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BY LINDA WORTHINGTON
UMCONNECTION STAFF

The 35 people sitting in a lodge at Camp Manidokan were visibly moved as Muamer 'Fritz' Buljubasic told his story at the conference Volunteers in Mission Rally April 16.

Speaking informally, the 26-year-old spoke about living through the years of war and atrocities in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Sarajevo, the capital, was under siege for four years.

'Life was worth nothing, surrounded by guns,' he said.

He fled by himself at age 16, with no documents, through many countries, eventually to Switzerland. He learned to speak German and English, and though his schooling had been stopped by the war, he eventually earned a diploma.

For the past three years, Buljubasic has served as the United Methodist Committee on Relief's volunteer coordinator. UMCOR has worked in the country for 11 years.

Bosnia 'is a complicated country,' he said, with three ethnic groups. He is Muslim and lives in an apartment over his parents' home in Sarajevo, which is still rebuilding from the ravages of war. Once one leaves the capital, to go even 10 minutes outside, the devastation is vast, he said, with no electricity, running water, or even homes in many cases, and little or no money.

It is in such villages that the Volunteers in Mission teams often work.

The theme for the weekend rally was 'Offer Them Hope,' which Buljubsic, participants and other speakers did in their presentations and discussions.

'It's important to help people one at a time,' he said. Working with institutions is fine, but he stressed the importance of one-on-one assistance. 'If we build a school, that's okay, but who will maintain it after the volunteers are gone?' he asked.

The Rev. Malcolm Frazier, director of the Wesley Foundation at Howard University, picked up on the point in his workshop, 'Identifying and Breaking our Inclusivity Barriers.' The workshop also discussed people's attitudes before going on a volunteer mission trip.

In small-group gatherings, the participants did exercises on the 'dynamics of privilege and power.'

'(White) privilege is not something earned, we grow up with it,' Frazier said. That is a reality that volunteers 'need to remember' when they go on mission trips. 'Whatever you find (in the mission area), you can go home and will go home,' he said. That's not true for the people living there.

Olusiyi

Leah Olusiyi, a Nigerian and a director with the Women's Division of the General Board of Global Ministries, stressed that if God has chosen you to be a leader, 'that is a gift to be used.' Olusiyi and Theresa Odige-Alaeze, also from Nigeria, spoke of their ministries during the first session of the rally April 15.

Olusiyi uses her God-given leadership skills with women in Nigeria through the Women's Leadership Training Centers in Zing and Bambu. In the centers, women are trained in tailoring, making socks, wedding cakes, sweaters, ointments ? all products that can be used to generate income for the family. The centers also hold adult education classes.

Many of the women are Muslims, she said, who, because of the witness of the program, 'sometimes become Christian.'

Odige-Alaeze, a member of Loch Raven UMC and a health professional, began a health ministry in Nigeria with the help of her church. She emphasizes that women need skills to 'maintain a home without depending on husbands,' who may be absent for long periods of time or permanently.

To help women gain self-sufficiency, the Association of Health Resources Inc. that she started is setting up income-generating projects, and she hopes to be able to offer small loans to help them get started. The program also works on reducing the risk of exposure to HIV/AIDs. 'HIV is not a life sentence,' Odige-Alaeze said. Women can learn to live with it.

Participants in the rally were given instructions and help in deciding what to take, what to leave behind and how to pack for a mission trip. There were many opportunities to share stories of past VIM trips, to view displays and discuss new opportunities for mission.

'I've never been on a mission trip before,' said Mfon Umoren, a dentist and missions chairwoman at First UMC in Hyattsville. 'This weekend makes me ready to go.'