everything. Today, you can enter the Jesus School of Prayer.” And so, I enrolled in “Prayer 101.” He told me to find at least one other person and start praying together at least weekly. From those weekly times of prayer, the Lord gave us our first assignment. He said we should set aside 2002 as a year of prayer for Macedonia. And so, “Pray Macedonia” was born.

This began a journey and a lifestyle of prayer. I began studying God’s word to learn more about prayer. I began looking for and talking to others in the Body of Christ who were more experienced. I took the attitude of a hungry student. And the Lord told me, “Whatever I teach you, pass on and teach to others.” This journey into prayer, into daily communion and conversation with God, completely changed my Christian life. It was like my eyes were opened to the heart of God like never before. The words of Jesus in John 10:27 were now clearer than ever: “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” 

For the next 10-plus years, I kept listening and learning more about prayer. I kept developing a deeper walk with the Lord. During these years, John 15:5 became more real to me: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” I learned the secret of abiding. I began to see much fruit from my prayer life. I began to understand that without him, I can do nothing. Of course, I can do something, but apart from him, I can do nothing that bears fruit that honors him. 

In 2012, the Lord told me to start a House of Prayer in Skopje. I told him that I was not a worship leader and I had no experience. Once again, he told me, “I will teach you, and I will send you people to help you.” That same year, he showed me a local Macedonian brother that he had chosen for this very role. By the grace of God, this prayer room is still going today.

The Lord Speaks, “Balkan Call”

In 2013, the Lord whispered into my ear, “Balkan Call.” Over the next year or so, I would come back to ask the Lord about that. He would show me different scriptures to meditate on. In 2015, while attending a large prayer gathering, the Lord said,

Now is the time for the Balkan Call. You will launch this in 2016. I will give you the blueprint and the instructions. This will be for the healing of the Church in the Balkans and lay the groundwork for revival in the region. Listen and obey everything I tell you. I will send other people to help you.

He gave me a picture and a scripture. The picture is one holy temple of the Lord rising from the Balkans and Turkey. The scripture is Ephesians 2:19–22:

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

He said this is who you, my Church in the Balkans, are, and this is what I am going to do in and through you. 

He said to call the Church from across the Balkan nations to come together for three days to seek him, to worship him, to sit at his feet, and he will teach us, speak to us, and work in us. From the first Balkan Call, he said that the Church and believers must stop cursing one another and instead humble themselves, repent, forgive one another, thereby practicing the ministry of reconciliation within the household of God, and bless and love one another. We did not know how to do any of this, but God began to teach us. He said that he will move the Balkan Call all around the region from year to year and will show us when and where to go and who to meet with.

Timeline of Balkan Call Gatherings:

• 2016: Balkan Call #1 (Skopje, N. Macedonia)—The movement’s launch gathered approximately 200 attendees. Focus was on building altars of prayer. 
   
  2017: Balkan Call #2 (Tirana, Albania)—Continued the work with approximately 200 attendees. Planning began for the first “Prayer on the Borders” on Lake Prespa.
   
• 2018: Balkan Call #3 (Pristina, Kosovo)—Attendance grew to approximately 250 people. We were blessed with our special guest, Dr. Rhiannon Lloyd. This was the first year we started a 24/7 prayer room concurrent with the Balkan Call gathering. 
   
• 2019: Balkan Call #4 (Thessaloniki, Greece)—Participation increased to approximately 300 people. The Lord spoke to us that the Balkan church would be key to seeing a breakthrough in the Turkish church. 
   
• 2020: Balkan Call #5 (Sofia, Bulgaria)—Held during the COVID-19 pandemic with approximately 200 people. We had the largest number of Turkish people with us so far. 
   
• 2022: Balkan Call #6 (Istanbul, Turkey)—The first major gathering in Turkey, attended by approximately 350 people. The highlight was the reconciliation between Turkey and Greece. 
   
• 2023: Balkan Call #7 (Zagreb, Croatia)—A milestone event with over 450 people from all Balkan nations and over 30 nations globally. It featured new levels of worship and repentance, including Catholic believers and a worship team. 
   
• 2024: Balkan Call #8 (Niš, Serbia)—Significant growth saw over 650 people attend from over 40 nations. This gathering witnessed major reconciliation between Serbs and Albanians. Another highlight was Jewish Messianic worship from Ukraine and blessing Israel. 
   
• 2025: Balkan Call #9 (Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina)—Took place in October 2025 with over 650 attendees. The event featured a 70-hour worship and prayer room and focused on reconciliation between Turkey and Bosnia & Herzegovina.
   

What Happens at a Balkan Call?

Before any Balkan Call can happen, there is a time of prayer and fasting early in the year to hear from the Lord. There is a prayer and discernment team that meets at least monthly to hear from the Lord and inquire of him. This team is made up of at least one national believer from each of the 12 Balkan nations. The Lord shows us in every nation a “Ground Team”, which is people that he has prepared who are humble and broken in spirit (Isa 66:2), who are peacemakers (Matt 5:9), and who carry the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:18) for their nation. The next step is that we pray with the Ground Team about when and where the Balkan Call should be held. During this process, we also bring together our first Balkan Call travel team, made up of believers from multiple Balkan nations who travel together in one or more vehicles to the hosting nation. We spend up to five days meeting with believers, pastors, leaders, and churches to listen to their hearts, pray with and for them, and share the vision and testimony of the Balkan Call. We also send up to three teams to this nation to build relationships and cover the nation in prayer during the year. 

The Balkan Call is like a three-day “building project.” Believers from every Balkan nation, including Turkey, come to humble themselves before the Lord. 

We invite the Holy Spirit to come in and take complete control of the meeting. We expect the Holy Spirit to meet us, speak to us, heal us, lead us to repentance, and give us the grace to do it all. 

Over three days, we have six sessions together, each one about three hours. Each session has at least one hour in pure worship and waiting on the Lord. We have up to five worship teams from different Balkan countries leading worship. We may have prophetic singing or dancing as the Lord leads. The Lord may show us a leader from among us who has some word to share with the entire assembly. 

 Throughout, we have times of repentance, forgiveness, and blessing. Every Balkan nation blesses the host Balkan nation. We literally see curses being broken, and the fruit of reconciliation being manifested before our very eyes. We share communion together. We are open to the Holy Spirit moving in our midst. Undergirding all of this is a 70-hour worship and prayer room going in parallel to the main meetings.

For More Information, Please Follow the Balkan Call Here:

Website: www.balkancall.org/ 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/p/Balkan-Call-Prayer-Reconciliation-61572215957081/ 

YouTube: www.youtube.com/@balkancall9914 

Email: [email protected]