I spent last weekend with longtime friends, Max and Liz Crittenden (pictured above), at their home in Zenica, Bosnia and Hercegovina. Zenica is about a five hour drive southeast from Zagreb, in the very heart of Bosnia. Max and Liz have been missionaries there for about 14 years. I led a summer camp team to work with them back in 2000. That summer was one of the most exciting, challenging, and Spirit-led experiences of my missionary life. Ask me about that story sometime. We had a nice weekend, with great weather for a change, after a wet and cold spring so far. Even better was our fellowship and mutual encouragement of one another. That is so important for us all. It never escapes me the almost tangible change in feel, mood, and spirit when I cross the border into Bosnia. I took the photos below just across the border, in the northern part of Bosnia, which was hit hard during the war there in the early 1990s. Please pray for that country, for God’s Spirit and presence and peace, in the midst of spiritual darkness and ethnic tension and strife. Pray for the missionaries and native servants of Jesus there. Pray for their protection from the enemy of our souls, and that God will use them as the light and hope of Jesus in Bosnia.

 Earlier in April, we held our spring spiritual renewal retreat at the Christian Life Center in Crikvenica, on the coast. I led the discussion group with the teens. This time we had just four boys, so I took the opportunity to go do some “guy” stuff with them, along with some of the other older guys at the retreat. One day we went hiking in the nearby Risnjak National Park. We hiked about 10 miles total, up to a mountain hut and back. It was cold and foggy, but it was a great day together. I love talking with teens about God’s power and love through experiences like this.

I am currently reading a new book by one of my favorite Christian authors, John Eldredge. The book is called “Beautiful Outlaw.” It is about the personality and humanity of Jesus. I want to share a couple of quotes from the book that I hope will mean as much to you as they have to me:

“You must understand an important distinction. There is Christianity and then there is church culture. They are not the same. Often they are far from the same. The personality conveyed through much of Christian culture is not the personality of Jesus but of the people in charge of that particular franchise. Tragically, the world looks at funny hats or big hair, gold thrones and purple curtains, stained glass or fog machines and assumes this is what Jesus must be like. When you are confronted with something from Christian culture, ask yourself, ‘Is this true of the personality of the God of the wind and the desert, the God of sunshine and the open sea?’ This will dispel truckloads of religious nonsense. And by beginning his gospel here, John makes it clear this is quite biblical.”

“Late into the night, early in the morning, walking down the road, in the middle of his supper, at home, abroad, Jesus offers. His time, his words, his touch, flowing like the wine at Cana. To appreciate the reality of it all, remember, this is not Superman. Remember his loneliness, his weariness, his humanity. This is utterly remarkable – particularly in light of the fact that this is a man on a life-or-death mission. He is lavish with himself. And that’s the key, right there – that giving of himself. That is what is so precious. Moses offered leadership, and tirelessly. Solomon handed out the rarest of wisdom free of charge. Pilot seemed willing to toss to the crowds anyone they wanted. But Jesus gives himself. This as, after all, what he came to give, and what we most desperately need.”

Early last month, we held the 7th annual leadership conference of the Churches of Christ in Croatia. This is a weekend each March that is set aside for the leaders of the various congregations to come together for fellowship and encouragement. There is time for each congregation to share both its triumphs and trials of the last year and then the leaders of each church are prayed over and for by the group. I was there and my Croatian is coming along enough that I was able to speak in Croatian as I represented both the Biblijski institut and the Kušlanova Church of Christ. The theme of this year’s conference was “Joined and Held Together in Jesus.”

Kidz Klub continues to go well. We held the first one of 2012 last weekend. In spite of some difficulty with our advertising this time, we still had a fairly decent turnout. We are averaging about 40 kids in attendance each month. This one actually turned out to be one of our best. In addition to all the fun, games, and songs, we had a lesson about how God values us. Some of the parents who were there even applauded at one point. We are planning three more Kidz Klubs this school year, one each month through May, leading up to our Champs Camp again in June. Pray along with us for the continuing development of this ministry, and that fruit for the kingdom will one day be harvested. Sometimes I get impatient with my work, but then I remember that we are planting seeds and building relationships that will eventually bear fruit if we are faithful and consistent. I also know that this kind of work is more like a marathon than a sprint. Many thanks to Heritage Church of Christ in Fort Worth, Texas, who provided funding from their Harvest Sunday last fall, which we used to have Kidz Klub t-shirts printed, and to purchase a portable sound system.

 

 

A few weeks ago the Croatian Religious Liberty Association held its “Religious Freedom Day 2012.” Ivan and I from Biblijski institut represented the institute with a display at this event. We also gave away copies of our theological journal, Kairos. In attendance were representatives from the office of the President of Croatia, as well as from the office of the mayor of Zagreb. At this event, several church and political leaders were honored with awards for promoting religious freedom in Croatia.

Me, Mislav, and Ivan (a.k.a. the church/institute three musketeers) on Monday in front of the church/institute building here in Zagreb, after digging the building out from so much snow last weekend.

I arrived back in Zagreb three weeks ago today, after a great time with my family over Christmas and New Year’s. It was also good to be with my Croatian co-workers, Mislav Ilić and Mladen and Dragica Jovanović, as we jointly visited and spoke with some supporters and churches in Texas. I had one of the worst cases of jet lag ever after arriving back in Zagreb. My body wanted to sleep from 5AM to Noon for about a week after getting back. It really took me about two weeks to feel completely back to normal. I am alright now. February at Biblijski institut is the month of exams after the fall semester, and a break from classes before the spring semester, so things are fairly slow with work for the institute right now. Although, I am in the planning phases for a few student recruiting trips around the region that will happen this spring. I am also doing the preliminary organizational work for our children and youth camps this summer. We are also planning our next Kidz Klub for later in February. This winter in Zagreb, until now, has been fairly mild, but it arrived with a vengeance late last week. In fact, most of Europe has been experiencing a very strong cold snap over the last two weeks. Sarajevo, in Bosnia, about a 5-6 hour drive to the south of us, had over a meter of snow over last weekend! Enjoy some photos I took on the way in to the office this morning:

Looking out my front door

Looking down on my terrace and yard

In front of the institute/church building

Institute/church building courtyard