Our Mission
The ethical-theological basis for the work of Herrnhuter Missionshilfe
The ethical and moral basis of our Mission is Hope, Respect, Cooperation. They are the values that are fundamental to what we do. They shape our organizational culture and the projects we develop with local partners.
In the clip Our Mission, we show how we bring these concepts to life in what we do. We have added information about our worldwide network in the Moravian Church.
Hope
Hope is a central value of the work of Herrnhuter Missionshilfe (HMH).
Hope is a central concept of the Christian faith.
With its projects, HMH gives people concrete hope:
Hope for a better and self-determined life through education in kindergarten and school.
Hope for equal rights for women and girls who bear responsibility in their society and families, but who are often not given the status due to them.
Hope for medical care in rural and remote areas.
Hope for inclusion of people with disabilities in society.
Hope for the recognition of the dignity of all human beings.
Hope for the Kingdom of God.
Respect
Respect means seeing one's fellow man as an equal and dignified human being. Every human being is given his dignity by God.
People can take this dignity away from other people,
... by excluding them, by denying and withholding their rights
... by being disrespectful to them: to women, to children, to sick people, to people with disabilities, to refugees, to people with a different skin color, different language or different sexual orientation.
We want to treat our partners with respect:
With respect for human dignity.
With respect for their life's work.
With respect for cultural differences.
With respect for the practised and hidden talents and competences.
With respect for underprivileged people at the edges of society.
Respect is the key to a sustainable relationship between partners who are different in education, gender, skin color, culture, sexual orientation, language or world view.
We say No to racism and discrimination.
Respect is necessary for humanity.
Cooperation
We work in cooperation, hand in hand, so to speak.
Those who, like us, treat others with respect can only work in cooperation with and not against each other or in subordinatione.
Cooperation means listening to the other person and taking him or her seriously.
This holds true for us, HMH and the Moravian Church in different parts of the world.
It applies to cooperation in schools and kindergartens, in vocational training centers, in hospitals and in the promotion of equal rights for women.
To work in cooperation means to reflect where inequalities exist, for example in finances, educational level or human rights, and where unspoken authorities are.
This also includes our interconnections with the history of mission and colonization, whose violent experiences obstruct the relationship between HMH and the local project partners.
As HMH we know it for a fact:
Only in respectful cooperation will we be strong enough to carry hope into the world.