Another workshop to raise awareness of environmental and nature conservation and sustainability issues took place from 31 August to 2 September 2024, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Star Mountain Rehabilitation Center SMRC near Ramallah in Palestine (West Bank). The workshop was again part of the specially funded Youth Positive Participation Project. A total of 35 pictures of the work with the children and young people can be found here, with the children's relatives here and with the staff of Star Mountain here. in several short reports on Facebook, the participants said that they had gained new experiences during the three-day workshop that they would not have wanted to have missed, that the interaction of everyone involved in the workshop had strengthened their sense of community, and that the learning content had sometimes brought a smile to the faces of those involved. They were amazed that simple measures could have such a great effect.

How many members does the Moravian Church actually have worldwide? And how are they distributed across the different provinces and mission areas? Since the worldwide Moravian Church does not have its own administration that registers its members, it is always dependent on the data in the provinces' reports. Herrnhuter Missionshilfe has compiled the current figures. The PDF with the current figures on congregations and members is here. Not all areas always provide up-to-date figures. That is why the last available figures were sometimes used. Furthermore, some provinces count differently (what is a congregation? Who is a member?). But overall, it does provide a good overview. According to the report, there are currently 3,112 congregations and 1,295,234 members.

Mission 21, the partner organisation of Herrnhuter Missionshilfe in Switzerland, repeatedly cooperates with two provinces of the Moravian Church in Tanzania (Southern Province and South-Western Province) on various projects. Johannes Klemm, a pastor of the Moravian Church and team leader for Africa and programme manager for Tanzania at Mission 21, has now sent some pictures of a project by the Moravian Church in Tanzania that is dedicated to climate protection and empowering women. The first pictures were taken during the rainy season in January. The last five pictures were taken during the dry season at the end of May. See here (please scroll down to the Mission 21 section). A description of the project Protecting the climate, empowering women: Sustainable Agriculture in Tanzania, which is located in the Mbarali district of Tanzania, where 83 percent of people live from agriculture and suffer from climate change, can be found here.

Onward, the mission magazine of the South Province of the Moravian Church in North America, reports in its September/October 2024 issue that 40 simple drinking water purification systems, which had previously proven successful in the Moravian Church in Honduras, arrived in a congregation in Kenya at the end of July. This was made possible with the support of Mizpah Moravian Church in Rural Hall/NC and Pastor Cynthia Campbell. The distribution of the bucket filter systems was preceded by a briefing under a tree in the Maasai village of Kabil (Kajiado County) by Cecilia and Michael Tesh, who have been living and working in Kenya for many years, on the medical benefits and proper use of the systems. Cecilia explained how to attach the small filter set to the bucket, how to clean it occasionally and how to store it properly to keep it functional for many years. More here.

On 15 September 2014, the Moravian Church in North America celebrated its annual Moravian Day of Service. Hundreds of people were involved in church-related charitable or missionary activities. At the Home Moravian Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 40 members of the congregation and friends of the Estamos Unidos immigrant support service came together to package a total of 1,250 pounds of rice and beans. The food is to be distributed to 600 families in need. After the work was completed, several families went to downtown Winston Salem for the Hispanic Fiesta, which was also a wonderful event. Rev. Angelica Regalado-Cieza, the director of Estamos Unidos, said, ‘We can accomplish so much when we work together!’ See here. In Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 120 people from six Moravian Churches assembled a total of 600 simple water filter systems for use in Honduras and elsewhere. See here.

Fourteen years ago, the Moravian Church in Albania built a campsite with a large functional building on the southern shore of Lake Ohrid, the second largest lake in the Balkans, with the support of the Moravian Church's mission organisation in Denmark BDM. The campsite is usually rented out, but every year in August the Moravian Church in Albania uses the site itself for a large summer camp. Haxhi Murati, one of the oldest and most important volunteer staff from Bathore (near Tirana), said of this year's camp: "God be praised, it was a blessing for everyone involved!" A group photo in the main room of the functional building here. The theme of the camp was the question: "How does God call me?" In the centre of Pogradec, the Moravian Church also owns a church centre and a kindergarten, which have been regularly supported by Herrnhuter Missionshilfe since their foundation.

So far, the governing bodies of the various Unity and Mission provinces have nominated 30 delegates for the 5th Unity Women's Consultation from 1 to 8 June 2025 at Laurel Ridge Camp (thematic work) and in Winston-Salem/NC (various congregations visits). About ten nominations are still pending. The preparatory committee is working hard. It has already set the theme of the consultation: ‘’With Hearts and Hands and Voices: Advocating for Girls and Women in and through the Moravian Church‘’. The fight against violence against girls and women will be at the centre of the exchange. A special website for the consultation is continuously updated. See here. Starting in September 2024, a few more volunteers will join the detailed planning of the consultation. Lettice Joemath (South Africa) and Muriël Held (Suriname) have created a prayer guide for the consultation, divided by month: August 2024 - Prayer Guide Africa and Europehere.

The World Council of Churches WCC in Geneva presented Gabriela Vela from the Moravian Church in Peru in its English-language monthly information for May 2024. See here. The article was entitled: "In Peru, the focus is on defending women's rights". Gabriela Vela said: "I became aware of the training in Switzerland through the Moravian Church's Unity Women's Desk UWD, for which I volunteer". Gabriela Vela really liked the training, which brought together 30 participants from all over the world. "We had the opportunity to study the mechanisms of the United Nations and the programme for the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women," she said. “But what inspired me the most were the other participants. I am now giving online workshops on sexual prevention for young people and adults at the Moravian Church in Latin America.” Gabriela Vela, who has medial skills, also belongs to the so-called Women's Parliament in Peru, an initiative of the South American country's congress.

A total of 87 delegates from all ten districts of the Moravian Church in South Africa gathered from 8 to 11 August 2024 for the 8th National Congress of the Moravian Women's Association of South Africa (MWASA). The theme of the conference was: ‘’Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the days to come‘’ (Proverbs 31:25). The delegates focused on issues of gender-based violence and health. They celebrated the work of their NGO with a six-square-metre cake that showed all the districts of their church, as well as with a gala dinner. The sisters also elected a new seven-member board and participated in the founding of a non-profit alliance (‘R.E.A.L-ANTI-GBV: Resource Education Awareness for Life’). The alliance aims to help eliminate all forms of gender-based violence from South African communities and congregations.

On 2 September 2024, the Facebook pages of the Moravian Church's worldwide youth ministry said: "If you are interested in news about the Moravian Church's worldwide youth ministry, you are welcome to subscribe to our newsletter. This newsletter is especially for all youth leaders and youth coordinators in the worldwide Moravian Church, but also for anyone else who wants to know what is happening in our youth work around the world and who wants to be kept up to date on all online events organised by the Unity Youth Committee. You can subscribe to our free newsletter using the online form here." The Unity Youth Desk urrently consists of Jørgen Bøytler (DK, Unity Board Administrator), Chrislyn Edson (SA, Africa region), Damaris Enkelmann (D, European region), Sylvie Hauser (USA, American region) and Jiřina Čančíková-Kaletová (CZ, Unity Youth Desk Coordinator).

The leadership of the British Province has appointed the young theologian Kiran Young Wimberly as the new part-time pastor for the Irish district of the Moravian Church. The Moravian Congregation at Gracehill, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2024 together with Herrnhut and Bethehem/PA, also belongs to this district. The Moravian Messenger of August 2024 (see here) introduces the multicultural theologian. Kiran Young Wimberly is American by birth, but has been living in Northern Ireland for 14 years. The daughter of a Presbyterian missionary and teacher couple, she initially grew up in Japan (Tokyo) and India and became acquainted with various Christian denominations. She later lived in Princeton, New Jersey, where she also studied. She completed part of her theological studies in Jerusalem. She is married to her American Presbyterian husband Alex, with whom she has three children: Eva, Amos and Phoebe.

Because there had been repeated confusion regarding its missionary agency, the British Province felt compelled to address the question in the August 2024 Moravian Messenger: What is the British Mission Board? See here (page 97). Unlike the other Moravian mission organisations in Europe, the British Mission Board is not an independent organisation with its own board, nor is it a provincial committee that has emerged from synodical elections. Rather, it is an agency of the province, which is predominantly staffed by members of the church leadership. If necessary, the church leadership co-opts individual persons with special skills, experience and interests for a certain period of time into the board by resolution. The British Mission Board has a special partnership with the Moravian Church in Tanzania (Western Province) and in South Asia (India, Nepal, Myanmar).

Chris Giesler, a bishop of the Moravian Church from the North American North Province, has reached retirement age. To mark the occasion, a benefit Singstunde will be held at Emmaus Moravian Church in Emmaus, PA, starting at 6 p.m. on October 5, 2024. At this gathering, the bishop and members of his family and friends will perform a musical program. The invitation reads: “Come sing, listen to God's word, pray, and contribute to a project that supports the Moravian Church in Labrador. The money raised will be used to buy books and daily watchwords for our brothers and sisters there.” See here. The watchwords for Labrador, Newfoundland, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut (all in Canada) are available in the indigenous language Inuktitut. This language is currently spoken by about 34,000 people. Since 2012, there has been a language institute in Iqaluit/Baffin Island.

• The Kindergarten & Shristi Academy of the Moravian Church in Kathmandu-Baneshwor, Nepal, had invited a special guest for September 9, 2024: Dr.Smriti Mathema. The pediatrician and vaccinologist (vaccination expert) is committed to global child health and leads training and teaching sessions in this regard. Pictures of her work with the academy children in grades 4, 5 and 6 can be found here.
• Several children from the academy took part in the 13th Sushil Kedia Vishwa Bharati Memorial Inter School Table Tennis Competition (U12), which took place in Kathmandu from August 27 to 29, The boys' team from the academy came in third after the competitions. Pictures of the award ceremony here. he boy Arnab even came in first in his age group. A picture here.
• On August 10, 2020, the children of grades 8 and 9 visited a local mushroom farm and explored the fascinating world of mushrooms. Pictures here.

Once again, the Unity Province of South Africa has been affected by a fire that has had serious consequences. There was a fire in the church in the former mission station of Wittewater at the beginning of September 2024. All of the congregation's brass instruments, which were stored in the church, were also destroyed. The members of the brass ensemble are horrified. The cause of the fire is not yet known. Wittewater was founded in 1857 by Moravian missionaries on undeveloped land in the municipality of Bergrivier in the South African province of Western Cape on Piketberg. The name of the place is derived from a nearby foaming waterfall. Today, the Moravian Congregation of Wittewater has almost 1,000 members. The Wittewater settlement is part of the National Heritage of the Republic of South Africa. See the information in the list Moravian Heritage in the Western Capehere.

The Day of Traditional African Medicine on August 31, 2024, launched by the African region of the World Health Organization in 2000, once again paid tribute to the important role of traditional medicine in the health and well-being of many generations on the Black Continent. A statement by Minata Samate Cessouma, the African Union Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development, can be found here. The Moravian Church in South Africa said: “Between ancient rituals and modern remedies, traditional African medicine is a treasure trove of knowledge. Celebrate this rich heritage with us today!” A poster from the Western Cape region of South Africa for Traditional African Medicine Day 2024 can be found here. In the hospitals of the Moravian Church in Isoko, Sikonge and Mbozi (Tanzania), traditional medical knowledge has been incorporated into the treatment of patients for some time.

The Caribbean state of Antigua and Barbuda, which consists of 48 larger and smaller islands, had proclaimed Thursday, September 12, 2024, as a national day of prayer: a National Convention with God fort he Success of our Land. See here. At 1:30 p.m., there was a march against violence and crime in the city of St. John's, from the Multipurpose Cultural and Exhibition Center zum Antigua Recreation Ground. See here. From 4 to 6 p.m., an intercessory and worship service took place. At the same time, Spring Gardens Moravian Church in St. John's called for children to be registered to attend the congregation's own kindergarten and preschool for the 2024/2025 school year. The institution was founded 30 years ago. The institution is committed to providing a good education and upbringing based on the motto: “We are shaping our children to build the kingdom of God.”

IIn August 2024, Juta Strazdiņa from the Christian David School in Barkava, Madona District, Latvia (founded in 1991), wrote a new newsletter. See here. After the school's founder had told of many highlights for the children during the summer holidays (the theatre performance of The Little Prince; organizing their own leisure activities; attending external leisure activities; hosting guests; working in agriculture, forestry and farming; renovating the prayer room, the ecumenical chapel in Madona and the Norwegian house next to the school), she mentioned the major challenges that lie ahead. These are not least related to the new Latvian school law, which is currently being heavily criticized in the media and has led to the closure of almost 100 small schools and to the formation of very large classes in central schools, as well as to truancy. Religion is now only allowed as a compulsory subject in the first and second grades. From the third grade onwards, religion can be opted out of (elective subject). Due to state regulations, the Christian David School, because of its small size, must now cooperate with another school that is far away.

The Moravian Church in Latvia has invited people to a further Moravian Church Day on September 22, 2024. This will take place in the Baptist Church in Sārnate and will begin at 11 a.m. with a service in which Gundars Ceipe, pastor of the Moravian Church in Latvia, will preach. In the dunes near Sārnate stands a large, sail-shaped monument commemorating the many Latvians who fled across the Baltic Sea to Gotland and mainland Sweden in small fishing boats in 1944/45 to escape the Soviet terror. See here. In the afternoon, Gundars Ceipe and Pēteris Stumburs from the National Memorial Airītes will give a presentation, followed by the theater performance Living to Tell – The Story of Lidija Lasmanes-Doron ina, a Latvian dissident born in 1925 who spent 14 years in Soviet gulags because of her love for her people and subsequently found her purpose in life in telling her experiences to future generations. Andi Zariņu, the deputy district governor of Ventspils, and Ēriks Ēriksons, a medical expert, will be present at the event. The latter will also be filming the activities.