Last week, Herrnhuter Missionshilfe was able to present itself at the home game of Bundesliga handball team FrischAuf! Göppingen at the EWS Arena and report on their work. The invitation was extended by OSG GmbH in Göppingen, which became aware of HMH through a newspaper article in the local daily newspaper. Managing Director Oliver Schunter, together with FrischAuf! Göppingen has long supported charitable organisations and clubs in the district by offering them this platform at home matches. In a brief interview before the game, HMH's managing director Bettina Nasgowitz and her deputy Markus Kuhn had the opportunity to talk briefly about HMH. Another interview took place after the press conference in the OSG Lounge in front of numerous sponsors and people from politics and business. All in all, it was a successful evening with lots of new networking opportunities and a narrow defeat against the league leaders Füchse Berlin. To the recording of the interview here.

The Star Mountain Rehabilitation Center SMRC of the worldwide Moravian Church in Palestine (West Bank) has succeeded in providing five young people trained in vocational support with a job. Three new companies have been found for them. Essam and Hasan are now working at the City Inn Palace Hotel in Jerusalem Street in Ramallah, while Ayeda and Saja recently started working at the Ocean Grand Hotel in Jericho - right by the Dead Sea. Yassin is also undergoing further training at the Episcopal Technological and Vocational Training Centre in Al-Tireh. The latter cooperation was made possible by the conclusion of an agreement with the Lutheran World Federation. Supporting young people with disabilities from Palestine is one of the aims of the Waldensian Church in Europe. The management team of the SMRC would like to thank this church and the companies mentioned above. Some pictures here.

Girls and teachers from Turmus'ayya Girls Secondary School in Al-Bireh on the outskirts of Ramallah organised an inclusive afternoon of sports and games at the Star Mountain Rehabilitation Center SMCR of the Moravian Church on 6 April 2024, the last Friday of this year's Islamic fasting month of Ramadan. The aim of the guests was to do something good during Ramadan with the leisure activities on offer and to put a smile on the faces of the children with disabilities. According to the management of SMRC they succeeded. At the same time, the guests from Al-Bireh presented 40 children with a voucher that they can use to buy something for their own pleasure. Twelve pictures here. Despite the war between Israel and Hamas, the extraction work on Star Mountain - located in the Palestinian West Bank - can continue with some restrictions.

The Palestinian city of Ramallah, represented by its mayor Issa Qassis, and the Star Mountain Rehabilitation Center SMRC, represented by its director Ranya Karam, signed an agreement on 3 April 2024 in the presence of other local politicians at Ramallah City Hall with the aim of establishing cooperation between the city and SMRC. This is generally about building the welfare state and good citizenship, and specifically about the joint efforts to help marginalised groups and people with disabilities to be optimally included in society. Both sides expressed their appreciation for the reliable work of the other side in recent years. The city emphasised that it wants to make buildings, streets and pavements accessible to people with disabilities and also provide cultural and other public services for people with disabilities. Ranya Karam thanked the politicians for the trust they have placed in her and for their cooperation to date. Some photos here.

On Thursday, 21 March 2024, at 12.30 pm, it was that time again: the pupils of the Evangelische Zinzendorfschulen Herrnhut ran as many laps as possible through Herrnhut within an hour for a good cause. The run was once again organised together with Herrnhuter Missionshilfe. For the first time, children and young people from the Johann Amos Comenius special school in Herrnhut also took part. The run almost had to be cancelled because it rained heavily until just before the start. Half of the donations raised (more than 20,000 euros last year) will go to the Moravian Star Mountain Rehabilitation Center SMRC near Ramallah in Palestine. A quarter will go towards equipping the school campus with fitness and exercise equipment. The local student council will decide how the final quarter will be used. The exact amount to be donated this time has yet to be determined. Ten pictures here.

In 2024, South Africa will celebrate 30 years of democracy. This year, five young people from the Moravian Church in Germany will travel to the Cape of Good Hope and spending ten days with five young people from the Moravian Church in South Africa to get to know the rainbow nation better. The young people will visit various places such as Robben Island, Genadendal, Elim and the townships in Cape Town. The aim of the trip is to bring together young people from the Moravian Church from very different backgrounds and to encourage them to stand up for an open-minded and democratic society and to enable them to experience the worldwide Moravian Church. To enable young people from Germany and South Africa to have such a unique encounter, a special collection will be organised in the German Moravian Churches in 2024. Thank you for your support!

Those responsible at the former Moravian mission station in Genadendal, South Africa, had invited people to a green revolution or a general village clean-up on 21 March 2024! It was first a day full of work, then a day full of fun. Above all, however, it was a day that brought new cleanliness and order to the town and its surroundings. Many children and young people and a few adults responded to the call from the Mission Museum of Genadendal and the organisation Child Welfare Genadendal and made an important contribution to a nicer, healthier environment together and in a great atmosphere. Sunnyside Farm, the Church of God and the company IFresh Africa provided financial support for the event, which was organised for the first time and concluded with fun and games for the children. The campaign made explicit reference to goals 3 and 11 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.

From 19 to 21 March 2024, the Medical Committee of the Clinica Evangelica Morava in Ahuas held a consultation in Honduras with Justin Rabbach, Executive Director of the Board of World Mission, and Andrew Starr of the Ahuas Committee. The ongoing support of the clinic was evaluated and reports were received from the medical staff, the administrative and technical departments and the health care staff. Together, they analysed statistics that provided information on the treatment of almost 3,000 external patients in 2023. The analysis of the statistics showed the enormous demand for the services offered at the clinic, particularly for women. The proportion of female patients in 2023 was more than twice as high as that of male patients, which is mainly due to care for pregnant women, women giving birth and maternity counselling. Four children were born at the clinic on the first day of the session! More in English here.

• On Good Friday 2024, the children of the Christian David School (near Barkava in Latvia) embarked on a Way of the Cross that they had previously chosen and created themselves in the nature surrounding the school. Two pictures here.
• The Spring Gardens Moravian Church in St John's on Antigua (Unity Province of the West Indies East) had designed its church as a Golgotha execution site for Good Friday 2024. See here.
• A longer video of Easter morning 2024 at sunrise - led by the brass choir - in the Moravian Church Genadendal (South Africa) here. The cemetery is located above the village. Shortly before, on Good Friday, the wind choir from the Lutheran congregation of Dettingen (near Reutlingen in Baden-Württemberg) visited Genadendal and played music there. See here.
• At the Easter service in Lutete, the General Secretary of the Southern Province of the Moravian Church in Tanzania, Stephen Mwaipopo, called on the members of the congregation to complain less and not to complain all the time, but to pray more for those in power in the country and in the world. See here.

The Jan Hus Choir of the Moravian Church in Kyela, Tanzania (Southern Province), a city with 50,000 inhabitants on the northern shore of the great Lake Malawi, is rehearsing diligently in Holy Week 2024 for the many services on Good Friday and the Easter holidays. See here. A congregational seminar, which took place on the afternoon of Palm Sunday, served to prepare for this highlight of the church year. The Tabata Moravian Church, one of more than 25 Moravian churches in Dar es Salaam, a city of six million people, has a completely different approach to the public. This congregation regularly streams its two to three-hour services for a larger audience all over the world. The divine service on 24 March 2024 with many speakers and contributors here. The service shows that the Moravian Church in Tanzania is a very colourful and modern, charismatic and non-traditional Moravian church in many places, especially in the cities.

The Moravian Churchs Mlimani Bible College n Sumbawanga (Tanzania, Rukwa Province) offers interested people the opportunity to complete a two-year training programme to become an evangelist. One of the graduates, Jonny Kisuke, comes from the Kipili region on Lake Tanganyika. He began with pioneering missionary work in his village. Every week he organised a meeting on the lakeshore where the Bible was read. But he wanted to continue his education at Mlimani Bible College. However, the school with residential facilities is 150 kilometres away from his home. The bus journey takes more than three hours, so he will not see his family often during the two years of training. The church cannot cover the travel costs, but fortunately the college has a vegetable garden with a section for each graduate. Jonny Kisuke grows a few vegetables there and sells them at the market so that he has the money he needs for his private expenses and for his occasional journeys home. See here.

"The missionary work continues." This was the headline of a recent news item from the Moravian Church in Burundi. In Burundi, the Moravian Church - which emerged through migration - is still small. However, thanks to its strong evangelistic activities, it is constantly managing to establish new congregations, including in areas that are far away from the capital Bujumbura, such as the village of Cibitoke and the town of Makombe. The town of Mugina even acquired its own church. Pastor Manacé Irutingabo from the leadership of the Moravian Church in Burundi said: "In this church, you will continue to grow together as a congregation by the grace of God, and you will succeed in spreading the good news of Jesus Christ." The work on the ground is carried out almost exclusively by volunteer evangelists and male and female elders who have been trained for pastoral work. Five pictures here.

In the D. R. Congo, where the Moravian Church has more than 21,000 members, there is a Moravian orphanage in Uvira in the province of South Kivu. Of the approximately 1,000 orphans in the region, 50 children between the ages of 5 and 18 live in the home, which was founded in 2015, in five family-like houses. Two of these children are featured in the magazine of the Zeister Missionsgesellschaft (ZZg Nieuws, 1-2024), the sister organisation of Herrnhuter Missionshilfe: Mona (left) attends 3rd grade. She has had a movement disorder when walking since birth. She says: "In Baraka, where I used to live and which is 90 kilometres from Uvira, I heard about 'Knudsen's House'. It has been my home for eight years now. I receive psychosocial, material and physical help here. I dream of training as a seamstress". Steven (right) says: "After my parents died, the head of the Moravian Church Mboko brought me here. They look after me here. And I get an education here. I like doing sports, I'm in 6th grade and would like to become a blacksmith later."

On 22 and 23 May 2024, the Moravian Church in Labrador, which operates as a mission province of the worldwide Moravian Church, will hold its next synod. A training programme in 2022 resulted in six new lay pastors now working in the remaining four congregations of Happy Valley, Makkovik, Hopedale and Nain. The province, whose beginnings date back to 1772, is led by Sarah Jensen in the southernmost congregation of Happy Valley. Intercession - see here – is prayed in particular a) for the youth aged 13 to 30, where suicides are common; b) for the lay preachers and congregational elders to become strong leaders; c) for the couple McKinley and Darlene Winters to successfully complete their theological master's degree and then be ordained; d) for spiritual life in the congregations and for congregational growth; e) for the unity of the province and the worldwide Moravian Church; f) for the delegates to the upcoming Synod in May 2024.

The work of the medical mission in Suriname (Medische Zending - Primary Health Care Suriname) is focussed on the vast inland area, which is mostly covered by tropical rainforest. Because there are only a few roads from the narrow coastal strip to the interior and because there are also no landing strips for small aeroplanes in some places in the interior, people and goods are still mostly transported via the large and small rivers. It was therefore a joyous occasion on 25 March 2024 when the management team of the medical mission in the state capital Paramarobo was presented with a large metal boat powered by a powerful engine. This boat was donated by the two aid organisations UNICEF and USaid. The press and a TV crew reported on the handover of the boat in a festive ceremony attended by many celebrities. See here (Boat unveiling from minute 32:35). The new boat will mainly be used in the West Suriname region.

The Medical Mission in Suriname (Medische Zending - MZ) in Suriname, which is primarily active in the large, structurally weak inland region and in which the Moravian Church plays a key role, wrote a letter to the government of Suriname on 18 March 2024. In it, she expresses her great dismay that the state has not paid its debts to MZ as a result of the economic emergency in the country, meaning that medical aid flights inland to provide medical care to the population can no longer take place. The air transport companies in the country - mainly Mission Aviation Fellowship - have been owed a total of USD 70,000 for medical aid flights since 2023, which has caused them liquidity problems. MZ told the press that the state had only partially met its financial obligations in the third quarter of 2023, and that the state had not transferred any maintenance costs at all in the fourth quarter. To the press release in Star Nieuws here.

From 21 to 23 March 2024, an environmental fair, the Green Awarenes Expo, was held at the Ressort Torarica n Paramaribo, Suriname, with the support of the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) and was free to attend. The aim of the fair was to raise public awareness of sustainable business management and give environmentally friendly initiatives a platform for public perception. The Foundation for the Promotion of Childhood Reading in Suriname (Nationale Stichting Kinderboekenfestival), in which the Moravian Church plays a major role, also took part in this fair and encouraged school classes to visit the fair. Pictures here and here and here. The Reading Foundation's activities centred around the ecological children's book Tears of Mother Earth by Sylvana Resida and Liesbeth Peroti. The book was integrated into an interactive video presentation, after which the participants were able to carry out a creative task themselves. The popular Surinamese children's book author Berry Wezenberg was also present in the exhibition centre on two days of the fair and was adored by the children.

The Cuba Foundation of the Moravian Church in North America (Armando Rusindo Mission Foundation - ARMF) announced on Facebook on 24 March 2024: "Dear members! Dear friends! On Friday/Sunday, 22/23 March 2024, Havana and large parts of the country were hit by a long, severe, completely unexpected hailstorm with subsequent flooding, leaving a trail of devastation and causing power outages for hundreds of thousands of people. The damage is immense and our hearts ache for all those who suffered material damage. The images transmitted from Cuba speak volumes about the scale of this disaster. Twelve pictures here. We are gathering more information for you on the current situation and we are waiting for concrete indications on how ARMF can offer its support. In the meantime, let us pray for the people in the city of Havana and in rural areas." A three-minute video here. More detailed metereological data here.

The Calvary Moravian Church in Bridgetown on Barbados (Unity Province of the West Indies East) welcomed the leadership team from the Insurance Institute of Barbados during the service on 18 February 2024. Some pictures here. On 10 March 2024, Dr Adrian Smith, Senior Pastor of the Calvary Moravian Church in Bridgetown, blessed the members of the new Board of Elders and the new Board of Stewards for their future service in a church service. Delroy Burley, the assistant pastor, addressed a word of greeting to the elected and consecrated members. Some pictures here. The focus of the service at Mount Tabor Moravian Church in St. John on Barbados on 17 March 2024 was on the children, who otherwise gather separately for Sunday school. They presented themselves and their knowledge as well as their singing and recitation skills. Many pictures here and here and here.

The Board of World Mission (BWM) of the Moravian Church in North America recently proclaimed the third Thursday in March as aday of prayer for the Moravian Church in Brazil  The Iglesia Morava has penetrated northern Brazil through the activities of brothers and sisters in Suriname. In 2020, Br Mauricio Melo approached the BWM with the question of what needed to be done so that an independent Moravian Church could be established in Brazil. He and his wife Jucineide then took part in the Spanish-speaking Moravian Resources Conference 2022 in Panama. Since then, the couple have joined other Moravians in Central and South America in a weekly Bible course that takes place online and is led by Will Cuthbert from the Moravian Church in Costa Rica. In 2023, the Unity Synod in Cape Town authorised the establishment of the Moravian Church in Brazil as a Prospective Mission Area. There are currently around 50 members of the Moravian Church in Brazil. Under the link above you can also find specific prayer requests in English.

17 March 2024 was a day of celebration for the Moravian Church in the UK. They and the Church of Ireland signed the Armagh Agreement, which enables the exchange of clergy. Archbishop John McDowell of the Church of Ireland said: "What belongs together is now together." Clergy from the British Unity Province and across Ireland met at St Patrick's Church in Ballymena before taking communion together at Gracehill Moravian Church, celebrated by Moravian Church Bishops Sarah Groves and Joachim Kreusel. Roberta Hoey from the leadership of the Unity Province had the opportunity to say a word of welcome. She said: "For us Moravians, ecumenism is not an abstract concept; it is a lived reality - a commandment of Jesus that calls us to seek cooperation, for example in the leadership of parishes or congregations and in theological education. We are facing up to the challenges that now lie ahead of us." Six pictures here.

Back in 2021, a lengthy essay by Dr Josef Köstlbauer from the Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies at the University of Bonn was published in English in an anthology, which deals with the actions of Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf and his wife Erdmuth Dorothea as slave buyers and slave owners. As the essay has received little attention in Germany to date, it has now been reviewed by Andreas Tasche and its two most important sections (two case studies) have been translated into German. The essay is entitled: 'I Have No Shortage of Moors! Mission, Representation, and the Elusive Semantics of Slavery in Eighteenth-Century Moravian Sources. It is striking how ruthlessly the count and countess behaved towards their personal slaves and how they asserted their property rights with all vigour when they "escaped" - right up to the King of Denmark! - asserted. It makes us wonder why the presence of enslaved people was apparently taken for granted in the Moravian Congregations Herrnhaag, Herrndeijk, Zeist and Barby. To the review here.

Like all museums around the world, the Mission Museum of the Moravian Church in Genadendal, South Africa, is always trying to reach a new and, above all, young audience with very special offers. Because the Mission Museum has the appropriate technology and personnel expertise, it is offering a comprehensive bookbinding workshop from 24 to 26 April 2024. On Facebook it says: "Under the guidance of master bookbinder George Wentzel, you will learn the basics of thread sewing, leather binding and much more in Genadendal. You will also gain valuable insights into the care and conservation of old books. Our museum has a rich history of practising this traditional craft. Send an e-mail to genadendalmuseum@gmail.com, o secure one of the places. Places will be booked up quickly."

It has only now become known that on 15 February 2024, the Moravian Church in South Africa withdrew its application to the state authorities dated 29 May 2023 for the multiple division of a large plot of land in Wupperthal/Cederberg, known as Farm 168/ Clanwilliam. The users of this large piece of land, mostly Khoi Khoi and Khoi San Rooibos farmers, had taken legal action against the intention to subdivide. They argued that they had owned the large plot of land jointly before the German missionaries arrived in the country in the 19th century and appropriated the land. The local farmers therefore did not want to take over their land as individual property, but as an indigenous community. The press was informed by Barend Salomo, Rooibos tea farmer and chairman of the Wupperthal Community Support Group. See the long article hier.

On 21 March 2024, the Latvian radio station Latvijas radio broadcast a detailed interview with Beata Paškevica, Riga, who published a book on the German-born Lutheran pastor Friedrich Bernhard Blaufuß (1697-1756) for the Latvian National Library in February 2024. This courageous man worked in several parishes in old Livonia and then in St James's Church in Riga, was strongly influenced by the Moravians and significantly promoted their expansion in old Livonia in the 18th century. To the interview here. About the book here.At the centre of the book is the detailed, handwritten biography of Friedrich Bernhard Blaufuß, written in Riga in 1772, which has now been translated into Latvian for the first time and extensively annotated. In Latvia, Friedrich Bernhard Blaufuß is best known as the editor of Vidzemes stāsti History of Livonia), which was published in 1753.