Director's Visit to Germany and Switzerland

The Director of JLSS, Rev. George D. Haddad, visited Germany from 6 until 12 November 2007. He also visited Switzerland from 12 until 16 November 2007. During his visit to Germany he attend as guest the EMS synod meetings in the Evangelische Akademie Bad Boll. He visited FESTO AG & Co. KG in Esslingen where he met with Souhail Jammal and Willi Weis and they all met with senior staff from FESTO: Alfons Riek, Karin Thiemann and Jürgen Stingel, to discuss future cooperation and partnership. It was an occasion for him to thank FESTO for the wonderful support in training and equipment that JLSS has been receiving for many years. He attended the EVS (Evangelischer Verein Für die Schneller-Schulen) board meeting and the EVS general assembly in which the new endowment fund (Schneller Stiftung - Erziehung zum Frieden) was launched. The EVS general assembly also elected its new board during that meeting, and Dr. Basil Rischmaui, a former student of JLSS; and Anselm Kreh, a former co-worker at JLSS, were both elected among others on the new JLSS board. Rev. Klaus Schmid was re-elected chairman.
Rev. Hanna Mansour, director of Theodor Schneller School, Amman - Jordan, was also attending these meetings, and the time in Germany was also used by both directors to discuss future cooperation. Both directors also attended a meeting with staff from OeD (Oekumenischer Dienst Schalomdiakonat) to discuss future plans of peace education in JLSS and TSS, and possible future cooperation with OeD. Rev. Haddad also visited Mrs. Luise Saier who for the second year now asked her family on the occasion of her birthday to make generous donations to JLSS. He visited her to thank her for her wonderful kindness and support. She handed him 600 € which was the amount she raised from her family this year on the occasion of her 90th birthday. We express our most sincere gratitude to Mrs. Luise Saier for her Christina love, generous support, and great pride in schwäbischen Pfarrer Johann Ludwig Schneller. We pray that God may bless her with health and happiness for many years to come.
The visit to Switzerland was equally busy but had a special flavor through the integration of sightseeing alongside the work program. The director was kindly hosted in the house of Renate and Luzius Jordi who with Christoph Schmitter provided him with wonderful door to door care. The trip included a visit to Werner Schmitt, director of the Music School Conservatorium in Bern. The meeting focused on MUSE future collaboration and how MUSE concepts can be integrated into the teaching program of JLSS. Werner Schmitt kindly invited Rev. Haddad and Christoph Schmitter to attend a recital performed by the Youth Symphony Orchestra in the Erlacherhof in Bern for the private audience of the Mayor, and later invited them for dinner.
The visit to Basel was very special as Rev. Haddad was shown the ancient archives and how mission workers were prepared in Basel for the mission field. Seeing handwritten letters going back to 1820 and earlier that documented the start of mission work in the Middle East, and walking in the streets of Basel where the history of Schneller schools begins was a very special and inspiring part of the visit. In Frick the visit to FIBL (Research Institute of Organic Agriculture) was very important as future plans for the JLSS farm were discussed. It was decided that a delegation from FIBL would visit JLSS early next year to assess the possibility of using the JLSS farm for organic farming. Rev. Haddad visited Otlingen church which kindly supports JLSS through the Schweizer Verein and met its pastor Rev. Baumann. He addressed the youth meeting telling them about JLSS, and later met the church council for the same purpose. In Romanshorn he visited SBW-Media AG and met the students and teachers and learnt about the modern SBW-Media teaching concept for information technology.
In Bern he visited many vocational training schools, private car companies, and highly specialized vocational training centers, and saw how the Swiss concept for vocational training unites the local industries, the workers associations, and the vocational schools to provide a unique model for vocational training that is unparalleled anywhere else in the world. He also attended a meeting of the board of the Schnellerverein Switzerland. During the visits to Germany and Switzerland SWOT sessions were held with the two Schneller boards respectively to get the perceptions of board members in preparation for the strategic plan for JLSS. We express our sincere gratitude to Renate and Luzius Jordi, and Christoph Schmitter for the wonderful and very beneficial time our director had in Switzerland. We also express our sincere thanks to Andreas Maurer, Klaus Schmid, Johanna Hagen, and all our friends and partners in Germany.