Brooke and Karen Butler

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After serving at Stanford University for 10 years, we arrived in Croatia in January of 1994 with two children (Kara and Morgan) and another long-term couple. Our third daughter, Alexandra, was born in 1994 and our son, Luke, was born in 1996 in Zagreb.  Luke graduated from UCSD (San Diego) with a Masters in Nanoengineering, Aly is in grad school at UC Davis after graduating from Cal, Morgan is pursuing Med School after completing a Masters at the University College London and Kara is enrolled in a Fine Arts Degree program in New Paltz (SUNY), New York. During our 20 years in Croatia and Bosnia, God graciously blessed our work by causing the team to grow to over 40 staff. 

And after 17 years as the National Team Leader for Croatia and Bosnia, we are pleased to report that in September (2012), this position was given over to a very capable Croatian, Domagoj Malović.  After coming to Christ through our student ministry, Domagoj and his wife, Biljana, joined our staff team in 1996 as one of the first three national staff members. We are now in the third chapter of our ministry in The East Bay at UC Berkeley (CAL) and Saint Mary's College of Moraga (SMC) as we focus on the athletes through Athletes in Action. Athletes in Action is a ministry division of CRU that focuses on the domain of sport. And we continue to minister to Croatians through a partnership, working alongside the Croatian staff team through short-term projects.

Sport is the one language that knows no boundaries and sees no distinctions. It unites cultures, transcends values and defies convention. When words fail, a game can speak. Athletes in Action is committed to using the language of sport to communicate the most powerful message of all: God’s passionate love for his children as communicated through his Son, Jesus Christ. It’s a story that’s changed our lives, given us purpose and hope, and we long to tell this good news to others. Our mission is to serve the Cal community, and more specifically the athletic department, as we help athletes and coaches to actively seek and strengthen a relationship with God. In all these activities and responsibilities we desire that many students will respond to the message of Jesus and develop into men and women who will faithfully serve Him throughout their life-times. And our hearts remain connected to the staff and peoples of Croatia and Bosnia. We have taken groups of Cal athletes on Spring Breaks to Zagreb and hope to see longer-term teams raised up to minister there in the near future. 

Website: https://aiabutlersatcal.wordpress.com/

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