I’ve been in Zagreb since last Tuesday. In that time, we have hosted a group from America (wonderful brothers and sisters from the Cornerstone Christian Church, from Dallas / Farmers Branch, Texas) and hosted a major event (a two day symposium on the spiritual needs of teen agers.)

In all the craziness, an important date slipped by me. An important anniversary.

Nine years ago, on 15 October 2016, Beth and I landed in Zagreb for the first time, and immediately fell in love with the place.

We landed at the OLD Tuđman Airport, a giant Communist-era concrete box. Visitors today have a much more pleasant airport to enter this wonderful city through. But as we rode with Tom & Sandra Sibley, as they showed us the beauty of Zagreb and the country of Croatia, it just confirmed the certainty that we already felt: this was the place God was calling us to, to make our home and to follow his path for us.

But we felt it immediately. We fell in love with our wonderful coworkers immediately.

And since that time, this place has been home.

I think I’ve already told the story; forgive the repetition. At some point during that first week–we were working on accreditation documents, I was desperately looking for a distraction–I Googled the number of coffee shops close to my office. I honestly don’t remember how many there were, but there were DOZENS. And I jokingly tell people that THAT is when God spoke to me and told me I belonged here.

But really, it was just more confirmation.

During those first few months in the fall and early winter of 2016, I was here by myself most of the time. Beth had returned to Lewisville TX, I was here working on accreditation and building the foundations of my relationships with those coworkers. I was staying at an apartment on Stoösova ulica, near the Kušlanova building, which houses the Church of Christ and Biblijski institut. I would go out walking in the evenings, praying and deepening my love for this city. I remember several occasions, walking back to my apartment, praying that God would make this happen, give me this position and this ministry.

So: it’s been nine years now. I’m now officially in my 10th year with Biblijski institut. (Apologies to everyone if I’ve given you the wrong number of years I’ve been here. Math is hard.)

Nine years, and it has been a wild adventure, full of evidence of God’s goodness and his love for the people of this little country. It’s also been full of frustrations and heartache, missing family, missing the USA (which I love deeply) and the American church (which I also love deeply, desperately).

Tomorrow (Tuesday) I fly back to the USA. My role has changed; I no longer live here full-time. But my work and my heart are here.

The other night–as if there wasn’t enough going on this week–my car broke down, just a few blocks from the Kušlanova building. And as I stood on Stoösova ulica, waiting for my friends to come and help me restart my car, I stood in one of those same places that I had walked in late 2016, praying and waiting to see what God would do in this place.

Evidence of God’s goodness? Consider this past Sunday, just yesterday, when one of the Ukrainian orphans that we helped sponsor in 2022 got baptized at the Kušlanova church. We … YOU, with your generosity … helped bring him here, out of the shadows of Russian aggression, murder and slaughter.

And here is where he met Jesus. And THAT is making all the difference.