From 4 to 10 September 2023, the 44th Unity Synod will convene in the South African metropolis of Cape Town. This highest body of the Moravian Church meets only every seven years. This time, it consists of male and female synod members from 25 Unity provinces. In addition, there are Synod members from the Mission Provinces and the Unity Undertakings as well as two Synod members from the ranks of the male or female bishops. The synodal language is English. However, there are translations into Swahili and Spanish. Raimund Hertzsch is participating from the European-Continental Province as director and Damaris Enkelmann (Berlin) and Lilian Styger-Kembel (North-Holland) as elected synod members. For the meaning and specific tasks of the Unity Synod, see the corresponding information in the worldwide valid "Church Order of the Unitas Fratrum" (version 2016), §§ 250-290. See here.

After a biblical impulse by Brian Abrahams (Bishop; Acts 10:30-35), after a greeting by Roberta Hoey (Chairperson of the Unity Board) and after the completion of formalities led by Abel Apel (SA) and the entire Presidium of Synod their deliberations got underway. The Synod theme is "The Moravian Church, many cultures, one witness". All motions were submitted and assigned to the relevant committees for further discussion. The highlight of the day was the decision to transform the former "South Asia Mission Area" (India, Nepal, Myanmar) into a mission province. The Synod had to note with regret that Thsespal Kundan, the representative of the new Mission Province, could not attend the Synod due to "travel problems". Especially the representatives of the British Province, which had accompanied the brothers and sisters in South Asia for the past 20 years, were very happy about this decision.

In the newsletter of the german Moravian Congregation Rhein-Main (Sept./Oct. 2023) Katharina Rühe reports with many pictures about the just finished journey to the partner parish Ibungu in Tanzania: "The prudent care of our hosts already started when Martin Mwiba and William Mashimbi welcomed us at the airport in Mbeya. That was not planned, but so nice ... Then we turned off onto the gravel road with lots of holes in the ground and lifts over small bridges up to an altitude of 1350 metres into the green, fertile southern highlands to Ibungu ... We first had to discover everything: The parsonage where we always ate. The big church and next to it the two rooms for us two men and four women. Four beds in the women's room with mosquito nets and two benches for storing odds and ends ... Behind the house were the toilet blocks, one for the women and one for the men. Unusual for us: a hole and a bowl on the floor where we squatted. The flush consisted of a bucket of water and a scoop ... " More here, Pages 4 to 7.

The new project of the Moravian Church in North America "Dept Refief a Contribution to Healing the World", which provisionally ended on 13 August 2023, the commemoration of the founding of the renewed Moravian Church, raised donations totalling 90,000 US dollars. The money will be used primarily to buy out medically related debt titles of hundreds of people in the USA, making them debt-free. However, 25 percent of the donations (23,000 US dollars) will also go to the Clínica Evangélica Morava in Ahuas, Honduras. The staff of the clinic on the Mosquito Coast guarantee that this amount will a) enable Honduran community members to cancel their debts and b) cover the clinic's regular monthly operating costs for several months. In addition, subsidies are possible for the clinic's medical equipment as well as for the procurement of medicines, bandages and the like.

UNICEF Guyana & Suriname reported on 21 August 2023: Safe drinking water and hygiene kits, health and nutrition services, learning materials and awareness raising. Dedicated people are helping village communities in remote regions of Suriname that are still reeling from the aftermath of severe flooding. In February 2023, enormously high water levels reached many inland villages, particularly in eastern Suriname. Homes, schools and clinics were flooded for weeks. Schools and clinics had to be closed and thousands of people evacuated to higher ground. UNICEF supported the affected communities with donations from the Netherlands through the 'Medical Mission Suriname', first with emergency relief packages, then with food, medical care, hygiene and teaching materials. The programme is now also supporting the restart of schooling and helping 4,000 people with clean water and preventive health care. A seven-minute video with English subtitles of the relief efforts here.

Dr Cynthia Campbell, the US Southern Province Mission Society representative on the Board of World Mission BWM, visited the Moravian Church in Kenya in July 2023, specifically the Ray of Hope project, an orphanage and school near Mombasa. There she held Bible studies together with the local pastor Benjamin Elim and his wife Florence, there she preached in a small church and there she put into operation two new toilet houses financed by the Moravian Church in the USA (Mizpa women fellowship) right next to the school. The leaders write in the mission magazine Onward, issue for September/October 2023: "The toilets are an important contribution to a healthy school environment free of contagious diseases. We now have 120 pupils who received new pillowcase dresses. Due to the drought, which continues year after year, there is no agriculture here in many places. Help is needed in several places".

On Friday, 1 September 2023, Brødremenighedens Danske Mission BDM's second-hand shop Genbrug was reopened in Christiansfeld near Kolding. The event at Lindegade 61 was also attended by the local brass choir. After a speech by BDM General Secretary Arngeir Langås, customers streamed into the shop, forming a queue at the checkout. They confirmed that they had made many good purchases on the opening day. The volunteers who had procured and prepared the many second-hand goods, mostly sprightly senior citizens with a love of mission, served coffee and tea and a local speciality: "Christiansfelder Honigkuchen". From now on, the shop will be open at the following times: on Wednesday and Thursday from 1pm to 5pm; on Friday from 12pm to 4pm and every first Saturday of the month from 10am to 2pm. Photos from the opening here.

Dr. Tom Gordon, Prof. emeritus of the Memorial University of Newfoundland School of Music, Chair of the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council and adjunct organist at Nain Moravian Church, has written and published a book Moravian Inuit Music in Labrador with McGill-Queen's University Press. See here. In it, he pays tribute to the music that resounds in the Moravian Church in Nain, then as now: "A remote church covered with wooden shingles in a barren, arctic landscape, more than just a place of worship: churches are symbols that may evoke negative reactions to the history of Christian colonisation. In this church, however, the voices of a well-matched choir resound, accompanied by experienced strings or even spirited wind instruments. The Inuit who play here are stewards of a tradition of complex sacred music introduced to Labrador by Moravian missionaries in the late 18th century - a tradition to which the musicians have given their own cultural expression over the decades."

Women from the Moravian Church in Honduras (Mission Province) are planning a new handicraft programme for young women. The aim is to help them become more financially independent. The Unity Womens Desk UWD wants to support the women by bringing in a business consultant. It recently asked on its Facebook pages if anyone could help the Honduran women get a craft kit of something like. Glass beads here; hooks for earrings here. The chairperson of UWD wrote just before she left for the Unity Synod in Cape Town, South Africa, "I will arrange for the chairperson of the church leadership of the Honduras Mission Province to receive these items by 'Moravian Mail' to deliver personally to the women leading the programme after Synod. Welcome, of course, to any other beads and jewellery that you have and no longer need."

For the youth of the Moravian Church in Suriname, the festive month of August 2023 came to an end with a Power Hour on 19 August, an evening charismatic worship service, and with a Jam Session on 25 August, an evening of music-making together without a pre-arranged programme. Both events took place at the Moravian Church Youth Centre in Paramaribo. The invitation to the latter event said: "Come and bring your instrument! Make music with us and enjoy something small to eat and drink too!". See here. The Power Hour can be relived a bit here and here. Of course, many young people were also present when on 20 August, in the packed Great City Church of Paramaribo, a total of twelve predicants were ordained as pastors after four years of training at the Theological Seminary. Many pictures here and here. Many pictures here and here. More music videos from the month of August here.

On 18 August 2023, the Moravian Church School Foundation in Suriname, the Stichting Onderwijs, held its traditional School Day, a meeting and further training day for teachers, for the first time again after a three-year break from Corona. A special attraction of this school day was the cheerful choir competition, in which teachers from the different parts of Suriname competed against each other. The results were as follows: 1st prize: the Sunflowers choir from the Brokopondo school region; 2nd prize: the Pearls choir from the Southwest school region; 3rd prize: the choir from the PARWA school region (Paramaribo/Wanica); 4th prize: the Golden Voices choir from the CENNOR school region (Centre/North); 5th prize: the choir from the KOMMA school region (Commewijne/Marowijne). On a video you can see the choir Sunflowers with the song "How Moses crossed the Red Sea". See and listen here.

Participants in a children's Bible camp at Calvary Moravian Church in Bridgetown, Barbados, held a traditional love feast at the Moravian Church. Some pictures here. A video of the back-to-school service here. An open-air service was held at the King George V Memorial Park by the Calvary Moravian Church in Bridgetown on 3 September 2023. A chair, a packed lunch, a prayerful heart and as many relatives and friends as possible should be brought by all church members. See here. The open-air service was a joint service with other Moravian Churches in Barbados. Many pictures here. The radio station Moravian Voice (97.5 FM) reminded us on 21 August 2023 of the 200th anniversary of the Mount Tabor Moravian Church, which will be celebrated in exactly two years.

A longer article by the Historical Association of South Africa deals with the historical bells of the Moravian Church in South Africa. It says: "The Moravian Mission played an important role in the lives of the people of South Africa, both spiritually and socially. Despite the existence of studies on the individual mission stations of the Moravian Church, no systematic research has been done on the bells of these stations. This article discusses these bells, when they came from where and who made them. Because of the historical importance of the mission stations, the bells cannot be discussed without background information on the history of the stations. For each station, the historical background is given before then focusing on the bells of that station and the person who cast the bells." The complete article (26 pages) in English here.

The Latvian Evangelical Alliance is planning a one-day conference for 30 October 2023 at St Peter's Church in Riga. The fourth conference of this kind will also focus on the role of the Moravian Church in the long process of the Latvian Reformation between 9 am and 4 pm. The theme of this year's conference is: "The colours of the Reformation in the light of the world" Reformācijas Krāsas Vārda Gaismā). Participants include: Dr.phil.Beāta Paškevica, Dr.hist. Gundars Ceipe, Dr.hist.Jānis Šiliņš, Dr.theol. Uģis Sildegs, māc. Ilārs Plūme and Gints Lūsis-Grīnbergs. Beāta Paškevica, a German scholar and Moravian expert at the Latvian National Library in Riga, will speak on "The Theology of the Heart in the Autobiography of Friedrich Bernhard Blaufuß". Gundars Ceipe, the leader of the Moravian Church in Latvia, will speak on "The Moravian Church in Latvia in the context of a global movement".

In the latest newsletter of the association "Lettlandhilfe e. V." there is an interesting report by Juta Strazdiņa from the "Christian David School" near Barkava, which tells about recent changes at the school. Juta Strazdiņa also writes: "Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the Russian language has been changed to German in many schools in our country. We, on the other hand, have been teaching German for many years." Download Juta Strazdiņa's report in German here. The association also writes: "In recent years, thanks to your and others' help, a photovoltaic system has been built on the school roof. In addition, it was possible to heat water thanks to this system and thanks to a new pellet heating system. Now a storage tank for the solar energy is to be installed in order to save a lot of money on electricity. The total cost is about 9,000 to 10,000 euros. Every euro from you helps!". Regarding the new tractor, the association writes the following: "In summer, we received a call for help from the school, saying that the 60-year-old tractor had broken down, and this just before the hay harvest. The board then decided to make it possible to buy a used tractor. The 'new' tractor is in good condition and gives a lot of pleasure.