‘One man with God is everything’
CALLIAQUA, ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES — Before I got…
In Search of Shalom — the struggle for divine reconciliation
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Can Churches of Christ reconcile God’s call to peace (shalom) with the world’s call to ethnic and geographic conflict?
That’s the core question behind our series, “In Search of Shalom.” In the past year I have traveled to Central Europe, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean in search of answers.
The inspiration for the series was a negative experience a few years ago. A Church of Christ in Western Europe was hosting a celebration that included believers of multiple nationalities — Belgian, South African, Ukrainian and Russian. I took a photo of Ukrainian refugees standing next to a Russian Christian and, in my reporting, highlighted the way they were getting along despite Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, then in its second year.
Christians from Ukraine and Russia sing hymns during a 2011 conference in Crimea.
As I was fact-checking the story, one of the refugees told me that I had mischaracterized the relationship. Ukrainians are dying at the hands of Russians every day, he said. It’s not enough for Russian Christians to just say they oppose the war. What are they doing to stop it? And the photo I took of him next to his Russian brother? Please don’t use it, he said. “That was your idea. Not mine.”
I was disheartened, especially since Russian and Ukrainian church members used to be close friends. Most of the Churches of Christ in Ukraine were in the Russian-speaking east, and they often interacted with Christians from Moscow, St. Petersburg and nearby Rostov-on-Don.
Somewhere on this globe, is there a model of Christian reconciliation that Ukrainians, Russians and all of us can learn from after this terrible conflict ends? I hoped to find answers in the Balkans, a region divided by brutal ethnic conflicts three decades ago. Instead, I found that the old animosities remain — and are, perhaps, intensifying.
But I also found stories of Christians reaching past the political issues that divide them. Time and again, I encountered groups of people — people who the world says shouldn’t be together — finding unity in their love of Christ.
Here are my first steps “In Search of Shalom.”
- Finding peace ‘when there is no peace’: The Christian Chronicle explores the Balkans, where Christians struggle with a legacy of war. (Reported from Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovena)
Street art in Sarajevo urges Bosnians to remember the July 11, 1995, genocide of Muslims by Bosnian Serbs in Srebrenica.
- Among outcasts, a church moves in: Christians in Albania reach out — with Bibles and basketball — to a persecuted people. (Reported from Fushë Krujë, Albania)
Women visit in a Roma neighborhood in Fushë Krujë. Nearby, a Church of Christ hosts worship.
- Despised people live ‘at the heart of shalom’: Reporter reflects on inspiration for series about bridging ethnic and cultural divisions. (Insight from Fushë Krujë, Albania)
A colorful illustration of the Lord’s Prayer from Matthew 6, written in the Roma language, stands in the sanctuary of a Catholic community center in Košice, Slovakia.
- Faith meets machine gun nationalism: A record-breaking concert in Croatia highlights the complicated interplay of church, ethnicity and politics. Can Christians help bring real peace? (Reported from Zagreb, Croatia)
A statue of Josip Jelačić stands in downtown Zagreb. Jelačić was “Ban” (a viceroy and military office) of Croatia from 1848 to 1859. He is remembered for his military campaigns during the revolutions of 1848 and for his abolition of serfdom in Croatia.
- A journey of forgiveness on Botham Jean’s island: The foundation honoring the legacy of the slain Christian hosts its first Red Tie Gala in his Caribbean homeland. (Reported from Gros Islet, St. Lucia)
Alyssa Charles-Finley visits her brother’s tomb in St. Lucia.
- The gospel of Vietnam: A half-century after the fall of Saigon, Churches of Christ find new life in their communist homeland. (Reported from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)
The communist hammer and sickle hang from a banner next to a beauty parlor in Can Tho, Vietnam.
- Did Jesus come to bring division? How can Christ-followers be peacemakers in a world intent on tearing itself apart? (Insight from Singapore)
Erik Tryggestad sings hymns alongside Thailand missionary Robert Reagan and church members from across Asia during the “Bricks to Blessings” banquet hosted by the Moulmein Church of Christ.
ERIK TRYGGESTAD is President and CEO of The Christian Chronicle. Contact [email protected].
