.srebrenica.

i know that it has been a shamefully long time since we last wrote a real post here. we have good reasons from that, and i hope to write about those soon.

i also know that we usually share funny and happy little thoughts here. however, today i feel the need to share about something more serious, and i hope that you, dear reader will not mind.

today is july 11th, 2009. exactly 14 years ago, in the small bosnian town of srebrenica, a brutal massacre was committed, when 8,000 (yes, eight thousand) boys and men of that town were murdered. here is a short summary (from wikipedia) of what happened that day.

The Srebrenica Massacre, also known as the Srebrenica Genocide, was the July 1995 killing of more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys, as well as the ethnic cleansing of 25,000-30,000 refugees in the area of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by units of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) under the command of General Ratko Mladić during the Bosnian War. The United Nations had declared Srebrenica a UN-protected "safe area" but that did not prevent the massacre, even though 400 armed Dutch peacekeepers were present at the time.

The Srebrenica massacre is the largest mass murder in Europe since World War II.

most of these men have never been found, although they keep discovering mass graves around the town and a group of experts has been working for years on identifying the remains. some of the identified remains will be re-buried today, as every year, since the massacre, the mothers, widows, sisters left behind hold a commemoration to remember their loved ones.

my brother and father were able to travel there today, and they will be there to pay their respects. i wish i could have gone with them, maybe another year.

today, please join me in prayer, that the women of that town, and all those in bosnia would find healing and reconciliation in christ, the only one who can give us hope.