wfn.org | Camp brings youth together across ethnic, cultural divides

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Aug. 24, 2000  News media contact: Tim Tanton·(615)742-5470·Nashville, Tenn.
10-71BP{385}

NOTE:  For related coverage, see UMNS stories #383 and #384. Photographs are
available.

By the Rev. Mike Stanton-Rich*

STRUGA, Macedonia (UMNS) -- When the world gathers together peacefully, it
sings.  Youth from all over Eastern Europe and the United States were
uniting in song almost hourly during a recent United Methodist-sponsored
camp.

Nearly 100 youth and their leaders gathered Aug. 7-14 for Summer Camp 2000,
held at Hotel Besir on Lake Ohrid in southeastern Macedonia near Struga. The
participants came from six different countries, including Kosovo, the Serb
Republic of Vojvodina, Albania, Germany, Macedonia and the United States. In
some cases, the young people represented cultures that until recently had
been at war with each other. 

The United Methodist Church of Macedonia sponsored the annual camp. The week
of fellowship included an unexpected meeting with the country's best-known
United Methodist, President Boris Trajkovski. 

The theme for the week was "Patchwork: One God, One Faith, One Body."
Leading Bible study and activities for the week was the Rev. Craig Gaither,
an associate pastor at First United Methodist Church of Cary, N.C. Gaither
has been a regular on Volunteer in Missions trips to the Balkans and has
worked with youth from across the former Yugoslavia. Activities and
discussions were in English as well as Macedonian. Many times, the
discussions were translated into Albanian or Serbo-Croatian for clarity.

But song was the natural language of the group. "The music was the most
interesting thing that stood out this week," said Erin Fisk, 19, from
Kingston, Pa. "It has been great to see the many cultures come together and
sing ... and we sing a lot. We sing in many languages but also English."

On Friday, Aug. 11, the participants traveled by boat to the Monastery of
St. Naum, an ancient Orthodox monastery built around 900 A.D. on the border
of Albania. During communist rule, the area became a tourist site and beach.
Today, tourists still come to swim, but the chapel is open for prayers.  

The youth sang for nearly two hours on the trip to the monastery. They sang
in the shade while at St. Naum. In devotions under the trees, Gaither
described how Jesus gathered his disciples by the lakeshore and taught. 

"This week, we have come together as strangers," he said. "Maybe we have to
work harder at working with others in this situation. It is more than
contact and hanging out, but real conversation and true companionship.

"There may be things or people who take away our possessions, our money, but
I don't know anything that can take away good friends. This week, I have
discovered that I have many new friends."

The devotions closed with the singing of "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" in
Macedonian.   After an hour of free time by the lake, the youth boarded a
boat and proceeded to sing for another two hours on the trip back to the
hotel.

The following day, Aug. 12, Gaither taught on the theme, "Who is My
Neighbor?" Using anecdotes from growing up in rural North Carolina and the
racism he experienced, he challenged the youth from the various countries to
ask who their neighbor is in light of the Gospel. 

"In the Good Samaritan, it was the enemy who practiced hospitality," he
said. "It may be natural to pass someone by if they are your natural enemy,
but it takes real courage to stop and help." 

Tension was evident on faces around the room, because most knew that recent
enemies were sitting near each other. However, the Serbs and the Kosovars
had chosen to sit with each other in the circle.

At the close of the morning, in a time of sharing and prayer, a Serb youth
said: "It has been a great week for me, and it has been an honor to come
shake the hands of my neighbors from Kosovo." 

In a sight that was almost unbelievable, the five Serb youth who left were
driven by Enver Kransniqi, a United Methodist Committee on Relief staff
person from Kosovo. The baggage was packed on the top of the van by a youth
from Kosovo, and several of the Kosovar youth rode with the Serbs to the bus
station.

During the week, the young people paid a visit to President Trajkovski and
his family. The president had just returned to his summer home on Lake Ohrid
from an official trip to Croatia. His friend and former pastor, Mikhail
Cekov, called him and arranged the Aug. 13 visit for nearly 90 of the camp
participants.

The youth discovered this was no ordinary political leader because he knew
the songs and the faith that had been expressed all week at camp. Trajkovski
was not only the first Protestant to be elected to a high office in the
Balkans, but like most of the youth, he was a United Methodist. In an
informal discussion, his visitors discovered he is an active church member.
He led the church's youth work in Macedonia for 12 years, is a three-time
General Conference delegate and continues to be president of the country's
Church Council.

Leonora Kurn, a youth worker from Kosovo thanked Trajkovski for his
hospitality. "We are thankful for having a committed Christian leader in
Macedonia," Kurn added.

"It is our wish as Macedonians to see a new and democratic Kosovo, and (we)
would like to see you have a normal life and prosperity," Trajkovski
responded. "It is our wish that this could happen as soon as possible.

"We as Christians must continue to do things different than the state might
do," he added. "I am working with colleagues across the world on solutions
to bridge the gaps of ethnic and political prejudice. You have shown that it
is possible to bring different groups together in peace. I will share this
experience with my colleagues who are coming to discuss these problems."

Earlier in the day, during the camp's final worship service, the young
people had another opportunity to sing together and experience the power of
the week. The drama group that had met during the week re-enacted the
washing of the disciples' feet. The group members asked for volunteers from
the various countries to help them do as Jesus commanded. In a touching
scene, a Serb youth washed the feet of a young person from Kosovo.

"I feel sorry that we have to go," said Ismail Dergun, from Pristina,
Kosovo. "We are all together -- Albanians, Serbs, Macedonians. We all serve
the same God, and it is a blessing to share our experience with the Lord."

# # #

*Stanton-Rich is pastor of New Covenant United Methodist Church in Mount
Holly, N.C. He was in Kosovo Aug. 7-17 as a volunteer with the United
Methodist Committee on Relief.

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
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