In 2020, the ground in Zagreb, Croatia, began to shake. In a matter of seconds, everything changed.

An earthquake struck the capital city, damaging buildings across its historic center, including the Seventh-day Adventist church that had stood there for generations.

The structure didn’t collapse, but experts determined it was no longer safe. Most of the building had to be removed. Only the original street-facing wall could be preserved.

Since that day, the congregation has been without its church home, planning and preparing for what comes next.

“We are here on the site of the Central Zagreb Seventh-day Adventist Church that was severely damaged during the earthquake in Croatia capital March 2020,” Neven said.

“More than 100 years in Zagreb, there was no earthquake. So when it happened, it was something shocking for us and we were very sad, what happened to our church.”

Among those who grew up in that church is Vjeran.

“I am a child born into the Adventist church and to the exact church that we want to build. I was also baptized there so I have a lot of memories,” he said.

“Church was a place of fellowship where we all gathered together… and in one second it was gone. It created a huge sadness in my heart.”

Vjeran now serves on the building committee overseeing the new construction that will rise behind the preserved historic wall.

“Now with some new hope we are starting to build a new church building… that hope that Jesus gave us to start now with that. That's what we all need and the whole Church needs that,” Vjeran said.

For generations, this address has been tied to the church’s work in Croatia. And what will be rebuilt here will serve more than one purpose.

“A new street building will be built on this site to house the Croatian Conference administration, which was the place from which all missionary activities in the Croatian Conference were managed even before the earthquake,” said a Conference representative.

From this location, leaders have supported churches and organized outreach across Croatia for years. The new complex will once again become a center of worship and mission in the heart of Zagreb.

For the younger generation, that future matters deeply.

“What I see as the biggest loss from the perspective of the youth is that constant place to meet… Because you don't have that constant place where you can always come to and call home,” Evan said.

Without a permanent space, organizing outreach and fellowship has become more difficult. But Evan, a youth group leader, still sees opportunity.

“We're planning actually this kind of missionary activity where we would invite many people from the city, students who are not