News

Evaluating and Visioning

Published on by Steve

Last Saturday our church leadership team, of which I am a part, along with our elders, started on a process of evaluating where we are as a congregation; as well as discerning our purpose, vision, and mission for the future. We expect this process to  play out over the next several weeks. We felt this an important time in the life of our congregation to go through such an exercise, in the aftermath of the death last fall of our long-time minister and brother, Mladen Jovanović. Pray along with us that we will catch God’s vision for us as a church. There are exciting days ahead for our congregation and for the Kingdom in Croatia!

Spring Retreat

Published on by Steve

The week before last found us on the coast, in Crikvenica, for the annual spring retreat of the Churches of Christ in Croatia. We had churches from all over the country represented, as well as guests from Slovenia and Austria. We also had a contingent from a Church of God congregation in eastern Croatia. Our guest speaker was Bill Wilson, who served for many years as a minister for a church in Cologne, Germany. I led the teenage discussion group. It was nice to be out of the city, have some rest, hear some teaching in English, and enjoy some great fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ.

Strategizing About Youth Ministry

Published on by Steve

Last Monday Mislav and I from Zagreb drove to Zlatoličje, Slovenia, where we met co-workers from a sister church in Varaždin, Croatia. We were all guests there for lunch in the home of Andrej and Nina Lovše. Andrej and Nina are graduates of Biblijski institut and are seeing success in their church plant that is made up entirely of contacts from their ministry with youth in Slovenia. We had a great lunch and fellowship together and spent the afternoon talking about youth ministry realities in central Europe, and learning from their success. May God help us replicate that success in Croatia!

Dolina Blagoslova (The Valley of Blessings)

Published on by Steve
The weekend before last I traveled to Vukovar, in far eastern Croatia, to participate in the Valley of Blessings. Vukovar is on the border with Serbia and is the Croatian city that suffered probably the most damage during the war here in the early 90s. It still has a significant Serbian population and is still a very divided city. The war wounds are also still evident: physically, spiritually, and emotionally. The Valley of Blessings is a monthly evangelistic outreach of poetry and song that is conducted jointly by two churches in Vukovar. It also functions as a ministry of reconciliation and peace in this divided city. It is great to see these two churches working hand in hand, sharing the light of Christ, and as a testament of the unity of the body of Christ in this city.

A Walk Around My Neighborhood

Published on by Steve
I took a long walk this afternoon with my dog around the town where I live just west of the city of Zagreb. The town is called Sveta Nedelja. It is a pretty area of hills and vineyards and small villages. A number of people have a small weekend cottage (vikendica) out here where they come to spend the weekend and work in their small private vineyards or orchards. This is also where I am currently looking for property on which to begin building a house. More on that process later. I am thankful to have this beauty in my “backyard.”
My apartment is just on the other side of this ridge. Some of the property I am considering is also in this valley. That’s the mountain north of Zagreb on the left, with Zagreb spread out to the top right.

Sunday in Varaždin

Published on by Steve

I spent last Sunday in the northern Croatian city of Varaždin, about an hour’s drive from Zagreb. I preached for the Church of Christ there and we had lunch together after the service. We brought several youth from our church in Zagreb, as well as from another church in Zagreb that participates with us in summer ministry activities. One girl came who has been a participant in our summer Champs Camp. We had a class for the youth in the afternoon. It was a great spring day for some great fellowship outside.

Missionary Men’s Retreat in Bosnia

Published on by Steve

Last weekend I attended a retreat of missionary men from all over Bosnia and Hercegovina. There was also myself from Croatia, as well as two from Montenegro. The retreat was held just outside Sarajevo at Jahorina, where the downhill skiing events were held in the 1984 Winter Olympics. We enjoyed a great weekend  of worship, fellowship, playing, encouraging one another, and sharing what God is doing with each of us.

Signs of Spring…Reminders of LIFE

Published on by Steve

At this time of year in Croatia, I begin to long for the spring. The winters here are cold, wet, dark, and gray, and I admit that at times I have to fight off some depression at this time of year. Over the last week or so we have begun to see buds on the trees. I took these photos today out the window of the institute’s reception area. The fruit trees are like this all over the country right now. It’s beautiful. It’s one of the many things I love about living here. This week’s forecast is also for sunny skies and high temperatures in the low 60s. It is all a reminder to me of renewal, restoration, and LIFE. Through the signs of spring I think we also get a glimpse of what Jesus is up to with us. This is something I have been needing more of recently, following a season of death and loss. Come Lord Jesus! But in the meantime I will be thankful for the renewal of spring.

Extension Program in Split

Published on by Steve
Last Saturday, the Biblijski institut director, one of our professors, and I traveled to the Croatian coastal city of Split, for a meeting with the students who will take our extension class there this spring. It looks like we will have perhaps 8-10 students from 2-3 different churches in and around Split. The program will be hosted by a church in Split that is part of the Council of Churches of Christ in Croatia. We will send one of our professors one weekend each month to teach the class. One entire course will be taught over a span of two weekends. We will offer them eight different courses over a two year period. I will most likely have my turn in Split in November and December of this year, offering my course in Pedagogy (how to teach others) as one of the practical ministry courses, in addition to the Biblical text courses that we teach. It was a long day (four hours drive one way) but a productive day, and there was great enthusiasm on behalf of the students in Split. If this program works well, we will be looking to replicate this in other cities in Croatia. There is also a group of students in the city of Rijeka who are interested in the program. Please pray with us about these opportunities to increase the reach of the Institute in preparing churches to expand the Kingdom in this land.

Jesus Conference

Published on by Steve
I mentioned in my last post that I immediately became very busy upon arriving back in Croatia, after my extended time in the USA at the end of 2013. This was due mainly to preparations for our Jesus Conference, which we held on January 23-25. I was responsible for many of the logistical details of making the conference happen.
This was Biblijski institut’s  first such conference on a large scale. We had about 20 guests speakers from outside Croatia, and upwards of around 300 participants from various church backgrounds, as well as some non-Christians. The conference was an overwhelming success and the name of Jesus was truly lifted up. We heard academic papers presented in daytime sessions at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Zagreb. We also heard keynote sermons three evenings at the Hotel International. The speakers focused on highlighting Jesus as He is presented in both the Old and New Testaments. With teachers and preachers from the USA, Romania, Israel, and Croatia, it was truly an international event.
The presentations, and especially the evening sermons, were well received. The Christian community in Croatia was well represented, with Christians from almost all confessions in attendance. Even though we were confronted with bad weather, snow and ice, we had very good attendance at the evening lectures, almost filling the Hotel’s large conference hall most evenings. The daytime lectures at the University of Zagreb were also well attended. There is much interest in having another such conference in the future. Please pray with us as we evaluate our efforts and consider future plans. Take a look here at a feature about the conference that appeared on Croatian National Television: