Home Delivery Dialogues – An Initiative from Families for Families in Germany, Austria and Switzerland
A host couple invites to their home other known couples and/ or friends and an instructor family (persons who study at the Academy for Family Pedagogy). After a brief introduction presentation by the instructor family on a topic selected by the host couple, an exchange of ideas among the participating couples takes place in order to make use of the occasion for conversation and to share together an appetizer.
The idea of Home Delivery Dialogues was born in Schoenstatt – Austria. To the question: how could it be achieved that the current of graces which is born in Schoenstatt-Kahlenberg reach families in Austria and further beyond?, came the response: from our own home! And thus was born the Home Delivery Dialogues initiative.
The first Home Delivery Dialogue took place on February 28, 1994. Today, to conduct a Home Delivery Dialogue is part of the formation program of the Academy for Family Pedagogy. That is, from the circle of instructor families, new instructors and new topics come forth continuously.
The objective of the Home Delivery Dialogues:
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An exciting and happy family life is like a roof over the soul. This roof becomes larger when we invite other families to our home and we share with them our life.
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Many things exist which must be known in order to be successful, not only in marriage but in family life as well. Home Delivery Dialogues makes this “know how” reach the families.
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The encounter with other families helps us to awaken in order to face the obstacles of our own life.
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A climate of hope grows from family to family
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Stimulation towards a happier life.
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In the home of a family who are friends, to meet other persons with similar ideas.
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A vision of the Church and society supported by the fundamental power of love.
Home Delivery Dialogues live: this is how it works…..
On an evening, after an exhausting day of work and while the children are asleep, a group of couples are ready to listen attentively to the topic which will be presented today by the instructor family: “Typical man and typical woman.” Together they came to participate in this Home Delivery Dialogue. “Finally some time for ourselves,” comments a wife. “It is incredible. In 20 years of marriage we never took the time to reflect on this topic,” said a man while his wife nodded in agreement.
After 45 minutes and the explanation of the topic terminated, the hosts urge the attendees to converse privately as couples…..two by two taking a short walk, or sitting together in the living room and analyzing the topic and mutually responding to questions like:
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What attracted me?
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How can we apply this to our family life?
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What did we learn?
Afterward, they gather anew in a circle where they respond to some questions and where an intense exchange of questions emerges. Amid laughter, joyfulness and the certainty of having done something good as a couple and for oneself, the pleasant evening comes to an end.
Andrea and Bernhard Jehle, Ravensburg, Alemania
Host
The host family invites the instructors and the participants.
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The idea of the Home Delivery Dialogues pleased us so much that we were soon motivated to also have one in our home. We quickly found the instructors and the topic which was a topic in which we were personally interested. The only thing lacking was the participants. Whom should we invite? Of course, at the beginning it was hard for us to go directly to the persons and invite them. So, we began to analyze the couples we encounter in our daily life; for example, that is how the mother of a child who goes to music class with our daughter came to mind…..she is very friendly and open; our neighbors who were presently going through a difficult situation; the mother of one of our daughter’s schoolmates who had greeted us very friendly; young couples from the parish with whom we had contact in one way or another. That is how the families we invited came about.
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The last time we did the Home Delivery Dialogues, all of the couples had confirmed their participation. We then thought of a couple – which for some reason – we had not been motivated to invite. One day before the gathering, one couple called to cancel their participation. We then decided to call the couple we had not invited, and to our surprise, they accepted spontaneously as if they had been awaiting our call.
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The persons we invite are couples who for some reason or another came to our attention or we remembered them because they seen open to us or also because without thinking, we began an unexpected conversation with them. All of this is a sign from God for us. He showed these persons to us and we only had to invite them.
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Our experience tells us that the couples come happily and that they return to their homes renewed and grateful. The only difficulty is that often some couples would like to come, but at the last moment they are unable to do so for some reason; therefore, we often invite a greater number of couples than what we had planned, and it is always interesting to see how many come at the end.
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It has been indicated that the best way for beginning the gathering is sitting around the dining room table, since we sometimes have many participants. At the conclusion, one can go to sit in the living room and be more comfortable and enjoy the end of the gathering. We receive many positive comments from the couples. We always reserve time for this evening! We would like to come again! This helps us organize the next Home Delivery Dialogue. Because the families are important for us, we invite them to visit us and to exchange ideas with us.
The Instructors and the topics
The Instructor Family is a specialist in one or various different topics
What is important here is that it is about “favorite topics” which have roots in their own lives and in the common mission. The rich experience acquired during the Home Delivery Dialogues enriches the topics with the passing of time.
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Typical man – typical woman
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Under the rug there is no space – Culture of conflict
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Walking with Mary
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So that our love remains alive
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Profession and family
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Not without my father
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Enriching the children
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Constructing our time
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To live. To love. To Grow – The value of unity in marriage
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Communication and the expressions of tenderness
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Youths and elderly, all under the same roof – How to achieve a harmonious existence?
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Among brothers and sisters – Training for children
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I feel good here – I am at home here
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The climb upwards after the wedding – growing together
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The thread which unites us to Heaven
Contact
Germany
Gertrud and Norbert Jehle
www.hausgespraeche.net
info@hausgespraeche.net
Austria
Alfred and Maria Kugler
02533/89617
alfred.kugler@aon.at
www.hausgespraeche.at
Switzerland
Anna and Miloslav Kučera
Rietstrasse 9
8718 Schänis
Tel 055 615 40 03
mkucera@lanier-europe.com
Internet
Translation: Carlos Cantú, La Feria, USA
