This past Sunday marked the beginning of Advent 2025. Some churches celebrated it by lighting the first candle on the Advent wreath, the candle of HOPE, which some call the “prophecy” candle.

Advent invites us to prepare for celebrating Christ’s coming and to welcome the work He wants to do in and through us, work that God began long before we were born.

It’s a season of hope.

Have you ever thought about the difference between HOPING for something and WISHING for something? Both are pictures of a preferred future, but they demand very different things from us.

Wishing is passive and nebulous. I can wish I had a billion dollars or that I could lose twenty pounds …without ever doing anything to make that preferred future happen. A wish is just a thought that passes through our minds—”if only I could do that …” or “if only I had that ….”

Hope is different. Hope is active. It’s a picture of a preferred future that you invest yourself in.

We have hope that Croatia will be reached for Christ. It’s not just a wish, we have to invest ourselves in that hope. We prepare the way. We preach and teach and serve and give and pray. We align ourselves with what the Holy Spirit is doing and try to cooperate with him where He’s working.

James urges his struggling readers to be patient like farmers: “See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains” (James 5:7).

My grandfather was a farmer. Farmers aren’t passive.  They don’t just wish for a harvest. They work hard at preparing, planting, fertilizing and dealing with pests, and maintaining the growing crop. They work hard at controlling what they can, while knowing that only God controls the outcome.

That’s HOPE.

As we wait on God to provide for the work in Croatia, let’s not just wish or pray passively. Let’s pray and wait in active hope, patiently trusting that God will provide.

So as you pray for God’s work in Croatia, pray with an expectant heart.

Join me in daily prayer, asking God to provide abundantly—far beyond what we can ask or imagine (Eph 3:20). Specifically, pray that God will provide more revenue for 2026 and in the following years. Our revenue has remained static for the past few years, but our expenses continue to increase, mostly due to inflation and changes in the exchange rate.

God is opening doors for our work. We have more opportunities than we can currently meet. The demand has never been higher, and our work has never enjoyed greater success. Trust in God with me that he will provide.