Experiencing Church Worldwide

“The confirmands now know the United Evangelical Mission (UEM). And they have experienced that they are part of this worldwide community”, says Yoram Karusya, coordinator in the UEM’s Regional Service. The Reverend from Tanzania moved to Germany in 2022 for his work in the Lower Rhine region. From 2009 to 2012, he had already become familiar with working in international contexts during a three year stay in Germany.

A worldwide communion

In September, around 160 confirmands from the German church district of Gladbach-Neuss came to the Mönchengladbach district of Neuwerk. Under the theme “Church Worldwide”, the church district from EKiR* cooperated with the UEM to give young people an insight into the global fellowship of the Church.

The church district is connected with the UEM in several ways: it belongs to the “Lower Rhine” region of the UEM’s Regional Service, while at the same time the Indonesian church BNKP* on the island of Nias and the church district maintain a partnership together.

Games and competitions

For “Konfinopoly”, Pastors Yoram Karusya and Matthias Schmid from the Regional Service organised the day together with full-time and volunteer staff. The focus was on not only hearing about worldwide fellowship in lectures but also experiencing it personally – with all the similarities and differences that come with it.

There were 14 stations in total: the confirmands baked chapati using Tanzanian recipes and got creative in a craft workshop. And while drinking water in cities such as Mönchengladbach and Dar es Salaam usually comes straight from the tap, in many Tanzanian villages it involves long distances and hard physical work. To learn more about this, the confirmands carried water cans across the church grounds.

At Karusya’s suggestion – who puts theological emphasis on making the good in life visible – there was a station with dances, which were later brought together in a final show. At another station, the young people made music using Angklung instruments from Indonesia.

Nias joining live

At the start of the event, confirmands and their pastor from Nias joined live from Indonesia. With the German confirmands, they spoke about their confirmation classes and exchanged ideas about ecumenical partnerships.

UEM South-North volunteers, who are currently serving in the region, also took part in the day’s activities. This gave the confirmands the chance to meet and talk with young adults from the volunteer programme and get to know one another.

Regional Service: Creating communion locally

After the award ceremony, Karusya drew a positive conclusion: “Throughout the day, we could feel again and again: we belong together! That doesn’t mean we do everything the same way. But there is something we share that enriches us. We have thought, spoken, sung, climbed, painted, eaten, and so much more – all in just one day and as part of one big game idea.”

The UEM’s Regional Service is active throughout the EKiR. It supports congregations and church districts in discovering ecumenical diversity and strengthening international connections.

 

*EKiR = Evangelische Kirche im Rheinland (Evangelical Church in the Rhineland, Germany)

*BNKP = Banua Niha Keriso Protestan (Christian-Protestant Church on Nias Island, Indonesia)