Experience of Meinolf Wacker

You all know about the very cruel war in Bosnia . At the end of the conflict Cardinal Lehmann asked the young people to help in the reconstruction, and we of the Hardehausen Youth Center offered our help to a town in the north of Bosnia .

Some young people accepted our invitation and we left. Every morning we read with them the Gospel reading for that day and we summed it up in a “motto” to put in practice during the day. More than half of the participants had little contact with the Church.

Thus we began an experience of a living Church. Everyone worked either in the kitchen, in the various construction yards or in other groups, and naturally, in the evening they wanted to share what Jesus had worked during the day in them and through them. Many also took part in the Eucharistic celebration.

Then the experience multiplied. Ten large summer camps were held during these years. More than 350 young people from twelve nations participated – and many of them more than once. More than one hundred people committed a year of their life to social projects in various nations. “For young people,” said Pope Benedict XVI in his encyclical, “this widespread involvement constitutes a school of life which offers them a formation in solidarity and in readiness to offer others not simply material aid but their very selves.”

In fact, a journey began entitled: “Jesus in his Word”: every month the young participants receive a plastic-coated card with a Word of the Gospel and the invitation to put it into practice. These comments to the Gospel are now translated into thirteen languages and reach young people in 43 countries around the world.

With what results?

Hoger, very active in the political field but without any connection to the Church, came with us to Bosnia . Every morning he listened to the “motto” taken from the Gospel. Then he worked untiringly in the construction yards. Towards the end, he told me in tears: “I’m not able to understand! Here I see nothing but signs of death around me and yet I feel happy, as never before in my life! Why?” I explained to him: “Holger, you began to love… You’ve given up four weeks of your vacation. Jesus promised that he would manifest himself to those who love him by giving them a joy that the world cannot give.” Then I added: “You’re very close to God!” The next day he said to me: “But I’m still not able to believe!” I replied: “Don’t worry! Try to stay on the path of loving concretely!” At the end of the camping experience Holger went to Israel. He worked in a nursery school and in a home for the elderly for reconciliation between Germans and Jews.

Ivana grew up in a multicultural context of Sarajevo . With a friend she arrived in one of the camps and stayed there working for the rest of the time. Afterwards she came to Germany and stayed at the Hardehausen Youth Center sharing the life of the Word. She discovered “dancing” as a way to give the Gospel to the world. She and her friend danced in Cologne during the World Youth Day. Today – back in Sarajevo – she devotes much time to the youth of her city and lives the words of Jesus each day.

Now there are 1,500 young people “friends of the Word”. For the past six years a group has been receiving a Gospel motto – through text messages – to live coherently and then to share experiences – especially in Sarajevo . In different parts of the world they adhered to Pope Benedict’s appeal in Cologne : “Form faith-based communities!” In Sarajevo , with the help of a young German architect, we are planning a house for youth. It will be named after John Paul II, who saw in young people, the “sentinels of morning”, and who called them to become “saints.”