I’m leaving Zagreb next week, taking the slow route back to Kentucky.

As I was walking this morning (and drinking coffee, of course), I was praying for the city & thinking about the things I will miss. Here are a few:

• My coworkers. I truly work with the best people on earth. They’re smart & committed to our mission. They love Croatia & they love the church.
• Our ministry partners, and the church & ministry leaders we work with. In a country where evangelicals are less than 0.2% of the population, and their fellow Croats (and often their own families) are suspicious of (even hostile towards) evangelical churches, they have set aside more lucrative careers and easier lives, & faced pressure (even soft persecution) for the gospel.
• Zagrepčani, the people of Zagreb. They’re a little crusty, but they are warm & wonderful when you get to know them.
• The churches. Almost all are small and struggling (by American definitions). But the people are fiercely committed. They’re the modern embodiments of the church in Philadelphia (Revelation 3.7ff).
• The children. All times day & into the evening, I see children in the city, walking & on the trams, free range. Zagreb is a very safe city, with almost no violent crime. Croatians let children be children.
• The walkability; ZG is a great city for walking.
• The entrances (into or between buildings) to private driveways, with the quirky “posts” that protect the walls from drivers who can’t aim. (If you know, you know.)
• The dogs. People are always out of their apartments in the morning, walking their dogs. Most of the dogs are beautiful & well-behaved.
• The flowers. ZG is full of flower boxes & flower beds. It’s a city of roses. Zagreb has tons of green space.
• The coffee. Espresso with milk is life.
• The pace of Croatian life. Everything here is about friendship, relationships, community.
• The food. Croatian cuisine is mostly grilled meat, pasta & risotto, and the best potatoes & bread in the world. And don’t get me started on the dairy products; twenty different kinds of yogurt, different kinds of milk, etc.