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Sharing America's Resources Abroad in Serbia - June 2007

By Randy and Grace Gehres

Nothing is quite like starting the summer with a nine day SARA trek to Serbia and back again.  Grace and I, on behalf of our Orrville congregation, joined company with 6 others:  Drs. Matt and Cristal Schaeffer, who were also exploring opportunities for Medical Mission International, Amy Jo West and her son Steven, intrigued with the lure of their Hungarian heritage, Rev. Attila Szemesi, group organizer and leader, and his son, Alexis, visiting his grandmother (Attila’s mother) in the region of our travels.

We were met with extravagant hospitality by the Christian Reformed Church (Hungarian), SARA’s primary mission partner in the Vojvodina province of northern Serbia.  Pastors dined us in their homes and told us about the congregations.  Doctors and administrators gave us the grand tour of their medical facilities. The very impressive Ecumenical Humanitarian Organization (EHO), also an important SARA partner, showed us their many projects benefiting seniors, flood victims, Roma, the disadvantaged living in the city of Novi Sad, and people dealing with disabilities, cancer, and so forth.

We dispatched our responsibility of delivering supplies and funds to churches and projects — some $20,000 along with laptop computers and suitcases full of mostly medical supplies.  We were impressed by the spirit of stewardship with which local leaders received these gifts and by their careful accounting of how last year’s SARA funds were used.  

More than that, we were impressed by the persevering determination of those we encountered.  After a half century of communism followed by a decade of civil strife and warfare, faced now with extraordinary unemployment, a large number of refugees within the country, and new challenges to church life, the people we met were nevertheless focused on the future, on improving the health and welfare of their communities, serving the least of those among them, building up the church, and offering the Gospel to the many who need some good news.

Daily travels brought us to three day care centers.  

• The Bethesda Day Care (city of Backa Topola) is a lovely facility and impressive program for children with disabilities, the only such provider in that area (www.bethesda.org.yu). It also has the only handicap ramp and parking in the city.  

• The Feketic Day Care for children and young adults with disabilities provides therapy, meals, and crafts in the former German Reformed Church school building.  

• The Church Day Care Center for young children, located in Pacsir, is the only church-run day care in Serbia.  Children of working families are here prepared for school and learn to live in community together.  The pastor’s Bible lesson on Monday provides the basis for the week’s program and introduces them to Christian life.

We visited three clinics as well as a mental hospital.  In Magyar Itabej, we left money for an EKG.  At Mali Idjos, we funded a pilot project of preventative mammogram screening for 100 church women.  The orphanage in Subotica, 134 of whose 160 children have special needs, received support and hopefully encouragement for its overworked staff. 

The Ecumenical Humanitarian Organization in Novi Sad, under the leadership of Beres Karoly, is a dynamic place.  We gave particular support to their Cancer Center – the only one of its kind in the region – and for social service ministry with the Roma, including a cottage industry.  The EHO Center for the Disabled is one-of-a-kind in Serbia that equips folks with every sort of disability to use a computer.  A promising new day care center for seniors and those disabled is now being built.

Church life and the situation of pastors was particular interest to me.  I was privileged to preach at the church in Feketic.  Despite the differences, the task of the church is much the same as here:  to provide good worship and instruction in the faith, involve the young in the worship and life of the church, communicate the gospel to many who neither know nor are committed to Christ, and represent the compassion of Jesus to the great needs around them.

We enjoyed the beauty and unexpected delights.  Cherry trees were everywhere laden with ripe fruit.  Storks, pheasants, and rabbits on steroids could be seen in the fields as we drove by.  The Danube is stately, the ice cream wonderful.  The church center where we lodged was a pleasant treat.  There we were surprised to meet another guest, Dr. Oroszi Pal, visiting from the Christian Doctors Association in Ukraine where we had met him on a SARA trip 5 years ago.

We thank God for a safe and successful trip, for Attila’s good-humored leadership, and for Christian brothers and sisters who live and serve so faithfully in that part of God’s world.

Sharing America's Resources Abroad