When World War II left countless orphans in its wake, a Swiss businessman rose to the challenge. Jean André brought the first group of 120 German children to Switzerland. Half of them were accommodated at Jura-Rosaly, one of the original homes, the other half with families in the nearby village. There they were fed, cared for and taught about God’s love. Then they returned to their homelands refreshed and better equipped to grow up and become all God wanted them to be. Jean André devoted much of his energy to this work alongside his great responsibilities at the head of the leading grain shipping company in his country. Later on, children from other European countries, France, Greece, Austria, the UK or Spain, were also invited to spend times of restoration in camps in Switzerland.
In 1972 Jean André purchased a park, an hour from the centre of Buenos Aires, Argentina, in order to enable local churches to organize youth and children’s activities there. Over the years, it has grown into a major centre where thousands of people continue to gather for sports competitions, music festivals, and other events.
In the eighties, children from war-torn Lebanon were also invited to Switzerland. Soon after the Iron Curtain fell in 1991, groups of Russian children also started to come to camps in Switzerland.