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During the last week of October, WSCF-US joined students and leaders from the WSCF-Europe region of the global WSCF in Sarajevo for a peacebuilding training. A central aspect of WSCF's mission is to connect movements of young Christians and give exposure to the realities of life around the world. The Frame the Future series brought together representatives from student Christian movements in Finland, the UK, Austria, and Germany, and from partner organizations in France, Georgia, Lebanon, Brazil, Colombia, and Azerbaijan. By Deidre Allen (she/her), WSCF-US Student Leadership Team I was recently honored to represent the World Student Christian Federation-US in Sarajevo, Bosnia in Europe as a member of the Student Leadership Team. We attended Frame the Future, a youth peacebuilding conference held by the World Student Christian Federation-Europe. With young leaders from many countries in Europe and beyond, we learned different methods and practices, such as the difference between discussion and dialogue and understanding that people will have different definitions of these based on their region or context. It was important to practice being open to learn or see things in a different light and viewpoint.  Thinking as a group about themes encountered over the week and in the tour of Sarajevo. (photo by Marcos Dorneles, 2025) In 1984, the city of Sarajevo hosted the Winter Olympics that brought the world together for winter sports. Almost ten years later in 1992, there was a war that broke out in this same city that killed many Bosnians. This war lasted until 1995, and there was a genocide of Bosnian Muslims. The World Student Christian Federation-Europe region hosted their conference in the city of Sarajevo so we could learn more and bring awareness to others about the war from thirty years past and what peacebuilding and storytelling can look like. In memory of the genocide and torment that took place in Sarajevo, one of the things on this trip that stood out to me was discovering the meaning behind the concrete roses throughout the city. These roses were formed from craters left by daily explosions during the war. The areas were filled in with red resin to symbolize the scars, bloodshed, hope, and resilience from the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. While taking a group tour with a Bosnian native we learned the history of the city and one of these Sarajevo concrete roses was pointed out. There appeared to be a fresh blood stain on the concrete, yet it was from a recent rainfall. It was as if the ground was continuing to cry out and display its war scars many years later. This symbolic statement of the concrete roses really made me pause and think of all the innocent lives lost during this three- and half-year war.  A Sarajevo Rose glistening from the rain.
As a Black American Christian, another thing that resonated with me during our tour of the city was how the people are identified by their religion and not the color of their skin. There are three major religions with which Bosnians identify: Orthodox Christianity, Roman Catholicism, and Islam, which is the largest religious group in the region.
Using race categories to identify populations creates a further separation between individuals and communities, then continues to strip them of their cultural and spiritual identities. I believe there is a better way to view and appreciate a person, based on their faith versus an ever-changing label placed on a person or communities based on their skin tone. I am grateful for the opportunity to experience the beauty of Sarajevo, from the mountains that surround the city, to the rich history of resilience, seen in our visit to the Tunnel of Hope that supplied the residents with food and other materials during the war. May God continue to bless the city of Sarajevo and surrounding areas and those who reside there and visit.
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During the last week of October, WSCF-US joined students and leaders from the WSCF-Europe region of the global WSCF in Sarajevo for a peacebuilding training. A central aspect of WSCF's mission is to connect movements of young Christians and give exposure to the realities of life around the world. The Frame the Future series brought together representatives from student Christian movements in Finland, the UK, Austria, and Germany, and from partner organizations in France, Georgia, Lebanon, Brazil, Colombia, and Azerbaijan. By Ailih Weeldreyer (she/her), WSCF-US National Organizer The greatest gift of belonging to a global movement is that we are given the opportunity to see God at work through people across the world. Our global neighbors teach us that though we may be far from one another, we are united by our hope for peace and justice. We are not alone in our efforts to bring about the kingdom of Heaven on Earth. Last week, I traveled to Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina to fellowship and learn alongside friends and colleagues from WSCF-Europe. This was the final installation of their Frame the Future peacebuilding training series, which brought together young people from around Europe and the rest of the world to learn about peacebuilding in contexts throughout the continent. In Sarajevo, we learned non-violent communication skills, practiced dialogue, and studied the city’s history of war, division, and reconciliation.  Ailih and Deidre in conversation with peers from Brazil and Germany. (photo by Marcos Dorneles, 2025) On Wednesday, we took a tour of Sarajevo led by a young historian whose depth of knowledge - both academic and lived experience - painted a picture of a city and a culture with a legacy of interreligious harmony. We learned that for centuries, from ancient times through the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires, Bosnians who were Catholic, Orthodox, Jewish, and Muslim coexisted peacefully. The idea that people living in the territory that is now Bosnia-Herzegovina should divide themselves according to the faith community to which they belong emerged only in the 20th century, as a response to oppressive Austro-Hungarian policies. The three main ethnic groups within Bosnia-Herzegovina are Croats, who are mainly Catholic, Bosniaks, who are mainly Muslim, and Serbs, who are mainly Orthodox. As nationalism rose in resistance to Austro-Hungarian rule, people began to identify with their ethnic groups through the signifier of religion. These divisions grew until the fall of communist Yugoslavia in 1992, when war broke out amongst the national groups. The war was brutal, reminiscent of the conflicts we see on our screens today. All parties committed atrocities, with civilians bearing the worst of the violence. During the siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica genocide, civilians were starved, shot by snipers, and systematically removed for mass murder by the Bosnian Serb military. Their nationalist struggle for power was fueled by the dehumanization of other groups. Because Serbs in the military could not see their Bosniak neighbors as human, policies of ethnic cleansing and genocide became part of the attempt to win control over territory. Echoes of the conflict remain in plain sight in Sarajevo. Apartment buildings with giant mortar scars, bullet holes peppering concrete walls along the largest road through the city, and red paint splatters represent the memories of war which linger along with feelings of division. We learned that while the Dayton Accords officially ended the violent conflict, the peace agreement lacked policies aimed toward reconciliation of people. Thus the war has been frozen in place, like the “Sarajevo Roses” which mark with red paint the locations where people were killed by mortar fire.
And yet, according to our tour guide, people choose in this state of frozen conflict to remember the spiritual resistance of wartime. The moments of joy and hope were precious, and many people who lived through the Siege of Sarajevo will recall that while it was the worst time of their lives, they also experienced the best moments of human connection and beauty. At the level of daily interactions, Bosnians of all ethnic groups have returned to coexistence. But political divisions and fearmongering remain a threat to peace in the country today. I was strongly reminded of the heightened anxiety and division pushed by political leaders in our own country. I saw how we exist at a time when political violence and tactics of oppression could lead to more widespread violence. At the same time, the continued coexistence of Bosnian people in Sarajevo regardless of their national or religious identity demonstrated enormous potential for restored communal relationships on the political level. Relating this to the American context, it showed me that there is always hope for reconciliation and violent conflict is not inevitable. Experiences like Frame the Future above all remind me to live with a posture of humility. Learning about the many experiences of people from around the world takes me out of my focus on the US and reminds me that we are not special in the problems we face. This is humbling and comforting, in a way. We are not special in our problems, which means that we are not alone in trying to solve them. We can learn from people in deeply divided societies around the world, who have lived through terrible, heartbreaking violence and who are still seeking ways to live more peacefully alongside their neighbors. In our movements in the US, humbly recognizing our un-exceptionality, we can take strategies and courage from those working for the same justice and peace around the world. This reflects our Christian worldview, as well. God’s peace and justice are not limited to one people, one nation, or within borders. As Christians, we draw on a scriptural foundation and a legacy of action that calls us to reach out to others, building peace in our own communities and for all God’s people. On the last day of the training, participants were invited to make a “peace pledge” for the months to come. I pledged to build peace in my own community, knowing that in a deeply interconnected world, the ripple effect would reach places far away. And trusting that the efforts of my friends on the other side of the globe would come to touch my community, too. And now I ask you: What is your peace pledge, for your community and for the world?  |
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