InfoBMS supports a Croatian pastoral couple, Tomislav and Lidija Dobutovic, who have been working in Sarajevo since March 1997. Since then, their work has flourished and diversified beyond any original expectations.
When the Kosova crisis escalated in the spring of 1999, Sarajevo Baptist Church initiated a large humanitarian aid project to help the Kosovan refugees in the surrounding area as well as in Tuzla, Zenica and Novi Travnik. BMS made grants to purchase warm winter clothing and fresh fruit and vegetables for the refugee camps at Kakany, Breza and Rakovica.
Also, BMS joined forces with other donors in a programme to help returning residents of Sarajevo (who had fled during the war) to put roofs back on their homes.
In addition to sending finance, BMS was pleased to be able to send a person to Bosnia- Herzegovina: John Hughes, a Managing Director from Cheshire. John was based in Sarajevo for a year, giving administrative and IT support to the work there as well as teaching English, working in the refugee camps and helping a local church.