Bohall Ministry

What influenced Jesus' disciple making method? It's clear from the Gospels that the Old Testament played a key role in the content of Jesus' teaching. But what about his method? Is it possible that Greek pedagogical methods also played a role in how Jesus went about making disciples?  I gave a talk on this topic in Zagreb in April. It's not a topic I plan to get into much further. But the research I did scratched an itch I've had for a little while. You can view the presentation below. 

Here's a look at our new church sanctuary minutes before the first worship service on February 4th. 

We are both grateful and excited to share the following news with you! Through conversations or a visit with us, you have likely heard of our vision to open a Center for Faith, Ethics and Culture. The first step to this was purchasing a building.  To make a long story short, this past June, Pastor Ratko signed the papers and our church has become owners of a property on the most well-known street in Zagreb!  Ilica, the most well-known street in Croatia. Our new facility is the white building on the left. Over the last several years, the Lord has planted a vision in the hearts and minds of the leadership of Stijena Spasenja (Rock of Salvation). In thinking and praying for our local church and our city, we have often been inspired by Timothy Keller. His words:   " Christians should seek to live in the city, not to use the city to build great churches, but to use the church’s resources to seek a great, flourishing city" helped articulate a vision for how our church relates...

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 ...

Camp in Orahovica was the single biggest reason Petra wanted to come back to Croatia when I first met her at Gordon College. She has gone to camp every summer since she was eleven years old with 2020 being the only exception because of the pandemic. Even when she went to high school and college in the States, she came to Croatia every summer to volunteer at camp. This year marked the 50th anniversary of the first camp. Petra's been to the majority of them.  Our slogan is "a meeting place". "Encounter" would be another way to translate it. Camp in Orahovica is a place where thousands have encountered the Lord. Throughout its 50 year history, God has been faithful. He has used his people in this place to call campers to himself and renew their relationship with him.  It's also a place where valuable relationships with others have been fostered. This year we had a couple speak at our family camp from Belgrade, Serbia. While the husband had never been to this pa...

Despite the fact that it began in the U.S., I hadn't heard of Royal Rangers before I moved to Croatia. But as of this writing, I've been serving as the Croatian National Coordinator for 11 years. It was a role I was reluctant to take on at the beginning. In fact, I accepted only becasue it was the only way I could use Royal Rangers as a tool in our local church where there were a number of pre-teen guys I was discipling.  I also qualified my agreement by expressing my desire to hand it off to someone from Croatia one day. I didn't feel that it made sense for a foreigner to lead this ministry long-term.  That moment came in early November when my good friend Danijel officially became the National Coordinator of RR.  Danijel's been working with me from the beginning. Together, we attended our first training camp in western Serbia in 2011. He has been a trusted friend and advisor, always ready to help in whatever way he possible can. Handing this ministry off to Danijel ha...

August was a once in a lifetime experience. There have been various combinations of Bohalls that have visited the U.S. from Croatia. But this was the first, and perhaps the last time we went as a family of seven.  We began our trip in the Boston area, visiting Jeremy's family and seeing the Gordon College and Conwell campuses (where we met and were married), among other things. In front of Wilson Hall at Gordon College We then spent two weekends with Jeremy's relatives in Brooklyn. Experiencing the Big Apple was a highlight for the kids.  In between the two weekends we made a quick trip down to Washington D.C.  During these first three weeks, we were joined by our pastor and his family - also (and still!) close friends of ours. This was the first time his wife and kids had been to the States. It was quite the adventure for the 11 of us to travel around the northeast. But of course these will be memories we will never forget.  Towards the end of our trip we visited go...