the 15th anniversary of the fall of Vukovar

15 years ago, on this day, the defense of Vukovar has given up. a 3 month siege of Serbian forces has broken the defense of the city, and 2 days later even the last defenders have given up...in the outskirt calledd Borovo Naselje, where I live right now...

It is scary how much people change during this period.many of them walk like Zombies "reliving" the things that happened to them 15 years ago... many scars are still more then open scars... still arrond 900 Vukovarians are oficcially missing, but unofficially they are dead. laying in a mass grave or shot into danube or something...

Very often we joke about the land mines and everything, but it is a pretty sirious thing... I really look up to the defenders of this city... 1800 of them against a whole army... and basicly they pulled the sting of the bee out... the Serbian army was never the same after the siege of Vukovar...

Vukovar is the reason, Osijek never got conquered. Croatia did not got overrunned.

only 15 years ago...

A medical nurse(who was at the vukovar hospital during the siege) said that she still does not hates serbs or anyone... but she feels the same she felt then: "anger towards the UN and the world...how could they just watch and not do a thing..."

This post might be long...but please stay with me... the whole world was paying attention to Kuvait and Iraq. how often are we the same... our attention is focusing on the big things, on famous things, and we never pay attention to the little things...
I will try to draw a parallel here... Big christian happenings(festivals, conferences etc) verses serving and fighting for my local church...
That other church that is bigger and fancier or, my church that might be only 30-40 people...

snowstorm

Today we had crazy snowstorm in Vukovar. out of nowhere in two days GOD turned off the sun, everything got really cold, and today a snowstorm...

here is the pic

Vukovar Newspaper...

If you click to this link+speak croatian you will understand that the little "Pick up trash" action of our church is mentioned in the Vukovar Newspaper...
The editor is a kind lady(Zeljka Kraljic) and shows very opened heart to publish things that we as church do or organize...
Its kind of cool...you can also dowload the pdf file of the page...
its kind of cool...at least I am happy..."the church that picks up trash..." I think its awesome... :)

the spirit of the city...

its gonna be long, but endure with me...
I always heard from pastors, that you have to sense the spirit of the city, you have to have a vision etc... last year I heard one guy sharing how wierd is his city, and I kind of felt related to it...
Before, when we lived in Szeged it was easy to sense the spirit of the city. Its a universitiy town, big catholic cathedral, etc...its full of "knowledge", and pride... hard city to reach...
So I came to Vukovar, and I felt nothing...destroyed buildings, hatred in the hearts towards the other nations, every person effected by war, no jobs, kind of melancholic etc...but nothing you can grasp on...
...all till the day of this flood. We went there and have seen the soldiers packing the bags, with sand... we started joking they should have come 15 years ago, but all of them were probably sissy to come and defend the city... so here we go...
The city was defended 15 years ago by 2000-3000 tousand local dudes, many of them unequiped, and mostly barely any weapons...for 3 months they fought the 30-50 000 serbian slodiers armed with all tenks and anything you can imagine... then most of them were taken to concentration camps and many of them never returned alive...
What does it has to do with the spirit of the city? A lot... these soldiers were laughed at(maybe not even true exactly for these soldiers),but in general...if you are not brave to face and fight Goliath you gonna be laughed at...
So you can be one of two... or the one who never gives up, trusts GOD and defeats Goliath or you get laughed at...

May the LORD help us not to ruin our testemony and to bring glory to HIM...

Does this makes sence?
What is the spirit of your city?

floods...

This spring is full of floods...in Szeged(where we lived for 12 years) seems like they gonna experience the biggest flood in the past 50 years...I started to feel jelouse, that I miss it and its not fair, and etc, but Vukovar got the biggest flood in the past 40 years... its kind a cool, but also scary...Here are some pictures...

1493.jpg is the Romantic Restaurant on the Danube side...called "Vrske"
1495.jpg the romantic bench...
- the cross is a monument to those who died defending the City...
1536.jpg city center, the bridge over Vuka...almost higher then the bridge...just few centimeters(inches) before it goes over...


Well thats pretty much it...But I will have to post one more, on the "Spirit of the city"...its intresting... :)

after the hard days

Dear friends.
Thank you for your prayers, support and concern.
I was attacked, with depression and regular flashbacks of the moment when I had to carry out the dead body of Vlado from the bathroom to the cascet...
It was hard for me, but hard for Keri too since she had no idea, how to help me...besides prayer...
Thank GOD, HIS WORD and all that HE has encoureged us with. Verses that some of you sent, verses that we got in our devotions, etc...

We are Ok, and continuing to serve HIM with joy...

I will pubilsh soon few pictures of my gluttony in Subotica... All I was able to eat BUREK's... :)

See you soon...

Land of the Land mines

There is a little fellowship in the near by hungarian village of Laslovo(Szent László). Once a month I go there to teach GOD's word and lead the LORD's Supper.
Its a pretty easy and "boring" road, so as I was driving I had the idea, hey lets count how many "watch out, land Mines" signs will be on this short road...

The number is 44.

I am sure that not many of you is able to do similar counting... :)

The Vukovar Water-tower

Well Its not an absolute legal thing to go up to the damaged watertower, but few guys last summer from the church youth group told me: "Hey they changed the door on it, and now we can slide in...and go up the stairs"...
Since that, pretty much anyone who came to serve here went up.I led them... :)
I have to be honest I love it more and more.
Here is a picture of the top of it... pretty destroyed.just to give you an idea, and Another picture of how pretty the view is from up there...

I promise not to organize bungi-jumping from there, and can promise that I will NOT have my quit times there...:) Its waaay to windy...

But its beautiful, if any of you ever comes, I can promise to lead you up there. Its an experience...