PEOPLE OF MEDJUGORJE
“Praise Jesus and Mary, I am Robert Rukavina , a husband and father of ten. I first came to Medjugorje in 1998. years, after some great things that happened at that time in my life.
My then girlfriend, and now my wife – Nada, talked me into coming to Medjugorje. I said to Our Lady then: “Lady, if I see you in Me jaugorje – I will believe in Mejugorje, and if I don’t see you there – I will not believe in Me Jaugolje and that is my last decision”. And when I came to Medjugorje, more precisely Križevac, at that time I was just looking at this draca and branches where I would see Our Lady, and I did not see her then. The next day when we went to the Hill of Appearances, I did the same again, and the result was the same.
At that moment Medjugorje was crossed for me! I concluded: I’m coming home, the Lady is gone, I haven’t seen the Lady, God does not exist, and that’s it! However, on the very way back home while sitting on the bus, I felt a voice in my heart: “You didn’t receive anything, you have to go back! “. It was a turning point in my life because that was the first time I felt the voice in my heart.
When I returned home that voice kept echoing in my heart and I knew I had to return to Medjugorje. I attended a life confession, I participated in the Holy Mass and received the Holy Communion. For the first time in my life, I knelt down on my knees, realized what had happened, and said to Jesus: “Jesus, now I believe that this is not a piece of dough, but that it is really You on the occasion of the bread!” “.
That’s when everything started to change in my life. When I got home I started praying the rosary, reading the scriptures, attending holy mass. So, all that Our Lady has been calling us here for years. After that, my girlfriend nada and I got married. And here, through 22 years, God gave us ten children, namely: Mary, John, Magdalene, Clara, Anna, Rebecca, Noemi, Judith, Esther and Peter Bogdan, and one grandchild, little Marinko.
After a while, during marriage, I received an invitation, more precisely the feeling that Lady is calling me to start working for her too therefore I am in 2002. organized the first pilgrimage to Medjugorje in the year. Then came the second and third and fifth and seventh etc. There have been over 100 pilgrims throughout the years. I organized the “Marathon of Peace – Running for Our Lady” in 2007. years, after that the biker pilgrimage, the disabled pilgrimage, the homeless pilgrimage which was one of my most beautiful pilgrimages etc.
And then there was in 2010 for years I felt I should start organizing something for the families. This is where my eyes opened and I realized that all these people I brought up before 2010 years through that pilgrimage – that they all come from family and that family is the most important! And 1. The pilgrimage of the family was only one bus and on this year’s 13. As many as 14 buses with over 700 people came as a pilgrimage, out of which more than 350 children!
So, I can say that Our Lady has guided me all these years, and I went from that unbeliever who asked for Our Lady for draca – became a husband and father of ten children, and now I bring my family and numerous other families to Our Lady here in Medjugorje! Queen of Peace thank you! “
Robert Rukavina
Santhosh Thomas