55 – My Birthday Dream

55 – a number that expresses double grace – which I also need.
But also for wisdom, which is not just knowledge, but brings life, healing, and grace.
That is what I wish for myself.

I have a dream – or rather: there is a dream within me.
A dream that was placed within me IN THE BEGINNING.
Not as something that once existed at the beginning long ago, but as something that still works within me like an ongoing process.
That is why the name Bereishit – IN THE BEGINNING.

My dream.
People, especially young people, discover how wonderfully they are made.
They discover that they were created by One who looks at them with joy and love.
Who is delighted by them – by this masterpiece that each individual person is.
Who rejoices greatly over them.
Even though this wondrous, wonderful thing that lives in every person can be used for good or for harm.

People, especially young people, discover that they are blessed – and that they can be a blessing.
That again and again they choose to want to be a blessing.

That is my dream.
A dream that is not only a dream, but also a story.
Something that has already happened in some people whom I have met.

This is my dream that I want to realize anew.
In a new project.
A project in which people, especially young people, can discover their strengths and name them in their own words.
In which they discover how wonderfully and uniquely they have been created by the One.
In which they find ways to transform their strengths into a blessing for others.
A project that begins in digital spaces and thus reaches even into the rooms of lonely young people, while at the same time building bridges into a world of encounters and community.

Eight years ago, we began to carry out the Strengths Sieve in analog form in school classes, youth groups, and with individuals – and in doing so reached over 1,200 young people.
Now we have developed the Strengths Sieve as a digital app and want to reach 120,000 young people with it.
An app that can be taken out of your pocket anytime and anywhere, allowing young people to discover their strengths – in everyday life, in their own rooms.

An app with which they can start digitally, but also come into contact with real people and experience coaching.

I have a dream – and a plan.

The first version of the app is already finished and in use. You can try it out right away.
Now the app is to be expanded:
with an AI coach that supports the discovery of strengths,
with access for real coaches who discover strengths together with young people,
with an application generator that completely rethinks how people search for and find study programs, apprenticeships, and jobs.

We want to create a network in which youth workers, social workers, educators, and teachers – people who are already in contact with young people – can use the Strengths Sieve as an additional tool.

We want to go back into schools and, together with this network, present the Strengths Sieve.

Perhaps like this:
For an entire week, we go through every class and let students discover their strengths, and on Friday we invite them to a large event where they learn about the One who created them wonderfully – and that their strengths and their lives have meaning.

But even without an event, students can stay in contact with us.
And then it is no longer just “us,” but many organizations that integrate the digital Strengths Sieve into their own design on their websites and use it as their tool.

I have a dream – and a plan.
You can become part of this dream.
Simply try out the digital Strengths Sieve yourself.
Stay curious about how the Strengths Sieve will continue to develop.