This month my team and I got the opportunity to join a team of Kosavar to evangelize door to door in a village named Racak. This village is famous in Kosovo for a very disturbing reason. Back in January of 1999 when Kosovo was struggling to declare their independence from Serbia, the Serbian military took over this village and massacred 45 Kosovar people. The Serbian military was not only showing the Kosovar people that they should stop revolting but also speaking the lie over them that they weren’t worth anything. Luckily, after this horrific massacre the United States stepped in and helped Kosovo gain their independence.
(A beautiful view of the village along with a home that still has bullet holes from that day)
This massacre will forever be ingrained in their minds forever and a lot of the people who reside in this village today were present during this massacre and hold scars from that day. It is heartbreaking to think that this horrible event happened only 22 years ago.
When we were about to leave to visit this village pastor Artur told us about the history of this village and told us how important it was that we share the love of Jesus with them. We also got to visit a memorial of the massacre. While we were at the memorial I prayed over it and for the people we were going to meet that day. Then we broke up in pairs and started the day. While we were walking around we saw homes with bullet holes in them from that day. There were so many things that were still there from that day and all I could think of was how hurtful that must be for the survivors still residing in this village.
(This was a quiet street with a lovely sweet farmer bringing his herd of cows back home)
We met so many amazing people that day! Some of whom were so excited that some of us were American. I got to meet a woman whose daughter dreamed of visiting California and wished she had been there to meet me. Everywhere we went the people were so welcoming and hospitable. I was preparing myself for sadness and depression but all I saw was joy and gratitude. I knew the Lord was already working in this village and it was clear to me that he wasn’t finished with them yet. They were beyond welcoming and would often ask us into their homes for coffee, tea, or sweets. They were wanting to hear what we had to say and why we were there. Even though Islam is the dominant religion in Kosovo they were very interested in why a group of Americans had come to visit their village. We got to share about the church we were partnered with and so many of them were happy to read the materials we left with them, some of them even asked if we had a Bible they could read!
While there were moments where we heard the stories of the people there and their experiences of that day, we also got to see so much joy and life. The Lord truly blessed me that day with meeting these people that had been through so much and are still dealing with the scars of that day. But, it was clear that they loved where they were from and had pride in it and even though it has a dark history it wasn’t going to stop them from being proud of their community.
very encouraging report. The picture of the village looks cold and foggy. But you gave warmth to their lives in sharing the Good News of Jesus!
I remember this village from 1999…very terrible things happened there. War reflects the absence of love… So happy to hear how welcoming they were and open to your presence and your the words you carried from the Gospel. Continuing to pray for you Katie and your team. –Coach
Wow Katie. I hadn’t hard the history of that village you all were in. That is so important and so beautiful to see a resilient people who still live with joy. They sound so open to the Gospel. Thankful you were there to share the Good News with them.