A win-win situation for both mission organisations
ELM and the SELK’s Bleckmar Mission sign a cooperation agreement on volunteer work
In front of the historical model of the mission ship *Candace* at the Ludwig Harms House in Hermannsburg, the Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church (SELK) and the Evangelical Lutheran Mission in Lower Saxony (ELM) have signed a new cooperation agreement for the ‘Seitenwechsel’ volunteer programme. The agreement offers young adults from the SELK, in particular, the opportunity to apply for voluntary service through ELM and to gain experience abroad in social and church-related projects.
New opportunities for young people in voluntary service
For the Bleckmar Mission, this collaboration is an important step towards attracting young people to service abroad. “This volunteering programme enables us to inspire young people to undertake service abroad. For us as a mission, this is a very important step, because we would not be able to manage it on our own,” says Mission Director Edmund Hohls.
The partnership brings together the existing structures of both partners. ELM Director Holger Siebert describes the essence of the agreement: “With immediate effect, there is a partnership between the Bleckmarer Mission, the SELK and ELM. Together, we want to work on the volunteering programme to offer young people even more opportunities and places to serve.”
Collaboration expands the ‘Seitenwechsel’ programme
The main aim is to open up new paths for young people and to further expand the scope of the volunteering programme. “A win-win situation for both mission organisations, but I also think for many young people and, above all, for the volunteering programme itself,” says Siebert. He is particularly pleased that the collaboration “could be shaped together in such a wonderful spirit and has progressed so swiftly from the initial idea to today’s signing”.
Regina Temmler, coordinator of ELM’s ‘Seitenwechsel’ volunteer programme, also sees the partnership as a valuable addition: “We are, of course, delighted that we can offer or expand our own structures through such a partnership. This enables us to cater to the interests of young people who apply for or show an interest in diaconal projects.”
Initial experiences with the new partnership
One of the first to benefit from the new partnership is Käthe Pietrusky from the SELK. She is currently preparing for her voluntary service in Brazil at ELM’s pre-departure seminar. “I think it’s brilliant that this partnership now makes it possible to actually go to Brazil, and I’m just really, really looking forward to my year abroad,” she says.
(In the sidebar, you’ll find Käthe Pietrusky’s donation form to support the volunteer programme)
