It’s time for some BIG personal news!
I’ve been invited to speak at the national minister’s conference in the country of Croatia on September 28 of this year, for a very special event.
The official launch of Je Mit Grasshopper!
The Grasshopper Myth is being translated into the Croatian language.
If you’re wondering how this happened, here’s the short version.
When The Grasshopper Myth first came out, we sent copies to friends, including Ditmar and Elizabeth Mittelstadt, long-time German missionaries. One weekend, a Croatian pastor was visiting them and started to read their copy of the book.
The Croatian pastor took that copy home with him and presented the concepts from it at the Croatian national pastors conference. That day, the pastors voted to have The Grasshopper Myth translated and printed in Croatian, and distributed to pastors throughout Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia. (The Bosnians and Serbs can read Croatian).
The book has been in translation for months. I didn’t mention it here until now because I wanted to wait until the launch date was official.
About Croatia
Croatia is a Balkan state in eastern Europe, across the Adriatic Sea from Italy. It was a part of Yugoslavia, a socialist state, from the end of WW2 until 1991 when it fought for and won its independence.
In addition to the conference, I’ve been invited to speak at their largest church – a congregation of about 200 people. “Mega” means something different to them than it does to us.
The southern third of Croatia is the region of Dalmatia, where Dalmatian dogs come from. Croatia is the the nation we can either thank or blame for the necktie, first worn as cravats by the Croatian military in the 17th century.
Plus a Chance to Serve Those Who Serve Us
In addition to ministering in Croatia, I’m talking with US military chaplains in Germany who have read The Grasshopper Myth. We’re working to coordinate a time to minister to them while Shelley and I are in that part of the world.
The opportunity to serve our military chaplains is such an honor. Combined with the Croatia book launch, this promises to be the trip of a lifetime.
Please Pray
Please keep us in your prayers as we move towards this. That this is happening at all is completely God’s doing. (Seriously. Croatia? Who’d have thought…)
The potential impact for the gospel in the Balkan states through these pastors and their churches is something we can’t even imagine. My main prayer is that I stay out of God’s way and don’t do anything to mess this up.
The need for pastoral materials in former socialist states is massive. That something I’ve written can be helpful to believers and leaders who still face enormous struggles is a blessing from God that is beyond my ability to take in.
Fundraising is not the aim of this post. But, to answer the inevitable questions, yes we will be needing financial help for this effort. We have to raise our fare to Croatia and, of course, there will be no royalties coming from any Croatian books. They’ve needed help just to raise the funds for the translation and printing.
We don’t even know how much it will cost yet, since this has just been confirmed, but something in the range of $4,000 is likely.
If you’d like to help, click the donate button. It’ll take you to our donation page where you can give using any credit card or PayPal.
If you need a tax deductible receipt, that isn’t ready yet, but we’ll be setting it up through my church, Cornerstone Christian Fellowship, soon.
We are overwhelmed at this opportunity. The need is great. But God is greater.
Thank you for your prayers.
So what do you think? Will you pray with us for the Croatian, Bosnian and Serbian churches, and for our U.S. military chaplains?
We want to hear from you. Yes, you!
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