Author Archives: plstepp

Please pray today for the Croatian economy, and for the Croats who have lost jobs or lost income due to the coronavirus shutdown. Pray for the believers of Croatia to be generous with the little that they have, rather than grasping it more tightly. And pray that American Christians will also respond to uncertainty withContinue reading “Pray for the economy”

A few days ago I asked you to pray for Vukovar. Yesterday I learned that the minister from the Church of Christ there is in the hospital in critical condition. Today, please pray for healing for Vlado Pšenko. Pray that God will heal and strengthen him so that he and his wife, Renata, will beContinue reading “Pray for Vlado Pšenko”

Yesterday (Sunday) Zagreb was awakened by a 5.3 earthquake, centered about eight miles northeast of the center. I have heard that one person died in the quake. I have not seen confirmation. Damage appears to be mild-to-moderate. The worst is to the older buildings, especially from the Center to the east. The Biblical Institute’s librariesContinue reading “Earthquake, Coronavirus, etc.”

Vukovar is a city on the eastern border of Croatia. It was heavily damaged during the war of the 1990’s, and a great war crime committed there. The city has a large Serbian population, and the Serbs and Croats there are heavily divided. The city is wounded, torn by internal hostility. To my knowledge, thereContinue reading “Pray for Vukovar”

Pray today for the preachers & teachers in Croatian churches. Pray that God will speak through them and that their hearers’ hearts will be open to what the Spirit says.

Today, Christians gathered at BIZG’s Centar biblijskih istraživanja (Center for Biblical Research) to discuss the Christian family & raising children. The presenters are all parents and ministry practitioners, experts in theology, family ministry, and psychology. Pray today for the Christian marriages in Croatia. Pray that God would protect those marriages & bind husbands & wivesContinue reading “For marriages & parenting”

The combined effects of de facto state religion (Croatia is 85% Catholic), fifty years of communism (1940’s – 1990’s), and trauma from two World Wars and the Balkan wars of the 1990’s have combined to make Croats slow to hear and consider the gospel. Pray for the Holy Spirit to open hearts and minds.

Adapted from Ephesians 3.14-21 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen the believers in Croatia with power through his Spirit in their inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith. And I pray that theContinue reading “A prayer for Croatia”