Invited by the Parish Office for the Worldwide Church BS/BL together with Mission 21, twenty interested people from both Basel came together on Saturday, November 20, in the Martinshof in Liestal to gain ideas for cooperation. Many questions were on the invitation to this year's impulse meeting. The answers were personal, lively and practical right from the start.
In the introductory talk, Katharina Gfeller, Head of International Relations, and Kevin Ischi, Coordinator for Church Partnerships, reported on their work at Mission 21. Questioned by Church Councilor Niggi Ullrich, Katharina Gfeller told of formative experiences in Indonesia, where churches are reliable institutions for the population. She also reported on her trip to Cameroon, from which she recently returned. The bond with the partners is very present for her and was palpable on the trip. Kevin Ischi showed how cooperation with church communities can strengthen them in their identity. For example, by focusing the parishes thematically, such as on educational work.
Cooperation and solidarity action
After a brief overview by Katharina Gfeller of the topics and fields of action of Mission 21, the participants delved into individual areas by means of workshops. The workshop with two Mission 21 education experts, Claudia Buess and Alexandra Flury-Schölch, dealt with the promotion of women and its deep roots in the history of the mission organization. In the workshop with Kevin Ischi, participants explored the possibilities of integrating the two fields of action of international learning community and international development cooperation in congregational life.
It was gratifying to see the lively participation of the participants in these two workshops as well as in the two workshops in the afternoon (on the youth network and on digital peacebuilding). On all four topics, participants contributed their own experiences, asked questions and discussed information. The final discussion in the plenary session also provided important input on how the cooperation between Mission 21 and church communities can be deepened, for example with project partnerships.
Text and photo: Christoph Rácz
â–º Educational work in Tanzania and Switzerland - the current Mission 21 campaign
â–º Opportunities to get involved - church congregations, volunteers, bazaar groups
