Letter from Serbia: Peace to the peacemakers

Mennonite Central Committee
Saturday, 8 January 2000

BELGRADE, Serbia -- "Brother, would you have something you would like to share with us ? Just 15 minutes or so, as the Spirit leads?"

It was the Sunday before Christmas and I was visiting a small charismatic church in Belgrade. What to say? My immediate thoughts were that I am here in this part of the world because of a commitment to peace building, so why not talk about loving your neighbor. Before I could settle into comfortable thoughts about what I would say, I was struck by the realization that this would be the first time I had spoken about peace here, in this country, where my own nation had so recently bombed. Could I speak to these fellow Christians about loving their enemies, when the enemy is my own people?

After a period of energetic singing and dancing in worship, it was my turn to speak. I briefly introduced Mennonites and spoke of Mennonite Central Committee's (MCC) response to needs around the world. I said in addition to meeting humanitarian needs, MCC has been working to respond to conflict, which too often underlies the needs.

I said that we are all aware that our nation has so recently bombed their country, so it is especially important to us personally, to MCC as an organization, and to the Mennonite church, that we are here, to extend the hand of friendship, to communicate that we do not support the war that was inflicted on them, to build relationships of trust. Heads were emphatically nodding all over the room.

I spoke of our call to love our neighbor, to love even our enemies, from international enemies to the "enemy" who lives within our own churches or even our households, who can sometimes be the hardest enemy of all to love. All the while, the emphatic heads continued to nod in supportive response.

When I sat down, the pastor responded. This church had prayed throughout the bombing that they would be spared from hatred and bitterness, he said. He expressed gratitude that they had been able to maintain a spirit of forgiveness. This was the first visit of Americans since the war, he said. He invited the congregation to pray a blessing over us as a symbolic way of praying a blessing on the American nation.

So we were once again invited to the front of the room. Brothers and sisters from the congregation joined us, laying their hands on us. The praying broke out all around, some in Serbian, some in English and some in tongues we could not understand. They prayed for forgiveness and for blessing. Tears began to flow. The pastor embraced me. We prayed aloud together, thanking God for the gift of Christian brothers and sisters — brothers and sisters experiencing God's grace across the divide of nations, even across the divide of war. We prayed for the healing of our nations and for the healing of people in both nations.

I had been wondering how I would re-discover Advent, here in Serbia, where many of the things that usually activate the Christmas feeling for me would be absent. On this inauspicious evening it was just a small group of believers. An unremarkable evening in an unremarkable room. But the unexpected happened. The peacemakers brought greetings, nothing so remarkable. But the gift given in return? Spectacular! The gift of peace to the peacemakers.

Isn't that the way it has always been from the very first Advent announcement? Even when we are not expecting it, the grace of God's gift breaks into our experience with a surprise.

For more information, or to contact Mennonite Central Committee, see their website at: www.mcc.org