Bohall Ministry

It's impossible to overestimate the importance of prayer in our lives.  We often try to calculate various things in our ministry:  How many lives are we influencing and to what extent?  What aspects of ministry are most worth our time?  How much have our donors given this month? Sometimes we give too much weight to those sorts of questions. But prayer is different in that it can't be calculated.  It is invaluable.  So when we tell you, our supporters, what our prayer needs are, and constantly ask for your prayers, we do so genuinely, knowing that prayer is the most important way you can support us.  We’ve seen our ministry blossom because we have such strong prayer partners.  The Lord has directed our paths through your prayers.  What an incredible thing!   So please continue to keep us in your prayers - it's the most powerful way to be part of our ministry

Ian Rahim Bohall was born on Wednesday, January 13th at 1:40 pm local time.  He and Petra are doing well as they both recuperate in the hospital.  At 8 lbs. 1 oz, he is more than 2 lbs. bigger than Enoh was when he was born!  Ian means "God is gracious" while Rahim means "compassionate".  We feel blessed beyond measure with the birth of our second son.  Thank you for your prayers and support!

On Sunday, Croatia will vote for their third president since their independence 20 years ago. I’ve learned a few things about Croatian politics, but one of the things I appreciate most is what happens the day before citizens hit the booths on Sunday. Today is called the day of “election silence”. Neither candidate will speak publicly, debate or campaign at all. Laws demand that we don’t hear anything from them for 24 hours before voting begins. A day of silence from the voices of the candidates gives us the perfect opportunity to pray for His will to be done "on earth as it is in heaven".  Please pray for the future President of Croatia.

Christmas season at "Betanija" church in Orahovica includes giving away thousands of Samaritan's Purse Christmas shoeboxes.  This year we put together a puppet show and a short presentation before distributing packages in each location.  We began in Đurđenovac where a new church plant began just a year and a half ago.  The church was filled to capacity 3 times. Puppet team before the show in Đurđenovac Distributing shoeboxes in Đurđenovac We also had the opportunity to offer shoeboxes to the children in the elementary school where Petra and I teach English in Mikleuš.  Altogether our team traveled to six locations and gave out over 2,000 packages before Christmas - including the annual Christmas Eve celebration in our church in Orahovica.  The amazing thing about Samaritan's Purse shoeboxes is that they not only provide a Christmas present for children who may not otherwise receive one - they ...

Seasons like this confirm God’s sovereignty in our lives and ministry! This fall has brought along completely unexpected opportunities that we are excited to share with you! During the week Croatian students were heading back to school, we received a phone call inviting us to come to the high-school in Orahovica and be guest English teachers. They asked us to teach 2 classes a month for each of the eight high-school classes –making a total of 16 hours each month until Christmas. If you remember, two years ago we were in the same high-school offering after- school English workshops for those who wanted to stay and practice their English. Though it has been nearly two years, they remembered what we had done and wanted us to supplement the current English program with the same sort of English activities we did back then. Having more experience now, in addition to already knowing several of the students through baseball has opened more doors than we imagined. In many ways we feel l...

For Petra, the summer means camp. Camp has been the highlight of her summers for the last 14 years and this year was no different. The board Petra serves on organized a children’s camp, teen camp and youth conference. Since the building in Orahovica is still under reconstruction, camps and the conference were once again held at the seminary in Osijek. Children's camp was attended by over 100 kids from all over Croatia, many of them from outside the church. What made this year's children's camp extra special is that for the first time since the war, we did not use a translated children's program. Instead, our team wrote a program ourselves entitled 'Knights and Princesses of King Jesus'. It was a lot of work but we are very proud and already have plans to create a new program for next year as well. Teen camp was attended by close to 100 teenagers and the theme was friendship. It was exciting to see that many of the teens who attended camp made the decision to b...

“Zvono” or “Bell” has become one of our favorite places to visit. In November we took a few of our youth group members to do crafts, read and make music with the students. Sometimes it’s hard to find a smile in Croatia, but never when we visit Zvono.