Mario & Lea
Mario
Mario spent seven years as a SAP software developer at the Nuremberg Hospital, where he was responsible for the management and development of in-house projects.
Since 2007 he has been involved in Christian youth work in the YMCA and the EC (Christian Endeavour).
"After I received requests to switch to the full-time service and felt the call of God, I decided to make my calling, preaching the faith and my passion for China and working with children and young people my profession."
Lea
After studying technology journalism, she worked for a year in the editorial department of the specialist magazine "Elektronikpraxis".
She later worked in the press department of Diakonie Neuendettelsau (social welfare institution of Neuendettelsau, Bavaria, Germany) and was also involved in public relations at the YMCA Nuremberg, where she and Mario began to get involved in Christian youth work.
"Through the YMCA I got to know Southeast Asia and learned to love the people there. Your openness to new things and your enthusiasm, also for Jesus, impress me again and again. That's why I want to invest myself in this partnership."
Relation with China
Mario: “In 2015, I worked at the YMCA camp “Kunstcamp” (art camp) and at the Kunstrasenfestival (artificial turf festival) and for the first time met Chinese people who came to Germany in the context of the partnership. Right away, I was amazed about our Chinese friends and their culture. Friendships developed that I could uphold with the help of current technology, namely the apps WhatsApp and WeChat. Delighted with the partnership, I got involved in the Uni-Y (University YMCA) team of the YMCA Nuremberg and together with Cathrin Seitz took lead in the student exchange. That was the point at which for the first time I practiced Chinese. Together with the German students, we flew to China and experienced an incredible and unique time there. The enthusiasm turned into a passion.
Led by God, we decided to move to Taiwan for a year in order to learn more about God and the Chinese culture there. During this year, we visited the Chinese cities Harbin and Shanghai as well as our new friends, volunteers, and YMCA-staff in Guangzhou and Hong Kong.
After these experiences and God’s guidance, we felt called upon handing on the gospel in Southeast Asia and to coordinate and expand the partnerships with the Chinese YMCAs and its programs.”
Mario Drechsel: “I was aware that the people in Hong Kong and in China would be sort of different from the ones in Taiwan, but I was surprised to see how small the differences really were. The collective worship, the prayer times, and studying the Bible with Christians of Chinese culture were truly enriching for us and the time in China was very valuable.”
Work in Hong Kong
Lea and Mario have been working in Hong Kong at the Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong since August 2018, where they are responsible for the Chinese-German partnerships.
Your areas of responsibility in Hong Kong are divided into two major areas:
Coordinating, networking and expanding the partnership programs
- Coordination and accompaniment of leisure programs and delegation trips
- Coordination of existing partnerships
- Establishing new partnerships and exchange programs
- Networking of the Chinese YMCA movement with the German community in China (communities, organizations, companies / NGOs)
Accompanying the international voluntary service
- Application and preparation process
- Pedagogical support of the volunteers (mentoring)
- Management of seminars (25 days per year)