German Diakonie serves 8,000 refugees in Berlin
Hundreds will spend Christmas in churches, the social welfare organisation of the official Protestant church explained.
BERLIN · 18 DECEMBER 2015 · 10:25 CET
“‘Diakonie’ is the social welfare organisation of Germany’s Protestant churches. Our mission is to practise charity in the model of Jesus Christ”, the social welfare of the Protestant Church in Germany (Evangelische Kirche Deutschland) explains on its website.
As Idea agency informed, Diakonie in the Berlin-Brandenburg-schlesische Oberlausitz region is giving accommodation to about 8,000 refugees.
Most of them are being hosted in about 100 church buildings and other rooms of the Protestant churches.
Hundreds will spend Christmas alongside German Christian believers, in churches - among these, there are unaccompanied children and teenagers.
In neighbourhoods and towns, local churches cooperate and offer German language courses, clothing stores, coffee clubs, handicraft afternoons for children, etc.
Many contribute as volunteers to this work, but Diakonie also informed that new jobs have been created. The Protestant church decided in its synod to spend 1.5 million Euro to help refugees from 2015 to 1017.
Published in: Evangelical Focus - cities - German Diakonie serves 8,000 refugees in Berlin