A language barrier outside the church door
Millions of people living in Germany speak a language other than German in their everyday lives. Many of them are open to the faith, some even actively search for it. Yet access often remains closed to them – not because they lack interest or are not seeking God, but because no one explains the faith to them in a language they truly understand. Anyone who reflects on the deepest questions of life does so in their mother tongue. That is where faith touches the heart.
This becomes especially clear within families. The children grow up in the midst of our Christian-shaped culture and celebrate the feasts of the church year in kindergarten and school. But their parents often cannot explain to them what lies behind these celebrations, because they themselves never had the chance to learn about them in their own language. The children's questions go unanswered, and an opportunity to encounter the faith is lost.
Christians without content in their own language
Among the people who have come to us are also many Christians. In particular, the number of Arabic-speaking Christians in Germany has grown, coming from countries such as Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, or Egypt. Many of them bring with them a deep faith that their families have preserved over generations, often under difficult circumstances. Yet here they find hardly any contemporary Catholic content in Arabic that explains the faith in an understandable way and connects it to church life in their new homeland.
This is a particular challenge for their children. They grow up between two languages and two worlds. If the faith lives on only in the language of the grandparents, while the children speak German in their daily lives, it risks being lost between the generations.
Where Christian books are scarce
Beyond Germany, there are countries where Christian books and content are almost impossible to find. In Turkey, for example—a land with a great Christian past, where the apostle Paul once traveled and St. Nicholas served as Bishop of Myra—most people today have hardly any opportunity to learn about the Christian faith in their own language. Anyone there who wishes to learn more about Christianity finds few reliable, understandable sources.
Something similar applies to many Persian speakers, including those now living in Europe who are searching for orientation. And even in languages spoken by large numbers of Catholics, such as in Latin America, Brazil, or East Africa, there is often a lack of content that conveys the faith in a modern, engaging, and yet substantial way—especially for young people and families.
“We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues”
At Pentecost, something happens that leaves the people of Jerusalem astounded: they come from many nations and countries, speaking different languages—and yet each one understands the apostles in his own native tongue (Acts 2:1–11). From its very first day, the Church was not bound to one language, one people, or one culture. Christ sent his disciples to all nations.
We take this mission seriously. If people cannot come to know the faith because they lack the language for it, then we must bring the faith to them in their own language.
Himmelspod Explains: Understanding the Faith
With Himmelspod Explains, supported by Priesterausbildungshilfe e.V., videos are being created about the Church's feasts, saints, customs, and teachings of the faith. Each video tells the story, explains the theology, and reveals the deeper meaning: What are we actually celebrating here? Where does this custom come from? And what does it tell us about God and about ourselves?
Yet the videos do not remain stuck in the past. For each topic, there are practical suggestions for how faith can come alive in everyday life today: within the family, at work, in relationships with others.
The videos are made for the whole family. Adults can watch them on their own and learn something new about their faith. Parents can watch them together with their children and then talk about what they've seen. Parishes, schools, and catechesis groups can also make use of them.
And every video holds a surprise in store: a hidden detail, a clue, something that hardly anyone knows. In this way, even a familiar feast suddenly becomes a new discovery—even for those who think they already know everything about it.
Twelve languages, one message
The videos are produced in German and are to be translated into eleven other languages: English, Italian, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, French, Dutch, Polish, Arabic, Turkish, Farsi, and Swahili. In this way they reach people in Germany and Europe as well as in Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East.
Each translation is more than a transfer of words. Texts, image panels, and voice recordings are carefully reworked for each language so that the message is understood not only linguistically but also culturally. The videos are freely accessible – for families, parishes, schools, and everyone who is asking about God.
Education as Part of Evangelization
Passing on the faith also means explaining it. Those who understand why we celebrate feasts, who the saints were, and what the Church teaches can consciously live the faith and share it with others. Himmelspod Erklärt therefore sees itself as an educational offering in the service of evangelization: it opens doors for people who want to get to know the faith, and strengthens those who already believe but want to better understand their own roots.
“Why do we actually celebrate St. Martin’s Day?”
An example shows what this looks like in everyday life: In November, children come home from kindergarten with homemade lanterns. They sing St. Martin’s songs and excitedly tell of a man on a horse who shares his cloak with a beggar. Many parents who have only lived in Germany for a few years are then at a loss: Who was this Martin? Why does everyone walk through the streets with lanterns? And what does this have to do with faith?
A few weeks later, St. Nicholas Day confronts the same families with the next question. Why do the children put their boots outside the door? And who was St. Nicholas, so often confused with Santa Claus, even though he has nothing in common with him? Many families face the same questions with Easter, Pentecost, All Saints’ Day, the Assumption of Mary, and many other feasts and customs that shape our year.
This is exactly where Himmelspod Erklärt comes in. A video in one’s own language, watched together, answers the children’s questions – and often those of the parents as well. What St. Martin teaches about sharing, or St. Nicholas about giving in secret, can then be applied very concretely to one’s own life.
What Does a Season Cost?
We want to show you openly what your donation is used for. Each season comprises five episodes. Each episode is first produced in German: the script, images, film scenes, and promotional materials are developed once. For each additional language, the texts are translated, image panels and promotional materials are adapted, the voice recording is made, and the film is re-edited. Languages with their own script read from right to left, such as Arabic and Farsi, require significantly more effort.
German base production incl. promotional materials: €3,760 per episode · €18,800 per season · 132.5 working hours
9 languages (English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch, Polish, Turkish, Swahili): €625 each per episode · €28,125 per season · 202.5 working hours
2 languages with their own script (Arabic, Farsi): €730 each per episode · €7,300 per season · 55 working hours
Total: €10,845 per episode in all twelve languages · €54,225 for the entire season · 390 working hours
With growing experience, the processes become faster and the cost per episode decreases. What is freed up in this way flows entirely into this season and, once it is financed, into the next.
Every Contribution Brings the Faith into a New Language
You don’t need to finance an entire episode to make a big difference. Every donation becomes part of a film that families can watch in their native language.
€5 – this makes about ten seconds of film possible in a new language. That may sound like little, but if 125 people each give €5, an entire episode can be produced in a new language.
€20 – this enables about 40 seconds of film, for example the answer to a child’s question about why we celebrate a feast. Together with 31 other donors, you finance a complete episode in a new language.
€50 – this creates about a minute and a half, enough for one of the surprises that each episode holds. 13 donations of this amount bring an entire episode into a new language.
€100 – with this you give more than three minutes of film, an entire chapter of an episode. Just seven donors giving €100 each make a complete episode possible, for example in Turkish, Spanish, or Swahili.
€625 – this produces an entire episode in a new language, or €730 for Arabic or Farsi. With €3,125 you finance a complete season in one language, or €3,650 for Arabic or Farsi.
Help regularly: With €5 a month, you enable two minutes of film in a new language over the course of a year. In the PayPal window, you can easily set up your donation as a monthly gift.
Which language would you like to support?
You can dedicate your donation to a specific language version. To do so, simply enter one of the following keywords in the reference field of your transfer:
SPRACHE-EN English · SPRACHE-IT Italian · SPRACHE-ES Spanish · SPRACHE-PT Portuguese (Brazil) · SPRACHE-FR French · SPRACHE-NL Dutch · SPRACHE-PL Polish · SPRACHE-AR Arabic · SPRACHE-TR Turkish · SPRACHE-FA Farsi · SPRACHE-SW Swahili
Without a specific indication, we will use your donation wherever it is most urgently needed for the translations. We are happy to take your language preference into account. Should the chosen language version already be fully funded, we will use your donation for the translation into another language within this campaign.
Help us share the faith
We train seminarians from all over the world so that they can proclaim the Gospel as priests in their home countries – in Venezuela, in Kenya, and in many other countries. With this campaign, we are bringing the same message to people by another path: in their own language, wherever they are searching for answers today. Whether in the neighborhood here in Germany or in countries where Christian content is scarce.
Your donation makes possible the production, translation, voice recordings, and editing of the videos in new languages. Every language version opens the door for people who have not yet had the chance to get to know the faith. Just as St. Martin shared his cloak, we want to share the treasure of our faith.
Please accompany this work with your prayers and, if possible, with a donation.
Thank you for your support!