08. Aug 2023

Prijedor - Omarska

Video: In the heart of the town Kozarac is this memorial to the 3500 muslims who were massacred there in 1992 during the war. A man who spoke German was showing his nephew who was visiting from Germany the name of a relative listed on the memorial. I talked briefly with them and expressed my sorrow for what had happened there. I also said that I wanted to pray for God's healing grace, peace and spirit of reconciliation to be at work in the hearts of the families of the victims, whether they would like to be there when I prayed. They stayed and recorded the moment on their phones. I have found it helpful to say that I am from Cincinnati, Ohio near Dayton, as it was the Dayton Accord in 1995 which ended the war. It was obvious to me that the pain if the past was still very present.

Photo 1: I stayed last night with Pastor Danko Malešević in Prijedor. His church runs a thrift store among other humanitarian ministries in the community. His favorite Bible verse is on the truck: John 11:25-26. Last night I spoke at the prayer meeting which met at his house. The time of worship was very simple, but also sincere and refreshing. Pray for Pastor Danko and his team. They are doing a great work.

Photo 2-3: Orthodox churches and mosques fill the landscape. Pastor Danko suggested I walk a different way and not spend the night in my tent in the town I had planned to do. He knew someone who runs a camping place up in the hills and arranged for me to stay the night there. That changed my route which also led to a number of God-Talks. The first one was with a lady from France. I got to use my left-over French and testimony from last year's camino. Shortly thereafter another woman greeted me from her gate. I said that I speak English and German. She got real excited and called her husband. After the war they found a new life in Switzerland. This was their vacation home in their village. The husband, a muslim, had been a prisioner of war for 7.5 months. Ever since then he cannot speak clearly. The wife is a Serb and Orthodox. She related how Jesus appeared to her in a dream and healed her of a number of illnesses. I also related how I had a speach impediment as a child and that through my mother's prayers I was able to overcome it and that Jesus set me free from the fear of people and the fear of speaking. I prayed then for the husband that God would help him as well. I cannot say that he was immediately healed, but I did notice that his words were coming a bit easier. About 2 kilometers further I saw a car with German license plates and a group of people sitting in front of a house. I greeted them in German. They invited me to have some watermelon. I love watermelon! We talked and then prayed. The two men had also been prisioners of war. I prayed for healing of the pain in the soul. Just before coming to this house, I walked by multiple graves where the massacred had been buried. God have mercy on us humans for what we will do to each other...

Photo 5: Pastor Danko's friend on the left who runs the campground. There was a group of men celebrating a bachelor party. I got to have a plate of the grilled specialities as well. They were singing and making music all afternoon and evening. No sense to try to sleep... so I got my blog updated!