The pastor making the request was our ministry partner in Sarajevo. We are both part of a group of Christian churches and mission organizations called the Protestant Refugee Initiative. Passionate about demonstrating God's unconditional love for forcibly displaced people in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we work together to meet needs and develop relationships that lead to restored hope.

Building Community As Chefs

I was glad to coordinate this service opportunity and connected with the reception center we'd worked at in the past to arrange for the team to offer a community meal. The team planned to cook for all the reception center "guests" and staff. The team (about 17 people from the USA – ages 82 to 19 years old) made chicken curry, rice, and salad to serve.

During the 3 hours of food preparation, some team members played games of Uno, soccer, and chess with the refugee guests. Others did small crafts and blew bubbles with the children. Throughout this time, I noticed team members taking opportunities to sit with the guests and talk (mainly through the wonderful piece of technology called Google Translate.)

When the food was prepped, the team served a meal to over 120 people. Cleanup was followed by goodbyes and hearty well-wishes all around. After their new refugee friends said their goodbyes and took their leave, we spent a few minutes discussing what the team had experienced.

I met Yousef from Afghanistan...

"I met Yousef and his wife today. They are from Afghanistan. He speaks six languages and is a computer science engineer," one team member shared.

"I met a family who traveled through eight countries to get to Bosnia and Herzegovina! And they have at least four more countries to travel through to reach their family members," another chimed in.

"I met a young man who was also from Afghanistan. He was two years into a human resources degree at university when he had to flee his country."

"Did you see that father celebrating his daughter's sticker collage? It was so cute when he wanted to take a picture of his daughter's artwork. He was so proud of her work!"

"I was able to pray with a mother and her child today. What a blessing to connect at that level."

"Oh, yeah. Me too!"

"For the record, don't play Mustafa at chess. He beat me every time."

Tasting the Richness

Laughter mingled with stories as the team debriefed. Their collective lessons from the day were clear. The refugee families, unaccompanied minors, and single women they interacted with were real people with unique skills and life experiences who loved their families (just like the team members each did).

Displacement had forced each of these refugees to make difficult decisions in life, but they were finding the courage to do their best with what life had handed them despite all the hardships. I could tell in the team's voices and shared stories that they had tasted the rich blessing of loving the displaced.

CLICK HERE to learn more about the work in Sarajevo!