Bohall Ministry

It's not my responsibility to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Rather, it's my responsibility to join the Church in her efforts to make disciples of Jesus Christ. In other words, it was never Jesus' intention that we would make disciples by ourselves. The original commission on the hill in Galilee was to all eleven gathered in front of Jesus.  This is one of the reasons why your partnership with us is so important to what we do in Zagreb. It may go without saying, but Petra and I would not be able to devote full-time work to the local church, camps and the seminary if we had other jobs. Unlike the situation at many similar institutions in the U.S., the local church and seminary are still not in a position to pay us. This is simply the way things are in a country where evangelical denominations make up less than 1% of the population. Another reason why I emphasize the role of the whole Church in making disciples though is because over the last two Sundays, we witnessed signi...

One of the most rewarding parts of our ministry in Croatia is the privilege Jeremy has of teaching at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Osijek. Over the last year or so, the seminary has both celebrated a major milestone and undergone a significant transition. Last December was the 50th anniversary celebration of the seminary which began in Zagreb, moved briefly to Slovenia in the early 90's during the war, and has been in Osijek for the last 40 years.  The Beginning of the '23-'24 Academic Year at ETS in Osijek While the seminary is significant to Central Europe, it's also important to our family. Petra's father had a large part in planting the vision and founding the seminary. Peter just retired from his role as the Dean this past summer. Below he's pictured with the new Dean.  Former Dean Peter Kuzmič with New Dean Dalibor Kraljik ETS houses the largest theological library in the former-Yugoslavia.  ETS Library It also shares its campus with the local ...

I'm convinced that, like masters of any other profession, if we're disciples of Jesus Christ, we need mentors.  Today wouldn't have necessarily seemed that special on the surface level. But going into it, I had made plans to get together with two guys whom the Lord has used in significant ways.  My mentor, Tom Foley, who I've known now for the last 10 years, was visiting Zagreb from the States. Throughout 2020 and 2021 he didn't visit as much as he had in the past so I've begun looking forward to these face-to-face visits even more. There's always the potential that he'll ask a tough question. Tonight it was a softball, "So what are you reading in the Bible these days?" But it could have just as easily been, "How are you and Petra doing?" or "How's your relationship with the Lord?" The questions themselves aren't tough. But he knows how to help me dig into territory that may not be addressed much. Everything's on...

 In late October we had the privilige of being part of a Gospel Coalition conference in Osijek, Croatia.  The Evangelical Theological Seminary in Osijek, Croatia As we've emphasized at various times, one of the things Petra and I are excited about in our work with our local church is its emphasis on the testimony of Scripture being central to our faith. That may sound obvious. But many Catholics (in this predominantly Catholic country) and many Pentecostal evangelicals (the denomination we work most with) have shifted their emphasis to tradition or charisma respectively.  This is one of main reasons we were eager to support the efforts of various evangelical churches in Croatia as they organized this conference. New Testament theologian D.A. Carson was the main speaker. Musicians from different parts of Croatia joined together to lead the congregation in worship. And participants joined from at least 5 different countries in Europe.  New Testament Scholar D.A. Carson...

  Two weeks ago, Petra traveled from Croatia across the border to Hungary for the weekend without a hitch. She went to a women’s gathering while I (Jeremy) stayed at home with our five children. My parents and my mother-in-law helped me manage the whole situation. Our life was completely normal. There were 12 confirmed cases of Coronavirus in Croatia.   One week ago, Petra and I went out for breakfast in Zagreb to plan for the upcoming change in our schedule. The government had just announced that there would be no school for at least the next two weeks. With four of our children affected, we had to plan ahead. Thankfully Croatian officials were on the ball. They had already begun recording classes for pupils to watch on television and over the internet. There were 49 confirmed cases of Coronavirus in Croatia. Zagreb on March 14 Today, we’re not allowed to cross the border to any other country. We can’t go to a restaurant because they’re all closed. In fact, we’re not allowed ...

As we head into the fall and winter, there will be several changes to our ministry.  First of all, Jeremy has begun a Masters degree in Theology (MTh) at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Osijek—which is only about an hour from Orahovica.  Since he began teaching and preaching several years ago, Jeremy has had a growing awareness of the gift of teaching the Lord has given him.  Please pray with us that the Lord would continue to direct Jeremy’s steps in this endeavor. Secondly, we are praying for wisdom in how to move ahead with youth groups.  The last two years saw tremendous growth in our youth group through baseball, and the opportunity we had to teach in the High School.  But many of those teenagers have graduated and gone off to college.  In the next few months Petra will begin again, but we’re not sure what shape youth groups will take. Thirdly, Jeremy is planning on beginning the Royal Rangers ministry in Orahovica this winter.  Though...

So far, this summer has seen periods of craziness, but also times of rest.  Here's a look at our summer to this point. In early June we celebrated the graduation of our Senior Highers.  Petra prepared a five-course dinner for them, then shared briefly about our faith and our prayer for them as they continue on to college.  Graduates don't wear the caps we do in America so we surprised them after dinner with their own graduation caps.  A few weekends later we took them bowling - many for the first time as a new bowling alley opened in our part of Croatia recently.  Some of the youth were jealous of Petra's bump! In late June we celebrated our 6th anniversary with a weekend trip to Ljubljana - the capital of Slovenia.  We were blessed to have Petra's parents stay with the boys so we could go babymooning before number three arrives in September.  As soon as we came back from Slovenia we spent a week or so on the ...

On June 11th, our small town got to see their first baseball game ever!  In mid-May, Jeremy met with a missionary in a city an hour away about the possibility of coordinating what would turn out to be the first game for both teams.  The day was a huge success.  Though Orahovica lost (9-7), it was a competitive and well attended event.  Three representatives of the Croatian Baseball League came from Zagreb to umpire, and explain the rules to the spectators while the game was in progress.   Jeremy had the chance to coach, pitch and hit. He also was able to have a great conversation with his assistant coach about Jesus after the game as they were packing up.  Please keep him in your prayers.  We have a need!  Please consider how you may be able to help provide uniforms and catcher's equipment for our team.  At this point we are using the other team's catcher's gear and are just using t-shirts during the game.  But we have the p...

The Great Commission has a Great Foundation: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me..." (Matthew 28:18) Though we are back in the States for 3 months, the call to join with disciples from all nations in endeavoring to make disciples of all nations does not stop.  In fact, as we mentioned in the previous post, one of our goals while we're here is to keep you involved in what the Lord is doing through our ministry in Croatia.  That's why it's important for us to be reminded of the foundation of our call to go.  Yes, Jesus urged his disciples to go, just as the Lord urged Abraham to go generations before.  But simply going won't get us anywhere - at least when it comes to disciple making.  We obey the call to make disciples because Jesus has the authority to send us.  He lived the perfect life of word and deed.  He was sinless yet paid the price of sin.  He displayed his power through love.  So as we continue t...