This is my motivation and I want to waste my little life in order to have more people - poor and rich, mighty and powerless, small and great, blacks, whites and otherwise colored - getting closer together and disover each other as siblings, since I believe with Martin Luther King in the dream of the brotherhood of men. Despite its weaknesses, the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights is, to my mind, the most important clerical, philosophic and political event in this ending millenium. That is why I decided to stay sided with the great mass of people that are excluded. Among them I would like to keep on sowing the revolutionary force of love, knowing that the one who seeds Love does not have to worry about success. You, my dear friends, are helping me even more with this than you can imagine.

With your solidly united support in various styles, such as donations or your efforts in selling our artworks, but just as well with your mental assistance and the encouragements that I receive from you, all of you strengthen me and my fellow workers in the service for the poor and needy.

20 years ago, the "contact-group Comunidad de Jesús" was formed. It never has advertised itself and neither has it spent a single penny for administration, mail or other expenses. The Bank has provided the running cost for the group’s account with an annual grant. During the hard times of the military dictatorship the contact-group was a great help in the "Foundación Missio" (1979-1990) in its employment for the survival of the poor and for their human rights and their dignity. Ever since the foundation of the "Fundación Cristo Vive" in 1990 the group is an important backing for us to establish and keep up the various services for the people here on the outskirts of Santiago. Und now we are countig on their support for the work in Bolivia. In Kappeln on the Schlei river the 25. annual "Christmas season’s fair" for the "Casa (=house) Kappeln", which is a section of the kindergarten Naciente with its 320 kids, took place just a week ago. And in Bad Münstereifel, the tenth Chile-Day was celebrated for the benefits of our women’s workshops.

Fiends of the "Chile's Children"-Luxembourg, the friends and supporters circles from Hanover, Göttingen, Schwalbach and Switzerland, the "Aid for Children in misery" program from Allagen, the churches from Berlin, the activity "One World" from Rottweil and the activity "Third World" from Lörrach have been accompanying us for decades on our adventures of love wiyh the poor, like many former German teachers that were the godparents for us 30 years ago – among them Mrs. Hildegard Haberkorn and the Bruns family – when I began to establish the stockpot for malnourished kids and later the Kindergarten in Areas Verdes.

I would love to name all persons in my heart, especially the many volunteers who have worked with us for a longer or shorter time or who are still with us: Josef Finger, Rachel Rau, R. u. R. von Brunn, Edgar von Knebel have marked the beginning.

We have just been visited by Siegfried Möbius, a former German teacher who has been with us since 1971. After a tour through the health-care center and the professional school he, who has always been shy with the creed, asked me if I didn’t think it was a wonder what had been established here in so short a time, without a large staff just out of leveled ground … that was when it occured to me that Jesus did his wonders in such a way – and wants to keep on doing this through us – as a sign of God’s empire that already is among us: "The hungry eat, the blind see, the lame walk, prisoners are freed and the poors are told good news for their heart." That is what our everyday life looks like.

Understand that these experiences fulfil us with gratuity and joy that we want to share with all of you: The work of the F. Cristo Vive over here in Chile has grown while we started the Fundación Cristo Vive Bolivia that was recognized by the state this year. For me it is very important that the executive Chileans also favor the work in Bolivia and that we made the decision all together. This way, I was able to visit our Bolivian branch for a couple of weeks three times this year. Our long-time friend, Annemarie Hofer Ph.D., is establishing a health project for hardly accessible village sin the mountains. In addition, she executes an anti-illiteracy-program for adults and is plannig a boarding school for Quetchuan.kids, to be able to offer them an education up tp eigth grade.

Sister Edith has at the same time raised a strong team to work in the prisons of San Sebastian so 650 prisoners – and often also their families – can be cared for. Our efforts there concern personal attention in conversations, medical supplies, food, clothes, blankets and mental, legal or clerical assistance for these people who are incarcerated under for us unimaginable circumstances. None of the guards can withstand Sister Edith´s creative love and vivid phantasy. So now there are not only joyful, mentally refreshing services with a lot of music and songs every Sunday, but also cultural events and theater with prisoners. Already, the Bolivian newspapers have printed stories about Cristo Vive and the outrageous happenings that set examples and are starting to be copied.

Just like last year, a group of students lead by our French volunteer Fanny will go to Bolivia to bring the people of the village Bella Vista Jesus’ good news and work with the kids and teenagers. The group is raising money for the planned church room.

On my last trip in November our long-time friend and "patriarch" Paul Frings Ph.D. (83 years old) accompanied me. But this time not to "check up on us" but to supervise the restoration of paintings in the oldest church of Cochabamba (it was built in 1571) in the nearly deseted town of El Paso, which the Bella Vistinian parish is part of. He had raised some money for it and brought along a Chilean restorators-couple. This way I was able to experience how colors, a couple centuries old, on neglected paintings can gleam brightly again through the hands of experts. These paintings are a testimony of the first generation of Bolivian christians.

The following Sunday the Quechuan Pastor invited us to a celebratory service at 7 am. He wanted us to tell the people about the paintings on their churchwalls they had previously not payed much attention to. When they raised their eyes to the paintings I could see misery and austerity but also joyful surprise about the discovery of these peculiar treasures. I don’t know to what extent they understood our aim, but it occurred to me that the hearts of people to me are sacred ground. I asked myself what good Christianity has done these people. Did the news of God’s liberating love get to their hearts?

A couple weeks before we held a Latin-American meeting of the ecumenical theology of liberation in Chile. Europeans like to foresee an extinction of this theology, but I am now more firmly than before a believer in the dynamic power this theological form has, because its strength are the "clerical actions", the translation of the beliefs into actions in the personal, communal or societal life. The basic parish is one of the best-suited places to practice it.

A couple of weeks ago, the council of our parish Cristo Vive had an unscheduled meeting to discuss the possibilities of supporting a local family (members of the parish), whose son was badly injured in an accident in Germany. First of all everybody just tossed to and fro, until somebody generously stated, we should lend them the money without interest. Isabel, who rarely talks, humbly said she was going to receive 50 000 Pesos (about 100 USD, which is more than half of a monthly minimum wage) the following week that she would love to contribute, since she knew what it means to have a sick child. I saw a tear in her eyes while everybody was shocked and silent until our president urged us to pass a decision. We then decided we were going to give the family all the money from our treasury, and to regain the money by solidly joined means of fundraising. The following Tuesday morning Isabel knocked on my door, gave me the money and said: "Gracias!" We both cried.

Nearly daily I am given similar experiences. Maybe that is why I feel so energetic. One night two women with a few companions are just approaching me in a neighboring settlement and are inexorably asking me to come with them to a very diseased old man. On the way, driving in an old Volkswagen van, they tell me they have founded the "Comunidad San Francisco", taking care of approximately 80 people living in the streets (from children to senior citizens) whom they are visiting at night to provide them with food, clothes and blankets. I ask them if they have a list of those people, t they tell me they had made list in the beginning, but by now they knew everybody and their needs quite well.

As we stopped in a narrow road close to the Mapocho river, I could see a big wrinkled plastic sheet under which I could make out movements. Some arm reached out and the women slightly lifted it. Children’s heads, women’s faces and the eyes of the "Tata", full of fever, appeared. While the children slept on, the old man was lifted into the car and I was to take care of him.

At first sight, it already seemed to me that he had an inflammation of the lungs. We just had to take him with us to shelter and treat him. The people under the sheet shouted a thank you and best wishes for their "Tata".

But where could I take him? To my house, where I could prepare a bed for him, but didn’t have a room? That was why I decided to try the "Hogar de Cristo" first despite little chances of success, because it was long past midnight. But to my surprise the porter knew me and agreed to accept him and take care of the old man the way I showed him. When I came out of the building I was embraced by the others while they started to sing "Demos Gracias al Seńor,…" to express their happiness about the good outcome of this action…. The dream of the "Comunidad Francisco de Asis", whose 25 members are all simple working class families, is an open house for "their people" from the street.

Jorge Fernández, our voluntary managing director, has worked the whole year on the project of the rehabilitation-center for juvenile drug-addicts and taken care of the education of the voluntary therapists. When I watch his overwhelming dedication, I sometimes have to laugh, because it looks like the former president of a large corporation is trying to make the bargain of his life. As we all know, drug-rehabilitation-centers are always big financial losses. But this March we will open the "TALITAKUM" with the first young patients.

Many visitors from all over the world have been here with us the past year, and we are very happy that the web of friendship is growing this way and we can learn from each other.

Rhe new Archbishop of Santiago, Francisco Javier, has visited us, as well as the presidential candidate Ricardo Lagos and the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Eduardo Aninat. From Germany, Norbert Blüm, and other members of the "Bundestag" (equivalent to the U.S. Senate or the British House of Commons), the German Ambassador and a group of delegates from the State of Baden Württenberg’s government were here. They wanted to get to know our professional education center for manual jobs. We could educate 600 apprentices this year. The school is financed by the Chilean state (66%) and the Luxembourgian government (34%).

Happily we can state that also the education of the young women in the "Prisma de los Andes" has been a great success. Hence we applied for the Chilean state to finance eight courses next year. In addition, we want to offer 40 youngsters an apprenticeships in nursing etc., what certainly is in regard of our heath-care center, that is in big need of well-educated nurses and nursing assistants.

Dear friends, we are facing the presidential elections. The country is commonly dissatisfied. The gap between rich and poor has grown frighteningly, and there seems to be no bridge of justice. The laws of a liberal, globalized, market-oriented economy have hypnotized our politicians, economists and entrepreneurs and are in this way preventing a just distribution of goods. Accordingly, we had to start a shared "stockpot" for ten starving families, after 10 years of the day-care Kindergarten "Naciente"!!

Buit we will keep up the fight for the dignity and rights of the people, since love sets free inexhaustible forces….