ABOUT US
A Few Words About Danijel Dragaš
Born in Croatia, Danijel completed vocational high school in hospitality during his teenage years. University was never part of his plans for the future. Growing up on the streets of the city, surrounded by bad company—and being part of that company himself—his future did not look particularly promising.
So, academic titles, doctorates, and specialized university degrees are not something you will find in this man's background.
MY TESTIMONY
Danijel's story is not the story of a man who set out to become a theologian or religious teacher. It is the story of a man who spent much of his life pursuing his own desires, until a life-changing diagnosis forced him to stop and begin asking questions he had never seriously considered before.
In 2014, a "shock" entered his life: he was diagnosed with an incurable disease. Through a process filled with anger, bitterness, depression, fear, and a sense of helplessness, he began to discover who he really was at the core of his being.
Someone once said, "When a person is confronted with death, their true self and true colors come out."
Thankfully, the day came when Danijel began to honestly ask himself: Why is this happening? Why is this happening to me? Through this process of questioning, he admitted to himself that for most of his life he had been consumed by selfish desires and his own ambitions. He became ashamed of who he was and asked God for forgiveness.
He describes this as both the most liberating and the most frightening process he has ever experienced. Why? Because even the worst thing that had happened to him—his illness—was necessary to bring him to a realization. And that realization led to the freedom he lives in today.
His personal walk with God began at that very moment.
Throughout his life, Danijel had been exposed to different Christian institutions and religious systems. He grew up in an Orthodox family, and because he was born in Croatia, most of his friends were Catholics. During his illness, he decided to explore New Age. Later, he became involved with Protestant Christianity.
Over time, disappointed by different religious systems—and especially by the wrong motives he saw behind them—he decided to leave the Christian tradition that had been part of his cultural background for thousands of years.
Titles are not what drive him. Life experiences created in him a desire for truth. As Danijel himself puts it:
"Freedom is the product of that search, but it is also a great responsibility—the responsibility to share that freedom with those who, like me, are motivated by their life experiences to find answers to the most difficult questions."
Along that journey, several Bible teachers helped him. But one teacher left a particularly deep impression on him: Jack Crabtree.
As Danijel says, Jack answered questions that had troubled him for a long time: Why does he suffer so much through the illness he has? Is that suffering meaningless, or does it have a deeper purpose?
Through three years of studying together with Jack, he came to find answers to those questions. At first, it was not easy for him to accept what he discovered. But the wisdom he received through that study was the only wisdom that made sense to him.
When, through this process of questioning, he finally came to understand who God really is, he found the freedom he lives in today.
None of this would have been possible without the man who helped him find that freedom. For that reason, Danijel is especially grateful to Jack Crabtree, as well as to his dear brother Filip Pintaric, who introduced him to Jack.
Jack Crabtree's material is the result of more than 50 years of Bible study and can be found at soundinterp.site. If you are comfortable with English, we warmly recommend listening to his teaching.
Today, Danijel lives in Croatia with his family, his wife and their two children.