Herrnhuter Missionshilfe is pleased to announce the addition of three new experts to the teaching staff at Walani Women Center. The new teachers will teach in the areas of solar electrics, tailoring/design and information technology and will bring a breath of fresh air and valuable know-how to the classroom. This reinforcement is an important step towards meeting the increasing training requirements and providing students with practical skills. The education authority in Malawi has relatively strict requirements for vocational training centers - for example, at least two female teachers must be employed in each training course. By increasing the number of staff, we are not only meeting the official requirements, but also creating optimal conditions for interactive and future-oriented teaching that meets the needs of our young women. This investment in qualified teaching staff strengthens the foundation of our training programs and makes a significant contribution to offering female students the best possible education and prospects for their future.

In cooperation with a local clinic, Herrnhuter Missionshilfe has launched another project within the nutrition program with the Moravian Church in Lusaka, Zambia, which specifically tackles malnutrition in infants. Training for mothers, the provision of special food and the training of community health workers are intended to bring about long-term change. Initial measures are already underway and the positive response shows how urgently this support is needed. Many children and families are dependent on help in the long term, which is why the aim is to establish sustainable and stable structures. Reliable support is needed to continue this important program - every contribution helps to give children in Zambia a healthy future! Donation account: DE25 5206 0410 0000 4151 03 (Keyword “Nutrition Zambia”)

The autism project in Elbasan is currently supporting six children with individual therapies to improve their communication skills, motor development and social skills. Weekly individual therapies are being carried out, which are already leading to positive progress, although some areas still require additional support. The children are responding increasingly positively to social interactions and are integrating better into group activities. Despite the progress, the project faces challenges due to the outdated building in Elbasan, which is neither sufficiently safe nor comfortable enough for therapy. The lack of infrastructure is hampering the success of the project, which is why a more suitable building is urgently being sought. The next goals are therefore to improve the spatial conditions for a better therapy environment, create a child-friendly play area and expand the project to support more children.

In the BDMnyt (No. 1-2025), the quarterly magazine of the Moravian Church Mission in Denmark, there is now a new world map of the Moravian Church. See here (pages 8+9). The caption to the map: “The Unity and mission provinces and the outlines of the respective states are shown here. The starting year of the work is shown in round brackets. The respective number of congregations, branch offices, pastors and members is also shown.” Unity statistics 2024 are available for download in German. See here.

On February 14, 2025, Elselyn Harriëtte Angelique Fa Si Oen, known to many as Auntie Es, the oldest member of the Moravian Church in Europe, died. She, whose father had immigrated to Suriname from China, was born in Nieuw Amsterdam in Suriname and went home to Amsterdam in the Netherlands, where she had lived since 1956 (Zeist and Amsterdam). She lived to be almost 110 years old; only three days were missing. She is remembered with love and gratitude in the large circle of the Moravian Church and the Moravian Mission. The ministries and tasks she carried out in the Moravian Church in Suriname and in Europe cannot be listed here. Among other things, she was the director of the city mission in Paramaribo in the middle of the 20th century. As a single sister who never had children of her own, she felt particularly close to the youth. She loved soccer and was invited to the Johan Cruyff Arena” by AFC Ajax Amsterdam as a guest of honor on the occasion of her 108th birthday. In October 2023, she was still present when Rhoïnde Mijnals-Doth, a woman from Suriname, was ordained as the first female bishop of the Moravian Church in continental Europe in Zeist. She was mentally and spiritually very lively until the end. A detailed obituary in Dutch can be found here.

The Board of World Mission of the Moravian Church in North America observed the third Thursday in February as a day of prayer for Rajpur near Dehradun in northern India. The local congregation asks above all for intercession that it may be granted the favor of the state authorities in an increasingly challenging socio-political environment and that it may grow numerically and spiritually. Prayers will also be offered for Pastor Bir Bahadur Rana. The Moravian Institute, an educational institution for a multinational and multi-faith student body with three locations (Rajpur/Uttarakhand, Chiktan/Ladakh, Binnakandi/ Assam), also asked for intercession for the favor of state authorities. Furthermore, God should be asked for a committed and diligent staff, for an improvement of the school infrastructure especially in Chiktan, for a successful implementation of the strategic plan 2025-2030 and for the establishment of a center for lifelong learning. More prayer requests in English here.

Janice and Mads Refshauge-Jakobsen were sent to Tanzania in 2018 by the missionary organization of the Moravian Church in Denmark. After seven years of service as missionaries in the Rukwa Province (Sumbawanga and Kipili), they will move to the Northern Province in Mwanza, 900 kilometers away, in February 2026, where they will succeed Bettina and Morten Poulsen. “We are ready for new challenges,” said the couple. ”When we were on vacation with the Poulsens last year, we learned a little about their life and work in Mwanza. The people in the north of Tanzania are very different to those on Lake Tanganyika, although they also speak Swahili.” Janice and Mads Refshauge-Jakobsen have a sound education in missionary theology and practice at the All Nations Bible College near Ware, Hertfordshire, in England. The position vacated by the couple in Sumbawanga and Kipili will be advertised in Dänamark at the end of February 2024. A longer interview with the couple about the change of their place of ministry in Danish here.

Now that Joke Wels and Ingrid van Wielink-de Zeeuw have already left the Zeister Zendingsgenootschap (ZZg) in 2024, the organization is already looking ahead to the imminent departure of Jeannet Kelholt (May 2025) and Douwe van Barneveld (September 2025). The organization's board and interim coordinator Nico van Wageningen are considering succession solutions and the future structure of the ZZg. In this context, the ZZg announces that a new colleague was welcomed in January 2025. Esther Terweij joined the ZZg team as a freelancer, working two days a week in the area of communication and information. She has extensive knowledge of online marketing and communication. Together with Daniël Claas, she will implement a strategic communication plan that focuses primarily on activities on social media and the website. Mention should also be made of volunteer Samuel Wilson with his commitment to the ZZg projects in Tanzania.

On Saturday, February 8, 2025, 15 young and older confirmands from various Dutch Moravian Churches were guests of the Zeist Missionary Society (ZZg) and the Moravian Church in Zeist. They learned about the exciting history of the Moravians, which can be seen in the characteristic houses around the squares to the left and right of Zeist Castle. The day was also about the Herrnhuter Mission in the past and present: What is mission actually? Something outdated and boring? What is there to discover in this regard? After a look into the kitchen of the ZZg project work (evaluation of funding applications in terms of objective, necessity, feasibility, sustainability, significance for the target groups, etc.), it was time for the real cuisine and the young people enjoyed it. After an evening singing service, everyone went their separate ways again - many experiences richer. Pictures here.

The work assignment of eight young people from the Dutch school Het Noordik Vriezenveen at the Balingsoela School in Brokopondo on the Suriname River, which took place at the beginning of February 2025 and was always accompanied by sociable encounters, has now come to an end. Many pictures here. The young people from Europe wrote on Facebook: “With the help of the school children, we did it! All the play equipment has been anchored in the ground, all the exterior walls painted, all the window frames varnished and all the doors given a new coat of paint. The toddler room, the media library and Ms. Kastierie's office have also been repainted on the inside. The team members organized sports games. The school children particularly enjoyed this. The clothes market was also a great success. The school children put on a fashion show with beautiful clothes. Thank you to everyone who donated clothes! As soon as we were finished, we placed a small souvenir in the schoolyard. On the final evening, we went for a swim in the pouring rain and then had a barbecue.”

On its Facebook pages, the mission organization of the Moravian Church in the Netherlands asks: “Have you seen this video with Sister Esme Pansa-Velland? The sister talks about the Back 2 School Project of the General Social Service of the Moravian Church in Suriname. She says: 'Every time I am allowed to work in the project, a good feeling flows through me. It is part of my vocation to ensure that children learn at school. Watch the five-minute video with statements from some of the schoolchildren here. The Moravian Church helps 500 children from poor families to stay in school. They receive a voucher for school supplies such as the obligatory school uniform. During a festive gathering in the church, the children receive their vouchers with words of encouragement from the pastor and another inspiring speaker. The 'Zeister Zendingsgenootschap' in the Netherlands supports this important work with 27,000 euros.”

The Board of World Mission of the Moravian Church in North America (BWM) is seeking interns for 12 to 15 weeks for the summer of 2025. These are paid internships. Depending on their talents and skills, interns can be deployed as follows: Supporting BWM staff at events such as Convo, mission camps, summer camps; Assisting with office work such as creating content for BWM social media pages and websites to tell stories of BWM's global work; Assisting with completing scholarship and grant applications; Assisting with creating new resources for congregations and mission teams; Assisting with data entry and data maintenance. Flexibility in hours and locations is required. Messages to Sylvie Hauser: sylvie@moravianmission.org. More information here.

A team from the Tanzanian media agency Njiwa Media (Taube-Medien) visited the Moravian Church in Rungwe, the center of the Southern Province of the Moravian Church in Tanzania, on the weekend of February 8/9. Two videos of the women's choir's performance at the Sunday service on February 9, 2025 can be found here and here. A longer excerpt from the sermon by Pastor Ezekia Kajuni can be found here. On Facebook, Njiwa Media said afterwards: “We also visited the historic mission house in Rungwe. A photo from the period 1929 to 1940 here. The small museum of the Moravian Church Rungwe, which we looked at afterwards, has a great treasure of historical pictures, objects and documents. It is very easy to uncover this treasure and learn about the rich history of Rungwe. Everyone is very friendly here.” Many photos of the funeral service for retired pastor Christopher Mwenga on February 10, 2025 in Kyimo near Rungwe can be found here.

The Christian-David-Schule (früher Kalna Skola = Bergschule), (formerly Kalna Skola = Mountain School), the first free school in post-communist Latvia, is located in the Madona district in a very rural area. There are only half a dozen houses around the school, otherwise there are only forests, fields, meadows, lakes and wasteland and marshland. So it is no wonder that nature plays an important role in the concept of the Christian school and that the children take every opportunity to play outdoors and do sports in summer and winter. On the school's Facebook page on February 20, 2025, it said: “Our advantage as a small school is that we can quickly switch from learning in the classroom to skiing and skating. The weather in the pictures is Latvian, but our sports equipment comes from Norway, Finland, Germany and Latvian friends.” Of course, the children first had to push the snow off the ice before they could skate. Four pictures of the winter fun here.

Kevin (English and Spanish teacher) and Sebastian (IT programmer) from Colombia have already been living in Latvia for two months and working as volunteers at the Christian David School near Barkava. They have often reported on life in their home country and have been in contact with the boarding school children. On February 7, 2025, the young people visited the neighboring Lubāna vidusskolā, a secondary school. They said: “The children learned a few sentences in Spanish and enjoyed Colombian music in their English and geography lessons. The youngsters answered lots of questions, took part in construction and technology lessons and played basketball with the school children. It was a day of real skills-based learning with the opportunity to communicate across borders. Foreign languages learned could be applied, first-hand information obtained and tolerance practiced. Thanks to the teacher Māris, who brought the young people to Lubāna.” Some pictures here. A video here.

The Ebenezer Moravian Church in Santa Clara in central Cuba recently wrote on Facebook: “On the afternoon of February 15, 2025, we had a special activity with our young people from the congregation in Santa Clara. We talked about the topic of Jesus, the bread of life and discussed biblical texts related to it. After the Bible study, all the young people were able to bake their own bread and enjoy it together. A very special experience. Six pictures here. A few games at the tables followed.” Six pictures here. In the evening of the day, the children's parents came together. A brief report says: “We had a blessed evening with dinner for the couples of our congregation ‘Ebenezer’ in Santa Clara. A beautiful experience, a nice exchange, an exquisite dinner. We thank God for his faithfulness.” Pictures here.

Boys and young men from the Moravian Churches in the metropolis of Delhi and from the rural town of Rajpur near Dehradun enthusiastically participated in the 8th Koinonia Churches Forum Delhi NCR Football Tournament 2025, which took place in Delhi on February 14 and 15, 2025. A 15-minute video here. Three pictures here. There was also a competition for young women and girls at the tournament (without the participation of the Moravian Church). Prominent Christians from the Delhi region donated the prizes for the winning teams and also gave speeches. The tournament under the motto “Together in Christ” took place on the “Signature Ground”, a huge grassy area on the outskirts of Delhi. For the spectators, there was a pole tent with chairs next to the playing area. The Koinonia Churches Forum Delhi has existed as an association of various churches since 2014.

On February 17, 2025, the Jamaican daily newspaper The Gleaner published a very detailed portrait of Andrew Walters, pastor of the Moravian Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. The portrait is over-scripted: “Churches are dealing with the problem of empty pulpits - many ministers are about to retire, but few young people are taking over the flock”. The 25-year-old pastor has three congregations to look after in rural Westmoreland. His goal is to visit each congregation at least twice a month. His Sundays start early with the 9 a.m. service at the Moravian Church in Salem. Then he rushes to the New Hope Moravian Church, where he alternates weekly with the New Works Moravian Church for the 11 a.m. service. The pastor has to contend with unreliable public transport. It takes him up to two hours to get there. Sometimes members of the congregation offer him a lift. More information - including on how the church leadership deals with unfilled pastor positions - here. According to Barrington Daley, President of the Moravian Church in Jamaica, the 63 Moravian Churches in the country are currently looked after by 23 pastors. They are only doing maintenance work and can no longer fulfill all their basic duties. The pastors bury at least five parishioners every month, which has an emotional impact. The pressure felt by young pastors in particular is exacerbated by the low salary. Unfortunately, the number of theology students at universities and colleges in the Caribbean continues to fall.

On February 16, 2025, the Facebook pages of the Calvary Moravian Church in Bridgetown, Barbados read: “The harmonies rang out! The rehearsals of our 'Hymnspeak' choir got off to a rousing start last night at Calvary Moravian Church under the direction of Rev. Dr. Mikie Roberts. They will continue on February 17 and 18, 2025 from 6 to 8 pm. Hymnspeak, the Barbados Gospel Festival, will then take place on May 27, 2025 at St. Mary's Anglican Church in Bridgetown." Two rehearsal pictures here. On February 17, 2025, there was talk of a very special service: “Moments of Praise - New Beginnings Part 2. Our Senior Pastor Rev. Dr. Adrian Smith offered Part 2 of his five-part service series entitled New Beginnings. See here. The service was led by Sister Rosemary Lynch. The psalmist team was responsible for the worship. The biblical readings were read by: Akiyl Simon and Kareem Simon. The singing was provided by the church choir.”

A highlight in the annual calendar of the Mount Tabor Moravian Church in Bridgetown, Barbados, was the event Dancing under the Stars on the evening of February 14, 2025. The event was embedded in the 200th anniversary of the Mount Tabor Moravian Church. For 50 Barbados dollars (about 25 euros) you were entertained for hours and could dance and have fun in other ways. Three pictures here; two short videos here. During the service on February 9, 2025, the new members of the Council of Elders were inaugurated. Pictures here. In the same service, the child of a young couple was baptized. One picture each here and here. In every Sunday service at Mount Tabor Moravian Church there is a longer worship section. A picture here. Back in the last quarter of 2024, the congregation made a short film A Walk Around Mount Tabor Moravian Church. See here.

After a large container from the USA arrived by ship in Port Mariel 14 days ago and then arrived by truck at the Moravian Church in Havana, the distribution of relief supplies to those in need has now begun with the help of volunteers and a van. The needy, who belong to the Moravian Church but also to other churches, live all over the island. The Cuba Foundation of the Moravian Church in North America, the Armando Rusindo Mission Foundation, posted on Facebook on February 19, 2025: “This is what love in action looks like! The Container of Hope contained essential food, other daily necessities, medical supplies and agricultural goods. Our volunteers worked tirelessly to unload all these items and distribute them to as many people as possible. A blessing for Cuba! Some pictures of the distribution here.

On Saturday, February 22, from 10:15 a.m. to 12 noon, another Herrnhut Morning took place in the glass domed hall of the Latvian National Library in Riga, which always serves the purpose of personal exchange, singing and praying as well as reflecting on a Bible text. There is also a regular thematic impulse. This impulse was about the book published six years ago by Andreas Tasche Penetrade the world whith my love– How the Herrnhut Mission understood and followed Jesus' Great Commission (165 pages), which Ilze Plakane translated into Latvian on a voluntary basis over many months and which has been available in bookshops for several weeks. In Latvia, the book is called Hernhūtes Etīdes ( Herrnhut Studies) for short. Aldis Liepiņš, professor at the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music in Riga, played the concert grand piano. Pictures from the Herrnhut morning here.