On July 4, while Volunteer Day 2020 was in full swing, the teachers of the St. John of Shanghai Children and Youth Center in Cologne held creative workshops where they, together with the children, made gift cards from the Good Deed logo for future charity fairs. These were the first classes after a long break due to quarantine measures.

Our volunteers from Cologne met on July 6 on the Rhine embankment, to summarize their work in the quarantine period, to outline the main tasks for the next months and discuss important topics voiced at Volunteer Day 2020.

Our volunteer Irina has picked up the family B. at Munich airport to drive them to Vogtareuth
clinics. The familiy has come for a planned surgery.

Dear friends,
The Orthodox Volunteer Day, which was established in Russian Orthodox Diocese of Berlin and Germany to be celebrated every year on the first Saturday in July, will take place this year on July 4th. It was planned to be in Hamburg. Yet it is not possible in current circumstances, and the event will be held online. Presumably, the online meetings take most of the day, from 9:00 till 16:00. Everybody who wants to participate in a super-motivating and unique event of the international scale, to wants help us and our care-receivers – you are welcome to join! The preliminary program (in Russian) is HERE.

To participate in the Day events, a registration is required: please do this HERE.

Дорогие друзья,

Dear friends,

In the last weeks, a lot of beautiful and joyful events have been happening. And it is important for us to notice this. The manifestations of mercy, wisdom and unity come all around us and, in the most decisive moments, remind us what means to be a human in these unprecedented times.

Over the whole planet, people are helping their neighbors, buy and prepare food for those in need. The volunteers and organizations feed free of charge the doctors fighting the pandemic at the forefront, bring groceries and free lunches to families who need help.
In some countries, the military hostilities are stopped to insure the food delivery to the poor. In some countries, the migrants and refugees are granted a residence permit, including access to free medical care and social benefits …
The volunteers of Diaconia, like all people, act as the changed conditions imply and accept the challenges of the time. Below are excerpts from the reports of the coordinators over the past months:

Read more

Dear friends,
I hope that your mind is not totally absorbed by thoughts about pandemia, and there is a room to feel real life – and, if you wish so, you can feel how steadily you stand on a floor, either cold or warn, how a fresh wind or a warn sun ray touches your skin, what is a view from your window… To live in a moment, here and now, is very important for preserving harmony and keeping in good spirits. Also, for being able to help others in this difficult time. Help to those in hospitals, or orphaned, or under arrest, or diagnosed with grave illness, those who take care of an ill child… To all those in fear.
Now we are close to each other as never before. We can feel from inside the state, feelings and thoughts of our care-receivers, people who constantly fight a dangerous and grave disease.
It is important to remain human and support each other now.
We are in need of each other. Our prayers, time, money, spiritual and physical powers are needed. The Resurrection of Christ is close by!
Thank you for being with us! Read more