Christmas Metaphor

The first thing I noticed as I entered the Refugee Camp in Slavonski Brod, Croatia less than three weeks ago was a big Christmas tree shining in the middle of the camp. It was a sign of hope in a place through which thousands of the world homeless journey, day and night on their way to a hopefully better place and better future. 

The second thing that made me think about the birth of Jesus every day in the refugee camp were the two shelters our ROM team was building. We were told that they would be used as the nursing places for the refugee mothers with babies during the cold and wet winter months. In a way they would be to the refugee mothers and refugee babies what the sheltering manger was to Mary and the baby Jesus on the cold and uninviting night in Bethlehem the night Jesus was born. 

The third thing that made me reflect on Christmas was the picture of constant movement of refugees - families with children, young and old alike, through the camp and onto the trains ready to take the refugees further, to Slovenia, Austria, Germany. They made me think of how Joseph, Mary and Jesus were forced to run away from their country after Herod had decided to kill the child. In alike manner those refugees are continuing to run for their lives away from their homelands in which the blood-thirsty warlords are seeking to destroy their lives.

And the forth thing that reflected the spirit of Christmas were the volunteers, full of enthusiasm, serving and blessing the refugees with the gifts of warm clothes, hats, gloves, jackets, shoes, food and hot tea in the way the shepherds and the wise men of the East blessed the new born Jesus with their presence and gifts. 

Yes, there is much that links the birth of Jesus with the fate of the millions of refugees and immigrants. In fact, singing “Silent Night, Holy Night” passionately at this time and indulging in many Christmas gifts without noticing or caring about the global movement of the millions of the world homeless will make us hypocritical followers of Jesus, who might be good Christians according to the standards of the popular and convenient Christianity, but are profoundly disconnected with the heart of Jesus.

The same Jesus whom we romantically adore as a helpless baby later in His life said quite seriously, “Whatever you did for the list of those you did for me”. He meant a business because He said He would judge us on the basis of what we do about it.

Trail of Hope

ROM (Renewing Our Minds) team, in partnership with IFES (EUS) Serbia spent three intensive days serving Syrian refugees on the Hungarian and Croatian borders in Serbia, September 2015. They witnessed thousands of young people and families with children, many walking with crutches and in wheelchairs, moving forward ever closer to the West Europe. The relief work of ROM and EUS is motivated by the summons of Jesus: “Whatever you did to the list of these, you did for me!” Time: 5:20 min.

Are We in Belgrade Yet?

Author: Ilija Mićović

Soon after we passed the town of Šid we arrived to a dirt road and some cornfileds.  We were less than two kilometers away from the Croatian border.

We quickly started to unload our vehicles and joined several groups that were already there.  Then the first group of refugees came with a bus as we were setting up all the bananas, water bottles and snicker chocolates. One volunteer, from a different organization, upon seeing us carrying the full box of packaged wet wipes, told us that it was awesome that we brought wet wipes, because, as he said, “they really like those”.

As the first bus stopped, men and women, children, young people and elderly were coming closer to our small food and distribution point. They had pale faces, some exhausted from many days of wondering and walking. They were hungry too. One refugee asked me: “Are we in Belgrade yet"? I wondered about how informed some of the refugees were about where they were going? At that place they were only a few minutes away from Croatia, and one hour by car from Belgrade.

We witnessed some surprising and moving moments. We saw a father carrying a daughter in his arms. She had casts on both of her legs. She was not older then 6 or 7. Our team decided that we should use our van and couple of cars we had to transport that whole family to the border, plus a few more mothers, children and people with hurting legs. That became a rule from that moment onward. Mothers with little children would get a free ride to the border. Unfortunately we could help only a few families at a time.

As I was handing out bananas to those who walked by, one middle-aged man, with anxious expression on his face stopped for a moment next to me, as if to clear his mind. I smiled to him as I offered him a banana. He returned the smile as if to honor my effort, and a moment later continued to walk as anxious as he was only a few moments before. Did he worry about the unknown things ahead?

By the night hours we gave away almost all we had. As we started to worry a bit about who would take care of the refugees when we leave, a group of volunteers from the Czech Republic arrived. They brought strollers and things that would make transportation of young kids easier. And then more people come from different organizations to help throughout the night hours.

As we were leaving our post next to the cornfields near the Croatian border I thought about two young Syrian men whom we met two days earlier at the Hungarian border. The border was sealed and they could not enter Hungary. A couple of hours ago we met them again, but this time as they were about to cross the border into Croatia. They were very happy to see us, talk to us and laugh with us, at least for a moment. We event took a picture with them, and then they were on their way again, into the corn fields with the rest of their group, with many more walking behind and ahead of them. In the next fifteen minutes or so they would be in Croatia.

My intention is to continue helping the refugees. I will apply today to join the volunteers at the Depot Center, where immigrants in Belgrade can get free items, from food to warm clothing and hygienic necessities.

Ilija Mićović

Meeting Jesus on the Refugee Trail

Sojourners Sept 29, 2015 published the article of Tihomir Kukolja

The moment our RCRR (ROM Community Refugee Response) international team moved to the Hungarian and Croatian borders in Serbia, we were under attack from Christians who did not approve of our action. They warned us that we were “naïve and misguided.” Some even said that we were “aiding terrorists and human traffickers.”

In their view, the trail of the thousands of refugees from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and other people groups, including Kurds and a number of Christians, across Europe is the result of a sinister plot to “conquer Europe with Islam.” They often used Bible verses and questionable hermeneutics to buttress their views.

Our team, a collaboration between the Renewing Our Minds (ROM) initiative and EUS Serbia (IFES – International Fellowship of Evangelical Students Serbia), could not disagree more with the concerns of fellow believers who see the current refugee crisis as a serious threat to “European Christian culture and identity.” Our ROM Community Refugee Response, as we called the action, involved a group of followers of Jesus, mostly young leaders from Serbia, Romania, Croatia, Israel/Palestine, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania, the U.K., and the U.S. We embraced the challenge that if there was ever a time in Europe to demonstrate the love of Jesus toward people in distress, this is it as Europe faces its most overwhelming challenge since World War II.

We wanted to make a statement of love, compassion, and empathy. The summon of Jesus was clear to us: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40)…

See more at: https://sojo.net/articles/meeting-jesus-refugee-trail/

ROM Refugee Response Photo Album September

Take a moment to visit our selection of photos featuring the RCRR – ROM Community Refugee Response action in Serbia in September 2015.

How I Lost My Scarf

Photo: Liviu Bocaniala 
in the middle between Mateja and Marko Stupar.

Author: Liviu Bocaniala

I am no hero.

I am just a poet, a bare foot one, most of times.

The words are my very best friends, and in some instances, my worst enemies.  This is one of those instances – how and where do you start to describe, or explain, or make one blind observer of the whole situation understand what is really going on? 

And what is really going on?

So I thought to myself to simply describe how I met my new friends from Syria.

I do not know how to recognize a terrorist (unless it is bloody obvious!).  So I am not really sure if there were any amongst the people we met.  All I could tell you is that when we reached the border between Serbia and Hungary on our first day there, we saw simple people of flesh and blood and sweat and tears; and dreams and hopes.  In the middle of those piles of litter the miracle of a smile made more sense than ever.  The smile of a child running around careless, the smile of a mother exercising her role with holy cadences, the smile of a dusty dark men…  the more one would smile at us, the more tears I could feel filling up my chest. 

They soon started rolling down my cheeks, while I offered a bag with some food and some water to a woman holding a three months old baby in her arms.  What a way to enter the world!  It didn’t make any sense.  “What an incredible mess!”, I turned around and told Tihomir and then I run and hid behind the van ashamed of my tears.

Out of that crowd, two young men approached us; again, smiling; and we started talking to them.  They were both studying English literature back in Syria.  They told us their story of the last two months’ trip until the Hungarian border.  They didn’t want any food, or water.  “There are others who need it more”, they told us, and they actually helped us deliver some packages.

As we were talking, they asked me, “Do you have any coffee?  We didn’t have any coffee for the last twenty days…”.  Knowing my addiction to excellent coffee, I did understand them.  And while we were preparing to leave, hugging and taking pictures with them, I went to a tent where I’ve noticed that a charity from Romania was offering tea and asked them if they had any coffee in their supplies.  After a minute, one of the Romanians came out and handed me the only jar of soluble coffee that somehow was hiding in their luggage.  I asked my friends to hold the van for a minute and run towards the actual border where I saw our new friends walking after we said our goodbyes.  I spotted them in the middle of a large group, sitting quietly on the ground, surrounded by groups of journalists, just in front of the barriers – their way of protesting to the whole messy situation.  I handed them the jar of cheap coffee, apologising for God knows what, as if their lack of coffee was my fault.  And run back to the van.

Syrian refugees stuck at the Hungarian border

Two days after this, and about a thousand and more people later, to whom we offered water and some supplies to help them continue the trip, in the middle of a field of corn just around the corner from the Serbian/Croatian border, two large surprised smiles of our two new friends greeted us from the crowd.  We welcomed them as if they were old friends.  It was a short encounter this time.  They were rushing towards the Croatian border.  We said goodbye, again, setting our hopes higher this time and promising each other to have coffee together in a free world, in a pub in Norway.  We gave them more coffee and I wrapped my scarf around the neck of one of them…

I thank God for this story of newborn friendship in the middle of all that panic and terror and hopelessness.  I do not know if I will ever meet those two Syrians ever again.  I do not know where they are.  I do not know if they were saints or something else? I still know next to nothing about them.

But I do know that, if I will ever find myself walking the streets of any free city in any free country, anywhere in a free world, and I will recognize my friends, it will be my honour to treat them to a cup of excellent coffee.  And take time and listen to their story again.

And don’t worry, I will know them by the scarf…

Author: Liviu Bocaniala

Refugees are not Terrorists

This was the first update I sent to a group of friends and partners immediately following the three days of humanitarian action for the Syrian and other refugees in Serbia, organized by the ROM Community Refugee Response team, in partnership with EUS Serbia (IFES Serbia) one week ago. At the time of writing of this update, which was written in one breath, I was flying from Belgrade back to Houston. This was on Tuesday, Sept 22, 2015.

Dear Friends,

For us who came to Serbia to serve the refugees those were three days charged with emotions and dedication. Initially we planned only one day of action, but we had enough material and funds to keep on serving the refugees for three days, first at the Hungarian border and than close the Croatian border near Šid. The later was more powerful because we were serving the incoming rivers of hungry refugees, who were arriving in waves, in one bus after another from the Hungarian border and even more from the Macedonian border. As the buses would arrive the refugees would immediately start walking towards the Croatian border, with only a short stop to pick up whatever they needed to continue on.

My current and rough estimate tells me that in three days we were able to help, one way or another, between 1500 to 2000 refugees. We even used our cars to take up to 100 children and their mothers, and some people who had serious difficulties walking or serious medical problems, and help them with the final two kilometers leading to the very border with Croatia. For all of us in the group this was powerful, moving and overwhelming experience, and we were all filled with inner satisfaction that we were at that time there where we were needed the most.

Soon following the opening of the Croatian border for the refugees, media announced that Croatia closed its border for any incoming traffic from Serbia. While this was true for the official border crossings for a few days, the factual truth is that the border has never become closed for the refugees. Thousands upon thousands of refugees have been streaming across the border from Serbia into Croatia since last Tuesday, without stopping.

At the Hungarian Border near Horgos

The other thing about media is that they tend to focus on the negative side of any unveiling story. The stereotype is that the refugees look like a wild crowd of people who do not respect their surrounding, throw garbage everywhere, often cause problems, and are ready to riot when not let further. Often media are deliberate in presenting them as a nuisance, a future trouble for Europe; even future terrorists.

But what we experienced was something different. The refugees are mostly young people and young families, or early middle-aged families. There are many children among them, and many babies. Many refugees are well educated and they speak good English. We spoke with many of them. They always show gratitude for what is being done for them. They do not mind talking to you and answering your questions. Some even said that it is moving for them to see that Christians love them, while their own people do not want to help them. Many of them are hurting from walking. Many are weak from the days and weeks spent walking and slowly moving forward. Some have been on the road for the past two months. Often we heard them saying: “You are good people, thank you very much”. And giving them a handshake or even a hug was something many appreciated. They certainly do not look as if they are future terrorists sent to terrorize Europe .

Our conclusion is that those people are genuine refugees who left their countries because there was nothing good awaiting them there any more, except certain death, kidnapping and unwanted conscription. Some of them said: "Some people judge because they see us with smart phones in our hands. But what people do not understand is that at home our lives amount to nothing. It is not only ISIS. We have multiple enemies there. If one group does not kill you today, another one will come into your village tomorrow and treat you just as wickedly. And if those do not kill you a week later another group may come and kill you just the same. And they are all equally evil." Those people are emptying Syria and Iraq because they want to find a home in a place where they and their children would be safe. Most of them are from Syria, but there are also the refugees coming out of Iraq, as well as Afghanistan. There are many Kurds among them too, and some Christians too.

The current refugee crisis has placed the enormous amount of pressure on Serbian and Croatian, two countries that to date have given the best example of how the refugees ought be treated. A the same time Serbia and Croatia fear that too many refugees might get stuck in their countries as the winter months are fast approaching, and at the time when some other European countries are refusing to open their doors to the refugees.

Serving the refugees moved us deeply

We need to pray that all the European countries will understand that they have a part to play in accepting the refugees. USA, Canada and Australia need to be generous too. EU should develop a clear policy about it and release the burden of the Serbian and Croatian shoulders, and share the burden in a balanced manner. No country should act arrogantly and determine that the refugees are not their problem. Those refugees are the real people, real men and women, families and children, and we all need to embrace them.

What now? Our action moves on. The refugee crisis in Serbia and Croatia is here to stay at least for a while. At this time we are developing a follow-up strategy. In Serbia we will continue to partner with EUS (IFES) Serbia. In Croatia our partnership will be clearly defined in the next several days. We desire to move on because this is the time when ROM Community needs to lead with their example. Our action in Serbia, and actions that will follow represent well what ROM and our organization Forum for Leadership and Reconciliation stand for: to teach the young leaders that serving the most vulnerable is the best demonstration of leadership. When we are doing that we are serving Jesus, we are being little Jesus' to them.

Thank you friends for your amazing support provided in many ways. It was thanks to you that instead of serving the refugees in Serbia only for a day, as originally planned, we were able to bless them by serving and loving them for three full days.

Tihomir Kukolja, Forum for Leadership and Reconciliation Executive Director

AMONG THE REFUGEES

The Author: Bianca Bortoneanu

At first I did not want to talk about this experience. But now I believe it is quite important to share what I've lived through, together with my ROM team for a few days in Serbia as we were helping the refugees at the Hungarian and Serbian borders.

I am not quite sure yet if it was empathy or something else, but from the first moment I was invited to join the group I felt in my heart that I have to be there, with the refugees, to truly understand the truth about the refugee crisis in Europe. 

I am not a person who talks a lot. And I still do not have much to say because so much happened in those three days that cannot be expressed with words. Simply, you must be there, feel everything, see their eyes, and get involved to begin to understand.

None of us in the ROM Community Refugee Response (RCRR) team and EUS (IFES Serbia) team could sleep well any of the nights throughout the duration of our action. Guess why? Because all these people, all those children, all the despair in their eyes, and all their stories of hardship – all of those and more kills you slowly and touches your heart deeply inside. In our team there was not a single soul that did not cry at times.

Let me give you some examples. Many among the refugees are mothers and children, little kids walking with big bags in their hands. We saw many people with hurting feet, supported by crutches and wheelchairs; people who were tired, exhausted, sick.

Someone told me that they decided to finally escape after their neighborhoods were bombed and family members killed. Families walked for miles through the night to avoid being caught by soldiers who would kidnap their young men and force them to fight. So they had no other choice but run away as far as they could. Those people have left behind literally everything, their memories and their whole lives.

I remember someone telling us that the neighboring countries, those who share the same or similar culture with them did not want to help them. “And yet you are Christians and you love us!”, they said.

And what was truly amazing in all of this was to see a sense of unite shared between all of us who came to serve the refugees. At any given time several different groups would come at the same to help with food, water, and other things that the refugees needed. Quickly we would all become as if it were one team, standing side by side in the spirit of Jesus.

On this occasion I would like to make appeal to those who are critical of the whole refugee movement in Europe and of us who are trying to make their journey a little bit easier. Stop judging people and their actions! Stop create barriers between us, and try to put yourselves, for a moment, in their position!  Nobody leaves his or her entire life behind in a land thousands of kilometers away and risks everything to reach a safe country for no reason!

Try to think what would you do if you were one of them walking through the dusty cornfields in a faraway and strange land?

Bianca Bortoneanu, Bucharest, Romania