Young man seeks adventure, strengthens faith

By Lynda C. Ward
Special to the Hoosier UM News

In search of an adventure, Aaron Richardson, at the age of 22, left his hometown of LaPorte, in the spring of 1999 and boarded a plane to Europe. A member of a team of United Methodist volunteers in the Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS), Aaron began his two years of service in Berlin, Germany. This past April, having completed his time with the BVS, Aaron returned to his home church, Lamb's Chapel UMC, to speak of his travels and of something more: atonement, reconciliation, and how volunteering strengthened his faith.

According to Richardson, a graduate of Indiana's Manchester College, "I wasn't ready for a job and was undecided about graduate school. When a friend told me about BVS, I was very interested. I applied and asked to go to Bosnia-Herzegovina."

BVS places its volunteers based on an applicant's age, life experience, strengths and skills. Richardson had studied the German language, so instead of Bosnia, Aaron was placed in Berlin with the Akition Suehnezeichen/Friedensdienste, or the Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (ASF).

"ASF strives to set a sign of atonement for the crimes of the Nazis, especially for the part that Christians and Christian churches played in the Holocaust," explains Richardson. "Volunteers are responsible for giving tours through Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Nazi concentration camp, and also for helping rebuild some of the areas that were destroyed by the Nazis."

Richardson soon discovered that AFS's work of offering signs of atonement and working for reconciliation is not easy work. "Many of the Jewish people and others are still so affected by the war that it is a difficult process," says Richardson. "Because of the history, theirs and ours, the people are not so trusting. Volunteers must spend time talking with them, listening to them, and must be willing to learn from them so we can work together for reconciliation."

Aaron's responsibilities included public relations, fund-raising and maintaining ASF's main office. He was also translated their material from German to English. But Richardson also became socially and politically active, attending anti-Nazi demonstrations with his supervisor and other ASF members.

"I will continue to be active in social and political issues," says Richardson, who returned to Berlin, this past Easter to start a full-time position with a computer company, a position he found through a connection he made at ASF. "I also want to attend more demonstrations to speak out against the Neo-Nazi's who target the homeless and handicapped."

At the BVS they have a saying that there is no such person as an ex-BVSer. The goal of BVS is to encourage its volunteers to make service a part of their outward expression of their Christian faith over a lifetime. Anyone who heard Aaron Richardson speak about his time in the BVS would agree that with him; BVS had clearly accomplished its goal.

Last updated on 01/14/2004

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