ESL Team Arrives

Yesterday we picked up a team of ESL teachers at the Prishtina airport.  We were actually a few minutes late picking them up  because we got stuck behind three a small convoy of Swedish armored personnel carriers on the way to the airport.  The team was ready and waiting when we arrived.  There are six of them; the two men aren’t pictured here as they were guarding the rest of the baggage.

They’ve come to teach a week long intensive English course at our community center in Gjilan.  They’ll teach three tracks this week, two groups of youth and one large group of adults.  We’re looking forward to a busy week!

As a way of stretching our legs and getting adjusted we had a picnic up at Novoberdë which is an ancient city that was once mining center in Kosovo.  Novoberdë is an amazingly diverse place.  It is now nothing more than a hilltop, but it features the ruins of an ancient fortress, a mosque, a Bektashi turbe and the ruins of an ancient, probably Catholic, church.  All that’s missing is a synagogue, and it’s possible the ancient trading center once hosted one.

Tomorrow we start English classes.  We’ll post more later.  You can check out more pictures on my Flickr site.

Kosovo PM can't go to Easter service

It’s making big headlines today that Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Çeku’s request to attend Easter services at the Orthodox church in Graçanica has been denied by Bishop Artemije.  Now, I know this looks like a big stinky, intolerant thing in the West.  Everyone ought to be able to go to everyone else’s worship services, right?  That, we say, is the tolerant thing to do.

The thing is, I’m not sure it’s a fundamental human right to attend someone else’s worship service.  Sure, if you’re invited that’s great.  But on the other hand, I think a group of worshippers has the right to worship without including people from another belief.  Some acts of worship are private.

That said, the Bishop didn’t offer that as a rationale for refusing Çeku’s request. The Bishop’s answer:

"We told him that, considering that we have been living with the status of refugees for nearly seven years, outside our residence in Prizren, which was burned during the riots on 17 March 2004, along with our cathedral and many other holy places, we are not able to welcome Mr Ceku before we have returned to our restored residence, and our people have returned to their homes," Bishop Artemije said.  Read the article here

Forgiveness is pretty difficult when the history is long and politics are entrenched.

Unintentional Cross-posts

Over the last week I’ve been trying out Blogjet, a fantastic tool for writing and managing blog posts.  I started trying to use this product about a year ago, but earlier versions could never handle the proxy server that I use…or something.  Anyway, it never quite worked until I downloaded the latest version a couple of weeks ago.  It’s awesome!  Unfortunately, I’ve unintentionally posted missionary stuff to my geek blog and vice-versa.  For those of you who read my blogs directly from the web you may never have noticed.  For those of you who use a feed-reader, you’re probably getting irritated or wondering why I’m posted stuff to both blogs I write.  The answer my friend, is sheer carelessness.  I’ll try to do better in the future.

Take your daughter to work day...sort of

Had a great visit to the police station this morning, following up on lasts weeks robbery at the Center. Melissa had to go to Prishtina, so while Reilly was in preschoolMadison at Police Station, my older daughter Madision tagged along with me. I had her bring her homework with her, which she was desperately trying to finish. It's all in Albanian and there are LOTS of distractions for a 1st grader in a police station. When we entered the police station I asked her, 'Do you think we'll see any bad guys here?' She didn't answer but smiled big and held me tight.

During my interview we essentially went back over the same information I had given the patrol officers who first responded. No big deal. We'll see what happens.

Following our time with the police I had a meeting with two US Army chaplains. They were great guys who came over to say hello and talk about life and ministry in Kosova. Madison tagged along with me there as well…sort of a 'take your daughter to work day.' Naturally both the chaplains had their assistants with them. These are the guys that watch their chaplains backs and carry the firepower. We sat in our little church room with rifles and packs laid carefully on the floor. It just struck me today how nonchalant my kids are about soldiers, assault rifles, armored personnel carriers and stuff. Ah, that's nothing, that's what home looks like.

Just another 'take your daughter to work' day.

Off to the police station

You may remember that a few days ago we had two computers stolen from our community center here.   Yesterday, I dropped by the Center to check in and found two police investigators there talking to people.  They had just extended and “invitation” for Naim, our national co-worker, to come down the police station for a visit.  Since I dropped by, they also gave me a written “invitation.”  Later he told me about his visit.  He went down, was shown into an interrogation room, read his rights and was questioned about the robbery.   This morning at 9:00 it’s my turn.

New Kosovo PM: Will tackle corruption

The new Kosovo Prime Minister, Agim Ceku is really making big claims to improve civil society on a number of levels. Yesterday we hear this:

Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku today pledged that he and the government will fight corruption in Kosovo society. In his weekly radio address Prime Minister Ceku said that the Kosovo government will not accept corrupt individuals and that they will be subject to the law.

Ceku has also made bold claims about creating a multi-ethnic society here. Personally, I'm very encouraged by the language coming from the PM's office. Of couse, the proof is in the pudding...we'll see what actually happens.

...you asked for it

We’re always careful about the way we handle out English classes.  Our students come with the expectation of learning English, not of being proselytized.  We’ve heard a number of example of Muslim groups requiring Koranic studies as a condition of humanitarian aid.  The people here, Muslim people, felt cheated by that.  For that reason, we try to make sure that our English classes are just that…English classes.  But when we’re asked questions…watch out.

Tonight one of my students asked about the meaning of the “bread and the wine” that  “we eat” at Easter. 

That triggered a nice conversation about the “old covenant” and the “new covenant” that we have in Christ.  I had the chance to explain about the Passover and the old covenant based on the Law of Moses and the new covenant based on faith in Christ.  It was great stuff.  My students seemed especially open to what I had to say and I hope to follow up more later!

Easter 2006

We celebrated Easter this weekend, along with millions of others.  As missionaries we always feel like we walk a fine line between celebrating our own traditions and being careful not to impose or lay those traditions over on a compartively young church.  For example, one of our western traditions is Easter egg hunts and candy.  Like many traditions, I have no idea why we do this, but it’s a fun family time.  Saturday night we had our missionary team over for dinner and had a great time of food and fellowship.  Later that evening the kids had an Easter egg hunt and everyone had a good time.  Today we took our core group up to Prishtina to worship with the mother church in Prishtina.  We had great Kingdom time together.

Some of the egg hunters: Madison Singfiel, Jennifer Strunk, Reilly Singfiel, Luke Brinkman, Joshua Brinkman

 

Amelie Bower is not to be deterred.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amelie made it into the post-hunt group shot

 

My girls in their Easter dresses.  Mom stayed up late sewing new bitty-baby clothes for the event, so the girls had to ensure they were part of the pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today we took our Gjilan Ringjallja Church gang up to Prishtina.  Our “mother church,” BUM hosted a joint service and potluck in new theater across the street called, “Theater of the Father.”  Okay, I don’t understand the name either.  Here Pastor Femi Cakolli is greeting the churches who came from the cities of Deçan, Prizren, Gjilan, Suharek, and another new church plant in Prishtina.

We had a great service together, which featured a sermon from Mark Orfila, a AOG missionary from Deçan.  After the service we had one of the larger “potluck” dinners I can remember.  We ate everything from traditional Albanian pita to curry chicken.

Today was a great demonstration of the Kingdom of God and unity in the Church.  Unity is a stretch in the Balkans.  Everyone knows too much about each other and both history and folks memories are long.

 

Home assignment reflections: Getting rid of junk

This summer my family will enter into many missionaries’ quadrennial adventure…home assignment.  This will be our first opportunity, but I’m already learning how much junk even a lowly missionary can accumulate in four years time.  That’s why Rick Brenner’s article, “How not to accumulate junk” struck both my fancy and my funny bone.  Check out his article, it applies equally to folks in the US and expats like myself.

Brenner outllines a long series of rules for keeping junk.  His method of getting rid of junk?  First check out his rules on accumulating junk:

Here are my rules (plus some others) for accumulating junk:

• I might need it someday
• I can't remember why I'm saving this, but it might be important
• I think I can get rid of this, but I'm not 100% sure
• I know I'll use this eventually, when I get the time (or energy)
• I don't need this now, but if I ever do need one, it will either be expensive or impossible to find
• Remember when we used these? Wow — I bet you can't even get them anymore.
• Maybe I can sell this on eBay — oops, the going price is still too low.
• I borrowed this, and I should return it, but I'm so embarrassed that I've had it so long...
• I can't throw this out — maybe it isn't mine
• Hmm, I wonder where the missing parts of this are — maybe I'll find them
• I don't actually know what this is, but I'll keep it until I can figure it out
• Ah, this is that box of stuff I sealed up when I last moved, thinking I would toss it if I didn't open it in a year. Can't remember what's in it. Better not throw it out yet.
• This was a real bargain. Be a shame to get rid of it.
• If I lose X pounds, I know I look good in this
• This is a great book. I should read it. [RecycleBooks.org]
• This was a great book. Maybe I'll read it again.
• This was a great movie (album). I know I'll want to watch it (listen to it) again if I ever get another VCR (turntable).
• Who's that standing next to me in this picture? Better keep it until I can scan it.
• Ah, my first planner — maybe. You never know when you'll need an alibi for 7:30 AM, Tuesday, March 23rd, 1993.
• That computer has sensitive data on it. I better keep it until I can erase it. [GreenDisk, Tech Soup and the Computer Recycling Center]
• Look at that, the postal rates for 1987. Neat-o.
• I wonder how long I have to keep these financial records. Legally, I mean. Better keep 'em. [Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement]
• Another ballpoint pen. Might come in handy sometime.
• Wonder what's on this floppy (Zip disk, removable cartridge, mag tape)? Better keep it for now.

Did any of these strike a cord?  I’ve kept tons of stuff because “I might need it someday.”  Oh, how I laughed.  Maybe that just because yesterday I threw away a bunch of language learning notes I’ll never look at again.

Okay…the secret to getting rid of the extra junk that’s falling out of you filing cabinet, closet, desk, [insert junk containment construct].  Break one of your rules each day.   Check out his article for yourself.

 

 

Break-in at the Center

Today was one of those classic Balkan days.  I had a great conversation with two of our church members about one of the teachings of Jesus.  A few minutes later we were calling the police to report a break-in.  Seriously.  Last Sunday, while we were away, our core group had a discussion about the meaning of Jesus’ parable of the two brothers.  The first told his father he wouldn’t work in the vineyard, but later did.  The second said he would, but never went to work.  There was some misunderstandings about Jesus’ audience here that threw the whole meaning of the parable out of whack.  I had one of those “this is why I’m here” moments when they realized Jesus was addressing the Pharisees, not his disciples.  One of believers eyes popped open when she realized how one little mistake in understanding the context of a passage can really affect the interpretation. 

A few minutes later I went downstairs into our therapy clinic to look for crutches for someone.  As I went to unlock the door I noticed it was already unlocked.  This was strange, but I thought that one of the workers might have momentarily stepped out.  I went in and immediately noticed that both of the clinic computers were gone…stolen.  A few minutes later, after making sure I had all the facts, the police where called and came to fill out their reports.  Who knows what will happen now.  The value of the computers was about $1900.  As big a loss as that is, the data on the computers is a greater loss.  All the clinic patient records where there as well as an unknown amount of information about the therapy training program that my collegue is working on.  Bummer.  My co-worker Di has been working for months on a program to train local nurses in Occupational Therapy, a type of therapy unknown and highly valuable here.  This may be a major set-back.

Please be praying that God would convinct the theives to, at a minimum, return the data that was stolen…okay, that’s not likely but we believe in a God of miracles, right?

Home from Slovenia

It’s good to be home after spending a week in Slovenia where we had our annual organizational business meetings.  We stayed an another few days for vacation, which was a nice break too.  I am amazed, having now traveled in all the countries of former Yugoslavia, how different each one is.  Slovenia appears to be the most modern and advanced of the five former republic.  Traveling through Serbia, especially Belgrade, reminds me of what an actual city looks like.  There is nothing in Kosovo to compare with much I saw on the trip.

Our meetings were great, our speaker excellent.  Pastor Denny Krajacic from Butler, PA, gave us some great messages which were really timely.  We also elected our new leaders for the following year and, most importantly, perhaps, celebrated the ministry of Trent & Sharon Thornton, our departing field director.  Trent passed the baton of leadership to Mark Brinkman, our teammate.

Everyone, especially the kids, had a blast at the children’s program and at the enormous indoor pools of Terme Catez.  The annual Field Forum is a special time for the kids of the field.  This year was especially great as the gang from Black Forest Academy from Germany came down as well.

 

You can find more Field Forum pictures on my Flickr site.

A bambi, a coffee and a tea

I had three great visits with three different people today.  The first was with an old friend.  He’s a high school guy who desperately wants to study medicine in the US.  He’s also the most serious Muslim I know.  He called me up today and we headed out “for a coffee.”  Rather than a coffee, I chose a “bambi” which is sort of like hot chocolate milk.  We talked about a wide range of things, but mostly about the Bible, the Koran and various people’s perspectives on Mohamed.   As usual we challenged each other with the seriousness of each other’s belief.  My message to him is always the same:  Someone has to pay for your sins…will it be you, or will you allow Jesus to pay the price for you.

My second coffee was with one of our nominal church members.  This time it was a very, very strong Macchiato in another of the numerous cafes in town.  I was actually on my way to the bank to do some business and I had to make on those perennial American decisions:  Do I do the task on my life, or do I interrupt my schedule and hang out with a brother for a while.  I chose the later today and enjoyed a great cup of macchiato and good conversation.

My third visit was with our landlord.  Instead of coffee, it was “Russian tea.”  Made in a sort of double-boiler tea pot, it’s great stuff to finish the day with.  We talked about our kids, the new Prime Minister, the electric situation and all the normal topics of family conversation in Kosovo.   We left a little earlier than is typical in order to make a training meeting with the teammate.

I never cease to be amazed by the capacity for relationships that my Albanian friends seem to have.  No one is ever too busy to take time for a cup of coffee.  Obviously that has implications for business; it also has implications for great relationships.  Wouldn’t most of us love to have friends that would help you out at almost a moment’s notice?  That’s the people I live among.  Sometimes Kosovo drives me crazy.  Most of the time living here humbles me.  But today was one of those days where I just feel fortunate to live here.

Ah Spring time

Ah, Spring time in Kosovo.  I don’t’ know much about the source of the info below, but I heard this on the news too.  Nothing to get worked up about folks, just folks stretching their legs after a long winter.

Hand Grenade Destroyed In Downtown Pristina

Pristina, 20 Mar 06 (Radio Srbija i Crna Gora) – Special forces of international forces in Kosovo, defused a hand grenade placed near the headquarters of the Kosovo Chamber of Commerce and Democratic Party of Kosovo in downtown Pristina. Kosovo Police Service (KPS) spokesperson Sabrije Kamberi stated that police were information of a suspicious device this morning, after which part of downtown Pristina was blocked with the help of KFOR Special Forces, and bomb was destroyed in a controlled explosion.

This is the second bomb discovered within 24 hours and destroyed in downtown Pristina. Sunday evening, around 18:00 hours, police were informed that a hand grenade, dating from WWII was found near hotel “Grand”. A KFOR unit also destroyed this bomb. In both cases, there were no causalities or damage.

 

New Kosovo PM weighs in on independance

     Many are hopeful that new Prime Minister Agim Ceku will be a man of integrity and honor to lead Kosova on its next steps, whatever they might be.  This week both the UK and the EU said that an independent Kosovo was almost an inevitability.  Please be praying for peace!  I don’t know a ton about Ceku, but he has lead the Kosovo Protection Corp to fulfill the multi-ethnic standards demanded of it.  The KPC, or TMK as it’s known here, is multi-ethnic and functions well.  I think it speaks well of Ceku that he was willing to address the Serbian minority in the Serbian language (see KosovaReport report below).

     Kosovo's new PM has said he expects the territory to become fully independent of Serbia - hours after Belgrade said it would oppose any such outcome.  Agim Ceku was speaking after being sworn in as prime minister in Pristina. Serbian foreign minister Vuk Draskovic earlier told the BBC his country could never accept an independent Kosovo.
     The UK has meanwhile said independence for Kosovo - currently governed by the UN, though formally still part of Serbia - is "almost inevitable".  British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Kosovo's status could not be resolved using any solution based on the situation before 1999, when the province was still fully controlled by Belgrade. Nato air strikes in 1999 forced Serbian forces to withdraw from the province, where they had been accused of repressing the ethnic Albanian majority.  Kosovo has since then been a UN protectorate. This year saw the start of UN-brokered talks to decide whether it ultimately gains independence.

Serb concerns
     Mr Ceku said on Friday that he wanted negotiations to lead to a democratic and tolerant Kosovo.  "The creation of the state of Kosovo is the will of its people and this government," he said.  Mr Ceku was sworn in as prime minister following the resignation last week of his predecessor, Bajram Kosumi, who lost his party's support in a reshuffle.   In his first speech as leader, Mr Ceku pledged to protect the rights of Kosovo's minority Serb community. 
Switching from the Albanian language to Serbian, he said the Serbs "do have and will have a future in democratic Kosovo" and urged them to take part in political life.  Mr Ceku is an ethnic Albanian commander whose soldiering career started in the army of the former Yugoslavia.  He went on lead the guerrillas of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in their fight against Serbian forces.  Belgrade accuses him of war crimes against Serbs and has voiced disquiet at his appointment as PM.  Kosovo's 120-seat parliament backed Mr Ceku's nomination by 65 votes to 33 on Friday.
Popular
     Earlier on Friday, the Serbian foreign minister said his country could never accept a fully independent Kosovo.  Mr Draskovic told the BBC that the result would be a humiliation for Serbia, dangerous for the region and the whole of Europe.  The province is still legally part of Serbia and Montenegro - but it has been under UN protection since 1999.  Mr Ceku is currently the head of the Kosovo Protection Corps, a civil emergency force.  He is said to be very popular among Kosovo Albanians and has been seen as a dynamic leader.  Kosovo Albanians, who make up the majority, want independence for the province. But Serbia is concerned about the rights of the Serb minority.

 

Albanians & Macedonians United Together

It’s hard to put into words the impact of the last several days.  In some ways, I’m still stunned, having taken away much that I understand, and at the same time haunted by things just beyond my conceptual reach, phantoms of blessings yet to be understood.  Last night I returned from an historic two-day conference in Bitola Macedonia which I attended to with two national co-workers, Naim and Fatmir, along with Jason, another missionary working with the BUM church in Prishtina.  I say historic because to the best of anyone’s knowledge, it was the first time in history that Albanians from Kosovo and Albania together with Macedonians had gathered together in one place to pray, hear from God and to seek his face for Unity in the Church.

 

None of us really knew what to expect from the conference.  Though billed as a “prayer conference,” the theme was “unity” and the main speaker was Ruth Ruibal, the wife of a martyred pastor from Cali, Columbia.  Gathered together in an old, mountain “resort” hotel were representatives from 24 nations.  I didn’t get them all, but they included:

Albania                          Australia                        Bosnia                           Brazil

Columbia                       Denmark                        El Salvador                    England

Finland                          France                           Germany                        Italy

Kosovo                         Macedonia                     New Zealand                  Norway

Sweden                         United States                                                     

 

So two hundred of us gathered there, listening to what God has been doing in one of the most violent cities on earth, Cali, Columbia, over the last 10-15 years.  Ruth’s husband was a pastor/evangelist in one Cali and was gunned down in 1995 on his way to a pastors’ meeting.  But this only happened after the pastors in Cali gathered the Christians of the city together in unity for prayer over their city.  On a number of separate occasions, the Church of God gathered together, up to 45,000 believers, to intercede for their city.  And God responded in awesome ways.  You can learn more about that from their website, or her book.  As powerful as her testimony and preaching was, equally powerful was the effect that it had those of us at the conference.

 

Numerous people stood and confessed their hatred for others of the various ethnic groups.  They asked publicly for forgiveness…and forgiveness was given.  As I write this I sense the weakness of my words to convey what happened.  As I said, this was the first time in history that a group this large has gathered together to ask for forgiveness, pray for unity and strategize how to reach each other’s ethnic groups.

 

The history of the Balkans is the history of the failure of the church.  The dividing line between the eastern and western Church goes right through the Balkans and it is the church that has failed this region.  That fracture happened a thousand years ago, resulting in the Great Schism of 1054, but the effects of that fracture carry on today.  But what I saw at this conference, were the descendents of those same Catholic, Orthodox and now, Muslim, people coming together united.  Now they follow Jesus Christ, not the pope, the metropolitan or Mohammed.  God is doing what centuries of war, millions of dollars or the United Nations has been unable to do…bring people together for forgiveness and reconciliation through the Church of Jesus Christ.

 

Not only was there much talk, prayer, and forgiveness, there was also a lot of strategic networking.  There was a lot of offline conversation about how to reach the Albanian people in northern and western Macedonia.  And it wasn’t just Albanian pastors and foreign missionaries having these discussions.  It was Macedonia pastors asking for help from the Albanians.  Help us reach your people here in Macedonia.

 

Only God knows what will come out of this conference, but God is doing a new thing that hasn’t been seen before in the history of this region.  And I don’t think that’s just hyperbole. 

 

I’ve uploaded a bunch of pictures to my Flickr site.  You can find this set here.

 

 

Two Sides of Missions

This weekend we had a marathon “Field Leadership Team” set of meetings in Kosovo.  These are the meetings of our field’s team leaders and our boss and assistant boss.  The February meeting is particularly grueling because it’s when we hammer through the following year’s budgets, assign the mission fleet of vehicles, and do a lot of other plain hard work that makes the machine work.

 

But Sunday night we heard that three people had accepted Christ that night in our church service.  Two of them are fathers and “heads-of-households,” which is critically important in our context.  I was so incredibly pumped up. 

 

When people think of missionaries they think of preachers and prayers and other stuff.  They probably don’t think of logisticians, budget-eers, strategists and so forth.  Missionaries are all those things.

it's the little things in life...

So I’m at the bank today, waiting to do some mission business.  I’m standing in line…quite a long line…waiting to submit my paper work and make a withdrawal.  I’m standing there with Reilly, who is growing impatient while Naim waits for me in what might charitably be called a “lobby.”  While I’m standing there telling Reilly, for the fourth time, that no, we are not finished yet I notice a mummer ripple through the line. 

 

Three men walk in, greet the security guard amiably and walk past the front of the line right to a teller who is helping someone else.  The leader is an older man in a dark brown leather jacket.  The two guys with him are obviously “muscle.”  Both are wearing leather jackets, on is very, very large and has pleasant face.  The other is very, very sharp and rarely takes his eyes off the door.  They intentionally flank the boss and all three regularly look up from what they are doing to scan the crowd.  After a little while they finished their business and left the way they came in, quickly.   About fifteen minutes later we left the bank, our business finished too.  I wondered who the three men were, and how they so casually disrupted the lives of so many who were waiting (relatively) patiently.

 

One more reminder that I’m not in Kansas any more.

 

 

A young woman met Jesus today

Today we were up to church in Prishtina.  We haven’t made our way up there for several weeks and it was good to see all our friends and pastor Fehmi.  There were a number of news faces in the congregation, including one young lady who came with our friend F.  At the end of the service, after a great message on the love of God, F raised her hand.  She’d been whispering to her friend who had made it known that she wanted to meet Jesus today.  Fehmi invited the two of them to come to the front where he led the young lady to Christ, praying what we commonly call, “the sinner’s prayer.”

It was a great way to end the day.  People bringing their friends to meet the Master is definitely a New Testament model and one that is always fun to watch.  I don’t give you this young ladies name, but please be praying for one new light in one church in Prishtina.  Another child has come back to her Maker.

...in other words, you stink.

The life of a missionary is one of constant humiliation.  Not humilation in the sense of shame or guilt but of being humbled.  I just got back from our weekly men’s Bible study.  I was excited because for we had one of those rare instances when a fully grown, head-of-household, visiting man came to our Bible study.  This is pretty significant in our context.  We’re studying our way through the book of Daniel because there are so many key lessons for men there…until we get to all the weird vision stuff anyway.

            So I poured my heart out of all the clever and insiteful things I could think of from Daniel chapter 5.  I stretched my poor Albanian language skills into the far abstract…and was corrected a number of times by our adult regulars.  Finally, we were finished.  Our visitor said he had enjoyed it, that it had been very interesting, etc.

            Then one of our most respected men spoke up.  “Oh, you should come on Sunday when Pastor Femi is preaching.”  It’s MUCH more interesting.

 

Oh well.  That’s the life of a missionary.

At Rugova's graveside

Last night Melissa and I went to Prishtina for dinner and a night out for Melissa’s birthday.  After dinner we headed to a favoriate spot for dessert and on our way decided we would try to find President Rugova’s grave.  We had all seen it on TV; one news article said that a million people came to Prishtina last week to pay their respects.  That’s amazing considering that Kosova only has about 2.5 million inhabitants.

We’d all heard contraditory information about the location of the cemetary, but at last heard that it was near his house in a park we had passed by daily when we lived in Prishtina.  We found the location easily enough, brightly lit by tall towers, a newly lit walkway flanked by 61 newly planted trees to commemorate his life.  At the grave site were two dark-coated men and a police car to watch over the location.  Ringing the graveside were scores of flower wreaths from various places and people.  One was from the German branch of Rugova’s political party.  Others were from various nations.  The State of Isreal, the Chech Republic, Poland and others.  Situated prominantly, directly behind the grave, was the wreath from the Government of the United States of America.

I was drawn to it, filled perhaps with childhood fantasies about the Government of the United States of America.  I say fantasies because nothing is ever as good as it appears on TV.  I expected our government to provide a beautiful wreath, perhaps better than the others…larger or more beautiful in some way.  In reality, there were wreaths that were bigger, and more beautiful.  The banner that held the label had already begun to come apart, barely two days after the funeral.  It was not what I expected,cheap red ribbon drooping lazily over the large black word, “America.”

And so I was once again touched by the reaily of Rugova’s death.  Death appears so final from this side of eternity.  And few of those one million mourners will ever have any hope for something beyond the grave.   For them, it is the end.