Željka Košir joins the team as executive manager
Željka Košir joins the team as the executive manager of the ministry. She is a member of the Varaždin Church of Christ and a former leader of several ministries within the church as well as a close coworker to the Croatia for Christ ministry. On the position of the executive manager she continues to execute tasks necessary in the ministry projects.
The ministry continues to improve the Bible app, TV ministry is expanding the production, new issues of the Family Magazine are coming out, several camps are being organized throughout the year as well as special events, Bibles are being distributed within the partnership with EEM and the ministry spreading the Gospel through humanitarian work as well.
Two American representatives join the team
In 2023 two new US representatives with their wives joined our missionary team to
contact all individuals, churches and mission supporters to share current ministry news
and projected projects. They are Paul and Barbara Wert and Kyle and Shelly
Thomas, they serve the Lord in their respective churches and have visited Croatia many times to be actively involved with the church body and the Spring or Summer camps.Each of them reports directly to the Croatia for Christ Board to stay involved
with their responsibilities in the United States.
The work of the ministry continues with new team members
Three new members are voted onto the existing Managing Board. They are Jurica Lazar, former managing director of the ministry, Scott Talley and Faron Kincheloe from Crestview Church of Christ, which is taking over the spiritual oversight of the ministry.
Crestview Church of Christ from Waco, Texas is taking over the spiritual oversight of the CfC ministry. This is the church that sent the first missionary couple to Croatia (Yugoslavia at the time) in 1968. As a result, today we have churches all over Croatia worshiping the Lord and sharing the Gospel. For this reason and their faithful support of our ministry we are thankful for their spiritual oversight and guidance of Croatia for Christ ministry.
Brother Jura started working for the EEM
After eight years of work, 01.04.2023. brother Jura accepted a new offer and started
working for the EEM ministry and "Croatia for Christ Inc." continues to operate under the
leadership of the Board of Directors and the Holy Spirit to the glory of God the Father.
Brother Jura took over directing the ministry
Brother Jura took over directing the ministry on April 1, 2015. and immediately
began the process of transformation from a personal Christian ministry to a new format of
functioning as a modern Christian ministry that serves above all as a promotor of the
Churches of Christ in the Republic of Croatia and as an evangelization ministry that, with
the help of the media, strongly proclaims the message of the Gospel.
The magazine
“Family Magazine" started to be published again, but now on a regular basis.
The radio
service was gradually shut down, and at the same time a new television service was
created, which began to produce its own TV program, and hundreds of radio messages
from late brother Mladen were taken as the basis for the script of the program.
An
application for smartphones was created with a new translation of the Bible into the
modern Croatian language, which is available for free.
Preachers from various churches
visited Croatia as teachers at Spring and Summer gatherings thanks to a new approach in
organizing these meetings.
The ministry started being actively involved in the distribution
of Bibles in partnership with the EEM (Eastern European Mission), which resulted in the
distribution being further extended from Croatia to the countries of Southeastern Europe.
The management of the ministry moved from classical Church leadership to an
independent Board of Directors, and the ministry also became a legal entity in the USA as
an independent Christian ministry.
After eight years of work, 01.04.2023. brother Jura accepted a new offer and started
working for the EEM ministry and "Croatia for Christ Inc." continues to operate under the
leadership of the Board of Directors and the Holy Spirit to the glory of God the Father.
Decision on the appointment of Jurica Lazar
The brothers in USA and Croatia decided to find a new person
who will continue to develop this ministry and around Christmas 2014 it was decided to
appoint Jurica Lazar from the Varaždin Church of Christ as the Managing Director of the
service.
Brother Mladen's leaving to the Lord
In September 2013, after the unexpected leaving of brother Mladen Jovanović to the Lord,
his personal Christian ministry that he developed under the name "Croatia for Christ"
remains active. Radio shows are still produced and broadcasted, and churches continue
their annual gatherings.
Beginnings of the Ministry
In 1967 Mladen Jovanovic was a young linguistic professor at the
University of Zagreb. At that time two American student missionaries, sent
by the Crestview Church of Christ in Waco, TX began their private classes
at his faculty in order to learn the Croatian language. Mladen was their
professor. However, they wanted to use the Bible as their study text which
was OK with Mladen. We are not sure how much Croatian they each
learned but Mladen began to question his own faith, reading the Bible and
he was eventually baptized and committed to Christ. Dragica, his wife was
later taught and baptized. They started a church, together with Ivan Tesic
in their homes which grew slowly and Mladen made the decision to work
full time as a minister of the Gospel.
Initial support and oversight for there family was provided by the
Northside Church of Christ in Santa Ana, CA for a few years. In June,
1982, Mladen was introduced to the elders of Bammel Road Church of
Christ from Houston, TX, where they assumed his oversight and ministry
throughout Croatia. During these early years of his ministry, a small
apartment was rented close to the centre of Zagreb, in 1984 that
apartment was purchased and the Amruseva Church of Christ consistently
grew in numbers.
The former Yugoslavia, which Croatia was a part of,
broke into six separate countries in 1991-1995 when Serbian forces
created war in the region. Refugees from Croatia and Bosnia and
Herzegovina fled to Zagreb where the church became a humanitarian
outreach providing shelter, food, clothing and support. Churches in
America sent many containers of supplies to Zagreb for assistance.
Church at Amruseva street outgrew their meeting place and Mladen made
a request to buy and improve a large home in a residential area close to
transportation and still central to Zagreb. God provided funds through
many different sources to make this acquisition and all improvements
required and in May 2000, the Church move into a new building. Since
then the Kuslanova Church of Christ building is the home of the Church of
Christ in Zagreb and the home to the Bible Institute of Zagreb.
Mladen and Dragica Jovanovic's legacy and commitment to expand God's
kingdom throughout Croatia is well known in Croatia, Europe and America.
