I received Christ as my personal Saviour at the age of twenty-three. Our church has a heart for missions, and the Lord began to burden me for missions about a year after I was saved. I surrendered my life and prepared for Bible college soon after.
A few weeks prior to graduation, a missionary shared with me his burden for Croatia and the great need for the True Gospel Light there. After much prayer and seeking of God’s will, the Lord gave me a burden for the people of Croatia, and a peace in my heart about surrendering my life to go to that country in Eastern Europe. We are being sent by Faith Baptist Church in Aransas Pass, Texas, where Chris Boatman is pastor.
My wife, Traci, also received Christ the same year I was saved. She, along with our three children, Matthew (12), Xavier (10), and Trinity (7), are excited about serving our Lord in Croatia.
We ask that you prayerfully consider letting us share our burden for the field of Croatia and become part of your missionary family.
Philippians 4:17 “Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.”
Philosophy of Missions:
I believe that God is interested in reaching people with the salvation message throughout the world. Matthew 28:18-20.
I believe that this same power that Christ gave to His disciples is available to us as Christians to go and spread the gospel to all nations. Acts 1:8.
I believe that this verse is a clear command from Scripture to share our faith with those around us, in Texas and around the world. In addition, we also believe that God calls faithful believers out of local churches, as He did with Paul and Barnabas in Acts 13, to serve as missionaries and go "to the uttermost part of the earth" and preach the gospel.
My Goal is to preach the Gospel to a country blinded by Catholicism, see them saved, baptized, grounded in sound doctrine, train nationals and start indigenous Baptist churches. Just to the south and east of Croatia are three countries (Serbia, Bosnia, and Montenegro) that all speak Croatian, but they have no independent Baptist churches. My aim is to see some Croatians surrender, and go into those countries and spread the Gospel of Christ.
A note from our Pastor:
Dear Pastor,
I am writing to recommend Scott & Traci to you and your church, as they begin deputation to raise their support for the field of Croatia.
Scott and Traci were both saved here at Faith Baptist Church in Aransas Pass, Texas and became dedicated and faithful members. They worked in the bus ministry and in the children’s ministries, and became youth leaders. Anything that was asked of them to do, they would willingly do. While serving faithfully in these ministries in the church, Bro. Scott felt God’s call to preach and surrendered to follow God’s call upon his life to the foreign mission field. This young man has a love for the Lord, and a desire to see souls saved, that is rare to find in this day and age. He attended and graduated from Norris Bible Baptist Seminary, and as he prepared for the ministry, he excelled as an outstanding student with an irreproachable testimony.
Pastor, our church family loves this special family, and we will do all that we can to support them prayerfully and financially. The Holcomb family will be a blessing to your church and would be a positive addition and asset to your mission ministry. Any investment you make toward their ministry in Croatia would be a wise investment in souls and would impact eternity.
I trust you will prayerfully consider allowing Scott and Traci Holcomb to share their burden for the lost souls of Croatia with your church and become your missionary representative, laboring on that field for you.
Prayerfully,
Chris Boatman
Pastor Faith Baptist Church
About Croatia:
Geography
The Republic of Croatia is bordered by Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. Its long Adriatic coastline has over a thousand islands and islets - some of the larger islands are Brac, Krk, Cres, Hvar, Korcula and Mljet. Croatia is about the size of West Virginia.
Zagreb is Croatia's capital city.
The Croatian landscape includes mountains and highlands, areas of karst (limestone), plains, rugged coastline and islands. Croatia has hot summers and cold winters. In winter it is milder along the Adriatic coast, particularly on the island of Hvar, known for its good weather.
Environment
Croatia has a beautiful rugged terrain. Fields of lavender, vines, olive trees, peach trees, laurel and cypresses are all part of Croatia's landscape.
Wildlife found in Croatia includes bats, foxes, deer, lynx, wild sheep and bears. The country's coastal waters are inhabited by a variety of fish, dolphins and other sea creatures.
Population
The population of Croatia was estimated at 4,494,749 in 2006. Most of the people are Croats with minorities of Serbs, Slovenians, Bosniaks, Hungarians and Czechs.
Languages
Croatian is the official language.
Food
Croatian cuisine includes seafoods from the coastal waters and meat dishes such as cevapcici (sausage-shaped minced meat), raznijici (grilled meat on skewers), sarma (minced rice and meat rolled in cabbage leaves) and djuvec (stew).
Religion
Over eighty-seven percent of the people are Roman Catholic and more than four percent are members of the Orthodox Church.
During the past several years, the religious situation in Croatia has changed considerably. During the long years of the Communist regime that began after World War II, all religious groups, large or small, were oppressed. Some were able to maintain their activities, under tight controls; others were simply forbidden. The Communist goverment strictly supervised all religious groups, through the government’s Committees for Relations with Religious Communities, backed up by the police and secret services. Today democracy has returned to Croatia, and freedoms have been restored.
For now, at least, freedom has meant a surge in religious activity. Groups which operated for so long under such strict control now find that they have ready access to social institutions. They are free to exploit the mass media, or even to open their own media outlets, if they have the financial resources necessary to sustain such an effort. In fact many new groups have chosen that route, and the airwaves are cluttered with appeals by astrologists, faith healers, and a variety of other New Age practitioners.
We need to reach them now with the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. There is only one Independent Baptist Church in Croatia but with your help and support we hope to start new churches all over Croatia!