Mis­si­on and vi­si­on state­ment of the Beth­le­hem Mis­si­on So­cie­ty

Who are we?

Stirred by the deeds and words of Jesus we have joined together, as brothers and priests, in the Bethlehem Mission Society.

In Jesus Christ we recognize the healing and liberating love of the triune God:

• We believe in God, the creator of life, and rely on His fatherly and motherly care.
• We orientate ourselves according to Jesus resurrected, our Redeemer and Liberator, who sided with the poor and sick, the outcasts and the sinners.
• We trust in the strength of the Holy Spirit, which encourages us to follow the example of Jesus and to recount in word and deed the happiness to be derived from experiencing God as the Source of Life.

Urged on by this love, we unite side by side with the poor in Africa, Asia and Latin America, as well as in Europe, and with those people who take their side (cf.Lk 6:20-21; Mt 5:3-12).

The form and organization of our community stems from the basic missionary task of integral liberation and of a life fulfilled in God: We orientate ourselves according to the biblical pattern of the community of the disciples of Jesus. This means we follow Christ by working together like brothers.

What do we want to achieve?

We want to work together towards the growth of the Kingdom of God which Jesus Christ has witnessed and lived, and which holds in store for mankind justice, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (cf.Rom 14:17). We fulfill our commitment in accordance with the following basic options and responsibilities:

Three basic options

We proclaim and celebrate the God of Life who manifested Himself in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. We accompany men and women who feel challenged and inspired by His person and His ethics. In the sacramental signs of the Church we celebrate His presence in the very midst of the world’s activities.

We are motivated, borne and challenged by God in the face of being tempted by the idols of wealth, power and the market, which generate misery and sorrow (cf.Is 46: 1-8). We therefore put ourselves at the service of the disadvantaged and outcasts not only in Africa, Asia, and Latin America but also in Europe. To effect this we join hands with the local church or those agencies which we con­sider as our partners. We try to act in solidarity with the people by living and working, celebrating and sympathizing, suffering and sharing our hope with them. Our aim is to empower them to act as free people. Together with them we do our best to secure their human rights. We accept as rich gifts their will to live and the strength derived from their hope.

We promote the exchange and cooperation between people of different continents, cultures and religions. We acknowledge the differences of others and ally ourselves with them in friendship, solidarity and liberating action. In doing so we strengthen the consciousness that mission work is a task which is laid down for all Christians and which must operate in all directions.

Responsibilities

We support autonomous missionary local churches by taking part in the promotion and training of local leaders and in establishing small Christian communities.

We look for and rally men and women with a missionary calling to collaborate with us.

Both in society and in the Church, we strive for equality between men and women, lay people and clerics. This does not mean that there shall be no allotment and delimitation of responsibilities.

The living conditions of the marginalized people as well as the exploitation of nature are challenging us to a constant re-examination of our personal life-styles. We want to oppose in common action, those powers which sacrifice both human beings and nature to ideological objectives.

In our formative work we place an emphasis on understanding the universal Church as a community bent on solidarity and learning together.

We support and participate in interreligious and intercultural dialogue. We promote ‚basic human communities‘ in the spirit of Jesus; we attain objectives of common interest and exchange spiritual experiences.

We set great store in scientific research which serves to provide a careful scrutiny of our missionary activity.

In which spirit do we work?

The Bethlehem Spirituality

We draw our spirituality from the sources of the word of God, from liturgy and tradition and from our experience of the faith. The name of ‚Bethlehem‘ stands for a spirituality inspired by the Incarnation of Jesus (cf.Phil 2:6-11). Learn more about our spirituality.

Principles of Action

In conformity with our commitment, our options, responsibilities and fundamental attitudes, we are guided by the following principles of action:

• We always seek cooperation with local people’s organizations and with local churches.
• We do not seek positions of power within the framework of the local church and in cooperation with local partners. We practice restraint in the use of money resources and in exercising leading positions. We refrain from taking jobs which can be done by local personnel.
• We give priority to patient promotion and backing to initiatives from the basis community, in pref­erence to the erection of more buildings and establishments.
• We strive for regular evaluation of our activities and attitudes which involve our partners.
• We impose upon ourselves a structure of organization and leadership which takes into account both the individual person and a simple and clear shaping of responsibilities and methods of work.
• We attach importance at all levels to a leadership which tackles actual problems and keeps an eye on clarity and transparency.
• We create conditions that will involve as many of the persons concerned within our institution as possible in the process of planning and decision-making.
• We strive to deal honestly and openly with differences of opinion and conflicts in direct dialogue with those immediately concerned.
• We respect the limitations of our personnel and material resources. We need not and cannot do everything we deem important. This is all the easier as there are many institutions and movements which are motivated by the same ideals as we are.

Epilogue

Mission work is first and foremost the Work of God in this world. It must always be recognized that God had already been at work before we arrived. This requires a fundamental readiness to keep our ears, eyes, hearts and hands open as a basis of our activity. Thus we do our work in the confidence that we ourselves do not need to achieve everything. The most important things will be given to us, i.e. joy, hope, confidence, perseverance. We hold firmly to the vision of the coming of the Kingdom of God.