This year, Herrnhuter Missionshilfe is planning a very special Christmas campaign for the almost 1,500 children and young people at the Light of Hope School on the outskirts of Dzaleka Camp in Malawi. Thanks to numerous private donations, 500 pairs of sports shoes have already been collected. Plus countless jerseys, balls, trousers and socks. At the school, football and basketball are among the absolute highlights for the pupils, some of whom have to play barefoot or in sandals. Sport provides a distraction from the sometimes dull everyday life at camp and promotes teamwork as well as communication. During the Christmas party at the school, in addition to the shoes, a warm and tasty meal is provided to ensure a great day. If you would like to help to finance the transport and the Christmas meal, we would be delighted to receive a donation to our account: Herrnhuter Missionshilfe e.V., DE25 5206 0410 0000 4151 03, BIC: GENODEF1EK1, Evangelische Bank (keyword Project 1660 Christmas Malawi). With your donation you give hope!

The number of pupils at the Herrnhut Academy School continues to grow. More than 500 children and young people are now being taught in the educational project. Thanks to the kindergarten, even the very youngest children are very welcome. In the past, there were always group rooms in which there was not enough equipment to offer each child a chair or table. In some cases, the children were lying on carpets on the floor. Thanks to a generous individual donation, it has now been possible to finance the necessary furniture and make the children very happy. We would like to say a big thank you!

In his latest newsletter, retired dean Jochen Tolk once again reports on his work in Tanzania. Among other things, he writes about the construction of a house for a Tanzanian suffering from Lebra in Tenede, the urgently needed support for the water supply at the vocational training centre in Chunya, the further development of the school in Ilindi and the upcoming graduation ceremonies at the end of the year. We would like to thank doctor Tolk for his many years of commitment to education and support work and all donors for their active support. You can find the complete newsletter here.

In its September 2023 newsletter, the Unity Province of the West Indies East saluted two of its members who successfully completed the two toughest rowing races in the world by boat: the crossing of the Atlantic from La Gomera/Canary Islands to English Harbour/Antigua (Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge) and, the following year, the crossing of half the Pacific from Monterey/California to Hanalei, Kaua'i/Honolulu (World's Toughest Row). Both routes were approximately 3,000 miles long. Kevinia Francis and Christal Clashing belong to the Cashew Hill Moravian Church on the island of Antigua. Christal's mother is the congregation's organist. The two members of the Moravian Church undertook the Atlantic crossing in a four-person boat together with Elvira Bell and Samara Emmanuel; the Pacific crossing in a three-person boat with Samara Emmanuel. Samara is the first woman in Antigua with a captain's licence; Christal is a swimming instructor and has also competed in the Olympics. A detailed report on the two ocean crossings in English here (Side 3f).

The Moravian Church in Rwanda, which came into being around the year 2000 and operates in the status of a mission area of the Moravian Church (under the supervision of the Western Province of the Moravian Church in Tanzania), now has a new website (under construction). See here. The three leaders of the church are introduced (Jean nepo Anatole Ndayambaje = President; Celestin Twasinga = Deputy; = Emmanuel Ngendahayo = General Secretary) as well as the most important branches of work (Women ministry; Men ministry; Charity ministry; Crusaders). The website also refers to a five-minute film in English about the long history of the Moravian Church - taken from North America. See here. Questions can be asked and information given on the contact page. In the main national language Kinyarwanda, the motto of the Moravian Church is: "UMWANA W'INTAMA W'IMANA - YARATSINZE TUMUKURIKIRE".

In the newsletter for October 2023 (see here) of the West Indies East Province informs about a 3 1/2-day Church & Technology Summit, which focussed on the connection between faith and state-of-the-art technology. Participants were offered five topics for different target groups: 1. senior and executive pastors: insight into leadership and what technology can do for evangelism and outreach. 2. church administration: exploring tools and strategies to optimise church operations in terms of finances and more. 3. new technologies: A look at the latest developments in AI and how AI can be integrated into the church. 4. creative and communication: utilising AI-driven tools for image creation, design and presentation, copywriting and the use of social media. 5. production technology: using AI to improve audio and video editing and production quality.

The Moravian Church has been working on many Caribbean islands for 200 years or more. Here - on St Thomas (now the US Virgin Islands) - the Moravian mission began in December 1732. On Tortola (now the British Virgin Islands), on the other hand, the work of the Moravian Church only began a good 30 years ago. Eideen A. Smith, the sister who 33 years ago gave the first impulse to found first the Tortola Moravian Fellowship and then the Trinity Moravian Church on Tortola, looks back on the varied first 30 years of her congregation in a newsletter article of the Unity Province West Indies East (November 2023). The congregation has since built its own church. German translation of the three-page article here. The work of the Moravian Church on Tortola became particularly well known in 2017, when the Unity Offering collected worldwide on 1 March was earmarked for the Trinity Moravian Church.

Justin Rabbach, the head of the Board of World Mission of the Moravian Church in North America, and Jørgen Bøytler, the Unity Board Administrator, also took part in the 19th Synod of the Unity Province of Nicaragua from 8 to 12 November 2023 in Managua. On the fringes of the synod, there was a meeting of the leaders of the opposing church parties to initiate a path of reconciliation. The synod elected several people to a commission that is to list the questions that need to be answered in order to achieve reconciliation by the beginning of 2024. The new church leadership is as follows: Freddymil Muller = superintendent/chair; Gerda Bendlis (South/Bluefields region) = deputy; Ronaly Paterson (Bilwi region); Evaristo Fenly (Lower Rio Coco region); Airam Web (Upper Rio Coco region); Saballos López (Las Minas region); Dina Nicho (West/Pacifico/Managua region). Three pictures here. The synod motto was: Rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.

In its 24-page BDM Nyt (4-2023), the mission organisation of the Moravian Church in Denmark, Brødremenighedens Danske Mission BDM, has the pastor of the Moravian Church in Albalia, Dena Grillo-Fortuzi, reported on her diverse spiritual and social work. Here are some excerpts from the report in German: "In the town of Lezha, we have two groups of 20 children each who take part in our Additional Education Programme for children in grades 1 to 9. The cooperation with the Roma community is a blessing and we see its fruits day by day ... The first phase of the Personal Care for Women programme was carried out with the aim of raising awareness of good hygiene and personal hygiene and the need to prevent various diseases ... Three open days were held in Pogradec, Burrel and Tirana. At each of these popular meetings, women were able to consult a female doctor free of charge."

The 55th anniversary of the Moravian Theological Seminary in Suriname was celebrated on 15 October 2023 in the Wanica Church in Paramaribo. The church leadership celebrated with the board of trustees, management, staff, teachers and students. The motto of the seminar is: Reflect - Deepen - Act. The biblical motto was: "What you have heard from me from many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also" (2 Timothy 2:2). Pictures here. On 17 November 2023, the School Foundation of the Moravian Church in Suriname published the 33rd issue of its magazine Der Wegweiser. See in Dutch here. On pages 8 and 9, we report on a new, two-part form of the exam after year 10, which has been in force since the 2022/23 school year, especially the practical and creative second part of the exam, which requires group or collaborative work and resulted in an exciting exam market.

UNICEF World Children's Day on 20 November 2023 was held under the motto Every child needs a future! The School Foundation of the Moravian Church in Suriname reminded us with a Facebook post of the fundamental rights of children declared by the United Nations General Assembly on 20 November 1989: - The right to education - The right to their own religion and culture - The right to a name and nationality - The right to their own opinion - The right to a safe and healthy life - The right to protection from child labour - The right to protection from abuse and violence - The right to protection in war - The right to play - The right to grow up with their family - The right to safe drinking water - The right to good health care - The right to care for children with disabilities - All the rights listed here apply to all children worldwide.

On 12 November 2023, this year's Remembrance Sunday, the Moravian Congregation of Ockbrook (UK) remembered its war dead in the two world wars. Every year on the second Sunday in November, the soldiers and civilians who served and lost their lives in the two world wars and in later conflicts are remembered in Great Britain and the Commonwealth. See here. In Genadendal, South Africa, the war deads were also commemorated at the World War I memorial on Remembrance Sunday in 2023. Around 500 men from Genadendal (20 to 30 years old; minimum height 170 cm; chest circumference at least 85 cm) were called up for military service in Europe, Palestine and Egypt during the First World War. They served in five different regiments. Most of them were lucky enough to return home unharmed after four years. However, 19 conscripted Genedendalers died in the First World War. They were memorialised in 1928. More text and three pictures here.

The Stadtmuseum Dresden has been showing a new exhibition since 5 November 2023. It is entitled Menschen(an)schauen - eine Werkstattausstellung über koloniale Völkerschauen and can be seen until the end of June 2024. Prospectus here. According to the city museum's website, the exhibition addresses a gap in Dresden's historiography and culture of remembrance. Although people were exhibited at the court in Dresden as early as the 16th century for the purpose of entertainment and supposed education and the Dresden Zoo was one of the most important venues for human and folk shows in Germany from 1870 onwards, there is hardly any awareness of the Dresden population shows in the collective memory. The exhibition mentions in passing that the Moravian missionary Wilhelm Heinrich Zwick (1834-1889), who formerly worked in Sarepta on the Volga (now Volgograd), arranged for a group of Kalmuks to be sent to the exhibition organisers. The museum offers a total of eleven events for a "Studium decoloniale" (see p. 30 in the brochure) and also special programmes for school classes (see here: https://www.stmd.de/angebot_sonderausstellung).

Suriname is also suffering from climate change. The large inland rivers currently carry extremely little water. In some places, the normally wide, water-rich rivers are barely navigable. The lack of water is associated with the ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation) phenomenon on the one hand, but also with the consequences of partly legal, partly illegal gold mining on the border with Brazil and other environmental interventions on the other. According to the authorities: "If there is flooding, then that is a problem. If the rivers dry up, then we also have a problem. We were pleased that ENSO was much less widespread in the north-eastern part of South America, including Suriname, than in the Pacific and south-eastern part of South America. However, we will now have to deal with ENSO effects until mid-2024." Images of the water shortage here and here. Video of a supply boat foundering and capsizing on a normally flooded rapid here.

On 17 November 2023, the media agency of the Moravian Church in Tanzania, Njiwa Media, released a new short film about Rungwe, the seat of the church leadership of Tanzania's Southern Province. In addition to the old church and the seat of the church leadership, Rungwe is now home to several institutions of the province (museum/archive; Guest house  Mbutusyo; Pharmacy, vocaition training Centre, Womens´s training centre  Numwagile Center; Sewing team  Pamoja Tunaweza; HIV support group  Lusubilo; Avocado-Plantage). About the four minute film in Swahili here. On 17 November 2023, a parents' meeting was held at the Vocational Training Center (VTC) in Rungwe, at which Rev. Stephen Mwaipopo, General Secretary of the Southern Province of the Moravian Church in Tanzania, informed students, parents and other guardians in detail about the technical training profile of the VTC. To the film of the parents' meeting here.