The new school year at the Herrnhut Academy School (kindergarten, primary school, secondary school and vocational training centre) in Mwera/Zanzibar began on 8 January 2024. More than 620 pupils, including 120 newcomers, are attending the school this year. Classrooms are slowly running out and the search for further funding for a new class block is underway. It is wonderful to see how the children and teachers play, work and learn together in harmony, regardless of their religion and origin. The second round of hotel management courses at the vocational training centre will start in February this year. Although Zanzibar is 99% Muslim, the Herrnhut Academy School is held in high regard by the local government and population.

On 20 January 2024, after a short, smooth construction period and despite adverse weather conditions, the Moravian Nursery in Pemba, a neighbouring island of Zanzibar, was opened. Many guests of honour, including the mayor, government officials, Muslim and Christian church leaders, members of the local Moravian Church, Dr Jørgen Bøytler (Unity Board Administrator), neighbours, parents and children celebrated, danced and ate. There were performances and many children registered to attend the kindergarten. The kindergarten has space for around 80 children and can start at the end of January. The need is great, as there are very few educational programmes for children in Pemba. However, a playground and play and learning materials are still urgently needed. "It was a great and successful celebration and a great step forward for the Moravian Church in Zanzibar that this kindergarten could be realised on the strictly Muslim island," report Bettina and Michael Nasgowitz, who were able to attend the event.

Before Christmas, Herrnhuter Missionshilfe launched a private appeal for donations of sports shoes and clothing in Bad Boll. The donations in kind were intended for the children and young people in the Dzaleka Camp and Walani project. Soccer in particular is very important in the projects, but there are not enough sports shoes available, neither for the male and female soccer teams at Dzaleka Camp nor for the children and young people in the projects. After an overwhelming number of shoes had been collected (almost 500), the transport to Malawi had to be organised. With a few obstacles and hurdles, the 30 parcels finally made it to Lilongwe and were handed over to the beaming children and young people during a festive ceremony in both projects. The joy was immense and the campaign proved to be a complete success. The (additional) efforts of the HMH team paid off. Even the local daily newspaper wrote a major report about the campaign, see here. Many thanks for the great support!

Full of anticipation, 80 girls and young women moved into their accommodation at the Walani Women's Vocational Training Centre AWTC in Malawi in the first week of January. Many of the young women come from the UNHCR refugee camp in Dzaleka and can now live and work in the new dormitories on the vocational training centre grounds for a year. For many of them, this is the first carefree time in which they can concentrate on their training and prepare for a self-determined life in dignity. They are trained in two training programmes: Solar/Electrical and Tailoring/Design, each led by female teachers. The girls are taught in two classes in the new school building and you can feel their enthusiasm when they sew their first simple items of clothing in the workshops or explore the construction of a solar module. For many, this is a unique opportunity to learn a profession, because in Malawi it is not a given that girls and women have access to vocational training. During the last project trip, the Herrnhuter Missionshilfe team met many of the young women in person during a "training trial run" and is convinced: "They will seize their opportunity!" Unfortunately, many of the girls come from very poor backgrounds and cannot afford school fees or a contribution towards board and lodging. They are therefore dependent on support from HMH. You are welcome to sponsor a girl's vocational training or support the Walani project.

Joachim Kreusel (Great Britain), Bishop of the Moravian Church and pastor of Ockbrook Moravian Church and Leicester Moravian Church, has published a photo report in a newsletter dated 21 January 2024 of his recent visit to the new Mission Province South Asia of the Moravian Church, in which - by decision of the Unity Synod 2023 - congregations in North India and Nepal are united. During his visit, Joachim Kreusel witnessed the constituent synod of the South Asia Mission Province, the election of the first church leadership and the first ordination of a woman as a pastor of the Moravian Church in Asia, the ordination of Suaihiamlu Pamei from Binnakandi in the Indian state of Assam. Joachim Kreusel also visited congregations. Shanti Pradhan (Kathmandu) was elected as the first President of the South Asia Missionary Province. Kameleshwori Pradhan is now acting as his deputy. To the photo report here.

The Moravian Church in the UK, which had 971 members in 2021, is largely made up of black people and people of colour who or whose parents immigrated to Europe from former British colonies. One of these members who immigrated from Antigua in 1956 is Hyacinth Christian, who was recently interviewed by the Moravian Messenger. See in English here (Page 7). When asked about her greatest joys, she said: singing in the church choir and in an ecumenical Caribbean choir, visiting the elderly, leading church services and working on the British World Day of Prayer Committee. She cited the following as particular challenges she had to overcome: "I didn't know the history of the Moravian Church. I took part in a lay course despite my limited Moravian knowledge. At the suggestion of Rev Smith and Sister Olive Linyard, I was chosen to be a representative of the Moravian Church on the national World Day of Prayer committee."

A few days ago, the church newspaper Glaube und Heimat published an article by journalist Andreas Herrmann. In it, he reports on his trip to Cuba last year, during which he also visited the small, still young Moravian Church in the country. The report in the Blickwechsel section is entitled "Moravian Church grows in Cuba". Many members of the Moravian Church in Cuba live from agriculture. On a Moravian farm in Guantanamo - very close to the US Navy base in Cuba - guayabas, yuca, sweet potatoes and okra pods are grown. The report states: "The educational ideal of the Moravians in particular attracts many, says Armando Rusindo, one of two bishops. However, his colleague Obed Martinez, who teaches at the Moravian Theological Seminary in Matanzas, also points out a difficulty he has to contend with: the shortage economy." To the complete report here.

Click here for a 25-minute programme by the radio station Deutschlandfunk Kultur to mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of Johannes Evangelista Goßner (1773-1858), the founder of the Goßner Mission, which works with its partners in India, Nepal, Zambia and Uganda. The article is entitled: "In favour of a holistic mission". Pastor Christoph Theilemann, the director of the Berliner Missionswerk, contributes a short article on mission.de to the current debate on the abolition of the term mission, which is picking up speed. See here. He does not want to give up the term and justifies this with reference to several aspects. Thirdly, he says: "For me, this is a decisive argument: I have seen from our brothers and sisters in the partner churches in particular that the term 'mission' is held in high esteem there, which we do not recognise enough in the German/European debate."