EN
ICF BASEL ISSUE N°13 – NOV 2016
GL IS H ED IT I0 N
RELIEVING SUFFERING WITH TABLETS, SMARTPHONES AND DRONES
04
CAFE ALIENA
08
LET YOURSELF BE INSPIRED TRY NEW WAYS
18
YOUR POSITION CAN BE DANGEROUS… The following radio communication is said to have actually taken place on 16th October 1997 – between Galicia and North America – and was transmitted on the Spanish maritime emergency frequency Channel 106. It was only published by the Spanish military authorities, however, in March 2005, when all the Spanish newspapers immediately took it up. In the meantime all of Spain is laughing about it:
Editorial — 03
Spanish crew: This is A-853, please turn 15 degrees south to avoid collision, you're heading directly to us. USS Lincoln: No, we recommend you turn 15 degrees north to avoid a collision. Spanish crew: Negative. That's impossible. You turn 15 degrees south, you're 25 nautical miles from impact. USS Lincoln: THIS IS CAPTAIN RICHARD JAMES HOWARD, COMMANDER OF THE USS LINCOLN OF THE MARINE NAVY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, THE SECOND LARGEST WARSHIP OF THE NORTH AMERICAN FLEET. WE’RE ESCORTED BY 2 ARMOURED CRUISERS, 6 DESTROYERS, 5 CRUISERS, 4 SUBMARINES AND A NUMBER OF OTHER SHIPS, WHICH CAN PROVIDE US WITH SUPPORT AT ANY TIME. WE'RE HEADING TOWARDS THE PERSIAN GULF TO PARTICIPATE IN STRATEGIC MILITARY MANOEUVRES IN IRAQ. AS A HIGH RANKED COMMANDER OF A NATO ALLIED COUNTRY, I COMMAND YOU TO TURN YOUR VESSEL 15 DEGREES NORTH; IF NOT, WE'LL BE FORCED TO TAKE WHATEVER MEASURES NECESSARY TO SAFEGUARD THIS VESSEL AND CONTINUE WITH OUR MISSION. YOU ARE A MEMBER OF AN ALLIED STATE, A MEMBER OF NATO AND THUS PART OF THIS MILITARY STRIKE FORCE. PLEASE OBEY WITHOUT DELAY AND MOVE OUT OF OUR WAY!!! Spanish crew: My name is Juan Manuel Salas Alcántara, there’s just two of us here. We’re accompanied by our dog, our food, 2 beers and a man from the Canaries who’s currently asleep. We have the support of Cadena Dial de La Coruña and Channel 106 as the nautical emergency frequency. We're heading absolutely nowhere as this is the lighthouse A-853 Finisterra, off the shore of Galicia. We have no clue what our rank is. And you can take any steps necessary that you fancy in order to guarantee the security of your
vessel, which is about to be destroyed on the coast of Galicia. For this reason, we have to insist that the very best, safest and cleverest thing for you and your ship to do is to turn 15 degrees south NOW to avoid a collision….” (Source: Coaching Academy, Bielefeld)
As I read this article recently, I was reminded of one of my mentors. Shortly after I became a Christian he encouraged me and warned me with the following words: “Ralf, be continually ready to learn new things in your life; don’t ever retire spiritually, but rather, be open for new and even foreign experiences. In this way you’ll have new and victorious experiences with God.” This advice from my spiritual father of long ago has accompanied me ever since. And the older I become, the more I remind myself of it: Don’t stand still in your expectations, in your positioning, in your insights, Ralf. Be ready to learn! Sometimes it can even be necessary for your survival to change your position or your attitude. I’m incredibly thankful to be part of a church that has the courage and the spiritual flexibility to try new things, that wants to go new ways. This also means, however, that one has to question existing things: Does it serve our vision? What should be altered? What new things should we integrate? This year too we will again alter or change one thing or another in order to stay faithful to our vision and our mission: to experience church in new ways.
Ralf Dörpfeld (Senior Pastor ICF Basel)
04 — Relieving suffering with tablets, smart-phones and drones
RELIEVING SUFFERING WITH TABLETS, SMART-PHONES AND DRONES What does water taste like after it’s run down a street covered in rubbish? How do you survive serious illness when the nearest hospital is miles away? How does it feel when you’re driven out of your home at gunpoint and then watch it go up in flames? How do you survive, on the run, with children and all you can carry, perhaps highly pregnant, leaving behind everything you possess, always in danger, especially at night?
06 — Relieving suffering with tablets, smart-phones and drones
We can’t even imagine what this feels like in this well-off, protected country of Switzerland. But for many people in the world this is a sad reality. I work at Medair because I could no longer stand by and do nothing. I work towards bringing an end to this incredible suffering, so that people can hope once more. Medair strives to provide people with access to clean water, safe housing and medical help in the crisis regions in the world. The workers also provide education in areas such as hygiene. One of the core values of the organisation is that those suffering are treated with dignity and respect to enable them to have a sense of well-being once more.
one needed a lot of paperwork and patience in order to register the needy and the help they received. Today everything is done on tablets and is much more efficient and accurate. Data is stored in “clouds” and presented graphically. Urgent situations can be recognised more quickly and the people better helped.
Eye in the sky Even drones can be put to use when catastrophes occur. After the earthquake in Nepal and the typhoon in the Philippines, drones gave a detailed overview of the extent and type of damage that had been caused.
Recipients of help and resources are registered via a mobile device and receive a card with which they can draw on available resources. Photos: © Medair
Driven away and traumatised In June I had the opportunity to visit our operations in South Sudan. I’ll never forget the impressions and experiences in the refugee camps. Around 40’000 people live there in the most primitive conditions, many of them traumatised. Are there ways to deal with hardship and poverty around the world more efficiently using the resources available to us? How can we get more out of the money donated – without sacrificing quality? The answer is with innovative technology! Medair is a leader in this amongst humanitarian aid organisations.
The end of the paper-chaos In urban areas such as Lebanon and Jordan almost every refugee owns a mobile telephone. Even in faroff villages in sub-Saharan Africa the number of mobile phones is growing. This trend, including the applicable apps, is making humanitarian relief work so much easier. For example, there are hotlines over which those in need can ask for help. Until recently,
Streets and bridges, which had been destroyed, as well as the location and condition of survivors were made visible through the use of drones. One of the challenges involved in using innovative technology is that there is no reliable source of electricity in many areas of the global south. This restricts implementation. And yet, I’m enthusiastic about all Medair does! And I hope, you are too. We look forward to your support. Many thanks!
After his training as an industrial engineer and 5 years experience in the industry, Dominic Bürgi moved to a humanitarian aid agency just over a year ago. He works for the international organisation Medair in the area of Communications. He is 30 years old, married to Mia and lives in Basel.
Relieving suffering with tablets, smart-phones and drones — 07
Drones are used to take photographs of areas hit by natural catastrophes. An app-based means of data collection is just one of the many examples of technological innovation.
Data for evaluation of the aid received was collected via an app on a tablet. This is just an example of the technological advances in humanitarian emergency services.
More information can be found under www.medair.org
08 — Café Aliena
“Café Aliena” has become a well know concept for many ICF-lers. Most know that Séline Stäheli – a Social Initiative worker – and other women from ICF volunteer in the cafe and go on Tuesdays to drink coffee and chat with women involved in the sex trade - or offer to give them a manicure.
have a safe place where they can come for information, help and contact addresses. If necessary they also receive medical or legal support. Through a german course they can learn the language to enable them to defend and speak up for themselves in Switzerland.
Refuge So simple yet so important. Not everyone is able to draw back and release tension. Although this is so important for inner balance and physical as well as psychological recuperation. In the rooms of Aliena the women from the sex industry find just that. Here in the relaxation room they can lie down and finally sleep without being disturbed, or they can drink a coffee in peace, look through a newspaper, listen to music. Thanks to the organisation “Aliena” these women have these possibilities that for many of us are taken for granted.
Moving forward with small steps 15 years ago, when the association “Compagna Sektion Basel-Stadt” began the advice centre, there were no similar services in the region. The team built up this excellent work in small steps and has until now been awarded two prizes: in 2008 the 10th Basler Integrations prize and also the equal-opportunity prize from Basel Stadt and Baselland called “The Hot Iron”. On 3rd November 2016 there will be an open day for its 15th anniversary. On this day you can come and see for yourself what can happen when one believes a project can succeed and works with others in a team for a vision.
Advice and Help For the women in the red light district it is very important to
Café Aliena — 09
The women gain the most benefit from... ... the conversations in the café and that in Aliena they always meet an open ear and sympathetic support. The greatest problems for the women are… ... sickness, violence, exploitation, lack of language knowledge. The greatest current difficulty is… ... that many young women see prostitution as their last chance of earning a living, as they have no chance for an education in their home country. Often they don’t recognise the magnitude and let themselves be blinded by “easy” and quickly earned money. Aliena mostly needs help in the form of... ...finances. Money means resources. Resources mean more extensive help for women. In the future... ... the attitude of society needs to change. The sex industry only lives because the market is there. A demand that comes from the centre of our society. Yet at the same time we ostracise these women and avert our eyes. Aliena counters this.
Alejandra MartinezJordan, 36, mother of 2 boys, foster mother of an asylum seeking minor from Syria. Alejandra works as an advisor for migrants and is involved in ICF as a singer and Spanish translator of the sermons.
Advice Centre for Women in the Sex industry Webergasse 15 4058 Basel Tel/Fax 061 681 24 14 aliena@compagna-bs.ch www.aliena.ch
10 — Interview Philipp Roggensinger
INTERVIEW PHILIPP ROGGENSINGER
Interview Philipp Roggensinger — 11
DASBREITEHOTEL is a modern city hotel with 36 rooms in Basel. It offers business people, families and city travellers attentive service and contemporary comfort, under the motto “Beautifully different”. www.dasbreitehotel.ch
DASBREITEHOTEL is an integration business of “Weizenkorn”. The company “Weizenkorn” includes other businesses in gastronomy, woodworking, kitchen manufacturing, wooden toys and quality candles. www.weizenkorn.ch
Hi Philipp, thank you for receiving us as your guests today at the Hotel Breite! You’re the hotel director here. Actually, how do you become a hotel director? The typical hotel manager would say you need to have worked in every area of a hotel, additionally to having completed the hotel training school. This would mean having worked in service, kitchen, reception etc. But there are also other ways: I studied economics. A hotel is a company like any other. The main
difference is the very high transparency and proximity to customers. How so? Well, customers now have the ability to rate their stay at a hotel via the internet, TripAdvisor etc. at any time. And most actually use this possibility. This is good on one hand but on the other hand it is also a permanent challenge. The image of a hotel manager is one of a host. But if I now look around your office I see mostly stacks of documents – basically
a typical office. How much contact with your guests do you personally have? That really depends very much on the hotel. It is very different between a holiday or a business hotel; one in a city or in the country... For the manager of a typical holiday hotel, high season means working 24 hours, 7 days per week. The hotel director is a host in this case and knows returning guests personally. The roll of a host is especially visible in 4 or 5 star hotels. This is different in city hotels. You have much shorter stays and very sel-
12 — Interview Philipp Roggensinger
dom would a guest stay a week or even two. The majority of guests are on a business trip to Roche, Novartis, SAP etc. Business people have other needs than simple relaxation and enjoyment. They require efficiency. For this reason my job description is different to that of the classic host who welcomes everyone with a handshake. My tasks revolve more around marketing, administration and leadership. The middle and long-term development of the hotel is the core focus. It’s about evaluation and implementing projects like redesigning the rooms or technical innovations e.g. regarding the booking process. In the end it’s all about marketing and a clear commitment to serve our customer’s needs. How are you organised? Are you a lone wolf and all-rounder or do you have a management team with you?
We have three heads of departments: reception, restaurant and house keeping. Together we are the management team. Every department has its own team, which is responsible for the daily business in which I am not directly involved. The processes are well structured and standardised – everyone knows what needs doing. Therefore I can play the role of jack-of-all-trades and look after the middle and long-term projects. How important to you is the leadership of your employees? How important are the interpersonal relationships? This is definitely one of my most important tasks. Primarily I deal with the heads of the departments, working closest with these people. But there are differences. The reception department work is much closer to my own tasks, e.g. communication with our customers and
sales. Therefore I am more involved in this area. The department of housekeeping runs very autonomously and behind the scenes. The main task here is to assemble a good team and replace people who have left with new employees who fit the team. Looking at your wide range of tasks, what is your biggest challenge; what gives you the most joy? Our company is very unique. We are a non-profit-organisation, with our main goal not being making money or optimising profit. Our primary goal is to create jobs for people from the edge of society, for example, people who cannot find a job because they are impaired in some area of life. We do this by running a hotel that involves these people. The plus is: these people are looked after financially, most with disability benefits. Additionally we pay a small
Interview Philipp Roggensinger — 13
wage - or rather, pocket money. The most important currency we pay our employees, however, is not in Swiss Francs but in recognition and appreciation. The big challenge here is that we want to be “nice” to our employees on one hand, but on the other hand the room, for example, still has to be perfectly cleaned. Otherwise we cannot run the hotel profitably over the long-term. It is this area of tension, which gives me most joy and personally fulfils me. My current job is the most gratifying job I have ever had the opportunity to fill. Is the Christian faith something that is spoken about actively with guests and employees or does it resonate in the social fundamental mission you just described? We are part of a social welfare work, the “Stiftung Weizenkorn” (see box). We don't want to evan-
Foto: © Larghi & Stula Architekten Basel
gelise but be a responsible and fair employer. I often imagine how Jesus would act in this situation, how he would lead the hotel. It is our goal to reach our employees right where they are and to help them grow. In this way I try to live biblical values and hope that it will be multiplied. We don’t hand out tracts and don't try to convert employees specifically. At the same time we don't hide the fact that the owner (Weizenkorn) and some of the people in the leadership team are Christians. Or to phrase it differently: Christian employees do not have to fear speaking of their faith openly and we have an open and tolerant work atmosphere. It is important to us that faith is lived authentically. Due to this setting some employees have found faith! Thank you for the interview!
Raphael Branger works as a business data processing specialist advisor with ITLogix AG. He is married with two daughters and lives with his family in Rheinfelden.
E TION
COMPE TITION
Competition – win a voucher for 2 people for a larger-than-life Saturday or Sunday brunch in DASBREITEHOTEL in Basel. All you need to do is answer the following questions correctly on the link wettbewerb.dasbreitehotel.ch and you will be entered into the draw: Among others, wo which purpose is DASBREITEHOTEL committed? a) to optimise monetary profit b) to create work places for people with an impairment c) the evangelisation of people travelling for work Who is the holder of DASBREITEHOTEL? a) Basler Bebbi b) Stiftung Weizenkorn c) Gault Millau d) Verein BirskÜpfli
COMPE TITION
COMPE TIT
Foto: © Larghi & Stula Architekten Basel
16 — 6 albums for 6 years at ICF
At 16 and with a hideous pink electric guitar, I, Bruce Klöti, came to ICF Basel. Many years later I’m still happily here, ‘make music’, and thanks to my job description as Worship Ministries Leader, answer numerous emails (often very late, sorry!) asking “couldn’t we sing XY?”
6 ALBUMS FOR 6 YEARS AT ICF
Outside the church my days are also full of Jesus and music, as a producer in the studio or as guitarist in my band “We Invented Paris”. My wife, Bridey, comes from New Zealand and, to my joy, is often at our concerts.
Niki & The Dove Instinct My personal holy grail, perhaps the best album ever!! > Listening tip: Tomorrow
Chvrches The Bones Of What You Believe Music to drive by > Listening tip: Gun
Bilderbuch Schick Schock D4 boys from Austria, full of ironic coolness… > Listening tip: OM
6 albums for 6 years at ICF — 17
Already as a child I used earphones as a microphone to record mix-tapes and waited for hours in front of the radio in order to record my favourite songs on cassette. My never sleeping subconscious analysed every beat, every sound that flowed from the small box in the corner of the cafe or hummed along in the lift. Today you can hear me imitate hundreds of much loved sounds with my mouth and notice the funny looks I get right and left, which I just don’t see. I had 10 years of music lessons on an instrument, studied pop-music for 4 years and for many years now I have worked every single day in the studio and on stage. And yet music remains a mystery for me. That’s why I love it. Actually, music is based on strict mathematics but is filled with something magical that makes its way directly into our hearts. I call this certain something, this magic, God. The beauty of the music mirrors His beauty. He finds a way into my innermost being through music.
Kings Kaleidoscope Becoming Who We Are Honest Christian music… > Listening tip: I Know
This is why it’s not strictly relevant for me whether I find a FISH sticker on the back of the CD cover or not. God’s beauty is reflected in the energy, in the storm, the tension, the gentleness, the quiet, the peace of music. I’ve been working as part of the Worship Team in ICF Basel for 6 years now. In these 6 years I’ve made and heard a lot of music. As leader of the ministry, I have certain responsibilities, which are also privileges; for example, I get to determine our repertoire as well as the musical direction of our songs and sounds. Everything we do as music-team has one goal: to serve the church. And that is always our first criterion when we choose our music. Simultaneously, we all get inspiration from things that happen in our lives, me included. That’s why I’ve chosen, as representative of my 6 years in ICF, the 6 albums that have influenced me personally the most and have very probably also found their way, in one form or another, into the music of our church:
Barcelona Love You EP Friends of Kings Kaleidoscope > Listening tip: Touch
Tame Impala Currents 5 Australians play psychedelic rock… > Listening tip: The Less I Know...
And because I just can’t stop… Sizarr: Psycho Boy Happy, Frida Sundemo: Indigo, M83: Hurry Up We’re Dreaming, St. Lucia: When The Night, Friendly Fires: Pala, Washed Out: Paracsom, Beach House: Bloom, Young The Giant: Mind Over Matter, Darwin Deez: Darwin Deez, Lorde: Heroine, Bon Iver: Bon Iver, James Gruntz: Belvedere...
18 — Let yourself be inspired – try new ways
LET YOURSELF BE INSPIRED TRY NEW WAYS
Let yourself be inspired – try new ways — 19
20 — Let yourself be inspired – try new ways
This Summer I had the chance to leave my everyday life for 3 months and walk some new paths. For a long time I had wanted to visit the “Iona Community” in the North-west of Scotland. I had met many people who knew of Iona but no one I met had ever actually been there. That made it especially interesting for me. The registration on the community’s website contributed to the interest. I read that a stay in the community is no hotel stay. Those who stay help out in the kitchen. Good, I’m used to that. That the rooms are shared rooms didn’t scare me away – it reminded me of my years in shared houses. No internet? I’d survived that for the first 20 years of my life. The most challenging thing seemed to be the way to reach the community. Iona is a small island and is only accessible with ferries and single-lane roads on small neighbouring islands. It is impossible to “quickly, simply” visit Iona – the trip there is already a taste of what is to come and part of the inspiration. The stay on Iona stimulated me in many ways in my spiritual journey. The community is situated in an old monastery, one from where the European mission began. There one attempts to join a healthy spirituality with a dedication to peace and justice. Spiritual living and praise go hand in hand with working for the poor, fighting against nuclear weapons and caring for creation. The community is oecumenical but loosely joined to the Church of Scotland. Between April and October the community on Iona organises weeks for reflection, each time focussing on a specific topic. Each year more than ten thousand people attend these weeks of reflection. There are special programmes offered for families and youth at these times. On the first evening as I got to know the visitors for the week I was at first a little irritated. Along with a few others I was rather one of the youngest
there and pushed the average age down. That very seldom happens to me in an ICF event. During the week, however, I learnt so much from the life experience of the other visitors that I look back on the first introductions with a smile. The theme of the week was “Lessons from the Margin” and was led by the overseer of the work against poverty in Scotland. So that we wouldn’t speak too much “about” poverty, Martin (the leader) invited a marginalised person along. She spoke of what poverty feels like in daily life and how it is to fight daily for survival. These discussions
For the “Nerds” Iona is part of the island group called the Hebrides and lies in the north west of Scotland. The small island is the womb of the Irish-Scottish monk movement from the 6th century. The Irish aristocrat and monk Columban (the older) founded the first monastery on Iona and from there advanced the mission to Europe. While the Germanic peoples were still dreaming of “eternal Valhalla”, the Celtic monks tried to spread the gospel in continental Europe. The monastery on Iona lived through many changes in its history. It was plundered by the Vikings, built up again by the Benedictines and then abandoned after the reformation. Only many years later (1938) the Scottish clergyman George Macleod had the vision to start up a living community on Iona with a group of young pastors and with unemployed crafts people. Bit by bit the monastery was built up again and now serves as the centre of meeting of the ‘Iona Community’
Let yourself be inspired – try new ways — 21
were very inspiring. Her motto was “Nothing about uswithout us-is for us” (motto of the South African Liberation Movement). To practically anchor this into society a “Poverty Truth Commission” was started. The aim of the commission is to provide each parliamentary committee in Scotland that makes decisions about social welfare, with a group of marginalised people to advise them. On top of that, each parliamentarian in Scotland would be ‘advised’ by such a person when there are questions about tackling poverty and social justice. The motto “nothing about us- without us-is for us” gives marginalised peoples their voice and dignity back. This programme began 15 years ago and is now an integral part of Scottish politics. The stay on Iona was, however, not only shaped by this topic. A typical day began after breakfast with a morning church service in the old, dignified monastery church. Collective worship and biblical meditation were the focus of these services. The community has compiled diverse books, CDs and liturgy for worship and has inspired many Christian communities through these. After the service was the time for the various practical jobs that were to be done (as I said, no hotel stay!) e.g. cleaning, washing dishes, cooking. Following this we met up for discussion around a topic. If one wanted solitude, this was always an option. After lunch was generally free time. In the evening we met up again once more for discussion of a particular topic or for open discussion.
The day ended with an evening church service. Topics for the service included prayer for peace, prayer against weapons of mass destruction, prayer for healing and prayer for social justice. In the candlelight of the ancient Celtic monastery church I realised anew how multifaceted the Christian faith is. What also impressed me was the wealth of tradition included in the Christian church. Tradition is usually understood in a negative way and can be a synonym of ‘out-dated’, ‘antiquated’ or ‘irrelevant’. But tradition can also radiate wealth, continuity and depth. We should greet the traditions of Christian communities openly and accept differences within confessions without constantly evaluating them. My sojourn at Iona has shown me many new ideas and opened my horizon. Going new ways, trying new things is worthwhile. I will not forget a personal conversation with my roommate. Let’s call him Bill. It was late at night or rather early in the morning. We spoke about this and that and then Bill (early 70s) started telling me about his new life as a widower and how it feels (not enjoyable). Suddenly he took my hand and told me very decisively: “Please, please, enjoy every day of your marriage, it’s just too short”. That was the right motto for my return home.
Herbert Kumbartzki, married with two sons, works in the finance industry.
22 — A digital bible for on the road
A DIGITAL
BIBLE
More information on this app at www.youversion.com
FOR ON THE ROAD
Nowadays for many people having a Smartphone is just as much a matter of course as wearing a watch or glasses. The Smartphone has become a daily companion and our children are growing up with Tablets & Co. as a normal part of life. It’s fantastic that there are also ‘Christian’ apps available. In this article I will introduce you to a Bible-app for adults. The app for adults is simply called ‘Bible’ and is available for free for almost every imaginable gadget..
The name of the App is the programme. It offers almost 1400 translations of the Bible in around 100 Languages. While some of the translations require an internet connection to read, others can be downloaded onto the Smartphone. It is also practical to be able to read the Bible offline.
A digital bible for on the road — 23
Raphael Branger works as a business data processing specialist advisor with ITLogix AG. He is married with two daughters and lives with his family in Rheinfelden.
To read the Bible you can easily navigate to the wanted book, chapter and verse or with a full-text search look for specific terms. Verses can be highlighted in various colours and notes can be added.
You have the option of setting up a personal account and synchronising your selected passages and notes with the Cloud. That offers many advantages e.g. when you change your phone or use the app on more than one gadget. There is also a Community-Feature available, so Bible texts and commentary can be exchanged with other people. For me personally, the most important added function next to the Bible text itself are the multiple reading plans that one can use for free. One reading plan defines a verse or chapter to read each day. Some other plans include a devotional. A fly in the ointment for non-English speakers is that these devotionals are almost all in English.
24 — ReThink
RETHINK
WHEN JESUS CRUCIFIES OUR PORTRAIT OF GOD…
»The cross refutes the traditional notion that omnipotence means God always gets his way. Rather, the cross reveals God's omnipotence as a power that empowers others – to the point of giving others the ability, if they so choose, to nail him to the cross. The cross reveals that God's omnipotence is displayed in self-sacrificial love, not sheer might. God conquers sin and the devil not by a sovereign decree but by a wise and humble submission to crucifixion. In doing this, the cross reveals that God's omnipotence is not primarily about control but about his compelling love. God conquers evil and wins the heart of people by self-sacrificial love, not by coercive force. The cross reveals the unsurpassable nature of God's eternal love. It reveals the extreme to which God will go to extend his love to undeserving humans. It lays naked God's heart toward every human (1 Tim 2:46; 1 Jn 2:2). But it is difficult to reconcile this picture of God with the picture of God "smiling" at the nightmarish atrocities that sometimes happen to people. The cross reveals that God stands against all such unloving deeds, not behind them. The traditional, Hellenistically influenced model of divine perfection stipulates that in every respect God must be unchanging. But this maxim does not
square with what the cross reveals about God. How can we hold that God is unchanging when in Christ we see that the second person of the Trinity became a man? "The Word was made flesh" (Jn 1:14). Indeed, how can we assert that God never changes when the cross teaches that the holy One became sin for our sake (2 Cor 5:21; see also Is 53:4-6)? If God is willing to participate in something antithetical to his holy nature (sin), he clearly is capable of significant change. For the same reason it's not clear why we should think God is timeless. For in Christ we discover that God participates in and experiences our time. If the biblical narrative itself wasn't enough to convince us that God genuine-ly experiences a "before" and "after"—though the entire narrative presup-poses this—his taking on human nature certainly should be. God wasn't incarnate before Jesus was born. The Word of God became a human baby, grew up to be an adult man, entered into suffering, and took upon himself our sin. To question God's experience of time by postulating that God really experiences all of history in a timeless fashion is to question the authenticity of the incarnation. When we focus on Christ as our picture of God, it’s not clear why we should hold that God is impassib-
ReThink — 25
Manuel father a son, of the
le. In contrast to the blueprint view of God, Christ reveals that God is deeply affected by us, passionately responds to us and suffers incredibly for and because of us. Our sin so affects God he was willing to experience our sin and punishment to redeem us. He responds to our desperate, fallen condition by becoming human and dying for us. He suffers for us and because of us. He endures our judgment and is raised from the dead on our behalf. Hence, it seems that any assertion that God is "too exalted" to be genuinely affected by and responsive to us or to genuinely suffer for us should be judged as not sufficiently centered on Christ. We must allow Christ to define what it means to see God as exalted. And the center of Christ's revelation of God is the cross. God is exalted as he is murdered on a cross. God's sovereignty is revealed in his allowing us to crucify him. God's holiness is revealed in his willingness to take on our sin. God's glory is revealed in the shame of the cross. God's unchanging character is revealed in his ability and willingness to become what he wasn't and to suffer that which is antithetical to himself. The cross reveals that God's deity isn't the absence of change but the perfection of change motivated by love. God is not "above" suffering or being affected and responsive. God is God
Schmid, married, of a daugther and teaching pastor ICF movement.
precisely in his willingness to be affected, to be responsive, and to suffer for the sake of love.ÂŤ
Source: Gregory A. Boyd: Is God to Blame? Moving Beyond Pat Answers to the Problem of Evil, Downers Grove, 2003, pages 49-51.
26 — Memorial for refugees Riehen
MEMORIAL FOR REFUGEES RIEHEN Ever since my childhood, grief for the fate of those who were persecuted and murdered by National Socialism has been my constant companion - not least because I too am Jewish. I celebrated my “bar mitzvah” (equivalent to the Christian confirmation) in 2004 with the Israeli congregation in Lörrach (Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Lörrach) as the first Jew since the destruction of the Lörrach synagogue during the November pogrom in 1938. This was a memorable and moving moment for me, a metaphor for the regeneration of Jewish culture. A similar feeling of joy overwhelmed me as I visited the memorial for the first time. It became for me a place of remembrance for the victims, a place which also demanded an emotional processing of those events and reconciliation. When I met the founder, Johannes Czwalina, my involvement in the memorial began, as did a valuable friendship. I received the opportunity to offer guided tours for groups and school-classes, but also the chance to meet real-life witnesses and record their lifestories in order to publish these as part of the exhibition as well as in other publications. A Yiddish saying declares: “as long as you remember the deceased, they live on in our hearts”. In this way, we can give the victims of National Socialism a voice that will not be forgotten. In my opinion, we have to constantly keep the past in view, in order to be equipped to deal with the present. The past is the best teacher for the present.
About the History and Objectives of the Memorial Of the approx. 60,000 civilians taken in by Switzerland during the 2nd World War, less than half were Jewish. Researchers are in dispute about the exact number of Jewish refugees who were denied entry. It was to ensure that the fate of these refugees would not be forgotten that Johannes Czwalina had the idea of creating the Riehen memorial in 2010. Although laid on Swiss soil, the whole of the Riehen stretch of the railway tracks as well as the train station itself belonged to the German Railways. This gave this escape route through Riehen a special meaning. After the purchase of the signal-house (built in 1902), the whole building was renovated and serves today as the only holocaust memorial in Switzerland. Its objective is to present the facts and allow visitors to personally come to terms with the events associated with it. Centrepiece of the exhibition is background information to Swiss migration policies of the time, authentic reports from witnesses and a depiction of the special location Riehen has as a town on the German-Switzerland border. The annex with its exhibition of art by the Canadian-Israeli artist Rick Wienecke is especially impressive. A library, cafeteria and reading-room invite the visitor to take the time to relax, reflect and learn more. Special events and presentations will also take place on an infrequent basis.
Memorial for refugees Riehen — 27
Memorial for Refugees Inzlingerstrasse 44 | 4125 Riehen | Switzerland Tel. 0041 61 645 96 50 www.gedenkstaetteriehen.ch
Open daily 9:00am - 5:00pm | Admission is free
Dan Shambicco Member of leadership team, Riehen Memorial Born in Basel
FAMILY CAMP
1.-8.10.2016 SOUTH FRANCE
Lisa Foreman during her veterinary studies in Australia, dreamt of living a few years in Europe and seeing the world. She lives with her husband, Chris, and their 3 daughters in Bubendorf and loves to get to know people from all around the world.
Nicci Vaughan, currently living in England; I’m passionate about seeing Jesus set people free to live out their true, God-given identity. I love ICF Basel and miss the wonderful, passionate people there!!
IMPRESSUM Editorial: Ninette Guida, Manuel Schmid, Roman Albertini, Ralf DĂśrpfeld Graphic: Roman Albertini Editorial Office: Ninette Guida Translation: Lisa Foreman, Nicci Vaughan Sponsoring: Denova ICF Basel Lehenmattstrasse 353 CH-4052 Basel Web: www.icf-basel.ch Account: UBS AG Basel IBAN: CH82 0023 3233 5672 1540T
Ninette Guida, 46 years old, is the editor and a member of the editorial team of ICF's 1UP-magazine. She works as a personal assistant in a global research organisation. Ninette has an adult son and will soon also have an enchanting daughter-in-law.
Roman Albertini (31) Architect. Graphic Designer. Esthete. Works part time at ICF Basel and has his own graphic design studio. www.visuellefabrik.ch