Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We wanted to write to you as a group since many of you have asked if we are safe. We are safe, and we do not expect any problems here in Osijek. Kosovo is very close to us in a number of ways. We have recently had students here who are Albanians from Kosovo. A refugee camp nearby that used to house Bosnians is now full of Kosovars. Our students regularly visit. One of our students is from Albania proper, and he is especially helpful in the camp. One of the NATO target areas, Novi Sad in northern Serbia, was home to a Baptist seminary before the war. Some of the Croatian Baptist pastors who are friends of ours attended there.

I was just in the nearby city of Vukovar last Saturday, showing a guest the destroyed neighborhoods. (Serbs overran Vukovar in 1991.) It is not hyperbole or exaggeration to say that every home has been damaged or destroyed. There are no exceptions. Milosevic's strategy was then and is now a scorched earth policy. A full eight years after the bombing of Vukovar, I was still able to pick up pieces of shrapnel and see the tail fins of mortars embedded in sidewalk asphalt in quite uninhabitable ruins of former residential neighborhoods. Only the birds have returned. We will be feeding, housing, and clothing refugee Albanian survivors eight years from today as well. And those will be the ones who count themselves fortunate. I've been to the mass grave in Vukovar. It's horrible to imagine where the new ones will be found in Kosovo. I'm sure the satellites already have recorded the "disturbed earth" (as they described the mass graves of the 8,000 men of Srebrenica, Bosnia).

On Easter week, so little has changed in 2,000 years: governments still kill people without cause but for crass political purposes. And yet, on Easter week, we must not leave it there; we must also reflect on the love and care of God who willingly put his son into the hands of the violent of his day in order to redeem us. His resurrection, which we celebrate, gives hope and new life even in the context of human evil on a massive scale. We are here to bear witness to that alternative vision.

I was just in church with a number of people from Tordinci, a village close to Osijek. It too was demolished in 1991. (It is between Osijek and Vukovar.) In Tordinci, people have been worshiping in the Reformed church since the 16th century. The ground has absorbed a lot of blood in the past 400 years. But this church is also a witness to that alternative reality. After eight years of living as refugees, people are only now beginning to return. The church is damaged and still needs repair, but services are being held. I will be there on Easter Sunday singing about the resurrection of our Lord and seeing the "resurrection" of this congregation. Eight years from now perhaps Albanians will be returning to Kosovo villages. It takes such a short time to pluck up and to tear down, and such a long time to build and to plant. We are here (Lord willing) for the long term, as witnesses to the "future with hope" that God wants to give.

As you may remember, Michelle has been a part of a Croatian team that is establishing the first chapter of Alternatives to Violence in Croatia. She has been working hard to equip her Croatian colleagues to take over the leadership of the organization because she wants to give more of her time to her doctoral studies. A trip to Macedonia had been scheduled to equip one of our graduates as a facilitator for AVP, but because of the present crisis it had to be rearranged. Alternatives to Violence is an educational program that helps people to understand their role in society and how they can bring about nonviolent change. It is a wonderful chance to witness to our hope in Christ.

At the seminary, Steve's responsibilities as Academic Dean finally (and thankfully) ended in January. Steve taught the Prophets section of the Hebrew canon. Michelle's teaching included two courses for the undergraduates, "Communication Skills" and "Human Development Theories" and on the master's level a course in Christian spiritual formation. Third term we both are free to concentrate on the ongoing process of learning Croatian and doctoral studies.

The boys have been exceptionally healthy this school year. Neither one of them was home for more than one day with sickness, except when Nathaniel got the chicken pox. He tries to keep up with his brother while Benjamin continues to learn patience in coping with Nathan's inability to distinguish between his belongings and his brother's. We have been blessed with good health and good experiences in school with both boys.

Relying on his grace in the joy of this Easter season,

Steve and Michelle, Benjamin and Nathaniel Kurtz