They Were Loving Each Other Despite Their Differences

A Story of ROM

Author:

Mark Casey

Trac5 – A Bold Path to Peace

Director of Education and Programs

Speaker at Renewing Our Minds Gathering 2009

I’ve just returned from a 10-day speaking engagement in Croatia. The event is called ROM which stands for 'Renewing Our Minds.' It was a young leadership event that focuses primarily on the Balkan countries, but draws from around the world. There were 15 countries represented in the eclectic gathering representing diverse religious backgrounds ranging from Catholic, Orthodox, Evangelical, Atheist and Muslim.

I felt privileged to share with this group of sharp emerging leaders that included those who lost family members in the Balkan wars, children of elected officials and ambassadors, Palestinians, a gypsy and even a Member of Parliament for a Balkan state. Everyone who attended the gathering knew we were going to discuss reconciliation and leadership based on the example of Jesus of Nazareth. I was blown away by the interaction particularly in our small groups.

After I taught in one of the main sessions on how Jesus is represented in both the Bible and the Qur’an, it stirred up some interesting discussion. I looked across on the sofa at three women sitting side-by-side in my small group as they shared their stories. The first was a Turkish Muslim woman who had to flee Turkey because of death threats on her mother’s life after a brief political career. She lives her faith out visibly by the way she dresses and covers, and these are outward symbols of a deep conviction that she lives out daily through devotion to prayer and modesty. The next woman on the couch was an Irish Protestant who dated a Pakistani Muslim seriously for seven years before calling it off because of religious differences. She spoke graciously of the man, but felt deep in her heart that they were in very different places with their respective faiths and the relationship could not continue. The third woman was a Bosnian Christian who told the story of how she grew up in a Muslim family. At a young age she was drawn to the person of Jesus and so she began learning from an older lady who spoke beautifully of Jesus. Though her father died during the war, she told a happy story of how her whole family now follows Jesus.

Here were three different ladies from three different parts of the world who were as different as they could be, but at this moment in time as they shared their heartfelt stories they were relating to each other around the person of Jesus Christ. They did not all share the same views, but they were talking and they loved each other despite their differences. What amazing Kingdom work God allowed me to be a part of in the beautiful country of Croatia.

Mark Casey, USA, Director of Education and Programs, Trac5 – A Bold Path to Peace

EDI – ECONOMIC DIPLOMACY AND INTEGRITY FORUM THIS SUMMER

Building an Economic, Business and Political Community On the Principles of Jesus

Economic Diplomacy and Integrity (EDI) is a new initiative designed to support the development of young professionals and students in the areas of economics, business and politics which are based in the life and teachings of Jesus. We believe that the best way to fight against unhealthy rivalry among and within nations is to establish an economic and political community based on the principles of Jesus. 

EDI was established on the foundations of the 13-year peace building initiative Renewing our Minds (ROM) and later the 5 years of the Economic Diplomacy Seminar (EDS).  ROM evolved out of the need to heal relationships among ethnic groups after the wars in Southeast Europe applying Jesus’ principles as a platform for establishing friendship, forgiveness, reconciliation and lasting peace in the region.  From 2006-2011, the Economic Diplomacy Seminar (EDS) hosted over 200 participants, continuing where ROM left off, by adding economic and diplomatic principles.

This summer EDI is planning to invite 25 participants, and 15 staff and instructors for series of lectures, seminars, workshops and mentoring events.  Participants will be selected based on recognized leadership in their communities and recommendations of those involved with the program.

The program will be led by Justin Kagin, Director of Economic Diplomacy and Integrity, Leo van Doesburg, East European Representative of the European Christian Political Movement (ECPM), Tihomir Kukolja, Executive Director of the Forum for Leadership and Reconciliation (FLR) and ROM, Mihaela Kovac, Director of Baraca, and the executive team from FLR.

RDI objectives are: a) To engage young professionals and students (ages 18-35) primarily from the Balkan region; b) To facilitate the formation of new business plans and projects and assist in their implementation by developing a plan, working on logistics, and creating a network of support; c) To support professional networks by connecting current participants with former participants, and leaders in EDI and ROM; d) To practically apply the principles of Jesus through regional and community outreach of various kinds; and e) To highlight successful leaders in the region and create a space for them to share and invest themselves in a new generation of leaders.

The 2012 program content will include international speakers and seminars; small groups and mentors; workshops; field trips, and social events.

Economic Diplomacy and Integrity Forum 2012 will take place in Fuzine, Croatia, July 31 – August 11, 2012.

Introducing ROM - Renewing Our Minds

Since 1999, ROM has been encouraging young leaders in Southeast Europe and around the world to adopt a new paradigm – one of forgiveness, reconciliation, peacemaking and humanity, shaped in the image of God. ROM is an intentional community where loving one’s neighbor, and leadership with integrity and service are taught and practiced, and where all teaching is rooted in the person of Jesus Christ. Many who have attended ROM in the past have become leaders of influence in their own countries, or have founded new socially transformative movements and organizations.

ROM is designed as a two or three week transformational gathering to which young leaders from the polarized Balkan region are invited to learn to accept each other and develop lasting friendships, despite their religious, national and ethnic differences. Participants attending ROM often say that a time spent in an intentional community of diverse people, often previously considered enemies, is a life-defining experience. ROM has become a meeting place appreciated by Orthodox Christians, Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, agnostics and atheists. To date, hundreds of young leaders from over 50 countries have attended ROM gathering. That has inspired the creation of numerous other movements, NGOs, organizations and socially transformative groups.

In 2012, the Forum for Leadership and Reconciliation, in partnership with Life Center International, Croatia, is planning the 13^th international ROM Gathering in Fuzine, Croatia.  It is expected that about sixty young leaders from up to 20 countries will take part in a two-week journey of learning and empowerment to become effective leaders equipped to forgive, lead in the process of reconciliation, and make a difference in their communities through sacrificial service and example. The ROM Gathering 2012 has a two-fold purpose: to help build a reconciled, transformed and connected community of leaders with integrity in Southeast Europe, and to mentor young leaders beyond the Balkans in setting new leadership and reconciliation initiatives in other parts of the world. A group of twenty experienced facilitators and speakers will lead the gathering.

Since 1999, ROM’s home has been in Fuzine, Croatia, a charming and friendly town, situated among the mountain peaks, lakes, caves and breathtaking forests of Gorski Kotar, only a short distance from the Adriatic Coast. The Gorski Kotar Region in Croatia has a history of advancing peace and reconciliation. During the wars of the 1990s, Gorski Kotar was the only region in Croatia populated by Croats and Serbs, that was spared the conflict thanks to the deliberate effort of local leaders on both sides to keep the peace and maintain good relationships between the two communities.

Renewing Our Minds 2012 Gathering will take place in Fuzine, Croatia, July 14 – July 29, 2012.

About the Forum for Leadership and Reconciliation

Building Communities Through Transformative Leadership

“Do not conform any longer to the patter of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.“ Romans 12:1.2.

Can a genuine, transforming and long lasting reconciliation take place around the person of Jesus between young leaders from diverse, even opposing ethnic, racial and religious groups? After thirteen years, the Renewing Our Minds ministry has proved that it definitely can.

It All Started in the Balkans in 1999

It all started in 1999 in the picturesque township of Fuzine, in the mountains of Gorski Kotar, at a time when the wounds inflicted by a decade of conflict in the region of former Yugoslavia were still fresh and hurting. A group of young adults involved in the humanitarian and healing ministry of Life Center International (LCI), a faith-based non-governmental organization in Croatia started the international Renewing Our Minds (ROM) initiative.

Over the years the transformative impact of ROM has gone beyond Southeast Europe, and has reached the Middle East, the African continent, the former Soviet Union, the EU, the USA and beyond. Through ROM hundreds of young lives, from over fifty countries, have been directly impacted.  Many ROM alumni have emerged as leaders and are today making a difference in the political, social, humanitarian and religious arenas of their countries.

A number of projects have resulted from ROM, as attendees who have been inspired by its vision, have given it a fresh meaning and application through their own initiatives. One such project is the Economic Diplomacy Seminar (EDS), an annual conference that applies the principles of Jesus to the fields of business, economics and politics. EDS is in its sixth year and has impacted the world of business in the Balkan region and beyond.

ROM and EDS Go To a New Level in 2012

ROM and EDS together formed a new umbrella organization, the Forum for Leadership and Reconciliation (FLR). Formed in November 2011 in the US, FRL is now poised to take the Renewing Our Minds (ROM) and Economic Diplomacy Seminar EDS, now called Economic Diplomacy and Integrity (EDI) to a new level.

FLR builds on the vision of ROM and EDI, to advance the Kingdom of God by nurturing international leaders of noble, forgiving, reconciled and serving hearts, in tune with the person of Jesus. FLR will pursue this mission through holistic, transformative and relational education, training and mentorship; as well as the advancement of caring and serving communities. We believe that God, who has embraced the entire human family in Jesus Christ on the cross, is likewise commissioning his followers to embrace their fellow men and women, friends and enemies across ethnic, national, racial, geographical, cultural, religious and political divides.

This year, the FLR Board of Directors and Executive Team are focused on establishing a firm and sustainable foundation for future growth, and on three key international events that would bring together up to 200 young leaders from 20 countries in the Balkans and around the world. These events are Renewing Our Minds Gathering 2012 in Fuzine, Croatia, July 14 – 29; Economic Diplomacy and Integrity Forum 2012 in Fuzine, Croatia, August 5 – 19; and the ROM 2012 Reunion in Macedonia, September 27 – October 1, 2012.

Tihomir Kukolja

Forum for Leadership and Reconciliation, Executive Director

Renewing Our Minds, Director