The Star Mountain Rehabilitation Center SMRC near Ramallah (Palestine, West Bank) is offering a free, intensive training workshop entitled Preparing for the Job Market. On Facebook on January 13, 2025, it says: “The aim of the workshop is to equip participants with the basic skills needed to enter the job market with confidence. We are targeting the 18 to 24 age group. We cover the costs of travel to and from the course by public transport. You will be in a welcoming environment. For inquiries and to register, please contact the responsible project coordinator Arej Hajj (phone 0599296117).” The offer is part of the program to empower young people in the area to become independent and take on social responsibility.

• On January 2, 2025, Luise Plock passed away in Stuttgart after a serious illness at the age of 85. She served for many years in the Southern Province of the Moravian Church in Tanzania. She was also a women's officer at the Evangelical Mission in Solidarity (EMS) in Stuttgart and a committed member of the board of Herrnhuter Missionshilfe.
• On January 1, 2025, Arie van der Deijl passed away in Zwolle in the Netherlands at the age of 93. He had worked in the Moravian Church's Hindustani mission in Suriname since 1962. After returning home, he was a missionary preacher for the diaspora communities of the Moravian Church in the Netherlands, among other things.
• Samuel Preiswerk-Tschopp passed away in Riehen, Switzerland, on September 23, 2024, at the age of 93. He worked for many years in Tanzania, where he was entrusted with the administration of the Moravian Church's schools from 1957 and was active in various places. One of the projects close to his heart was the establishment of the Moravian Church's theological seminary in Chunya, which later developed into the theological faculty of the Moravian Church's Teofilo Kisanja University in Mbeya.

A chance meeting during the Unity Synod 2023 in Cape Town led in 2024 to a new direct partnership between the Friedberg Moravian Church in Winston Salem/NC and the Moravian Church of Zambia, facilitated by the Board of World Mission BWM of the Moravian Church in North America. This is reported in ONWARD (January 2025), the magazine of the small mission society of the Southern Province of the Moravian Church in North America. See the complete report in German translation here. Two church building projects of the Moravian Church in Zambia have already been successfully supported as part of the new partnership (Gethsemane Moravian Church and Kasesha Moravian Church); another such project is in the implementation phase (Mount Olive Moravian Church). An official, written partnership agreement is due to be concluded in spring 2025. The Moravian Church of Zambia has around 10,000 members.

The Board of World Mission BWM of the Moravian Church in North America shared on Facebook on January 9, 2024: “Over the past two years, BWM has provided funds to the Moravian Church's Comenius Polytechnic Institute (CPI) in Tanzania to build four new classrooms. Now, several members of our organization had the opportunity to meet via ZOOM with Ezekiel Kassanga, Chairman of the CPI's Board of Directors, to get an update. As can be seen in the photo (here) the classrooms are now in use. The construction work is almost complete, only the finishing touches are still missing. Based in Tabora, Western Province, the CPI plays a central role in training church leaders, especially pastors of the Moravian Church for the region (graduating with certificates and diplomas). This enables the Moravian Church to respond to the challenges ahead.” More here.

Svend Løbner from the mission organization of the Moravian Church in Denmark BDM writes on 10 January 2025 about three of 25 graduates (including four women) of the Moravian Church's Lusangi Bible College in Sikonge, Tanzania (Western Province), founded in 1959: “I want to use my knowledge about leading people and about the integrity of creation. I will do this both for the church and for society,” says Lea George. “I dream of being a good leader throughout my life. I want to transfer the knowledge I have gained to my congregation,” says Mikaeli Andrea. And Eliasi Kayege adds: “When I get home, I share what I learned at the Bible school with my friends in the village. I want to pass on knowledge about health and make sure that all the children go to school”. The full article with more information about the three people mentioned, about the college and about the training in Danish here.

In the parish newsletter for January/February 2025, the Moravian Congregation Rhein-Main draws attention to this year's Karibu, Ibungu campaign for 2026 and the international bibliodrama workshop in 2025. In the first three weeks of August 2025, the Moravian Church Rhine-Main is expecting four guests from Tanzania. The aim is to cultivate fellowship with these guests in a variety of ways under the theme of Living in Hope. The costs associated with the arrival and departure of the four guests and the accompanying program amount to a total of around 10,000 euros. The guest program also includes a meeting with other brothers and sisters from South Africa and the Czech Republic at Herrnhaag (near Büdingen) from 3 to 10 August 2025. The meeting is a bibliodrama workshop. If you can, please donate 10 euros every month until summer 2025 to finance the guest program. The bank details of the Moravian Church Rhine-Main are shown in the picture or can be found on the website.

The city mission in the center of Paramaribo forms the heart of the mission work of the Moravian Church in Suriname. It was founded on November 1, 1869 and has thus been in existence for more than 155 years. From the city mission (initially a small tailoring workshop of the mission), the planned proclamation of the gospel in word and deed by hundreds of Moravian missionaries began in the city of Paramaribo, but also on the plantations in the coastal strip and in the vast tropical interior. The city mission, still the most important project of the Unity Province of Suriname, which has been independent since 1975, would like to renovate its guest house area and meeting rooms. These parts of the facility are in a poor state and urgently require extensive structural measures. The mission organization of the Moravian Church in the Netherlands ZZg would like to contribute 33,000 euros to the upcoming work. See here.

The Moravian Church's Leliëndaal children's home in Commewijne relies on a minibus for shopping, visits to the doctor and social activities. The eight-passenger van currently in use (built in 2007) can hardly be repaired and is no longer safe. The mission society of the Moravian Church in the Netherlands ZZg is contributing 20,000 euros towards the purchase of a new one. 31 of the 42 bed mattresses in the Moravian Church's Saron children's home in Paramaribo urgently need to be replaced. The facility does not see any possibility of paying the 3,500 euros for the purchase itself. The above-mentioned organization is helping. The Diaconia of the Moravian Church in Suriname would like to ensure that the Rebecca Scheltz boarding school for girls in Paramaribo and the Sukh Dhaam children's homes in Alkmaar and Leliëndaal in Commewijne, among others, have a wonderful Christmas. The above-mentioned organization's 2024 Christmas fundraising campaign will finance a festive meal and a Christmas present for everyone. More in the ZZg Nieuwshere.

In the Suriname Herald newspaper and other publications, Maureen van Dijk-Wijngaarde, Deputy Director of the Medical Mission in Suriname, pointed out: “We are pleased with the application submitted in Geneva on November 18, 2024 by our Minister of Health to certify Suriname as a malaria-free country, but we are facing many problems. Our organization is in great need and this circumstance jeopardizes the achievement of malaria elimination certification.” The plight of the Medical Mission has to do with the fact that the Surinamese state has been paying the agreed subsidies for the organization's operating costs late, reduced or not at all for some time now. “As a result, we are unable to carry out our work in the 58 villages where we have outpatient clinics as required. This makes us unhappy and sad,” says Maureen van Dijk-Wijngaarde. She appealed to the Minister of Health: “Provide the necessary resources for 2024, which have not yet been made available, immediately!” The full newspaper report here.

The indigenous Trio people traditionally live in isolated communities in the tropical rainforest on the border between Suriname and Brazil. It was not until the 1960s that the people came into contact with the Gospel and the Bible was translated into the Trio language. Now there are also children's Bibles in Trio; not only for children, but also for adults who never went to school. Surinamese Trio Christians are now even undertaking mission trips to remote Amazonian regions of Brazil. They want to share their faith with their fellow tribesmen. To do this, they often travel for months by canoe along rivers and narrow paths through the jungle. Due to the demand for children's Bibles in Trio in particular, the mission organization of the Moravian Church in the Netherlands ZZg is supporting the printing and transport of 400 children's Bibles to the border region between Suriname and Brazil with 3,700 euros.

The Board of World Mission of the Moravian Church in North America reported on Facebook on December 20, 2024: “One of the youngest Moravian Congregations in the world is located in the city of Salvador in eastern Brazil. The congregation, which has only been inviting people to worship together since 2023, is already actively involved in mission work in the region. The congregation has begun helping a neighboring addiction treatment center by donating take-out food to the people who show up there, serving lunch and offering worship services at the center. A photo shows members of the Moravian Church Salvador at a gathering outside the addiction treatment center.” See here. The Moravian Church in Brazil has been a Prospective Mission Area of the worldwide Unity since the 2023 Unity Synod in Cape Town. Its foundation dates back to the activities of Mauricio and Jucineide Melo in 2020.

A new bakery has opened in Mosquitia, a flat, poor region in the south-east of Honduras with tropical rainforest and marshland that is almost only accessible by river and plane. Following a founding grant from the Board of World Mission BWM, the project has been running successfully for a year now. The project started because there was a lack of locally produced baked goods (bread, tortillas, baleadas and coconut cake) in the region. These products are part of the daily needs of local families and were previously only available in packaged and processed form. Now indigenous Miskito women, who already have the necessary experience, run the bakery and thus contribute to the family income. Part of the profits also benefit the Moravian Church in Honduras. A photo (see here) shows Angelica Regalado Cieza from the Board of World Mission during a visit to the bakery.

Susanna Franzina Apolles is probably the oldest member of the Moravian Church in South Africa. She was born on August 27, 1924 - between the world wars and during escalating tensions in the apartheid era - in the Moravian mission station Mamre, founded in 1808, formerly Groene Kloof. She, a colored woman, is the mother of nine children (2 x twins), 27 grandchildren and 51 great-grandchildren, and she is a member of the Moravian Ccongregation Lansdowne. The second youngest of six siblings, she grew up in a family that emphasized education and hard work for the common good. As teacher, she was one of the first women in South Africa to be elected to the Board of Elders of the Lansdowne Moravian Congregation and was also the chairperson of the local women's association. Her advice on the occasion of her 100th birthday in the summer of 2024 was: “Love the Lord with all your heart and trust in him, letting him guide you in all your ways.” More here.

In a 40-minute video presentation with more than 120 new photos, local pastors Shanti and Vani Pradhan explain the structure and way of life of the Moravian Church in Nepal. In addition to getting to know the three congregations (Kathmandu-Baneswor, Kathmandu-Khokona and Chyasikot) and the International Kindergarten & Shristi Academy in Kathmandu, which is still under construction, the presentation provides a few insights into the 40 to 50 House Fellowships of the Moravian Church in Kathmandu and in the countryside. These fellowships independently organize Bible study and further Christian instruction. Mayel Tamang, the head of the student council at Shristi Academy, and Bibisha Pandey, a girl from the kindergarten, have their say. Finally, the lay missionaries of the Moravian Church in Nepal and their activities are briefly introduced. The entire presentation here. The producers of the presentation apologize for the occasional sound problems.

• In a five-minute animated film (animated children's drawings with watercolors), eleven-year-old Yup'ik Gus Erikson from Gladys Jung Elementary School in Bethel (formerly: Kilbuck School after a Moravian missionary from the Lenape/Delaware people) vividly tells of life in southern Alaska, the tundra landscape, the flora and fauna, fishing and hunting as well as the special challenges in the country. He also talks about climate change and explains terms such as permafrost. Watch the movie here.
• Mamterillermiut Moravian Church in Bethel, Alaska, is planning two congregation retreats for the second time, February 7-9, 2025, with the theme: God's Promises. Biblical theme: Revelation 21:4 The speakers are: Frank Matthew and Adam Kashatok. Mamterillermiut is the pre-Christian name of Brethel and means Smokhouse People = smokehouse people after a nearby old fish smokehouse.

On the initiative of Labrador historian Hans Rollmann, several church records of the Moravian Church in Labrador have now been transcribed and digitized in their original German form and English translation for better access by researchers: Hopedale (from 1782), Zoar (1864-1895), Ramah (1871-1908), Killinek (1904-1924) and Hebron (from 1830). The church records from Nain, Okak and Makkovik are soon to be transcribed and digitized. The extensive project is being supported by Memorial University in St. John's (Newfoundland), the government of the autonomous Inuit region of Nunatsiavut and the Social Sciences and Humatities Research Council of Canada. The church records can be used to study the geographic origins and local movements of formerly marginalized Inuit families and the original Inuit names. More here.

With the end of the New Year vacations, Bethlehem Moravian College in Malvern, St. Elizabeth, Jamaica is already looking ahead to the new academic year. It is promoting enrolment at the renowned institution with the following words: “Your future starts here! Bethlehem Moravian College opens all doors to success for the 2025/2026 academic year. With degree programs in Criminal Justice, Business Administration, Hospitality and Tourism Management, and Education (early childhood, elementary and secondary school subjects), we will help you gain skills and build your career. We advertise affordable tuition fees, experienced teaching staff and a vibrant life on our college campuses. Apply now or contact us for further clarifications!” More here. BMC was established in 1861 as the first teacher training college on the entire island of Jamaica.

Anyone interested in the history of the Moravian mission in Jamaica can now easily get an overview on the Internet. The websites Jamaican Family Search - Research Libary - Moravian Missions in Jamaica contain not only longer excerpts from the book by the missionary Johann Heinrich Buchner from 1854 The Moravians in Jamaica, a fact-filled historical account, but also three lists of the predominantly black members of the congregation Lititz, St. Elizabeth, Jamaica (baptismal name and former slave name plus country of origin). See here. In addition, Johann Heinrich Buchner's account mentions the fact that the Moravian mission greatly diminished the willingness of many slaves to rebel against their slave fate. “Converted slaves will never rise up in revolt. They would never conspire without our knowledge. They would inform us,” the book states.

In his New Year's greeting 2025, Arngeir Langås, General Secretary of the mission organization of the Moravian Church in Denmark BDM, writes, among other things: “We dream of the kingdom of God. We work for the kingdom of God. We can recognize the contours of the kingdom of God, even when the forces of darkness seem to be unleashed. We dream anyway. Our hearts pray and we sigh: 'This is not how it should be! Perhaps we are called to act, at least in small ways. What is the significance of a new year? In mission, we don't usually think in annual or quarterly cycles. For us, a cycle sometimes lasts decades. Just think of the shift in emphasis from Danish mission work to the current work of independent African churches. But we also know shorter work cycles: e.g. a few months for a voluntary service in Tanzania.” The complete New Year's greeting in Danish here.

The Unity Youth Committee (UYC) has released a 90-second video with post-Christmas greetings and blessings for the New Year 2024/2025. See and listen here. In the video, the following young women have their say, giving a little insight into their Christmas environment: Sylvie Hauser from the USA (Sturgeon Bay/WI), Chrislyn Edson from South Africa (Mitchell's Plain near Cape Town), Damaris Enkelmann from Germany (Herrnhut) and Jiřina Kaletová from the Czech Republic (Nová Paka).

The Moravian Church in Cuba, which operates as a mission province of the worldwide Unity, reported in a Facebook post on January 6, 2025: “The Belén congregation in Havana, on whose property the national headquarters of the Moravian Church in Cuba is located, celebrated its first worship service in 2025 full of joy and gratitude. Sometimes filled with laughter, sometimes filled with a sense of brokenness, we heard powerful testimonies of God's faithfulness in walking alongside us throughout the year. We praised God and we worshipped Him as the King of kings and Lord of lords. The congregation received Holy Communion from their bishop Armando Rusindo and their pastor Tania Sánchez.” Five pictures from the service here. A two-page newsletter on the turn of the year 2024/2025 from the Cuba Foundation of the Moravian Church in North America (Armando Rusindo Mission Foundation) can be found hier.

On Facebook, the staff of the Moravian Theological Center (MTC) in Cape Town-Heideveld greeted friends of the institution around the world at the turn of the year 2024/2025 as follows, and they added some photos. See here: “The MTC wishes you a blessed 2025! May you continue to live for God and realize God's plan for your life! Please continue to pray for the inner and outer growth of the MTC. God's blessings and all the best to you, your families, your congregations and communities.” At Christmas, MTC staff and students enjoyed a meal together at the Gusto - Urban Italian restaurant. One of the students at the MTC is Raylene Williams from Humansdorp near Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth), who completed a diaconal internship lasting several months at the Herrnhuter Diakonie care home for the elderly in Herrnhut before starting her studies.

On Facebook, the Eglise Morave Burundi reported on the Christmas Eve celebration 2024 as follows: “The leaders of the Moravian Church in Burundi shared their Christmas joy with the Christians in the congregation of Bujumbura. The following members of the church leadership attended this year's Christmas celebration in the church in Kuwinterekwa, a district in the north-east of the metropolis of Bujumbura: the chairman Edouard Augustino Nsengiyumva, the deputy chairman Sylvestre Gashatsi and also Bishop Pascal Benimana. The celebration was marked by the baptism of several children. It was also marked by the recitation of songs and Bible verses by the Sunday School children - a testament to the improvement in the standard of teaching in the Sunday School. After the Christmas service, the members of the Moravian Church shared out the food prepared for the occasion, a sign of love and unity.” Some pictures here.

At the beginning of January 2025, the Latvian Academy of Sciences (LAS) honored the extensive Latvian-German study on the pastor Friedrich Bernhard Blaufuss study on the pastor Friedrich Bernhard Blaufuss (1697-1756), who was instrumental in the rapid expansion of the Moravian Church in what was then Livonia, with an award for outstanding scientific achievements. The author of the study is the Riga-based German scholar Beata Paškevica; she was assisted by Holger Zaunstöck and Thomas Grunewald. To the LAS press release in English here. To the list of award-winning works here (Blaufuß study page 2f.). The award-winning study, which is also impressive in terms of its presentation, is based on the handwritten biography of Friedrich Bernhard Blaufuß, which sheds light on an important piece of Latvian church history and also sheds light on the conflicts between Halle and Herrnhut Pietism in the Baltic region in the middle third of the 18th century.