Charity begins at home. But as Christians, we are called to reach beyond our individual households and neighborhoods, and to live in spiritual solidarity with our brothers and sisters in our larger community and throughout the world. And as Catholics, we are given unique opportunities to make these broader connections through Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the official global outreach ministry of the U.S. Catholic Church.

We encourage you to check this page and the parish bulletin regularly for these opportunities to be the compassionate face of Christ to the world.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions or suggestions: 

Charlie and Dianne Gardner
Global Solidarity Ambassadors for Nativity Parish
gardner1947@gmail.com
317-407-9130

Peace Platform Developed by CRS to Ease Ethnic Tensions
in Bosnia and Herzegovina

After more than 20 years of fragile peace, with deep ethnic tensions still simmering below the surface, the Bosnia and Herzegovina Parliamentary Assembly has supported a roadmap to lasting reconciliation. 

The Platform for Peace, developed by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in cooperation with the State Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees, outlines specific activities that political, religious and public leaders, the news media, and others can take to bridge the divisions that continue to plague the country. 

During three years of warfare between Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks, 100,000 people were killed and 2 million were displaced. CRS works with 71 mayors who signed the Platform, to incorporate at least three to five actions into their annual work plans and budgets. 
CRS has worked in Bosnia-Herzegovina since 1993, when it began providing emergency relief to people living under siege in Sarajevo.  
 
More information is at https://www.crs.org/media-center/news-release/bosnia-and-herzegovina-national-government-adopts-roadmap-peace.

Loving God,

We pray that your Spirit touch the peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
that brother no longer turns against brother, nor sister against sister.
May your children learn to live side by side to forgive, to reconcile,to build and not tear down.

Lord, who calls all peacemakers blessed,empower all peacemakers inside and outside of Bosnia and Herzegovina:
To stand up for the vulnerable
To aid the afflicted
To comfort the frightened
To work and advocate for justice
To say, “No more!” to violence.
God of all neighbors, of all states and every region,
beyond nations, above borders.

Make us all tillers,
planting seeds of peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
and in all nations;
working faithfully for the glorious harvest
that awaits all the faithful in heaven.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.

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