Invitation to the European Matching and Blessing Preparation Workshop for Older Second Generation (age 25+) and Parents

We hope you are well. We are writing to invite you to a special workshop that is going to be held for Second Generation and Jacob Children who are at least 25 years old and their parents. We are calling this a ‘Matching and Blessing Preparation Workshop’ and it will be tailored to the needs of young adults in this age group who would like to be matched and blessed.

Those in this age group have had a variety of experiences with regard to the Blessing. Some have never been matched, or are only now seriously thinking about it, whereas others have had the unfortunate experience of broken matching or blessing. We held a successful Parents Matching Convocation last November that was open to this age group and there it became very apparent that we should be doing more to make it possible for those who wish to be blessed to find a partner and to find their way to a successful marriage.

Blessing candidates are asked to participate in a Blessing Preparation Workshop as one of the requirements to attend the Blessing, this workshop fulfills the requirement and it will also qualify as a ‘top- up’ if you have attended such a workshop in the past. During the workshop there will be talks for parents and young people together about the meaning of the Blessing and advice about the matching and Blessing process. There will then be separate programmes for parents and young people, which will be a mixture of talks and activities to enable people to get to know each other in a supportive environment. There will also be opportunities to receive support in using the website and developing your blessing profile, and time to discuss personal situations with members of staff on a one-to-one basis. We followed this basic programme at the last PMC in Camberg where there were 33 young people over the age of 25, most of whom came with their parents. It seemed to go very well.

European Matching Blessing Preparation WS for Older Second Gen: Invited are: All Second Generation and Jacob Children over the age of 25 (born on or before 1st April 1991) and their parents. We welcome people to come with their parents although this is not a requirement. Parents with children of this age may be able attend without their children if there is space. Dates: 14th – 17th April 2016 Arrival: by 18:00 on the 14th April 2016 (Thursday) to Bad Camberg (train station). Please plan your arrival to Frankfurt (Main train station or FRA airport) latest by 16:30 on 14th April

Departure: after 13:30 on the 17th April 2016 (Sunday) from Bad Camberg (train station). Please plan your departure from Frankfurt (Main train station or FRA airport) after 16:00 on 17th April. Place: Seminarzentrum Neumühle, Bad Camberg 65516 (near Frankfurt), Germany WS fee: 105 EUR (regular fee), 100 EUR (for the 2nd or 3rd person of the same family) Registration: Please register latest by the 30th March online at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1I8KcdFVNv35gv2GhhTMAoyyeQeTJOVkgYWeS1slnv4A/viewform Pl ease bring: House shoes, notebooks Local transport: Please plan your trip to Bad Camberg, there is regular connection from Frankfurt Airport and Frankfurt Main train station by the train. We will arrange pick up from the Bad Camberg train station.

The Blessing preparation workshop is organized and will be directed by the ESGD and the BFED staff, including ‘matching supporters’.

Note: you can access the BFED homepage www.bfdeu.org, there you will find all information concerning the Blessing qualification and Application process.

If you have any questions feel free to contact the ESGD at blessing@esgd.org. We look forward to seeing you at the workshop!

Yours Sincerely,

David Hanna Director, BFED

Geros Kunkel European Second Generation Blessing Dep.