My story

Nestors of charismatic renewal in Austria. Cofounders of the community Return to the Lord (Umkehr zum Herrn) .
Parents of 4 children.

I, Hans, was born 1934 in Vienna. My parents were both Catholics, but went to church only twice a year. During my years in school I learned something about our faith and tried to go to church regularily on Sundays. In 1962, I met Susie (born1942) who was Lutheran since her 5th year, because no Catholic priest baptized her: her father was divorced and had married again. To be able to marry in the Catholic church we decided that she becomes Catholic to be able to educate our future children in the faith of the same denomination. A Dominican priest introduced her to the Catholic faith and she became Catholic. In 1963 we got married and have now 4 children and 7 grandchildren.

After our marriage we stayed in contact with this priest and joined a small bible group he was leading to understand better our Catholic faith. At Easter 1974 we celebrated with this group the liturgies of the Holy Week together with a group of people from the Charismatic Renewal (CR) in Austria.

Everything we experienced there was different from what we had experienced in the church before. During these days we both had a deep personal encounter with God.

I felt the creator of the whole universe wanted to start a personal relationship with me - and who am I to refuse this invitation? Susie was at the beginning of these days not open but started talking with Jesus and realized that He is always at her side.

We were full of zeal to learn more about the Charismatic dimension of the church from these days on and drove often to the place where we had made this experience. We joined a Charismatic prayer group in Vienna and invited them to meet in our apartment. The group grew and when every week 35 people came together we moved to the Dominican monastery.

At Pentecost 1975 was the first international gathering of the CR in Rome were 10.000 met together. We had organized a bus full with Charismatics from Austria to be there. Susie was already in Rome to represent Austria at the leaders conference there. Immediately afterwards I decided to fly to the Word of God community (WOG), Ann Arbor, USA to learn more about the CR. As part of a family owned business I could arrange this easily. Coming home to Vienna our prayer group decided to merge with a second prayer group from Vienna. Both groups had at this time about 50 regular members each.

In summer of this year I wanted to start a national meeting for the CR, but not all parts of Austria could send participants, because of other planned events. Nevertheless 75 people came. I had the courage to organize for the following year an Austrian conference for the CR at a larger place and 220 came. In 1977 we had 600 participants and 1978 and 1979 about 2500. From 1980 on more than 3000 each year. Also from 1976 on I organized annual leaders conferences to teach and encourage the leaders of the prayer groups. On my mind was also a close relationship of the CR to Cardinal König and the bishops. For this we started the Austrain Organisation Committee to be the right body for communication to the church. I was also a member of this board till about 1990.

In 1976 our Prayer group grew to the size of about 200 people who met regularily each week.

Within the leaders group already in 1976 started the desire to do more together, especially have time for prayer and better relationships. By this a sort of communiy, called „Reseda“ started. A year later on August 15, 1977 during the CR conference in Linz a brother got a prophecy and together with 8 others we met after the official meeting to pray and ask the Lord what He wanted to tell us through this prophecy.

We found out that God wanted to start a charismatic community with us. Our brother told us then an other prophecy he got half a year earlier: God gave us in it the name: „Umkehr zum Herrn / Return to the Lord“ (UZH).

We started with 9 and at Christ the King Sundy at the end of November a group of youth joined us and we were 22 now. In 1978 we had difficulties with some members of the large prayer group and decided to continue seperately.

Our new community was Catholic, but through the openess of the CR to other denominations who had also experienced a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit we were also open for members of other denominations. Soon a Lutheran lady joined UZH. Through my contacts with WOG we arranged a weekend to get together a common understanding about community life 1978 in Brussels, 14 members of UZH attended. Some time later some Swedes joined us and we became ecumenical. Primarily through our community we arranged the next years the CR conferences in Austria. We had also regular contacts with the WOG community and their leaders. When WOG started the international group of communities „Sword of the Spirit (S/S)“ UZH also became an affiliated member of this group and Susie una I were elected to join the European Outreach Team of S/S. Because of differences in the leadership of S/S this group of communities split and we had as UZH to make a decision how to continue and finally gave up our membership, but continued to have contacts with S/S till 1986.

Since the 80ies, as a couple we gave bible teaching in parishes and a catholic school, partially in an ecumenical way together for members of one Catholic and one Lutheran parish. Since 1982 I started to organize a conference with other charismatic communities or works and invited also some groups from Germany. But this was to early and these events came to an end. Years later the Network of European Communities (ENC) was started and UZH became a member there.

1990 we had been at a conference in Baltimore USA and one speaker prayed after a workshop for all and prophesied that I am a teacher to the nations.

To proof it we accepted some weeks later an invitation to give a seminar to the CR in Vorarlberg, Austria. But being fully engaged in my business I found only time to prepare this weekend in the train from Vienna to Bregenz. The seminar was blessed and we were invited again. Since then we gave different kinds of seminars in Austria and many countries in Europe.

In 1997 I started in Austria with annual retreats for priests, deacons and seminarians, encouraged by Andrzej Sionek from Poland who promised to bring 20 priests. Some years later we opend these retreats for all and got participants from up to 11 countries and up to 153 participants. Also 1987 we decided to help Fr.Ernst Sievers with a CR community he had started in Katikamu, Uganda. Before we had also helped to start a community in Innsbruck, Munich and in Lituania. In Uganda we started giving a bible school about the gospel of Mark. There we realized that our main job is to help the families which came up there over the years.

In 13 years we had been in Uganda 23 times between 2 and 8 weeks each time. We helped where ever we saw a need: from child care to accounting, from building a leadership team to marriage seminars etc.

The then bishop from Luwero, now Archbishop from Kampala, asked us to help the families to gain property for selfsustainability. Therefore we collected donations from our friends to start a revolving fund „ECCODA“ in Emmaus the community in Katikamu with retreat house, formation center for evangelists and farm. Out of this Fund families of the community could borrow money for buying land, animals or build houses. Against all negative expectations this Fund is growing and helping the families there. Also in Soroti in the East of Uganda Fr. Sievers had started a community. We helped there, also in other dioceses of Uganda and Tansania with seminars and helping to build communities. From a Protestant lady in Austria we got the donation to buy land in Soroti and build also a retreat house there and helped families with the Fund.

In 2010 Cardinal Schönborn asked UZH because of difficulties in the leadership to dismiss the existing leadership group and elect Susie for 2 years as main interim coordinator. The community decided in this direction and Susie tried together with others to bring again peace and structure into the community. After her term of 2 years we try now to find rest as seniors and still are active with our retreats and help in the CR where ever we are asked.

We are very thankful to the Lord who entered personally in our life almost 40 years ago. Since then our life has changed completely and we are happy for all the blessings and help from the Holy Spirit to minister in God´s kingdom in all this time.

Hans Eisenhardt