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.
Showing posts with label Serbia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Serbia. Show all posts
Saturday, 10 October 2015
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.
Labels:
compassion,
Croatia,
Empathy,
EUS,
Human Rights,
Humanitarian Aid,
Hungary,
Refugees,
ROM,
Serbia,
Video
Wednesday, 7 October 2015
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
Labels:
Belgrade,
Borders,
Croatia,
Human Rights,
Humanitarian Aid,
Hungary,
Immigrants,
Neighbors,
Refugees,
Serbia,
Šid
Saturday, 3 October 2015
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)…
Tuesday, 29 September 2015
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.
Labels:
Belgrade,
EUS,
Horgos,
Humanitarian Aid,
Humanitarian Crisis,
Photo Album,
Refugees,
ROM,
Serbia,
Sid
Monday, 28 September 2015
How I Lost My Scarf
Photo: Liviu Bocaniala
in the middle between Mateja and Marko Stupar.
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
And don’t worry, I will know them by the scarf…
Author: Liviu Bocaniala
Friday, 25 September 2015
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
Labels:
Croatia,
EDI,
EUS,
Forum,
Human Rights,
Humanitarian Aid,
Hungary,
Loving Your Neighbor,
Refugees,
ROM,
Serbia
Thursday, 24 September 2015
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
Labels:
Croatia,
Emigrants,
Humanism,
Humanitarian Aid,
Humanitarian Crisis,
Hungary,
Immigrants,
Refugees,
ROM,
Serbia,
Syria
Friday, 11 September 2015
ROM Community Response Appeal Follow-up
Refugees at the Serbian - Hungarian border. Photo: Milos Nikolic
Dear Friends,
It is in a good
way overwhelming and exciting to watch how this initiative that was born just
over a week ago is growing fast and strong. The words of Jesus: "When I
was hungry you gave me something to eat..." (Matthew 25:35) are becoming
fulfilled through your actions of kindness and generosity. Many of you have at
this time put aside a number of other important things to focus for a while on
our action "ROM Community Refugee Response".
Since our first ROM Refugee
Day of Action in Belgrade, Serbia is only one week away - Friday, 18th
September, and since we are addressing the global community of our
friends, and since time is of the essence, allow me to follow up on our
appeal by sharing a few more hints that might be helpful as you are at this
time planning to give or/and get involved:
1. For our
friends in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Romania, Serbia and
Montenegro, and UK:
Please, check
the names and contact details of your national coordinators, and
contact them immediately to see how to pass on your donation to them.
It is important that we complete the collection of funds and items in
your countries by Tuesday afternoon, 15th September so
that the timely transfer of donations may be organized. If you are planning to
give a monetary donation remember that no amount is too small or too
big. Give what you are able to give. I like the comments of some of you who
told me: "ROM has given so much to me and now is the time for me
to give something back".
Also, should we
need to have a vehicle available to take a group of people
or/and donated items from your country to Belgrade, let us and your
country coordinators know as soon as possible if you can make your
car and yourself available.
2. For our
Friends in Other Countries:
The time was
too short to organize national coordinators in your countries. We would like
you to send your donation immediately, and no later than Tuesday, 15th
September, directly to any of the accounts presented at the end of the appeal
letter. Please mark it as "Golden Rule Project". If you
would like to use some other method of sending us your donation please consult
Mihaela Kovacs, Bojan Ruvarac or me first. It is important that the
monetary donation you intend to give will reach us in Belgrade by Thursday,
17th September the latest.
3. Four our
Friends in the US:
We are
impressed and encouraged that since we launched our appeal yesterday among our
friends in the US we have already been notified about the first group of
donations. Please continue sending your donations by checks or
electronically to The Antioch Partners as
specified at the end of the appeal letter. Your checks need to be noted
as "Forum - Project Golden Rule". Since time is of the essence
please send us your donation immediately, or by Tuesday, September 15
the latest. Please also, notify any of our US coordinators by an
independent email as soon as you have submitted your donation.
4. For Those
Planning to Come to Belgrade and Serve the Refugees on Friday, 18th September:
We are looking
for a dedicated group of friends who are passionate about helping the refugees.
If you are planning to come we would need to know you are coming by
Monday night, 14th September, in order to organize
an accommodation for you in timely manner. We are not able to
receive the last minute registrations. If you are coming we are expecting
you to arrive to Belgrade on Thursday afternoon, 17th September. As
soon as we know who is coming and the exact number we will send you all other
arrival and accommodation information.
5. Praying for
the ROM Community Refugee Response action and the Day of Action in
Belgrade:
Let us also
give through prayer, and
thus become a big prayer team. This is an important action and
our contribution to the softening of the current refugee crisis in Europe that
seems to be growing by each new day. Let us pray for a bigger picture too, that
the Lord may move the hearts and minds of people of the European governments to
find a suitable and humane solution for the hundreds of thousands unfortunate
people who are seeking a safe place where they could build their new homes. Let
us pray also that the witness of Jesus may shine through our action, however
modest it might be if compared with the magnitude of the challenge. And, indeed let
us pray for everyone who will come to Belgrade to serve, as well as for
those who are already on the streets and in the fields of Serbia, Macedonia and
Hungary helping the refugees in many ways.
May I also take
this opportunity to thank EUS (IFES) Serbia; Samuil Petrovski, EUS
Director, and ADRA Serbia for letting us do this action if partnership
with them.
Finally, join
our FB ROM Response Prayer Group and see our regular updates about the refugee
situations in Serbia.
Love you all.
May the Lord bless you abundantly.
Tihomir Kukolja
Renewing our
Minds, Director
Forum for
Leadership and Reconciliation, Executive Director
+1-281-515-3707
PS: Please
visit often the following pages for timely updates too:
Labels:
Following Jesus,
Humanitarian,
Refugees,
Serbia
Thursday, 26 February 2015
Thursday, 22 January 2015
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.
Thursday, 18 December 2014
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, 10th – 13th
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.
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