The farmers' pastor on his tour of duty.
Pierre-André Schütz would normally be retired,
but his part-time job keeps him busy full time.
Last summer we accompanied him
to a farm near Moudon.
The youngest co-owner of the farm cooperative
took his own life a year ago.
Hi, guys! - Hi, Pierre-Andre.
His death was painful for us.
We worked together every day.
The pastor, who himself was a farmer,
has been a great help, they say.
It's important to have someone at your side
who knows the job and who is held in high regard in the region.
Someone you can open up to.
Pierre-Andre Schütz visits the farmers of Vaud as a pastor.
But more important for his job is
that he himself is from a farming background.
They see me first as a farmer, I know that.
Some of them know that I work for the church,
but above all I'm a peer
who knows their problems and is in the same boat.
The farmers' despair is due mainly to financial problems,
giving up the farm or personal crises.
Schütz listens and advises too.
And if all else fails he even advises them to give up the farm:
at a certain point you have to say enough is enough.
If you get up each morning to sell milk
for 46 centimes a litre but incur costs of 53 centimes,
it's a no-brainer.
Either you give up or you lose a lot of money.
Giving up the farm before it's too late.
The Kaenels in Forel-sur-Lucens decided, for economic reasons,
to switch from dairy farming to meat raising.
But this didn't prevent the unthinkable:
The father of the family took his own life in 2013.
My father was very good at lots of things,
he worked fast.
I'm a lot slower, that makes me think.
I think of him every day.
Every day I say: "Dad would have said this or that."
The mother and son
have continued to run the farm since the head of the family died.
11-hour days are the rule to get the daily work done.
In one year, Pierre-André Schütz has supported 83 families.
A challenging task.
But the feedback from the farmers shows him
how important his work is.
Nowadays people are communicating all the time,
but usually very superficially.
People don't go below the surface enough.
Taking time for others is becoming more difficult.
I support more and more farmers,
and time is a very important factor here.
Farmers' pastor Pierre-Andre Schütz is not alone:
Farmers have many advice centres to turn to
so that their personal crises don't overwhelm them.
For more infomation >> 14May17 CHRISTIANS FLEE IRAQ - Duration: 1:42. 
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