Since the Georgian independence 1991 the country haven’t experienced
the freedom of Religion. Because of strong Orthodox influence in
the society, not much open evangelism have been done, because of
restriction for permission to be granted. Georgian believers are
best placed to reach the ethnic minorities but need sensitivity
and encouragement in doing so. There have been some outreaches to
Muslims. Lack of resources and expectations of foreign funds hold
back local initiatives.
The country is in much poverty and as usual accompanied by corruption.
Month of May 2005 we send a small outreach group from our team
from Moldova to spy the land for two weeks. The Lord blessed the
time of the team in many different ways. We felt in our hearts
that the Lord is opening doors for us to expand our mission work
in the country of Georgia.
In the spring of 2006 we will start to work regularly in Georgia
in order to establish the new mission work in that country. We
will set up our mission base in the city of Batumi. It is the
capital of autonomous Republic of Ajaria, the population there
is mostly Muslim.
Backround:
The region of present-day Georgia contains the ancient kingdoms
of Colchis and Kartli-Iberia. The area came under Roman influence
in the first centuries AD and Christianity became the state religion
in the 330s. Domination by Persians, Arabs, and Turks was followed
by a Georgian golden age (11th to the 13th centuries) that was
cut short by the Mongol invasion of 1236. The Ottoman and Persian
empires competed for influence in the region. Georgia was absorbed
into the Russian Empire in the 19th century. Independent for three
years (1918-1921) following the Russian revolution, it was forcibly
incorporated into the USSR until the Soviet Union dissolved in
1991. Despite many problems, some progress on market reforms and
democratization has been made since then. An attempt by the government
to manipulate the elections in November 2003 a widespread protests
that led to the resignation of Eduard SHEVARDNADZE, president
since 1995. New elections in early 2004 swept Mikheil SAAKASHVILI
into power along with his National Movement Party.
Border countries: Armenia 164 km, Azerbaijan
322 km, Russia 723 km, Turkey 252 km.
Population: 4,677,401 (July 2005).
Ethnic groups: Georgian 83.8%, Azeri 6.5%, Armenian
5.7%, Russian 1.5%, other 2.5% (2002 census).
Religions: Orthodox Christian 83.9%, Armenian-Gregorian
3.9%, Catholic 0.8%, Muslim 9.9%, other 0.8%, none 0.7% (2002
census).
Languages: Georgian 71% (official), Russian 9%,
Armenian 7%, Azeri 6%, other 7%
Capital: T'bilisi
note: Abkhaz is the official language in Abkhazia
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