Video Feature: Forum Regathering 2016

Forum Regathering 2016 was held in Cluj-Napoca, Romania at the end of September. Forum Regathering take place once every two years with the intention to gather together the alumni who attended any of the Forum projects in the Balkans and beyond in previous years. This time 60 participants from 10 countries came together to share their stories, inspire and encourage each other, and go through the refresher course of what it means to be leaders who pursue leadership of service and reconciliation, informed and modeled by the person of Jesus.

Video Feature: EDI 2016

EDI - Economic Diplomacy and Integrity Forum continues to grow in strength and impact. The EDI Forum 2016 held in July in Fuzine, Croatia gathered 30 participants from 10 countries. The relevance of the themes, all of them anchored in the person of Jesus, and calling for the formation of political and business leadership with integrity, continues to make EDI Forum an appealing and transformative experience. The vision and appeal of EDI is often picked up by the participants who are encouraged to organize EDI weekends in their own countries. Thus, very successful 2016 EDI Albania and 2016 EDI Transylvania were held in Albania and Romania in March and November of 2016. 

Forum Video Update March 2014

ROM – Renewing Our Minds initiative is going strong after 15 years of its service to the young leaders of the Balkan region and the world. So are its sister initiative EDI – Economic Diplomacy and Integrity Forum, and our governing organization Forum for Leadership and Reconciliation. Together, for the year 2014 we have planned seven key projects that focus on reconciliation, peace building, and leadership development and mentoring – all of them firmly grounded in the teachings and example of the person of Jesus. Watch this video update to learn more.

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

MUCH MORE THAN A CONFERENCE

Renewing Our Minds 2013 Gathering in Fuzine, Croatia finished a couple of days ago with the 2013 Southeast European summit of regional representatives. We now begin with the season of reporting on the powerful month of July in Fuzine, with the focus on the two-week long 2013 ROM Gathering of young leaders from 15 countries. This first report was released yesterday by Brett McMichael:                                       

We just finished an intensive two-week peace, reconciliation and leadership conference with young adults from all over the Balkan region.  The conference is called ROM for short or Renewing Our Minds.  We learned about conflict resolution and questioned aspects of our identities.  Looking beyond just our ethnic and national identities, we considered our unique identities as creations of God.  Indeed the principles of Jesus were at the center of all we learned about and did.  So when we dealt with difficult issues such as wars in the region and forgiving those who have harmed us, we saw Jesus as our example to follow.

We also addressed such challenging issues as human trafficking, poverty, racial and gender discrimination, and organized crime. Realizing that we are all equipped with gifts from God to serve others, we were called to action to prevent or at least alleviate the suffering caused by the issues mentioned above.  I spoke to the participants about the Biblical mandate to serve the hungry, sick, orphaned, imprisoned and refugees for example.  Jesus teaches that when we help “the least of these” we are serving Jesus himself. We had plenty of fun too, such as trips to the beach, team building games, hikes in the mountains and songs around the camp fire.  

In addition to peace building the ROM conference also focused on leadership development.  We want these young adults attending ROM Gathering 2013 to assume leadership positions in various fields (political, economic, educational, social etc.) in their respective countries. However it is not just enough to learn leadership skills without having the proper character. Thus being a leader of integrity who is transparent and trustworthy is just as important as having great communication skills.  Again we looked at Jesus as a role model, but also looked at the lives of Abraham Lincoln, Mother Theresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr and William Willberforce. The key is to be a servant leader - one who is humble, but not self-degrading.

Renewing Our Minds is much more than a conference.  Strong, often life-long friendships are forged that transcend national, ethnic, religious, class and other boundaries that divide us.  I am blessed by many friends I have made from previous ROMs and am happy to have gained even more from this year's ROM conference. Now I am relaxing for a couple of days before I serve at another event: a camp for orphans from Bosnia-Herzegovina.  Blessings to all of you.

Brett McMichael, Forum for Leadership and Reconciliation, Executive member

OUR FOCUS AT THIS TIME

Renewing our Minds (ROM) initiative is an international movement of young leaders, with the roots in Southeast Europe (Balkans), that teaches young leaders how to embrace each other and develop lasting friendships despite their religious, national and ethnic differences. For the past fourteen years ROM has been encouraging young Balkan leaders to adopt a new paradigm – one of forgiveness, reconciliation, peacemaking, humanity created in the image of God, loving one’s neighbor as oneself, and leadership of integrity

There are four areas of a continuing strength and vibrancy of the Renewing Our Minds initiative. ROM is foremost a mission that challenges paradigms and assumptions, and refines the characters of young leaders. Then, it is a place where forgiveness and reconciliation are demonstrated realities. Moreover, ROM is a community in progress where loving one’s neighbor and leadership of serving are taught and practiced. Furthermore, it is the environment where all teaching ingredients are anchored in the teachings, example and following of the person of Jesus. All of those together form the life defining impact of the ROM mission.

Our focus at this time is on the 2013 Renewing Our Minds Gathering, a two-week leadership and reconciliation seminar in Fuzine, Croatia, 13^th – 28^th July, 2013. A selected group of fifty young leaders, from 15 countries, representing diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds will attend. Objective: To teach young leaders about forgiveness, reconciliation, understanding of the current issues, and leadership of integrity and service by exposing them to the teachings of Jesus.

Will you partner with us by helping our mission today? Please donate by clicking on the “Donate Now” button. Fill out the form completely. IMPORTANT: On the form under “Please direct my donation to:” select “Project Support”, and under “Select project of your choice” select “Forum for Leadership and Reconciliation”. Thank You!

Forum – Transforming Leaders in a Divided World

One and a half years ago Renewing Our Minds (ROM) and Economic Diplomacy and Integrity Forum (EDI) formed a new organization, Forum for Leadership and Reconciliation (Forum).  Forum is now taking the Renewing Our Minds and Economic Diplomacy and Integrity Forum to a new level. It builds on the fourteen years of ROM experience. Martha S. Weiss, Chairwoman of Forum talks about her experience with ROM and some of the reasons Forum came into existence to support the future growth of ROM and EDI. Forum for Leadership and Reconciliation is about developing leaders transformed by the person of Jesus in a divided world. 

Ambassadors of Peace in a Divided World

Become a part of an amazing story of Renewing Our Minds (ROM) and Forum for Leadership and Reconciliation (FLR) ministry born in the Balkans and on a mission to develop leaders transformed by the person of Jesus in a divided world.

Hear the stories of transformed lives and life of service of hundreds of young leaders across the Balkan Region and the world. See what happens when young leaders, divided by ethnic and religious nationalism, are invited to meet together around the person of Jesus.

The story of ROM and FLR will be shared by Jeremiah Collins, MDPC High School Outreach Director; Matthew Rejmaniak, MDPC and ROM team member from Houston; and Tihomir Kukolja, MDPC and The Antioch Partners missionary partner, and Forum for Leadership and Reconciliation Executive Director. Special music will be provided by Matt and Cameron Hammon, music and worship directors at Olivette Music and Missions ministry and Ecclesia Church, Houston TX.

The program will start at 6.30 pm on Wednesday, Feb 27, 2013; Parlor, Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church, 11612 Memorial Drive, TX 77024.

Welcome. Invite your friends. Your timely RSVP will help us plan better. Let us know ASAP if you are planning to attend. Looking forward to seeing you at the evening of sharing “Ambassadors of Peace in a Divided World”.

Tihomir Kukolja

Renewing Our Minds, Director

Forum for Leadership and Reconciliation, Executive Director