Retired pastor Zacharia Sichone, who served in the leadership of the Southwest Province/Tanzania from 2008 to 2020, passed away after a short and serious illness. The funeral took place on August 19 with great sympathy in Mbeya/Tanzania.

From 1987 to 1990 he studied diaconal sciences in Austria. Afterwards he worked as a teacher at Utengule Theological College. In Zambia, the clergyman served as chairman of the missionary province from 2000 to 2004. This was followed by a stint in the United Kingdom from 2005 to 2007, during which he earned a master's degree in theology. In 2008, Sichone was appointed as head of the Southwest Province mission area in northern Tanzania's Arusha region, at the same time becoming the Southwest Province's deputy church president. In 2016, the provincial synod elected him church president. He held this office until October 2020, when he retired. Africa Graduate University, Zambia honored Zakaria Sichone and his many commitments to Tanzania, Africa and the world with the award of an honorary doctorate in August 2020. A detailed obituary on Rev. Zakaria Sichone will appear in the next magazine Weltweit verbunden.

In his current newsletter, retired Dean Dr Jochen Tolk again reports on his work in Tanzania. Among other things, he writes about his arduous journey to Tanzania, the current situation of the vocational school in Ilindi, the construction work at the school in Chunya and his experiences in Rungwe and Tenende. Thanks to Dr Tolk's orphan projects/scholarships, countless needy people have been able to experience companionship, help and education in recent years. We would like to thank all donors for their active support. You can find the complete newsletter here.

On 21 August 2023, the annual commemoration of the beginnings of the Herrnhut Mission in 1732, the Unity Women's Desk UWD launched a survey on women's ordination. See here. The text says: "Pastors, bishops and lay people, we ask you to participate in this survey. Please send us your comments and concerns about the ordination of women and the question of women in leadership positions in the Moravian Church - locally in your congregations and also in the worldwide Unity. We will use your responses to supplement the reports we have already received on this issue from the individual Unity provinces. We will not mention your names in the evaluation of the survey. If you would like to submit your answers anonymously, please contact the coordinator of the Unity Women's Desk in your province. Thank you for your help! If you have any questions, please email Julie Tomberlin: julie.unitywomen@gmail.com or phone: +1 336 575-8577."

The Unity Women's Desk UWD asks: What is allyship? This is not only important in the business world, but also in the church! Seven ways to find new allies are given here. Allyship is an ongoing process of building structures that promote and support underrepresented, marginalised and discriminated people or groups with the aim of moving them forward. - One such person supported is Ana Gabriela Vela Huaman from Lima, Peru. (here left). She recently graduated with a bachelor's degree in communication studies and she volunteers for gender justice in her country. From October 2023, she will attend a World Council of Churches training in Geneva to learn how to train women regarding human rights work. Her mother (photo right) was recently ordained as the first female pastor of the Moravian Church in Peru.

The group, which is currently on a visit to their partner congregation in Ibungu, Tanzania, on behalf of the Moravian Congregation Rhein-Main, has written an interim report and sent some photos. See here. The group writes: "32 years of partnership between the Moravian Church in Ibungu and the Moravian Congregation Rhein-Main! That is a long story that began in 1991 and has grown more and more through many visits back and forth. Five young adults and a community helper have now continued this story: From 4 August until today we lived in Ibungu in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania and its sub-communities, in all simplicity. The best part was cooking and playing together. In the daily church services we also reflected together on biblical stories. That was something special. We received gifts of fruit, baskets, cloths and shared time. With bags and books full of memories, we are now looking forward to 2026, when we will say: Watu wanne karibuni ujerumani! - Welcome to Germany!

On 17 September 2023, the two Unity Provinces in North America, together with their Board of World Mission BWM, will celebrate this year's Moravian Day of Service. The purpose of this day is to maintain and, if possible, increase awareness in congregations of the importance of mission work. The congregations should reflect on how they can make a difference in the wider world with their faith. In 2023, BWM invites people to participate in the distribution of simple filter systems to produce clean drinking water for families in La Mosquitia in eastern Honduras. Before the filters can be distributed in Honduras, they must be purchased and assembled in the USA. An invitation goes out to communities to assemble the filter systems on the Moravian Day of Service; almost everyone is able to do this. With 50 US dollars, a household in Honduras can be supplied with clean drinking water for ten years. 

Not only in the European-Continental Province, but in many Unity Provinces, it was commemorated on 21 August that 291 years ago - on 21 August 1732 - the Moravian Mission began when the first two missionaries, the Swabian potter Leonhard Dober and the Bohemian carpenter David Nitschmann, left Herrnhut at 4 o'clock in the morning. Via Hamburg, Rendsburg, Eckernförde (from here by ship) and Copenhagen (changing to a Dutch ship), they arrived on the Danish plantation island of St. Thomas in December 1732 and began their mission among enslaved people before the turn of the year 1723/33. The photo shows approximately where the first two missionaries docked at that time (in the harbour of the town of Charlotte Amalie) and in 1733 began to establish New Herrnhut and still later the small mission plantation of Posaunenberg. The Moravian Church Building visible in the foreground is still without a roof in the photo, which it lost in a hurricane. In the meantime, however, the church has a roof again.

Preparations for the 4th Brass Meeting of the worldwide Unity in South Africa from 21 to 24 September 2023 are in full swing - and rehearsals for the big event are being intensified everywhere: in the host province of South Africa as well as in many other Unity provinces. (pictures here). The brass choirs from more than half a dozen countries, as well as some individual brass players, will gather on the outskirts of Jeffreys Bay at Mentorskraal Country Estate. The popular conference and holiday complex is located 60 kilometres west of the metropolis of Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) near the Indian Ocean. A poster is already advertising the big final concert on 24 September 2023 at 2.30 pm. See here. Tickets are available for 100 rand (adults; just under 5 euros) and 50 rand (children under 12). The main organiser of the brass meeting is the BBSA, the Moravian Brass Band Union of South Africa.

Brødremenighedens Danske Mission BDM, the Danish sister organisation of Herrnhuter Missionshilfe, announces the sending of a new missionary family to Mwanza, Tanzania on 1 August 2023. They are Morten and Bettina Poulsen from Aalborg and their two small children. In the meantime, they have already been welcomed at their mission site. They said, "If God moves us, then we have to go with Him." Bettina has a Master's degree in social work and has been a manager at Barnets Blå Hus in Aalborg for the past eight years. At the house there are support services for children growing up in drug families. Morten has a master's degree in education and sociology and was until recently deputy manager at Løvdal Municipal Housing and Support Centre in Aalborg. Now they will work with the local Moravian Congregations in many places where appropriate. See in Danish here.

Grade 3, 4 and 5 students from the International Kindergarten & Shristi Academy of the Moravian Church in Kathmandu, Nepal, visited an art exhibition at the Siddhartha Art Gallery on 11 August 2023. The exhibition features works by 46 artists in very different crafts and art techniques. The children were to see the variety of artistic works with their own eyes. Some pictures from the exhibition visit here. Already on 27 July 2023, the children had celebrated a summer and children's party in their school, where cooling down was repeatedly needed due to the great heat. Some pictures here. The school, which receives support from the Moravian Church in the USA, is an international, interfaith school, but is run by committed local Christians with occasional external volunteers.

One of the youngest branches in the tribe of the worldwide Unity has been the Moravian Church in Brazil since 2020. It is supported primarily by the Moravian Church in Peru and in North America. A recent communication from the Board of World Mission states: "Our brothers and sisters in Brazil share the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a variety of ways in their growing community. In July 2023, they hosted an ecumenical women's meeting, inviting women from many denominations: for prayer, discussion and personal sharing." Three pictures from the meeting here.

Kimani Roach, a graduate of Bethlehem Moravian College BMC in Malvern/St Elizabeth in Jamaica (graduating class of 2020), and Shane Frith, a lecturer in mathematics, recently published a study together, "An investigation grade 10 students' attitude towards mathematics in the Caribbean". Download the study here. A release from BMC says: "Because Jamaica's education system is constantly evolving, research is important and is valued by educators as an indispensable component of classroom practice. The Mathematics Department at Bethlehem Moravian College is doing what is necessary to ensure that concrete facts and figures continue to inform the decisions and actions of all students and teachers as they become educational scientists."

Since the end of June 2023, it has been raining very often and very heavily in eastern Cuba, causing widespread flooding in this region up to the province of Camagüey. Unfortunately, nine people died in the floods; many others were injured. Although the Moravian Church in Cuba did not have to report any deaths, there were still significant losses of property in the communities. Yadira Quintana, pastor of the Moravian Congregation in Guantanamo, which also runs three day-care centres and a farm, recently reported that the situation in Guantanamo was very critical. Several families in her community were severely affected by the water floods. Nine farm workers had lost everything, including kitchen utensils, furniture, mattresses, roof tiles, towels, bedding and clothes. A large part of the crops on the farms had also been destroyed. Picture here. Video here.

"Genadendal: A long walk through the history of the first mission station in South Africa" is the title of a new book by Dr Isaac Balie, the long-time director of the Moravian Mission Museum in Genadendal and friend of the great fighter against apartheid and first president of the new South Africa, Nelson Mandela. Isaac Balie takes his readers on a long walk through the amazing history of the oldest mission station in southern Africa from the arrival of the first missionary to the present day. He also delves into the collections of the Mission Museum in Genadendal, which was declared a National Heritage Site of South Africa as early as 8 March 1991. The book announcement says: "Embark on a captivating journey through time with this bestseller written by a competent and renowned author. Get ready for an unforgettable reading experience." Book purchase e.g. here.

On Sunday, 20 August 2023, the Moravian Church in Estonia wrote on Facebook: "The three-day children's camp under the motto Every day on the way with God ended today on Kaevatsi Hill - on the small island of Hiiumaa in the West Sea (Estonian name for the German Baltic Sea) off the coast of Estonia. We also went to the House of Prayer of the Moravian Church in Pühalepa for Bible studies and devotions. This year's camp guest was Taavi Hollman and his family. During the campfire night from Saturday to Sunday, a Methodist youth group on their mission trip welcomed the young Hiiumaa campers. We had a blessed time before the start of the new school year." Three pictures from the camp here.