About

July 25, 2018

Croatia

Description

Sam and Sarah grew up on opposite coasts of the United States but were brought together through their undergraduate studies at The Master’s College. Knowing they shared a mutual desire to devote their lives to foreign missionary work, Sam and Sarah were married in August 2013. After their wedding, Sam began serving on staff at Crossway Church in Keene, NH. Their firm conviction about the centrality of the local church prompted them to spend several years ministering at Crossway. They wanted to serve faithfully and be affirmed in their call and giftedness for missions. These years were invaluable for fostering a firmly rooted partnership with Crossway Church that would remain steadfast throughout their lives of missionary service. The Wullbrandts have two children, Cooper (2014) and Wren (2016).

A brief history of ministry in Croatia

In 1998, a team of three missionary families was sent out from Grace Community Church. They were invited by a Christian Croatian national named Misko Horvatek who saw Croatia’s dire need for the gospel. In response to Misko’s plea for help, the team of three families set out with the vision and call to do the work of church-planting, church-strengthening, and leadership development in Croatia. Providentially, due to the similar language of the six countries that comprised the former Yugoslavia, their ministry extends beyond Croatia and includes Slovenia, Bosnia, Serbia, Macedonia, and Monte Negro (a combined population of over 23 million souls).

Description of ministry

As members of the GMI Croatia team, the Wullbrandts will continue to build on the foundation that has been laid through leadership training, church-planting and discipleship in Croatia and throughout former Yugoslavia. Sam will train pastors in the skill of expository preaching and shepherding, serving as a professor at Theological Biblical Academy¬–a seminary in Krapina, Croatia that is part of The Master’s Academy International fellowship of seminary schools (affiliated with The Master’s Seminary). The life-giving gospel and the baton of gospel ministry must be “entrust[ed] to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2). The Wullbrandts prize the privilege of involvement in local church ministry, operating under the firm conviction that God’s plan is for local churches to “Equip the saints for the work of ministry” (Eph. 4:12).

  • Our ministry will be to help train pastors through TBA (Theological Biblical Academy).
  • We will also be heavily involved in local church ministry, evangelism, and discipleship.
  • We will focus on church-strengthening and church-planting, training leaders who share this passion.

Our short and long-term ministry goals

  • Transition to life in Croatia.
  • Serve faithfully in the local church while teaching at TBA
  • Partner with a TBA graduate to plant a church
  • Help TBA transition from being led by western missionaries so it becomes fully indigenous and self-sustaining
  • Be a catalyst for replicating faithful ministries throughout former Yugoslavia

 

Get In Touch

Want to learn more? Please feel free to reach out to us in any of the following ways.