Written by Dave Bechtel
“Mom/Dad, what were you like in the 90s? “
By now, most of us have seen this viral social media trend of folks (primarily celebrities) that show a little video clip of themselves in the present day while the intro of the song “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls plays. As the song transitions to the verse, the viewer is treated to a collection of photos that change on the downbeat and backbeat of the song in what is supposed to show the subject “in their prime”.
Looking back at the 1990s generally brings back a lot of good memories for those of us in the United States, but for those living in the Balkan region during that time, it was the worst and most destructive decade that they have ever known. The Homeland War of the former Yugoslavia tore that region apart and pitted neighbor against neighbor and even brother against brother. For 4 deadly years during the 90s, Serbia, Bosnia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Macedonia, and Croatia fought for and against independence from communist rule. This led to the death of hundreds of thousands and millions of refugees, needing to flee their peaceful villages to seek safety and shelter.
Darko and Gorana Mikulić, who have been Fellowship Global partners for the last 19 years, and their families were among those that had to leave their homes and seek refuge. For years, they were not able to safely return to their homes and had to rely on the kindness and generosity of others who helped to feed, clothe, and shelter them. This had a profound effect on the way that they viewed the world and their calling to preach a message of eternal hope and to serve all those in need.
Darko and Gorana have long wished for a community resource center for those that find themselves in need, just as they had been in 30 years ago during the Homeland War. An old house, next to the church that was in significant disrepair and the small lot it sat on, was purchased with the goal of using it to house and help foster kids and their families. After a brief inspection, it was determined that rehabbing the old house would not be practical given the repairs needed. Plans shifted, and a new purpose-designed 3-story structure was built in the place of the old single-story house. For the last 5 years, Fellowship has been the key source of funding to help open the doors of the House of Hope, and great progress has been made. Knowing how critical the need of getting this facility up and running is, thirty-one people from Nashville and Kansas City traveled over to Slavonski Brod and spent a week working on a variety of tasks to help bring this project closer to completion.
In the House of Hope, over 4,500 Sq Ft of vinyl plank flooring was laid, multiple bathrooms were tiled, and all the electrical fixtures were installed. In the backyard, two shipping containers were placed on a new, leveled, crushed rock pad. These containers will be used for long-term storage and organization of donated items.
As of now, the House of Hope has been under construction for more than 5 years, and yet, there is still a lot of work to be done. It is our strong desire to get this facility occupied as soon as possible so that young people of Slavonski Brod that do not have a safe place to live will be able to find hope and refuge. We are so thankful for the great work that was done by the 31 team members in February but are looking to send another team to help get this much-needed resource up and running. If you have an interest in being part of the next team that travels to Slavonski Brod, please reach out to me ( and I will keep you up to date and informed of our next big push to open the House of Hope. We’d love to have you join us!
