Zagreb Bible Institute News

Zagreb Bible institute News - October 2017

A Message From our Director, Dr. Perry L. Stepp

We live in a contentious, noisy world. It reminds me of a great line from a Bob Dylan song: "The Titanic sails at dawn; everybody's shouting, 'Which side are you on?'" Our world is like that. People seem to be in a hurry to take sides; "I'm against THAT," "How can you NOT be against THIS?"

Everywhere we look, people are pointing toward new reasons for fear, anxiety, and anger. God's people, however, are people of peace, children of shalom (Luke 10.6). He calls us to make peace (Matthew 5.9). He calls us to surrender to the peace that the Spirit produces (Galatians 5.22).

Jesus prayed that his followers would become perfectly united (John 17.22-23). That prayer is part of the Zagreb Bible Institute’s heritage and values. It is also a necessary prayer for the Kingdom of God in Croatia. If we are not careful and prayerful, the regional negative spiritual realities of division, mistrust, fear, and jealousy, laid down through centuries of ethnic and nationalistic conflict, can be allowed to weave their way into our congregations and lives, driving wedges between brothers and sisters in Christ.

May we by prayer and Spirit rise above tribalism and side-taking, and the anxiety and fear that accompany them. May we seek God's presence, wisdom, and peace.

Grace and peace,

PLS

Partnership with Eastern European Mission

We are thankful for our partnership with Eastern European Mission (EEM). EEM have been good friends and allies, to churches and other organizations, in advancing the Kingdom of God in Croatia. EEM has helped us over the years with many different publishing projects. One of the most recent of these projects, currently having significant impact in Croatia, is their illustrated children’s Bible.

We mistakenly referred to this children’s Bible as “ours” in the last issue of this newsletter. EEM actually owns the full rights to this work, and they graciously agreed to allow the Croatian version to be published by the Institute. They also generously provided the funding for this project. This has allowed the Institute, together with churches in Croatia, to distribute to date a complete total of around 100,000 copies of this important work.

Student Spotlight
Igor Nišević

Igor is in the finishing phase of our three-year program, which includes course work on the same level as a bachelor’s degree. Igor has also been involved in some of our community outreach activities, such as Champs Camp. He is always willing to help in practical ways, and has shown that attitude through his Practicum experience with us. Igor expresses that the Institute has helped him greatly in his theological and spiritual growth. Particularly, he speaks of professors from whom he has received a quality theological education. Igor says, “Thank you to our Lord Jesus Christ for bringing me to the institute.”

Faculty Spotlight

Danijel Časni

Danijel teaches courses in practical and applied theology. He is also heavily involved in our publishing efforts. Danijel is currently working to complete his Ph.D. at the Department of Theology in the University of Ljubljana, in neighboring Slovenia. He is married and has two children. He is also a leader in a local church congregation.

Certificate Students Complete Their Programs

On September 29, we held a graduation event for several students who have recently completed their Bible Certificate programs.

Receiving the Certificate of Advanced Bible Knowledge:

•   Tanja Božić-Cetinić
•   Alida Fištrek
•   Danijel Fištrek
•   Daniel Jambrek
•   Igor Kapor
•   Marija Kedmenec
•   Matea Novaković
•    Rudolf Pavliček
•   Mateja Stolnik
•   Aleksandar Vladisavljev

Receiving the Certificate of Practical Christianity:

•   Tanja Božić-Cetinić
•   Daniel Jambrek
•   Aleksandar Vladisavljev

Annual Conference of the Association of European Theological Libraries (BETH) Hosted in Zagreb

BETH (Bibliothèques Européennes de Théologie, in French) is an ecumenical association of European national theological library organizations, as well as single libraries. It has a membership of nearly 1,500 libraries from all over Europe. BETH builds networks, supports and promotes cooperation, stimulates library development, and serves the interests of European theological libraries.

The Zagreb Bible Institute in September hosted the annual conference of BETH in Zagreb, along with the cooperation of the Catholic Department of Theology of the University of Zagreb. The topic of this year’s conference was “Digitization in European Theological Libraries.”

Center for Biblical Research News

Our Center for Biblical Research (CBI) continues to host Hebrew Language courses (Hebrews I and II). These courses are designed in such a way that students are acquainted with the basics of Biblical Hebrew language, grammar, and vocabulary. After completing the course, students are able to read and understand the Hebrew biblical text. They also come away with a knowledge of the basic principles of interpretation of the original Bible text of the Old Testament. Out of all this comes a better understanding of Jewish thought, which in turn enhances the quality of interpretation and understanding of biblical texts. Attendees of these courses come from different Christian traditions and confessions. The courses are also open to the general public.

CBI also organizes regular Bible workshops, featuring thematic and interactive studies of various Bible texts. Additionally, public forums are held on various issues, and about Bible translation, especially regarding the rich history of Croatian Bible translations.

Summer Camps

As usual, this summer was full of camps. In June, we marked the seventh year of our Champs Camp, a day camp for elementary school aged children. This camp is held at both our building, and at the large park at Jarun Lake. This summer we served around 100 children and their families over two weeks of the camp. We also had a great group of volunteers from the Southside Church of Christ in Lexington, Kentucky. In July, several of our staff and students were involved in the youth camp that is annually organized by churches in Zagreb and Varaždin. Then in August, several staff members were involved in the annual family Bible camp, conducted on the island of Ugljan.

Fall/Winter 2017 Course Spotlight
– Biblical Counseling

This course, taught by guest lecturers, Jayne and Scott Cuidon, focuses on such topics as:

Various models of counseling
Resolving interpersonal conflicts with biblical principles
Jesus as our counselor

Contact us

Address:
Biblijski institut E-mail: bizg@bizg.hr
Kuslanova 21   Tel: +385 (0)1 233 86 38
HR-10 000 Zagreb Fax: +385 (0)1 230 81 88

www.bizg.hr

Please send your contributions to:

Central European Christian Education Foundation
455 McNally Drive
Nashville, TN 37211

Donations can be made online at this link:

Online Donation to Central European Education Foundation