The withdrawal of the UNHCR is hitting the Dzaleka refugee camp in Malawi hard – and directly affecting the Light of Hope school, which is jointly run by the Moravian Church Malawi, MOHDEVS and the Herrnhuter Missionshilfe. The background to this crisis is the drastic cuts in US funding for UN organisations under the Trump administration. The UNHCR also lost important funds at that time – with devastating consequences that continue to this day. More than 70,000 refugees now live in the camp. The situation is dramatic: there is a lack of food, clean water, shelter and medical care. Amidst this emergency, the school is a place of hope. Over 1,000 children receive education, a warm meal and a sense of security here. ‘The school is more than a place of learning – it is hope in the midst of crisis,’ says a local teacher. Please help ensure that Dzaleka is not forgotten – by sharing this situation and raising awareness.

On 1 August, the Mwangaza Academy opened its doors in Kiboje, Zanzibar. The new inclusive nursery school is an important step for the region: here, children with and without disabilities have the opportunity to play, learn and grow up together from the very beginning. Shortly after opening, the facility is already very well attended. This is thanks to barrier-free rooms, adapted learning materials, individual support from a special needs teacher and accompanying counselling for parents. The construction of the kindergarten was made possible with the support of the Fly & Help Foundation. The Mwangaza Academy is a special place that promotes equal opportunities and early childhood education in a sustainable way.

Together with Edger Teacher, Country Director in Tanzania, Bettina Nasgowitz, a representative of the Herrnhut Mission Aid, visited the Moravian Church's health project in Zambia. In 2024, thanks to the support of numerous donors, a nutrition programme for children under the age of five was launched.
 More than 3,000 children received medical care and their mothers were given training on healthy nutrition. Trained health workers accompany the families, provide vaccinations and regular check-ups. However, the need remains great. Many mothers bear the responsibility alone, while numerous families live in precarious conditions. Often, there is a lack of food, income and support in everyday life. The programme therefore offers not only medical assistance, but also guidance and hope for the future.

The Rehabilitation Centre of the worldwide Moravian Church on the Star Mountain (Palestine/West Bank) is promoting its international, inclusive and interfaith kindergarten, which has been housed in new premises for several years, with a 120-second video on Facebook. See here. The film presents the friendly interior and the spacious outdoor area. It familiarises viewers with elements of the daily programme. It shows how children with disabilities are supported and how children of very different ages and backgrounds interact with each other. ‘Discover a world of play, learning, support and community’ is the title of the short film. The Star Mountain Rehabilitation Centre is located on an 800-metre-high green hill in the north of the rapidly growing city of Ramallah, directly on the main road connecting Ramallah to the university town of Birzeit.

93 pastors from the Moravian Church in Tanzania's Rukwa Province recently took part in a seminar on ‘Cross-Border Mission.’ Janica and Mads Jakobsen from the Moravian Church's mission organisation in Denmark reported on this in their latest newsletter. The pastors were encouraged to also reach out to refugees and migrant workers, not least the Chinese, who are involved in many large construction projects in Tanzania. Africa is the continent with the highest percentage of Christians in the world, while Asia has the lowest percentage. This presents a challenge for Africans. A cross-cultural mission also belongs in large African cities. The seminar, which used various games and simulations, was led by Richard and Louisa Evans from All Nations Christian College north of London. More here.

The Unity Women's Desk (UWD), based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, announced on 19 August 2025: "It is with great sadness that we share the news that our dear sister and member of the UWD Advisory Board, Rachel-Juliana Matthew Lwali, has suddenly passed away. We are grateful for every day of her life and for everything she did for girls, women and the Moravian Church. We know that she is resting in peace with her Saviour. Please keep her family and all those who mourn her death in your thoughts. Rachel was surrounded by her beloved family when she died unexpectedly." See here. Rachel Lwali was also a member of the Council of the Teofilo Kisanji University of the Moravian Church in Mbeya in Tanzania's South-Western Province and represented the Moravian Church in Tanzania at many conferences at home and abroad. She had a degree in Banking and Financial Support Services and worked for 30 years in a Tanzanian bank. She is survived by seven children and many grandchildren. See here.

The Board of World Mission of the Moravian Church in North America recommends its newly published 2024 Annual Report: "Looking for something good to read in the morning? Then you've come to the right place: you'll find our report in Moravian Magazine (2-2025), which will be in your mailbox this week! The report highlights our successes over the past year, but above all reflects our preparations for the future. Individuals have their say, as do congregations and global partners. We are investing in leadership and long-term sustainability. And we invite you to join us on this journey for the long haul. Thank you for being part of this adventure. Thank you for your support and willingness to continue lacing up your shoes, filling your backpacks and setting off – no matter how many kilometres lie ahead. We are delighted that you are taking this journey with us." Click here for the annual report in English.

On 10 August 2025, a festival for all children attending Sunday school in the congregation was held in the indoor facilities and large outdoor grounds of the Moravian Church's youth centre in Paramaribo, Suriname, as part of the annual ‘Herrnhut Month’ in August. The theme was ‘You will be my witnesses.’ See here. The festival commemorated the children's revival in the old Herrnhut on 17 August 1727. The children of the ‘Friedrich Stahelin School’ also celebrated their annual children's festival on this Sunday in the wooden ‘Große Stadtkirche’ (Great City Church) in Paramaribo. Pictures here, several videos here. The best children from the various schools of the Moravian Church were awarded prizes and honoured with flowers for their achievements during the last school term. Davina Pengel, member of the parents' committee, was also honoured for her commitment. Football player Maycheal van der San presented the awards. Many pictures here.

Hendrik Van Leesten, Candice Doornkamp and Magalie Oldenstam, three young people from the William Severinus Richenel Ritfeldschool in Paramaribo, Suriname, took part in the final round of the Surinamese Mathematics Olympiad on 1 and 2 August 2025. See here. The Olympiad has been organised since 2013 by the Surinamese Association of Mathematics and Arithmetic Teachers and consists of several qualifying rounds. Last year, around 1,700 pupils took part in the first round and 89 of them reached the final round. As part of the school foundation's annual career discovery days, young people from the Adolf Theodor Pengelschool in Bersaba visited the technical facilities of the Surinamese water supply company SWM. See here. Before the visit, no one wanted to pursue a career in water management, but afterwards many of the young people said they could imagine working for SWM.

On 18 August 2025, Hesli Pansa announced on Facebook that he was stepping down as head of the City Mission of the Moravian Church in Paramaribo, Suriname, the most important institution of the Moravian Church in the country, which was founded 156 years ago and is active in a wide range of evangelical and social welfare work. See here. He writes: "Ecclesiastes 3 makes it clear to us: Everything has its time. There is a time to come and a time to go. My time to go has now come. After several years of working in God's vineyard, the City Mission, God has now called me to serve elsewhere. This step was not easy, but I am taking it after prayer and fasting. It has been a joy to serve you as head of the City Mission. In my work, I have come to know God as a God who never changes in his faithfulness. To you, my dear brothers and sisters, I would like to say that we Christians are to be salt and light in the world. I wish you God's rich blessings." A video showing Hesli Pansa recently giving a sermon can be found here.

Getting children ready for primary school is a priority in many villages in the vast tropical interior of Suriname. Primary school lessons in Suriname are taught in Dutch. However, this is not usually the mother tongue of the young children. Most of the children grew up speaking Sranan. With the support of the Zeister Zendingsgenootschap, the Dutch sister organisation of the Herrnhuter Missionshilfe, a preschool education project has therefore been running for ten years – and is now starting again for eight children – in the village of Nieuw Aurora on the Suriname River, led by local teachers Shirley and Persis. A picture can be found here. A short video can be found here. Nieuw Aurora has a small airstrip in the rainforest, otherwise the village is only accessible by boat on the river. Around 2,000 people live here, most of whom belong to the Saramaccan people.

The Dutch platform Dutch Health Hub recently featured Herman Jintie, who has been head of the Medical Mission in Suriname (Medische Zending – Primary Health Care) since 2019, on its website. For more than 250 years, this organisation has been providing reliable healthcare in remote villages in the tropical interior of Suriname with 52 ambulances. Two groups of people live here: the indigenous inhabitants and the Maroons (i.e. the descendants of escaped African slaves). Herman Jintie comes from Commewijne, not far from Paramaribo. His parents were simple farmers. He actually wanted to become an economist, but had to drop out of university due to a lack of money. A friend advised him to work in healthcare. While still in training, he worked at the psychiatric centre in Suriname and then rose through the ranks to his current position as director. You can find out more about him and the organisation he heads here.

The Bethabara Moravian Church in Manchester (OT Newport) in Jamaica invites children and young people to a Bible camp. They write playfully: "Dive in! It's VBS time (Vacation Bible School)! Get ready for an unforgettable underwater adventure at our VBS 2025! Join us as we SCUBA dive into friendship with God! Here are the details: Date: 4 to 8 August 2025, Time: 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Location: Bethabara Moravian Church. There will be fun, games, devotions and lots of surprises related to the sea! Bring your friends and dive into the water with us!" - SCUBA diving is a type of underwater diving in which divers use equipment that is independent of a breathing gas supply at the water's surface, allowing them to dive for longer periods of time. The word SCUBA is an acronym for Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. See here.

The Moravian Church in Jamaica & the Cayman Islands writes on Facebook: "Join us for the Provincial Convention 2025 of the Moravian Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands! The theme of the convention is “New Mission: Healing, Building and Strengthening”. The sub-theme is “Our Vision for 2025: Always Moving Forward!”. The Community Day will take place on Sunday, 24 August 2025, starting at 9:30 a.m. at the Kendal Camp & Conference Centre in Manchester, Jamaica. Come and pray with us as we hear powerful messages from Rev. Karen Kirlew (morning preacher) and Rev. Wayne Reid (afternoon preacher). Can't be there in person? Then visit us online via: YouTube Live, Moravian Church in Jamaica DEMY / Facebook Live, Moravian Church in Jamaica & the Cayman Islands. Let's move forward together in faith and unity!" The invitation poster can be found here.

On its Facebook pages, the Moravian High School in Bluefields, Nicaragua (formerly ‘Collegio Moravo’, founded in 1921), presented various prize winners who distinguished themselves in August 2025: Ingini Pérez took first place in a regional public speaking competition. Picture here. She will soon represent her school in this competition at the national level. More pictures from the competition, showing rhetorical warm-up exercises and motivation from the teachers, can be found here. At a regional ‘Science and Life’ fair (similar to ‘Jugend forscht’ in Germany), a group of students consisting of Daniela Mejía, Genesis Mendóza, Keysha Jeanstchke and Zadia Mendóza took second place. See here. The entire school is currently competing for the title ‘Sección Vanguardia - Excelencia Académica’ with its outstanding achievements. 40 pictures from the second evaluation round on 13 August 2025 in the large school sports hall can be found here.

On Sunday, 10 July 2025, a service was held at the Friedberg Moravian Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, with the first and so far only bishop of Moravian Church origin from Cuba, Armando Roglio Rusindo. A photo can be found here. The bishop preached and also led the subsequent communion service. An ‘Evening of Gratitude and Giving’ was announced for 16 August 2025 at the Moravian Centre in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. During this evening, an auction will be held to benefit the Moravian Church in Cuba. It will be a so-called ‘silent auction’. Within 60 minutes, bids can be placed with the auctioneer for each item offered (e.g., a painting, a baking pan, a bottle of whisky, a garden lantern, a toy airplane, a tableware set). However, the bidders do not know the alternative offers. See here.

Around 150 friends of the Moravian Church in Cuba from eleven congregations in the Southern Province of the Moravian Church in North America gathered on 16 August 2025 from 6 p.m. until late in the evening at the Masonic Centre in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for a fundraising event in aid of the Moravian Church in Cuba: An ‘Evening of Gratitude & Giving’ with a banquet, silent auction, music and many other activities, organised by the Armando Rusindo Mission Foundation (ARMF). More than 30 volunteers ensured that everything ran smoothly. Photos here. The total proceeds from the event are not yet known. The ARMF writes in its mission statement: ‘We are a Christian organisation dedicated to the spiritual and physical well-being of all people in need in Cuba and beyond. We are actively involved in building relationships with communities and providing resources where needed.’

In several Moravian congregations in Cuba, special events were held in the run-up to 13 August, the day commemorating the great reconciliation in the old Herrnhut in 1727. 55 pictures from the ‘Iglesia Moravos Ebenezer’ in Santa Clara here. Videos of the Children's Bible Week in the same community with a wealth of activities can be found here and here. Pictures and videos of the service at the Belén Moravian Church on 10 August 2025 in Havana can be found here and here. There are also 16 pictures from the headquarters of the Moravian Church in Cuba, the Iglesia Morava Bethlehem. See here. Pastor Will Cuthbert from Costa Rica preached. ‘He spoke in the power of the Holy Spirit, who transforms lives, brings joy and destroys evil. The manifestation of the living God could be felt in every life.’ The older youth of the Moravian Church in the Havana district met from 10 to 13 August 2025 for a blessed retreat with Bible studies, personal testimonies and worship sessions with Will Cuthbert. Pictures and a video can be found here and here.

Thirty-seven sisters and brothers (including 21 with voting rights) recently gathered at the Khokona Moravian Church in Kathmandu for the first district conference of the Moravian Church in Nepal, which is part of the South Asia Mission Province founded in 2023. The theme of the conference was ‘The New Being.’ The August 2025 issue of the Moravian Messenger published a short report. See here (page 88). The meetings were chaired by Nirmal Dangol (chairman) and Joshua V. Pradhan (vice-chairman) from 11 a.m. to 6.15 p.m. The seven-member District Executive Committee, elected for the first time, is composed as follows: District Executive Committee: 1. Br. Kancha P. Dangol (Chair), 2. Sr. Kamaleswori Pradhan (Vice Chair), 3. Sr. Lydia Shah (Secretary), 4. Sr. Sunita S. Tamang (Deputy Secretary), 5. Br. Simon Shah (Treasurer), 6. Br. Nirmal Dangol (Deputy Treasurer) 7. Br. Rajan Maharjan (Member). Jane Carter, Director of the British Mission Board, sent greetings from Europe in a pre-recorded video.

On Sunday, 3 August 2025, the Estonian Moravian Church in Pikavere celebrated the 195th anniversary of its wooden prayer hall. At 11 a.m., a service with Holy Communion was held by Kari Antero Tynkkynen, pastor of the Mihkli congregation, and Provost Kaido Saak. During the service, Reet Pikkmets was appointed as the new sister in charge of the prayer hall in Pikavere. The previous sister in charge, Silvi Lootmann, stepped down after many years of loyal service. The church choir from Nõo sang. Several friends from Finland also took part in the celebrations. After lunch, there was singing, and Marek Roots, the acting chairman of the Estonian Moravian Church, Peeter Krall from the prayer hall in Nissi, and brothers Valter Ots and Toomas Maarand spoke. A big thank you to the people around the prayer hall in Pikavere, south of Tallinn, for the warm welcome! 15 pictures from the festive day can be found here.

In the shade of the trees surrounding the old Moravian prayer hall in Riņģi near Blome, a special concert will take place on 22 August at 7 p.m. The concert will feature music by the renowned Latvian music teacher, composer and choirmaster Uģis Prauliņš, born in 1957, who was chairman of the Latvian Composers' Union for several years and who will conduct the concert and also sing alongside choir director Pēters Vaickovsks. Other soloists include Vairis Nartišs and Kaspars Majors (trombone) and Andrej Grimma (classical guitar). Folk singer Anta Eņģele will also be performing, focusing on songs by Jānis Lūsēns. The concert announcement states: ‘There will be subtle and magical transitions between classical and modern sounds.’ Before and after the concert, a café will be open in the prayer hall, serving snacks, coffee and wine. A poster can be found here.

On Assumption Day, 15 August 2925, several children and teachers from the Christian David School in Barkava, Latvia, made a pilgrimage in glorious summer weather to Aglona, an important place of pilgrimage in Latgale. There stands a huge Baroque pilgrimage church with a much older icon of the Virgin Mary (‘Our Lady of Aglona’), which attracts around 300,000 pilgrims every year. In August 1941, the SS unit ‘Rollkommando Hamann’ murdered 269 men, 227 women and 48 children in Aglona. A series of photos on Facebook shows how the pilgrims approach their destination. See here: "We begin with a prayer. We have tents, sleeping bags, pots, food, guitars, etc. with us. On the way, we visit churches. A moment for prayer. A warm dinner is being prepared. Mmm, mmm. The dishes need to be washed. A moment of praise. Aglona in the distance. Meeting with another group. At the bell tower. The destination is near. We're here. In the evening, the Way of the Cross."