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)…
