Pray Fervently for Peace

UMC Pastor Visits Macedonia and Answers Questions about the Refugee Crisis

An Interview Prepared by Mary Beth Coudal
General Board of Global Ministries, The United Methodist Church

The Reverend Jeff Markay, pastor at Springfield Emanuel United Methodist Church, Springfield, New Jersey, departed on March 8, 1999, to assess the needs of refugees in Macedonia for the United Methodist Committee on Relief and for CitiHope International. After his return on April 14, the Rev. Markay talked with Mary Beth Coudal, a web-page writer for the General Board of Global Ministries, about what he saw, experienced, and felt as he and his wife visited the refugee camps, the churches, and the people in Macedonia.

How are the refugees doing?

We visited the Brazda refugee camp, which at the time of our visit had about 37,000 people, and the Bojane camp, which had about 2,000. These numbers have gone up in recent days. The camps were fairly well organized in comparison with the scene at Blace, where refugees spilled over the border of Macedonia into fields and fields of people, mud, squalor, and no refuge from the weather. Some refugees told us that Blace was like being in hell. The cold rain would come day and night, and there was no place to go for shelter.

We read so many heart-wrenching reports of the suffering of the more than 140,000 Albanians who have traveled to Macedonia, and of the squalid conditions they find when they arrive. What did you see?

The heart-wrenching reports about the plight of the refugees are true. Every refugee we met had experienced terror, trauma, and deep emotional and spiritual wounds. Some are experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder and will need therapy individually or as part of a group. Some of the humanitarian aid agencies are already making assessments of mental health needs within the refugee camps. The children will also need mental health care. However, many of them seemed to be remarkably resilient--playing ball or running up to aid workers to shake hands and practice their English.

It was an immense honor to be invited into the tents and into the life stories of some refugee families. Through translators we heard stories of killed or missing family members; of fleeing through the country side; of being rousted out of their houses; of watching family members raped, arrested, or killed in Kosovo. We arrived at the Brazda refugee camp on Good Friday, April 9, 1999. In hearing the stories of horror and loss, we couldn't help but think that Christ was being crucified all over again. Despite hearing about the brokenness of a country, an ethnic group, and individuals, we as Christians know that Easter will prevail. It may take a while, but death and suffering are not the end. Just as the Risen Christ was unknown to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, so too walks the Risen Christ in the guise of the stranger, the refugee, and the humanitarian aid worker. Just as the Risen Christ was revealed in Emmaus in the brokenness of bread, so too did we see glimpses of the Risen Christ in the brokenness of the people we were blessed to meet.

Even in the midst of such suffering, there are glimpses of hope and care for one another. During the days we visited the camps, we heard that there were 120 Kosovar children without their parents. The parents had either been killed or separated from their children in Kosovo or in the rush to one of several camps. Other refugees from Kosovo had taken these children into their tents and provided care for them. One woman caring for a child who was not her own said, "I was separated from my own child last week when we were fleeing into Macedonia. I hope that someone is caring for my child." The Red Cross, the UN, and other agencies were beginning the process of registering all refugees so that families who are now in different camps could be linked by computer and informed of family members' whereabouts. Every few minutes, refugees would come up to us and ask if we had a cell phone. We did not, but offered to take the names and numbers of some of their relatives in the U.S. and in Western Europe. After getting home at about 2:00 o'clock every morning, we would make calls so that relatives of the refugees could hear that their family members were safely out of Kosovo and in a refugee camp. The day that we left, the Catholic Relief Service had set up three tents with cell phones so that the refugees could make three-minute phone calls to relatives. The line for these tents stretched on and on with thousands waiting for hours for the chance to call relatives.

Most Macedonians are Eastern Orthodox Christian; most of the refugees are Muslim. Is religious misunderstanding a problem?

The religious makeup of this region is extremely complex. Most of the refugees are Muslim, yet some Kosovars are Christian, Catholic, and even Methodist! There are three United Methodist churches in Kosovo, many more in Serbia, and eleven in Macedonia. Within the camps we saw illustrations of tremendous and inspired interfaith cooperation that surely made God smile. We saw Italian soldiers who were Roman Catholic, setting up a large tent which was to be a prayer tent for the Muslim faithful. The next day we noticed that it had been taken down and set up again in a different direction so that it faced east. We met with Israeli doctors who were in tents with the red Star of David flag flying overhead. They had helped deliver a Muslim baby on Easter Sunday. The contrasts were endless.

Are the refugees discriminated against?

We heard many comments from Macedonians about their fear, distrust, and dislike of Albanians. There is a long and sordid history in the Balkans which is very complex. Macedonia is one of the few countries that had found the delicate balance between ethnic Albanians, Serbs, and Macedonians. They fear that the new influx of Kosovar Albanians will tip the balance in the country. It is hard to tell whether the Macedonians' unhappiness about the tremendous influx of ethnic Albanians is because of racial/ethnic reasons or because their country already has an unemployment rate of more than 40 percent, and that their economy is not able to sustain this influx of humanity. I heard that the equivalent in the United States would be the sudden arrival on our shores of eight million refugees. How do you think that would be received by Americans?

What is the Christian message from Macedonia? Worshiping there for Easter must have been an incredible experience. Though we speak many languages, what was Christ's message at the services you attended and in the experiences you had?

We attended the midnight Easter vigil at St. Clement's Macedonian Orthodox Church in the heart of Skopje, the capital of Macedonia. We were in a crowd of about 30,000 to 40,000 candle- carrying people who had come out into the streets to celebrate late-night community, fireworks, food, and the sound, over loudspeakers, of priests singing the divine Easter liturgy.

On Easter morning we drove to Strumica, where we worshipped with the United Methodist churches there under the leadership of the Rev. Michael Cekov. The message, in a nutshell, was "Christos voskresna!" Christ is risen!

In the midst of chaos, turmoil, and unknown futures, Christians proclaimed that death, suffering, brokenness, and injustice are not the end, but rather that Christ is victorious over these earthly struggles.

How do we as Christians in the United States respond to the crisis?

Pray fervently for peace. Some people are praying for God to intervene. I sense that God is already there, suffering with the innocent, giving strength to those who are caring for others, encouraging the faithful with renewed hope and courage. Perhaps we need to be praying that those on all sides of this conflict who are grieving the heart of God might be bound and stopped. There is a global movement to pray two minutes a day for peace in Kosovo. For those living in eastern United States (Eastern Standard Time) the time to pray as part of this movement is 3:00 p.m.

I am more convinced than ever that the role of the church is to be the healing hands of Christ. Methodists whom we met in this region have been building bridges between groups of people, countries, and even churches at odds with one another. There are so many wounds that need to be bound up. I believe that we must be healers for Christ--whether that be by prayer; by listening; by intervening between warring peoples; or by responding to Christ in the guise of the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the imprisoned, the refugee, the elderly, the young, or the innocent wounded. What the churches, NGOs PVOs, and humanitarian aid agencies need right now to be in this ministry of healing is money. One way to respond is by sending money to the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR).

Travel changes the traveler--perhaps in more ways than the traveler can change the place to which he or she has traveled. Can you say how this experience has changed you?

Some of the refugees who were strangers to us a week ago are now in our hearts and go with us everywhere. Their plight, their needs, and their stories have become part of our prayers, our thoughts, our efforts in ministry--our very selves. God has blessed us with the opportunity to go in the name of Christ simply to be with other children of God who happen at this time to be refugees.

We no longer watch the news with a distant perspective, but look for our friends in the faces of the refugees we see on TV. We watch and read the news more prayerfully since our return. I am convinced that God is calling us as faithful Christians to look deeply into the suffering that is around us; to enter into the lives of those who are suffering; to heal as best we can in word and deed; and to walk together, proclaiming new life, new hope, and God's grace as we have come to know them in Jesus the Risen Christ.

Contributions may be made to United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) UMCOR Advance #333405. Checks earmarked Kosovo Emergency may be placed in church collection plates or mailed directly to UMCOR, 475 Riverside Drive, Room 330, New York, NY 10115. Credit card donations may be made by calling UMCOR at 1-800-554-8583.

April 21, 1999