welcome – salām – shalom – hos geldiniz – ahoj – kalos órisate – teple pryvitannya – namaste – karibu!
A warm welcome to you!
Winner of the European Diplôme d’Honneur award from the Fondation du Mérite Européen
Latest news from August 25, 2026 (more information in the latest newsletters):
Dear members and donors, dear people interested in our association’s activities,
Despite all our optimism, we must not forget the suffering of people, especially in Ukraine, Gaza, the West Bank, Iran, and Lebanon. The disastrous war in the Middle East, with its global repercussions (update below), makes it very difficult not to give up hope for a new beginning, optimism, love, and peace in the world.
New: September 17, 2026: Lecture by Daoud Nassar: “We Refuse to Be Enemies”
Where: Evangelical St. John’s Church, Bonn-Bad Godesberg, Zanderstr. 51; Start time: 7:00 p.m.; Donations appreciated
New: September 18 and 21, 2026, in the morning : Conversations between Daoud Nassar and students from the Amos-Comenius-Gymnasium in Bad Godesberg and the Beethoven-Gymnasium in Bonn
| Among others, we support the following students: Layan (medicine in Heidelberg, Physikum), George (molecular biology in Mainz, 3rd semester), Dareen, Yousef, Ibrahim, and Jack (first-semester students: life sciences in Münster and computer engineering + mechanical engineering in Aachen) from Bethlehem through direct support, letters of commitment, blocked accounts of €12,000 each, guarantees, assistance with housing, help with all administrative procedures, etc. Donations requested: Keyword: Student Aid for Bethlehem |
October 9, 2026, 8:00 p.m.: African Pulse, Nordic Space & Indian Spiritual Sound: canceled
October 10, 2026: 6:00 p.m.: Tiki Küstenmacher (© Photo): Live and Believe More Simply & Happily; Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
Where: Dietrich Bonhoeffer House, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Street 39,53757 St. Augustin, free admission, proceeds from donations go to Palestine
The international bestselling author of “Simplify Your Life” (over 5 million copies sold) and Protestant pastor helps us declutter our entire lives with this classic self-help book! From your desk to finances, health, relationships, marriage, and faith, he covers all areas of self-management and time management. He illustrates his meditation-style talk with live-drawn caricatures that accompany his tips for a more carefree, relaxed, and happier life and faith.
| Oct. 18–31, 2026: Still looking for 2 participants (e.g., teachers of religion, politics, history, social studies) for the JIK Israel-Palestine trip (4 participants), specifically for the Jerusalem metropolitan area, Jericho, and Bethlehem (program similar to the March 25 report (top bar: Youth Exchange Reports), among other things, to assist with our aid projects and prepare for a Bethlehem exchange to be held here in July 27. Participants will gain a unique and multifaceted insight into the current situation in the Holy Land (Knesset election on Oct. 27!). We will visit numerous Christian, Palestinian, and Jewish institutions and speak with a wide variety of local people. Upon request and for an additional fee, additional stops such as Caesarea, Haifa, Acre, Tiberias, the Sea of Galilee, Masada, the Dead Sea, the Jordan River baptism site, Banias in the Golan Heights, etc., can be included in the itinerary. The regions we visited are safe for foreign visitors. I myself have been there 53 times—most recently in March 25 (see above). Cost contribution: approx. 900 €. Actual costs (flight, 13 half-board meals, taxi, etc.): approx. 2,700 €. Applicants should be approximately 30 to 50 years old (preferably female), live in the Bonn–Leverkusen area, have a good command of English and teaching experience working on projects and with young people aged 16 and older, and, if possible, already be familiar with regional studies, the Middle East conflict, and the three world religions. After the trip, you should be ready to play an active role in the club, for example, as a board member. Please send your applications to me via email as soon as possible. (see below). I’d like to meet with you soon in Bonn to discuss the date and agenda before you make a commitment. |
November 30, 26, 7:00 p.m.: JIK General Meeting in Sankt Augustin-Birlinghoven, Haus Lauterbach:
5.5. – Sun, May 9, 27: Executive Board Trip to Budapest, Rome, or Istanbul: over Ascension Day
Approx. 7-day preparatory trip to Romania (Easter break: Sat, Mar. 20–Sun, April 4, 2027): 2–3 participants
. Minimal cost contribution—Requirement: An accompanying adult for both youth exchanges (participant requirements similar to those for the preparatory trip to Israel in October 2026).
10-day youth exchange in Sibiu (Romania), dates: 16.8. – Aug. 30 2027
Low cost to participants aged 16 and older (approx. €350); more information and registration starting November 1, 2026
10-day youth exchange with Romania hosted by us, dates: 26.6. – July 7. 2028
(September 1: News online. Link: www.gregorschroeder.de – for everyone who loves humor, literature (+ interpretation), and creative political, satirical, and poetic texts. New: The Tragedy in the Middle East, The Landmark Year 2020, U.S. Evangelicals in Europe)
ToN (Update as of Aug. 28, 26): Daoud will be with us from Sept. 16–26; the ToN brochure in German will be available starting Sept. 15, 26
Daoud will first visit Italy, and then the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, where he plans to ask members of parliament to support his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. During his stay with us, the goal is to secure the support of a bipartisan group of members of the Bundestag for Daoud’s nomination. |
1. Donations for the printing and mailing of the new ToN brochure in German
To receive this new ToN brochure, we ask that you make a donation (approx. 10 € per copy) to JugendInterKult e.V. (Reference: ToN-B), IBAN: DE09 3806 0186 0704 8870 19. It’s best if those wishing to donate send me an email (schroedergregor@aol.com) and provide your address if you need a donation receipt, or give me a call (0163-6335535) so we can discuss how many copies of the brochure you need (shipping begins October 1).
2. The 2027 Nobel Peace Prize nomination process runs from September 9, 2026, to January 31, 2027. This time, we would like to nominate Daoud Nassar for this award. Attached, you will find very detailed instructions regarding the timeline and content of this process. The next steps: We are now seeking university presidents and professors of history, social sciences, law, philosophy, and theology/religion) and members of the German Bundestag (excluding the AfD) who will actively support our cause—either by submitting the nomination or by signing a joint cover letter. Please send the relevant contact information to me, among others.
Thanks to our donations, Daoud has now received additional solar panels, batteries, and an inverter. The (used) olive press has been ordered and is expected to be delivered soon. However, he still needs additional donations for infrastructure projects at ToN.
JIK supports volunteers’ stays at ToN for 2–3 weeks or longer by subsidizing or covering their airfare (contact me for more information: 01636-335535). Thanks to our help, volunteers will once again be able to assist there for an extended period. Costs for lodging, meals, etc., are approximately €150 per week. With the help of all ToN supporters, we are striving to launch a long-term initiative to save ToN, among other things. Perhaps you, too, have important contacts or suggestions for us?! Please help through your donations so that the many Christian organizations in Bethlehem and Jerusalem—and especially the Jahalin Bedouins—do not have to give up.
Call for Donations
The situation for a great many people in the Near and Middle East remains catastrophic. Pilgrims and tourists are not expected to return to Bethlehem, for example, until at least the fall. Christian institutions, monasteries (such as those of the Bridgettines), schools, universities, and large segments of the Palestinian population in the West Bank—especially in Bethlehem—are facing increasingly severe financial hardship or even the threat of closure. The greatest concerns remain the famine, the 80% destruction of Gaza, and the aggressive, forced settlement policy in the West Bank and its planned partition.
| Therefore, once again my urgent request: Transfer a generous donation also for Bethlehem University and the 5,000 Jahalin Bedouins who are to be forcibly resettled next to a garbage dump! |
Successful fundraising campaign since Jan. 1, 2023: 700 T € Ukraine, Africa, Latin America, India, the Middle East, etc.
Since overall donations have been declining here as well, we will focus in the future on people in the Middle East who face multiple threats and are disadvantaged (ToN, monasteries, schools, and universities in Bethlehem and Jerusalem; the Jahalin Bedouins; Angels of Cultures, etc.; see the very bottom for bank details).
Our bank account information (including information on donation receipts)
JugendInterKult ee.V., Volksbank Köln-Bonn; BIC: GENODED1BRS; IBAN: DE09 3806 0186 0704 8870 19
(If you provide your mailing address and email address or send us an email, you will receive a donation receipt via email for donations of 100 € or more. The tax office recognizes donations up to 300 € without a donation receipt.). If you would like to donate to a specific fundraising campaign or project, please indicate this in the payment description (e.g., Birgittine Convent, Bethlehem University, Jahalin Bedouins, ToN).
| With the help of your donations, many thousands of children and their families, but also Christian institutions (monasteries, schools, etc. in Palestine, among others) and persecuted Christians around the world, especially in disadvantaged countries that have fallen into particularly great need due to the current wars, could and can be helped through food and medical aid and care in all areas of life. We would like to thank all donors once again for their extremely generous support of our projects! We hope you will continue to support our work as benevolently as before. |
Stay healthy and, despite all the discord, remain confident and happy to donate!!!
Kind regards
Your Gregor Schröder (0163-6335535), schroedergregor@aol.com
Am Köppekreuz 21, 53225 Bonn – www.jugendinterkult.de
Founded in 2011, our Sankt Augustin-based association has both a local and global focus and is committed to intercultural understanding, justice as well as sustainable development worldwide as a basis for peace.
- We would like to inspire adolescents for intercultural youth exchange with Israel-Palestine-Jordan through specially sponsored and inexpensive bilateral youth encounters.
- JIK promotes intercultural creative projects (music, theater, dance, art) with socially and otherwise disadvantaged young people, young talents, refugees in many countries as well as volunteer work in Christian institutions, e.g. in Palestine.
Art project in Bethlehem
Music project in Zanzibar
- We support 50 aid projects in Colombia, Afghanistan, India, Congo, Palestine, etc. in over 25 countries worldwide.
- Total JIK funding for all projects and fundraising campaigns since 2011: over € 2.5 million
With the help of the donations, tens of thousands of children and their families, as well as Christian institutions (monasteries, schools, etc. in Palestine, among others) in many countries that have fallen into great need as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and the Middle East war, could and can be helped with food and medical aid as well as support in all areas of life.
Street children Colombia – Don Bosco
Afghanistan Aid – Caritas International
- We still need more people for our projects, people to accompany us on our trips, but also support through membership and of course especially donations for our many aid projects.
- Accompanying persons urgently needed for bilateral youth exchange with Palestine. We are not only looking for volunteers for the ToN and other employees for our projects, but also urgently for accompanying persons (e.g. religious teacher) for our bilateral youth encounters with Palestine from 2026, who would like to prepare and accompany these trips as leaders after participating in the trip in October 2026 and intensive JIK training. Applicants should be between 30 and 50 years old(preferably female), live in the Bonn – Leverkusen area, have good English skills and pedagogical experience in dealing with projects and adolescents, and preferably already be familiar with regional studies, the Middle East conflict and the 3 world religions. As a responsible manager from 2027, you will receive an expense allowance.
Participation in the following trips/two-sided youth encounters is welcome:
1. 28.3.-6.4.26 (approx.): Preparatory trip to Israel-Palestine (approx. 4/5 participants), small cost contribution from participants
2. 10-18.7.26: Visit of approx. 15 participants from Bethlehem in Bonn
3. Trip to Israel-Palestine-Jordan: 17.10. -01.11. 2026 (maximum 16 participants aged 18 and over)
Email applications to: schroedergregor@aol.com
Let yourself be inspired by the variety of our activities and take advantage of our offers by participating in international youth encounters, our creative projects, fundraising activities and/or by joining or becoming a member of us. As a member, you take part in all activities free of charge, have the opportunity to get free tickets for all cultural events from the JIK free ticket contingent and receive an early bird discount of €160 on trips.
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