Faith
Serbian Church Brings True Freedom to Addicts
Faith Facts
- Serbia has only 6,000 evangelicals, making up just 0.1% of the population.
- Rev. Dušan Beređi, once an addict himself, found freedom through Christ and now leads the Rainbow Rehabilitation Center.
- The church programs, inspired by the Teen Challenge model, help men struggling with addiction, homelessness, and gambling.
Jesus declared His mission was “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10), a truth lived out daily in Novi Sad, Serbia, where the Rainbow Rehabilitation Center opens its doors to men seeking freedom from addiction. The center is run by dedicated believers, on mission in a country with only a small evangelical presence.
Rev. Dušan Beređi, or Pastor Bera, once lived in addiction and despair until God’s grace set him free, an experience that shapes his compassionate leadership.
“For me, it’s easy to understand the pain of addiction, the struggle and the relapse and all those issues.”
Pastor Bera testifies that his healing came not through human effort, but through a miraculous encounter with Jesus—a deliverance that ended his desire for alcohol and drugs instantly, and for the last 32 years, he has remained free.
“So for me, with the healing [after prayer] I just lost the desire completely. I was free in a second and I have not touched alcohol for 32 years.”
Though aware of the lifelong dangers of addiction, he believes God alone brings real and lasting freedom from its grip, striving to bring others to the same place of true deliverance.
“Our goal is to bring people to the stage where they don’t have any more desire for them — and only God can do that.”
The aftermath of the Kosovo War left Serbia flooded with heroin, making addiction widespread. Pastor Bera and his team began offering support after seeing the limits of outside rehabs, eventually opening their own center to serve men suffering from various addictions.
Their ministry not only addresses drug abuse, but also alcoholism and gambling, meeting people where they are and offering a Biblical path to recovery and restored hope.
While resources for women in addiction remain limited locally, the church’s focus on men’s ministry is a response to the needs and realities they face in their context.
Pastor Bera reminds us that only a relationship with Jesus can fill the deep emptiness that addicts try to escape, pointing to God’s power to restore broken lives and give lasting purpose.
“When God comes into our life, the deep feeling of purpose gives a strength to deal with our pain, pain of our past.”
If you believe in the power of God’s grace to transform lives, stand in prayer and support for ministries like Rainbow Rehabilitation Center as they offer hope, freedom, and new beginnings in Christ.