August 14, 2000

WMU sees massive change in two years of Bosnia ministry
___By Teresa Dickens
___Woman's Missionary Union
___SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina--Normalcy is returning to this war-torn city. New construction is everywhere. People are out and about going to work, shopping and enjoying each other's company at sidewalk coffee shops. Children are full of laughter and

ANGIE FRENCH, a senior music major at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, served five weeks as a summer missionary in Sarajevo, Bosnia. During a July 11-14 Bible club sponsored by Woman's Missionary Union, she helped with craft activities. French's home is Marble Falls. (WMU photo by Teresa Dickens)

life.
___Today's Sarajevo looks vastly different from three years ago when Woman's Missionary Union leaders made their first visit to the southeastern European city. The cease-fire in the country was only a few months old then. Destruction was everywhere.
___"Bosnians were very solemn," recalled Mary Jo Troughton of Lenexa, Kan., a member of the WMU survey team that visited Sarajevo in March 1997. "Ninety-five percent of the deaths then were a result of suicide. There was no hope, no forgiveness."
___Troughton returned to Sarajevo July 5-15 as a member of one of the last two teams WMU will send into the country as a part of its partnership with International Mission Board personnel there.
___The team on which Troughton served focused on prayerwalking.
___"As we drove from the Sarajevo airport to the WMU house, I was silent," Troughton recounted. "I could see that God had been good to Sarajevo. Rebuilding was evident. Bosnians were everywhere, smiling, laughing and talking.
___Troughton served as chairwoman of a Project HELP: Violence task force that developed plans for WMU's social issue emphasis that began in October 1998 and ends Sept. 30.
___At first, WMU leaders were fearful volunteers would not come through, she said. "But we finally decided that God's presence was so evident, this must be his chosen country."
___Then her fears were stirred again when she visited the country.
___"The authorities we spoke to said the people were very suspicious of 'do-gooders' because they promise they will be back to do this or that but don't come back," she recounted. "It was my personal message to WMU and myself that we had to follow through. Many prayers went up regarding this project."
___The prayers were answered, she and others said.
___More than 100 volunteers participated in missions projects in the country. Some did

NORMAN CRISP works with children at a WMU-sponsored Bible camp.

construction, led Bible clubs for children and provided medical services. The teams have worked in Sarajevo, Tzula and Zenevetze.
___"The volunteers have been high caliber," said Diane Crisp, who with her husband, Norman, served as on-site volunteer coordinators for the WMU-IMB partnership. "It has been wonderful to see in two weeks' time how the Lord can move in a group of volunteers and build a fire that has never been quenched."
___Central to the success of the WMU-IMB partnership were the Crisps, said Troughton and Wanda Lee, WMU executive director. The Crisps, of Longview, completed their assignment in Sarajevo and returned to the States July 17.
___"Diane and Norman were definitely God's chosen people for the task," Troughton said. "They took on more than we ever imagined, coordinating the missions teams and helping the missionaries in numerous ways."
___The WMU partnership helped prepare Sarajevo for the next step in Baptist work there, which is transitioning from a humanitarian aid-based ministry to a church-planting-based ministry, said the IMB strategy coordinator for Sarajevo.
___"The WMU partnership has provided the foundation on which we can walk," he said. "Fruit will remain well beyond the partnership."
___WMU members still can be involved in the ministry in Bosnia, he said, explaining that the team's strategy is built on prayer support. One goal is to have a prayerwalking team in the city each month of 2001.
___Delane Tew, director of WMU's Volunteer Connection and the stateside coordinator for the partnership, believes WMU's affinity for the country will not end soon.
___"Our membership in general has been touched as they have listened to the testimonies of volunteers and read in WMU's publications about the partnership," she said. "WMU's official partnership with Bosnia will soon end, but the emotional partnership will live on for a long time."
___

Send this story to a friend

---

Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!