Bohall Ministry

  Just a quick update: The fall semester has just begun at the seminary and Jeremy has the pleasure of having 15 students in the classroom studying the New Testament!  Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are all represented. But there are also several Roma students, a student from Nepal and two Croats who grew up in Germany but decided to come back to Croatia to study theology.  Historically the  Evangelical Theological Seminary in Osijek  has been a hub for students throughout central Europe to be equipped to pastor, teach and serve in various capacities in the local church. This year is an exciting continuation of that tradition.

Petra here. On the last day of Family Camp, one participant said that camp was like a small picture of heaven. The coment made me smile because I've had that same thought myself many times. I often hear statements like 'Why can't the camp last longer?' or 'Why can't it be the way it is at home?' A student once asked me if it's possible to live like this all the time because it seems too perfect? I told her that I think this is a small foretaste of something even better. For 50 years, those of us who serve and participate in camps, along with numerous who came before us, have been able to taste that small part of what awaits us in eternity. There are certainly many different factors that cause camps to leave such a strong impression: praising God together through songs, serving in the city, studying the Word, going for walks, the sincere joy of swimming in the lake, encouraging conversations, changed lives, homecooked food, etc.  But I would say that ther...

I am so grateful for the two men of God that flank me in the picture below. Tom (my right) is making his biannual trip to Europe and preached in Đakovo yesterday. Danijel (my left) pastors the local church in Đakovo. I've written about both of them before so I'll limit this post to what I experienced yesterday.  The local church in Đakovo is growing. Danijel and his wife Tijana moved here 17 years ago and took over a church of fewer than 10 people - most of whom were older that 60 years old. This is a typical scenerio in eastern Croatia. Today, the church in Đakovo is teeming with children running around and babies being held during the service. It's truly beautiful to see the ways in which the Lord has blessed Danijel and Tijana's "long obedience in the same direction". Tom preached from Luke 8 and reminded the congregation about the importance of trusting the Lord in the midst of difficult times. He emphasized "marvel" and contemplation during ti...

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...

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...