Colette Boateng, the Togolese South-North volunteer in the Bremen Mission office, took part in a seminar at the Mission Academy Hamburg in mid-November. Here is her report.

The topic of the seminar was “Churches in Authoritarian Contexts.” The aim of the seminar was to examine the political situation and the state of religious freedom in several countries with which church partnerships exist. Representatives of various mission organisations and institutions were therefore present. Among them were the Bremen Mission, the Berlin Mission, the Evangelical Mission Worldwide, the Ecumenical Office of the North Church, and the organisation Bread for the World. What was particularly interesting for me was that it was an ecumenical event. A representative from Missio Aachen not only took part but was also involved in preparing the seminar.

During the seminar, the challenges that organisations face in working with their partner churches were discussed. Some difficulties are truly unsolvable, yet the group worked together to find approaches that could still offer progress despite the difficult circumstances — so that such partnerships can be better supported and religious freedom strengthened locally.

I was pleased to participate in this seminar because it is interesting to see how pastors, leaders, staff members of organisations, and theology students share their experiences, knowledge, and ideas to improve the situation of churches facing difficult circumstances. The seminar was also full of other valuable experiences for me, and it was an added bonus to further improve my German language skills. Everyone was able to express themselves, no one was excluded or judged, and everything was well organised.

I sincerely hope that the proposed solutions will be truly useful and that next year we can say that the situation in one’s own church or in the partner country has improved.