November 20, 2000
Texas prayerwalkers take bold steps
___By Ken Camp
___Texas Baptist Communications
___BANJA LUKA, Bosnia--Two Texas Baptist couples saw immediate answers to some of their prayers as they recently spent nearly 10 days walking the streets of two vastly different Bosnian cities.
___As the Texans walked and prayed, previously closed doors of opportunity swung open for Southern Baptist missionaries, and long sought-after provisions miraculously appeared.
___In the months to come, the Baptist workers hope to see God grant their boldest petition--that many Serbian people come to a personal faith in Jesus Christ.
___Jered and Kay Sellers from First Baptist Church of Plains joined veteran Texas Baptist Men leader John LaNoue of Tyler and his wife, Kaywin, on the recent prayerwalk through the British-controlled sector of Bosnia. They were accompanied by Baptist workers Ben Hanna and James Earley and their families.
___Hanna, a former Texas Baptist Men Royal Ambassador state staffer, was evacuated from Belgrade when the war there escalated. But he and his family had been praying they would be able to return to that city for which he felt such a spiritual burden. While the Texans were in Bosnia, Hanna received the visas they had needed.
___The Texans also prayed with the Baptist workers for the Serbian refugees who were living in makeshift housing with no source of heat for the winter. During their stay in Bosnia, they learned that more than 140 stoves had become available.
___The Texas Baptists spent more than a week in Banja Luka, the showplace city of the Srpska province, as well as one eye-opening day among Serbian refugees in the war-ravaged city of Prijador.
___The Texas Baptists walked up to 10 miles a day through the streets of the city, praying for the Serbian people and distributing New Testaments whenever they had an opportunity. They prayed in bustling marketplaces and in the hushed hallways of university buildings. They walked outside an upscale café, praying for the leather-clad young adults inside. And they prayed for children playing in city parks.
___They also walked around several Eastern Orthodox sanctuaries, praying that God would bring about a genuine spiritual revival in the Orthodox church.
___Traveling 45 minutes from the city through rural areas still pockmarked by bombs, they saw a different picture of Bosnia in Prijador. At least 30,000 Serbian refugees live in that war-scarred city of 150,000.
___At any intersection, it was not unusual to see a fashionable Volvo, a horse-drawn cart and several tanks in the line of traffic, LaNoue recalled.
___The Texas Baptists prayed as they walked through the narrow corridors of a ceramic factory in Prijador that is now home to an untold number of refugees. Corporate offices have been turned into one-room apartments.
___To help meet the needs of Serbian children throughout Eastern Europe, Texas Baptist Men volunteers are spearheading a Christmas drive to provide 10,000 coats.
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