One man's amazing, life-changing story of being in Germany with 24 Muslim refugees living in his house

'Really, what the hell is happening here?'

In an act that follows Pope Francis' call to care for the influx of Middle Eastern refugees, Dirk Voltz described his experience after taking twenty-four Syrian, Afghani and Iraqi refugees into his Berlin apartment.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Voltz took to Facebook to describe how housing refugees has made a difference in the way he sees himself and those around him. "In bad times, one should consider their own balance sheet. Mine looks like this: Since July my partner and I have hosted approximately 24 people from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq in our place in Berlin."

He goes on to write, "Our knives are still in the kitchen, precisely where I left them on the board. Before our guests from Syria and Iraq arrived. We never needed a key for our bedroom, except for one time a dear guest from Afghanistan needed it to play with our cats. Our four fat, old cats had as much fun as the young man.

"But back to the knives: All that was stabbed with them in the weeks we hosted refugees in our home were onions, garlic and a looooot of meat. Mario and I are still alive. Perhaps, even more intensively than before. Whether we'll ever return to a 'normal,' we do not know. How can I care about the luxury chatter from yesterday?"

He goes on to describe how none of his guests declared Sharia law was superior to German law, and none had a problem with his homosexual lifestyle. His greatest inconvenience was needing to purchase more sugar and salt than he usually did.

"Really," he wrote, "what the hell is happening here? No Muslim who was there wanted to kill us in our sleep. No one insulted us because we are two men and share one bed. No one, by any means, said they prefer Sharia law over German Law. We did not meet one person who did not regret leaving their home. The only bad experience I can recall is that our new friends used a lot [of] sugar and salt. So we bought it at the market and that was that."

Despite several reports of Muslim refugees attacking people and even each other, Voltz's experience goes to show that not all of the refugees are rioters who demand Germany bow to Sharia law.

Voltz's post continued, stating, "Where is this Islamization that people in Germany have been so worried about past weeks? Maybe its [sic] stuck on the Balkan route somewhere. It's there if you ask the so called 'concerned citizens' of Germany...definitely ... The real disappointment that happened to us came in the form of ordinary text messages, death threats on the street, or insulting letters at the front door. 

"Or simply by school friends, that rather cry and quote the AfD [Germany's right-wing political party]. Instead of tackling the crisis, we act as if there is no tomorrow. Wake up finally! As if one could stop this migration of people. As if we could personally influence which war will break out. As if we all don't have a responsibility in the world's happenings.

"It may be that Islam does not belong to Germany. It's also possible that the devil is part of every religion ... Everything is possible, nothing has to happen for sure! Who knows? I mean, who knows what will be someday? Certainly I know that what happened this past summer and this fall have changed our lives. You can be there for other people. Or you can be scared. And if that happens, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for those who live in fear."

Voltz told BuzzFeed Germany that he and his partner took in so many migrants because they refused to look away and whine about the crisis. He told the team, "I've seen the terrible things on the streets of Berlin. Friends and colleagues did have fears about meeting refugees in our home. But once they met them, they were not afraid anymore."

Though Voltz's apartment is currently void of refugees, he admitted, "We need a break til mid-November, but we're looking forward to hosting more nice people by then!"

Pope Francis previously appealed to world leaders to take in the "poor people ... fleeing war [and] hunger." The pontiff even went as far as comparing those who refused to help as greedy. Though Voltz and his partner live in sexual sin, their story shows that God works in mysterious ways and promotes the helping of others. Recall what the Bible says about giving in Acts 20:35, "I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

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