Guten Tag! Ich heiße Laura Barkenquast. Today those of us on the Bold Women of the Reformation Tour visited different social service agencies in Wittenberg so that we could see how bold women and men of faith in Wittenberg, Germany today are living out that faith.
I visited Augustinus Werk, which is a workshop for handicapped adults. In Germany, the government makes sure that all handicapped persons have an income. The workshop prepares adults for work in the public sector; however, if those in the workshop are unable to find work, then they continue in the workshop until they reach retirement age. In addition to their income from the workshop, they receive a government subsidy.
Those of us who visited Augustinus Werk talked with the director and toured the facility. We observed the sewing, woodworking, windowmaking, and assembly of household products taking place. We had the opportunity to purchase some of the items made by the woodworking department, and many of us took advantage of that opportunity. :)
What struck me the most about the visit was the dedication and determination of those who worked there (both the handicapped participants in the workshop and the non-handicapped supervisors and director). (By the way, I use the term "handicapped," rather than "differently abled" because "handicapped" is the term used in Germany.)
People poured their hearts and souls into doing the best job possible, and they were genuinely very friendly to us Americans looking for an "authentic" experience of Wittenberg, rather than just the traditonal tourist activities.
I think that Martin and Katie Luther and the other reformers would be pleased — pleased with the workshop system that ensures that handicapped people have gainful employment in the workshop and/or in the public sector and pleased that the Bold Women of the Reformation Tour would choose to make this visit.
Martin Luther believed that everyone (not just clergy) received a call from God, and that they should live out that call to the glory of God. No call is better or worse than another. The handicapped people and their supervisors and the director at Augustinus Werk are called to that work. For the morning that some of us on the Bold Women of the Reformation Tour visited Augustinus Werk, we were following our call. There was nowhere else we needed to be that morning.
Auf wiedersehen!
Auf Christus,
Laura
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1 comment:
Laura,
I was happy to read your observations about the trip. I have been following your groups observations and pictures with delight as it reminds me of the places I visited four years ago.
If you get a chance to see Pastor
Andreas Volkman at the Marienkirche
in Wittenberg please convey Herzliche Gruesse aus Chicago. Perhaps he might share some of his impressions of Chicago and if he might talk about how he became a pastor while living in East Germany. Looking forward to read more of your impressions and having you share your observations with us at LMC. Perhaps we at Luther Memorial could be come a sister congregation to the city church in Wittenberg after all it was 90 years ago that we became Luther Memorial Church on the 400th Anniversary Luther nailing of the 95 thesis on the castle church doors at Wittenberg.
Peace, Dieter and Diane
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