Memorandum of Understanding with Evangelical University

Partnership initiated by Liebenzell Mission

BAD LIEBENZELL/NDOLA. It was in Sep­tem­ber, 2016, when Dr. Laza­rus Phi­ri, Vice Chan­cell­or of the Evan­ge­li­cal Uni­ver­si­ty in Ndo­la, Zam­bia, visi­ted IHL in order to speak during the Sep­tem­ber School on Con­tem­po­ra­ry Issues in World Mis­si­on. Laza­rus Phi­ri has been con­nec­ted to IHL and more so its trus­tee agen­cy for years. In fact, Lie­ben­zell Mis­si­on field worker Mar­git Schwemm­le has been on his staff as dean of aca­de­mic affairs in Ndo­la. Thus, it beca­me ine­vi­ta­ble at some point to dis­cuss a for­mal part­ner­ship bet­ween the two hig­her edu­ca­ti­on institutions.

On Novem­ber 29, 2017, IHL Rec­tor Prof. Dr. Vol­ker Gäck­le signed the offi­ci­al memo­ran­dum of under­stan­ding which focu­ses on stu­dent and facul­ty mobi­li­ty as well as on rese­arch through the Lie­ben­zell Insti­tu­te for Mis­sio­lo­gi­cal, Reli­gious, Inter­cul­tu­ral & Social Stu­dies (LIMRIS). During the sig­ning cerem­o­ny, Vol­ker Gäck­le expres­sed his joy about this part­ner­ship: “Today, IHL step­ped into the glo­bal South whe­re our trus­tee agen­cy has been at for a long time alre­a­dy. I hope that our stu­dents and facul­ty will bene­fit from each other. In this regard, I am also glad that the foun­da­ti­on Baden-Würt­tem­berg-Stif­tung has con­side­red us for their new BWS REK pro­gram allo­wing us to use grant money for inco­ming and out­go­ing stu­dents from and to this new partner.”

Mar­tin Auch, direc­tor of mis­si­ons at the Lie­ben­zell Mis­si­on, also show­ed glad­ness about the sig­ning of the MoU: “We are hap­py that IHL and the Evan­ge­li­cal Uni­ver­si­ty have agreed on the memo­ran­dum of under­stan­ding which also includes that our exter­nal field workers will help out­goings and inco­mings prepa­re for their stay in Zam­bia or Ger­ma­ny. For the first time, this also is a part­ner­ship bet­ween our mis­sio­na­ry teams and our aca­de­mics. This is the future of missions!”

On Febru­ary 9, 2018, Mar­tin Kocher, direc­tor of the glo­bal South at the Lie­ben­zell Mis­si­on, took part in the sig­ning cerem­o­ny of the memo­ran­dum of under­stan­ding at the Evan­ge­li­cal Uni­ver­si­ty in Ndo­la. It was a fes­ti­ve pro­ce­du­re with Dr. Laza­rus Phi­ri and Mar­git Schwemmle.

Three IHL stu­dents have alre­a­dy appli­ed to Evan­ge­li­cal uni­ver­si­ty for a stu­dy abroad semes­ter. Tama­ra Gei­ser, IHL under­gra­dua­te stu­dent of Theology/Social Work in an inter­cul­tu­ral con­text, even wants to stay for one full year as she aims to spend one semes­ter at Evan­ge­li­cal Uni­ver­si­ty and do an intern­ship semes­ter with Lie­ben­zell Mis­si­on field workers with kids in Ndola.

Inter­na­tio­na­le Hoch­schu­le Lie­ben­zell was estab­lished in 2011, is reco­gni­zed by the Sta­te of Baden-Würt­tem­berg, and accre­di­ted with the Ger­man Coun­cil of Sci­ence and the Huma­ni­ties. Its slo­gan is “Stu­dy­ing with a world­wi­de horizon.”