ROM 2016

Towards the end of the 2016 (ROM) Renewing Our Minds Gathering in Fuzine, Croatia last August, Jack Fallow, ROM speaker and mentor wrote and shared the following poem that summarized how he experienced the 2016 ROM Gathering and its amazingly diverse community:

ROM 2016

Poems write themselves, you know

They plow out from the pen

Sometimes at ROM, the rhythm flows
And it’s happened – once again.

Fifteen countries came to talk

To share, to listen, learn

Emotions flowed, and tears did too

As we started to discern

That

Our National Love

Comes not from above

That our National Pride

Creates thoughts to divide

Yes, iconic structures

Create mental structures

That tell us we’re better than them

That we will excel

As they go to hell

Because God rings our National bell.

But – God made our world a place

For the whole human race

And here we are – Each one a star

With talent and gifts that abound

And now – as we leave – Don’t forget to believe

That these people around you,

Are part of your team, can help with your dream.

They can all sing your song, as you travel along

They are part of your team, whatever your scheme

But they are not THEY, In fact they are ‘WE’

We have no stones to throw, wherever you go, there’s an ‘US’

That you meet here at ROM, And each is an “I” as part of the ‘US’

So, when you’re alone

There’s Facebook, Skype and phone

And we shall be the bone

That straightens you back

When your will might crack.

And when you’re up high

With your head in the sky

Just continue observant

Of the call of THE SERVANT

Jack Fallow

Appeal: Help Us Build a New Generation of Leaders

Thank You for Donating Today!

Dear Friends,

With our recent refugee relief missions in Serbia and Croatia we demonstrated that the young leaders emerging through our leading ROM – Renewing our Minds and EDI – Economic Diplomacy and Integrity Forum projects are more than ready to apply in real life situations the principles of radical leadership of service inspired and modeled by the person of Jesus. 

Forum for Leadership and Reconciliation (Forum) is now moving forward with seven international leadership projects planned for 2016. However, at this time we would like to draw your attention to the 2016 Renewing Our Minds (ROM) Gathering of young leaders, that will take place in Fuzine, Croatia, August 11^th – 28^th. We are expecting 60 young leaders from at least 15 countries to take part this two and a half week long intentional learning gathering. 

For many years ROM has been an impacting international mission advocating radical leadership of service, peace building and reconciliation. ROM teaches young leaders how to embrace each other across various ethnic, racial, national, religious and political divides. It challenges paradigms and assumptions, and refines the characters of young leaders according to the teachings and example of the person of Jesus. 

A group of participants attending ROM 2015

For the hundreds of young leaders from 50 countries, becoming a part of ROM community over the past seventeen years has become a defining and life transforming experience. Many ROM alumni have emerged as leaders of influence in their countries, who are today making a difference in the political, social, humanitarian and religious arenas. Likewise, over those years ROM has given birth to a number of new leadership projects and initiatives. 

Since most of the ROM participants who will take part in the 2016 ROM Gathering of young leaders live in the countries that are economically challenged we need your help. Most of them are not able to cover the conference expenses. We never allow financial limitations to be the factor that will decide if our program candidates should not attend our programs. This is why we are now asking you to help us help those who are not able to cover the expenses of the 2016 ROM Gathering.

Thank you for partnering with us in this important initiative of peace building, reconciliation and development of leaders transformed by the person of Jesus in a divided world. I am sure we will all agree that our work is becoming increasingly needed in the world that is becoming more fragile each day, and in need of leaders who are willing to serve and love their neighbors radically and in the Spirit of Jesus.

We will keep you informed faithfully about the progress of this fundraising action and the development of the 2016 ROM Gathering as we move closer to August 2016.

Love and blessings.

Tihomir Kukolja, Director, Renewing Our Mind

Forum for Leadership and Reconciliation

EDI 2015: Miracles in Sun-Scorched Lands

Visit the EDI 2015 Photo Album

1 Kings 17:16 For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah.

At EDI (Economic Diplomacy and Integrity Forum) rain poured out in Fuzine, Croatia.  It poured out on the participants and the team of EDI 2015.  This was not a literal rain but a spiritual rain that God gave to all of us who attended these 11 days together this July in Fuzine, Croatia.

The current reality of our countries cannot be glossed over; all are experiencing some types of crisis.  For the majority of participants and team coming from Southeast Europe a recession with no end in sight has gripped their countries.  The happiest thoughts of the young people are to flee to a Western country (this were the actual desires of several participants when they first arrived at EDI).  Although this is not necessarily bad for them, what about the countries they would leave behind?  Will they continue to be dried up, sun-scorched lands?  Even prosperous Western countries like the US and Norway, two other countries represented this year at EDI, have their own cultural, financial and spiritual crises.  At EDI we did not gloss over these realities but neither did we let them determine our present and our future.

God impressed us during the days of EDI 2015 that we will be those who hold the rains of blessing, the joy, the flour and oil that will not run dry no matter what happens to the surrounding around us.  We are the “7000 that will not bow our knees” (1. Kings 19:18) to circumstances and the winds and ways of the world, but are emboldened by Jesus and his principles to make a difference together.  To bless our nations financially, culturally, and spiritually acting out the principles of Jesus together, determined to speak, walk, act, and love differently.

At EDI we were encouraged and taught by well selected professionals in business, economics and politics.  Robert Maricak, former CEO of General Grafik in Croatia, encouraged us to avoid corruption, to pay our taxes, be people of integrity, to be entrepreneurs and take risks.  Eimert van Middlecoop, former minister of defense in the Netherlands, taught us about the values and traditions of Jesus that can be brought into politics. Samuilo Petrovski, National Director at IFES for Serbia and Montenegro, spoke on leadership and diplomacy.  Gerti Bogdani, an Albanian politician, reiterated that we can have the miracles of peace in the midst of storms, with God fighting on our behalf.  Others that filled our jars were Jack Fallow, former CEO of UK Gasforce, who spoke about maintaining the flow in our work life and through literature from authors such as Plato and Tolstoy taught us what it means to be people of integrity. 

Experts discussed relevant issues facing our countries.  Mihaela Kovacs, Director of Fundatia Baraca Sighisoara in Romania, Margareta Mihalic, project manager at Autonomous Centre (ACT) in Croatia, and Andrey Ivanov, Head of sector, Roma and Migrants integration at European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, taught us about the Roma situation in Europe using practical examples of reconciliation and love.  We also addressed the discrimination and empowerment of women, and the current waves of media manipulation. The later was addressed by Tihomir Kukolja, BBC trained radio broadcaster. Through it all we were given hope. 

Thanks goes to Drazen Glavas, Head of ET!K, a Croatian company committed to Education, Training and Kommunication (communication), and Camelia Popa, artist who also runs an art school in Romania.  They helped us explore our gifts and talents and we learned to write out and live our life goals as well as express who we are in art.  And through the second annual EDI creative competition, participants presented visions of change for their countries and committed to practical solutions for bringing hope to our nations.  For the team, who were previously EDI participants, EDI held its first series of advanced EDI courses where they could continue to grow through private mentoring designed especially for them.

In small groups, recreational trips to the Adriatic coast and conversations during breaks, participants and team members dialogued about our lives and cared for each other with sincerity and depth.  People were open about their difficulties as well as their joys, dreams and visions for their own lives, their communities, their countries and the world.  It was a time of refreshing and inspiration for all of us. 

By the end of this forum I felt that I had been amongst amazing men and women that will be God-made miracles in their sun-scorched lands, bringing rain where there is none.

Justin Kagin, EDI Director

This is What ROM is About

Since 2001 Allen Belton has been a speaker and mentor every summer at the ROM (Renewing Our Minds) Gathering which takes place in Fuzine, Croatia. Here is Allen’s brief report on the past summer ROM Gathering.

My time in Fuzine at the Renewing Our Minds Gathering 2014 was rich inspirational experience for me and everyone attending the gathering.

I would like to share one story that demonstrates that. It is about two young couples. Both couples were married just before ROM and both couples decided to come to ROM for their honeymoons. Shenaj and Erman Belegu are from Kosovo. Shenaj’s first time at ROM was in the summer of 2013 and she decided to bring her husband to the next ROM. When I asked her why they came to ROM for their honeymoon she said, “Because I don’t know of another place that has so much peace, that I can feel so comfortable and be myself. I wanted my husband to experience this place for himself.”

The other couple just married who came to ROM 2014 were Marko and Mateja Stupar, from Serbia. They have been part of ROM for a number of years. “ROM is our extended family and we wouldn’t miss it”, they said. They shared a joint wedding reception, together with Erman and Shenaj, at ROM Gathering 2014.

The remarkable thing is that not all is well between Serbia and Kosovo, and ROM is probably the only place in the recent history of Serbia and Kosovo, where one could witness two couples, one from Serbia and another one from Kosovo, celebrating their marriages together, in the same room.

This is what ROM is all about. Each person that experiences ROM is a change person. I am a changed person. ROM is a time to learn from one another, a powerful time of building relationships, learning about Jesus, a time to have our minds renewed and being challenged to home and make a difference.

As a speaker at ROM I felt that what God gave me to share with those present at the last ROM was well received, understood, appreciated with open minds and hearts. I had many one-on-one conversations, and God used me to help others see that Jesus loves them, and that in God’s eyes we are all ‘Designer Originals’.

Allen Belton, published by Balkan Task Force Newsletter, October 2014.

Highlights 2014

As we are coming to the end of 2014 let’s enjoy watching these two videos highlighting the two main gatherings that took place in Fuzine, Croatia in July and August 2014, Economic Diplomacy and Integrity Forum (EDI) and Renewing Our Minds 2014 Leadership and Reconciliation Gathering.

Ambassadors for a Better World

Onehundred ROM and EDI alumni, together with their family members, from ten countries, celebrated together 16 years of the Renewing Our Minds (ROM) initiative and 8 years of Economic Diplomacy and Integrity Forum (EDI), formerly known as Economic and Diplomacy Seminar, at the 2014 Forum Regathering held on Fruška Gora near Novi Sad, Serbia, 10^th – 13^th October, 2014.

The 2014 Regathering was a time of learning, reflection and celebration of the history of ROM and EDI since 1999. In a special program reflecting on their history Stevo Dereta, the president of Life Center International in Croatia, ROM visionary and its cofounder, spoke about the early beginnings of ROM in the post-war years prior to 1999. Mihaita Lupu from Romania shared his experience of attending the ROM Gathering in 2001. Justin Kagin form USA and Milan Pavlovic from Serbia, cofounders of EDS, now EDI, talked about how ROM inspired the birth of Economic Diplomacy and Integrity Forum in 2006. Mihaela Kovacs from Romania, founder of EDI Transylvania, spoke about how two years ago the vision of EDI in Croatia inspired the birth of EDI Transylvania in Romania. Martha S. Weiss, the chairwoman of Forum for Leadership and Reconciliation (Forum) spoke about the origins and work of Forum, the organization that oversees and supports the activities of both, ROM and EDI since 2011. Maria van Oost, ECPM representative from The Netherlands welcomed the partnership between European Christian Political Movement (ECPM) and Forum for Leadership and Reconciliation (Forum).

Tihomir Kukolja, who has been serving the ROM initiative since the end of 2001 as its director, reflected on the early days of ROM when Vesna Tift and Drazen Glavas, its first directors, set the basic framework and strategy for ROM. He stated that reconciliation, peacemaking, leadership of service and integrity remain to be the key ingredients of ROM. “But it is the centrality of Jesus that has made ROM uniquely successful and genuinely transformative in the lives of its participants in all the years since 1999”, said Kukolja. He said also that ROM is changing too, not in its vision and spiritual focus but in its scope of services, in tune with the changing times and their challenges. He said, “We need to bare in mind that today we are beginning to receive among the ROM participants the children of those who attended ROM gatherings 15 or 16 years ago.”

The overarching theme of the Regathering was “Ambassadors for a Better World”.  Speakers and topics were well selected. They covered ethical leadership, ethics of reconciliation, integrity in economy, struggle against modern-day forms of slavery, and centrality of faith in Jesus in all spheres of leadership. Among the main speakers were Samuil Petrovski and Aleksandar Santrac from Serbia; Allen Belton, Justin Kagin and Jeremiah Collins from USA; Zefjan Nikolla from Albania; Jack Fallow and John Field from UK. The Regathering highlight was the presentation of Marko Stupar and Dobrila Pejin from Serbia, two outstanding activists involved in spreading the awareness about the evils of human trafficking in Serbia and the region.

In addition to the main annual events Renewing Our Minds Gathering (ROM) and Economic Diplomacy and integrity Forum (EDI), both held in Croatia for two weeks every summer; and recently developed project EDI Transylvania in Romania, and a new Middle East reconciliation project, every second year Forum organizes regatherings such as this one with the intention to bring together alumni that have attended its programs at different times since 1999. Some of the previous regatherings took place in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia and USA. The purpose of the entire spectrum of Forum activities, including regatherings, is recognized in its vision and mission statement: “Developing leaders transformed by the person of Jesus in a divided world.”

The 2014 Regathering was organized by Forum for Leadership and Reconciliation from Seattle, USA, in partnership with EUS – Association of Evangelical Students from Serbia, ECPM – European Christian Political Movement from The Netherlands, and LCI – Life Center International from Croatia.

ROM, A Life Changing Initiative

Renewing Our Minds (ROM) Gathering 2013 was the fourteenth annual ROM Gathering held in the picturesque township of Fuzine, Croatia. Since the first gathering in the summer of 1999, ROM has remained consistent with its vision -“Developing leaders transformed by the person of Jesus in a divided world”.

A two-week long ROM Gathering 2013, 13^th – 28^th July, attended close to 60 young leaders from 15 countries. They came from Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, Romania, Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Northern Ireland, as well as Australia, New Zealand and the US.

The 2013 ROM program, designed to be intentional, relational and transformational, majored on friendship development between young leaders of different faiths and ethnicities. Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, Muslims, and agnostics were present. The program focused on leadership of service and on leading young leaders to their own personal transformation in regard to forgiveness, reconciliation and peace building.

ROM Gathering 2013 was uniquely impacting and transformative in the lives of all attending. The intensity of mutually encouraging communication that has flourished between all participants since the end of ROM Gathering 2013 two months ago, as well as the contents of journals and surveys, witness to the depth of the impact.

“Initially when others told me that ROM is a life changing experience, I did not believe them. But now I can say that ROM 2013 has been a life changing experience for me”, said a participant from Romania attending a ROM gathering for the first time. “I am excited to be in relationship with world changers who long to participate in creating a world that transcends history of brokenness, fatalism and despair”, wrote a ROM 2013 participant from New Zealand.

A participant from Albania said: “This is what inspires me! In our own society to create the same society of genuine, loving friends that we had there in Fuzine, by loving each other with the great love of God!” And a 2013 team member from Macedonia reflected on her first ROM experience four years earlier: “I felt the infinite and unconditional love of God, given to me through the organizers and speakers at ROM 2009. I decided then to follow Jesus, and this was the beginning of my spiritual journey that truly changed my life and healed my past.”

One of the successes of ROM Gathering 2013 is seen in the number and quality of presentations delivered by young speakers emerging from within the ROM community itself.

While ROM Gathering 2013 enjoyed the contribution of a number of academically proficient professionals in the fields of peace building and leadership development from the world and the region, the strength of this gathering was the quality and variety of themes covered by speakers who were ROM participants only a few years ago; most of them from the Balkans.

Their presentations included themes such as human trafficking in the Balkans, serving the least in our communities such as the poor and children with special needs, and fighting the evils of ethnic and minority discrimination. Moreover, the prevailing themes at ROM Gathering 2013 were – leadership with personal and corporate integrity, forgiveness and reconciliation, and following Jesus of Nazareth as the best example in leadership and peace building.

Another success of ROM Gathering 2013 was the official launching of the first five Forum (ROM and EDI) Southeast European Representatives; the project had been in formation for a few years but came to fruition in 2013. Their role will be to coordinate the follow-up of ROM and EDI activities, as well as to assist the vocational and spiritual growth of ROM and EDI alumni across the Balkan region. Another four Representatives will be added in the summer of 2014 to complete the process of adequately covering the needs of ROM and EDI communities across the entire Balkan region.

In summary, every element built into a two-week long 2013 ROM program played a deliberate role in helping the process of education and transformation of all attending. Some of them were the Empathy Night, sharing evenings, lectures, workshops, various group activities, Café Dialogue, Trinity Forum, and purpose driven film nights and excursions.

In the heart of the 2013 ROM Gathering, however, were well-structured small groups. We had five small groups that met every day for two hours. It is within the privacy of a small group that the change of heart and transformation takes place in the lives of ROM participants.

In the past years ROM was governed by its founding organization, Life Center International (LCI) from Rijeka, Croatia. Since the end of 2011 ROM, as well as Economic Diplomacy and Integrity Forum, are governed from Seattle WA, USA by a new organization, Forum for Leadership and Reconciliation (Forum), while LCI remains to be the key regional partner in the ministry of ROM and EDI in the Balkans.

ROM initiative in the Balkans and beyond is unique in that it brings Jesus and genuine demonstration of His love into the heart of its reconciliation, peace building and leadership development curriculum. Therein is the secret of the high transformational impact of ROM demonstrated in the lives of hundreds of young leaders who have encountered ROM .

Tihomir Kukolja, Renewing Our Minds, Director