MBK - Evangelical Youth and Mission Organization
The MBK - Evangelisches Jugendwerk e. V. is a Protestant organization based in Bad Salzuflen (Ostwestfalen-Lippe). The association offers cross-regional, Christian youth work. In the past, there was also the MBK mission with employees in China , Japan and Hong Kong , adult work with conferences, seminars and vacation trips as well as publishing and community education training work. The focus of the MBK youth work is the examination of the texts of the Bible and the practically lived faith. The MBK is close to the Protestant regional church .
organization
In addition to the MBK e. V. as a general association, there are or have been other MBK associations in northern Elbe , in the Rhineland, in eastern Germany, in Baden and in Bavaria. The MBK Nordkirche focuses on child and youth work, while the so-called MBK regional work in the Rhineland, in East Germany, in Baden and in Bavaria offered and in some cases continues to offer conferences, seminars and holiday groups for (working) women and senior citizens. The MBK is financed to a large extent from donations from the friends of the MBK. In addition, an MBK foundation was established in 2002 , which also serves to finance the MBK work. It is also largely based on private donations. In addition, there are state and church grants for youth work . Most of the people who volunteer and work full-time in the MBK are members of the Protestant regional churches.
history
The acronym MBK stands today "for M encounter eople - B ibel discover - K hurch make". Originally MBK meant "girls' Bible circles". MBK has its origins in a Bible reading movement among young women in the early 20th century. In 1919 circles from Germany founded the "Bund der Deutschen Mädchenbibelkreise (MBK)" in Leipzig.
The MBK seminar for community education (MBK Bible School) was founded in Leipzig in 1924 in the Bundeshaus. There, young women were prepared for the church education service. Many travel secretaries accompanied the girls' Bible groups from Bavaria via the Rhineland to northern Germany, Pomerania and East Prussia.
As early as the 1920s, the first MBK missionaries traveled to China to plant Christian communities there (" Szetschuan Mission"). After the communists came to power in 1949, all western missionaries had to leave China. In the 1950s, the Christian churches in Japan asked German mission societies to help with diaconal tasks in Japan. The MBK mission sent employees to Japan and has since been known abroad as the "German Midnight Mission" because MBK missionaries have taken care of prostitutes in Japan. With the help of the MBK missionaries, a diaconal work in Futtsu ( Chiba Prefecture ) and the Japanese telephone pastoral care were founded.
The two missionaries in Japan and Hong Kong had a diaconal and spiritual assignment. They accompanied people in the local parishes through social help and spiritual preaching. The missionary in Hong Kong worked in a community on the outskirts of the metropolis in a central focal point. There she mainly looked after women and children. In Japan, the missionary worked as a pastor in the congregation, accompanying volunteer workers who are socially involved among people who are far from the church. For some time now the MBK has not sent any more missionaries to Japan and Hong Kong, all tasks and projects have been handed over to the local churches and social welfare organizations. There is also a lively exchange with the communities.
In the 1930s, the MBK moved its headquarters to Bad Salzuflen. In the meantime there was also extensive publishing activity. Magazines such as "Der helle Schein", later "Contrapunkt" and " Arbeit und Stille " appeared. In 1940 Dietrich Bonhoeffer published his book on the Psalms in MBK-Verlag . After the Second World War, the MBK seminar in Bad Salzuflen grew with the support of the regional churches in Westphalia, Lippe and Hanover. A conference center was built in Bad Salzuflen.
In 1980 the youth leisure home MBK-Berghof was founded near Detmold . Many young people had come to the Christian faith through conferences and seminars ("Bibel aktuell" and "Theology for non-theologians"). Travel for mostly single working women and conferences shaped the work of the MBK. In 2002 the MBK seminar had to be closed due to a lack of demand and the cancellation of church grants. By then, around 800 young men and women had completed their community education training at the MBK. In October 2010 the Berghof was vacated because the lease could not be extended. After an interlude in the Stapelage house near Lage (Lippe) and profound restructuring of the association in 2012 and 2013, the youth work of the MBK is now coordinated from Bad Salzuflen.
MBK today
The youth work is accompanied by a full-time employee and many volunteers. One focus is on confirmation work in cooperation with the local parishes. Confirmation weekends take place in cooperation with the pastors. Another focus is the training work for young employees in church youth work. Central weekly seminars in the form of so-called basic and advanced courses as well as decentralized training units in local parishes are offered. Finally, there are different types of leisure time for teenagers, young adults and families. A characteristic of the MBK youth work is the connection between biblical content and the world of young people. One of the central methods for this is experiential education .
Memberships
The association is a member of the Working Group of Evangelical Youth in Germany. V. (aej), in the Diakonisches Werk of the EKD and in the Missionary Services Working Group (AMD).
literature
- Käte Brandt: There were stones and always bread. 75 years of MBK - history and stories. MBK-Verlag, Bad Salzuflen 1994 ( ISBN 3-7871-0079-2 )
- Doris Oehlenschläger (ed.): Chronicle of the MBK mission 1966 - 2003 . MBK-Verlag, Bad Salzuflen 2004
- Stefan Drößler / Klaus Hillringhaus / Magdalena Tanner (eds.): Tell me about tomorrow - women and men tell of breaks and new beginnings around 1945 . MBK-Verlag, Bad Salzuflen 2007 ( ISBN 3-7871-2006-8 )
Web links
Coordinates: 52 ° 5 '4 " N , 8 ° 45' 9.5" E