In October, Bettina Nasgowitz, Kerstin Heim, and Markus Kuhn from Herrnhuter Missionshilfe visited projects in Malawi and Zanzibar and held important talks with long-standing partners. At Atsikana Walani TechnicalCollege (AWTC), they looked at the permaculture project and the start of the urgently needed shelter and residential home for vulnerable young women. At the Light of Hope School in the Dzaleka refugee camp, the tense situation of many families was once again evident. In addition to education, the school offers the children a warm meal, care, and a safe space. In Mzuzu, the team attended a training course on the production of organic fertilizers at the Women Training Center and visited the new headquarters of the Moravian Church Malawi, which serves as a central coordination point. In Zanzibar, the focus was on the inclusive kindergarten in Kiboje and the graduation of the Herrnhut Academy – visible successes of long-term educational work. The trip underscores the committed and trusting cooperation with partners who are committed to education, participation, and social development despite difficult conditions.

On November 18, 2025, the mission organization of the Moravian Church in Denmark (BDM) published an interview conducted by Svend Løbner with Ranya Karam, director of the Star Mountain RehabilitationCenter (SMRC) in Star Mountain, near Ramallah (Palestine). It is entitled: “Do children in the West Bank have a future?” In the interview, Ranya Karam says: "According to UN figures, there were 757 attacks by Israeli settlers in the West Bank in the first half of 2025, resulting in casualties or property damage on the Palestinian side – an increase of 13 percent over the same period last year. At the moment, we don't dare to hope for anything good. We don't even have hope for ourselves as adults, not even for normal, healthy people, so hope for children and young people with disabilities is very slim. I can't be optimistic given the current situation. We all have to take each day as it comes. The future is completely uncertain. According to the UN, over 1,000 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank last year alone. Not to mention the thousands of war victims in Gaza. Everyone is afraid. Cities in the West Bank that are close to Israeli settlements are attacked daily by settlers. Olive groves are cleared, houses destroyed, sheep and other livestock stolen or killed. What else can we do but live day by day?" The entire interview here.

The Star Mountain Rehabilitation Center SMRC near Ramallah (Palestine/West Bank) is now cooperating with a specialized fitness trainer. She offers weekly sports lessons for students with intellectual disabilities who are participating in school and vocational training programs. The aim of this new initiative is to improve the physical abilities of the children and young men and women, thereby strengthening their motivation and self-confidence. The exercises and playful activities are tailored to the individual abilities and needs of the students. Obesity, poor mobility, and poor physical condition are also problems for people with intellectual disabilities. The spacious, partly wooded terrain on the 800-meter-high Star Mountain is ideal for sports activities. Eight pictures here.

Donations via PayPal are now also possible at HMH. This provides more opportunities to support Herrnhuter Missionshilfe e.V. and its projects. As usual, we have our donation account, for which we now also offer a Girocode. The Girocode can be read with the banking app and offers a pre-filled transfer form. You can then enter the amount and the project you would like to support. In addition, there is the option of making an online donation via the donation portal (www.herrnhuter-spenden.de). Since many people now use PayPal for their financial transactions, we now also offer the option of transferring money in this quick and easy way. You can receive a donation receipt for all donations, regardless of how they are received by us. Thank you very much!

The island of Cuba, which was severely devastated by Hurricane Melissa at the end of October 2025, is now receiving a wide range of aid. This was reported by the Ecumenical Council of Churches in Cuba, in which the Moravian Church is also actively involved, in a Facebook post on November 14, 2025. The report begins: "Where the hurricane recently raged and torrential rain devastated almost everything, today there is a whisper of hope that is materializing in food, medicine, care products, clothing, shoes, and technology. But the aid goes beyond material support. It is a ray of hope that strengthens the resilience of the human spirit, a powerful reminder that kindness and solidarity can build bridges even in the darkest moments." Emergency committees of the Church Council are everywhere. The distribution of goods is in full swing. A lot of help is coming from partner congregations, especially from the neighboring US state of Florida. For example, they are working together with ACT Alliance. Mattresses and blankets are currently needed. Pictures here and here and here.

After a storm with heavy rain had already destroyed the Moravian Church in Kirekura near Bujumbura on Wednesday, November 4, 2025, the church in Miduha near Rugombo on the border between Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo has now also been damaged by the force of a storm. Pastor Manasse Irutingabo, the leader of the Moravian Church in the Bujumbura district, called on Christians to pray. Satan is active among them and wants to hinder God's work, he said. The pastor reported on Facebook that parts of the church walls had been torn down by the storm and now lay in the Rusizi River. He comforted the sad parishioners on Facebook and encouraged them to renew their faith. He said that the individual Moravian Churches in the Bujumbura district were on the right track. They were doing God's work. Satan could not prevent that. Pictures of the partially destroyed church here.

A post by the Unity Women's Desk (UWD) on November 10, 2025, shows that the women are well connected within the worldwide Moravian Church. This organization, founded in 2011 but with origins dating back to 1995 (see here), has been operating since 2023 under the leadership of a coordinator (currently Julie Tomberlin from Winston-Salem, USA) and a seven-member advisory board: Each of the four Unity regions (Africa, Europe, Caribbean/Latin America, North America) has one representative on the advisory board. Each additional representative comes from Africa, the most important continent for the Moravian Church, is Spanish-speaking, and is younger than 50. The connections within the worldwide Moravian Church are demonstrated by the encounters that the prominent Tanzanian pastor Mary Katergile had on the Caribbean island of Curaçao: a) with Rhoïnde Mijnalds-Doth, the recently elected bishop of the Moravian Church from the Netherlands with a Surinamese background (see here), and b) with Roberta Hoey, the current chairperson of the Unity Board, the governing body of the worldwide Moravian Church between synods, from Great Britain (see here).

The Global Market on South Church Street in Old Salem, the historic 18th-century district of Winston-Salem, NC, organized by the Unity Women's Desk (UWD), is a place of encounter. Here, products are made in workshops and offered for sale, opening a window to the wider world—especially the world of the Moravians. Recently, guests from South Africa visited the Global Market (see here) and shared their art (see here). Two young women from Nepal, who are staying in the city for an extended period, can also be found at the Global Market time and again. From them, younger and older American women from the southeastern United States learn the techniques used to create handicrafts in their distant homeland (see here). Sewing and embroidering, painting and crafting together often leads to international understanding.

In a post dated November 14, 2025, the mission organization of the Moravian Church in Denmark, BDM, introduces Neema Abson Mwakapakula, the director of Peter's House, an orphanage run by the Moravian Church in Sumbawanga (Tanzania, Rukwa Province). See here. The director writes: "I myself grew up in difficult circumstances. My mother died when I was five years old. I became a domestic worker for a man who took advantage of me. Although I was still very young, I had to do all the housework. I really struggled to juggle everything: school and housework. Today, I want to help children in similar situations.“ Her main thesis is: ”Children need love to thrive. If a child doesn't want to go to school, it's usually because there are problems there. We therefore need to ask what the problem is and listen to the child. The child needs to gain enough self-confidence."

On July 14, 2025, Ezra Lauriston Parris, a Barbadian and pastor of the Sharon and Dunscombe Moravian Church, was elected bishop of the worldwide Moravian Church by the 34th Synod of the Unity Province of West Indies East, which was meeting in Trinidad. On Sunday, November 16, 2025, the bishop's consecration took place in a festive setting from 4:00 to 6:30 p.m. in his home congregation in Bridgetown, Barbados. The complete worship service here. Ezra Parris had previously served in ordained ministry in the province for 33 years. Many of his companions spoke during the service, and several choirs sang. Bishop Dr. Conrad Spencer, Bishop Dr. Kingsley Lewis (both from West Indies East), and Bishop Stanley Clarke (Jamaica) participated in the ordination. At the end, the new bishop spoke and received his bishop's seal.

On November 16, 2025, Pastor Ángel Yoporel Pamistan from the Unidad Morava congregation was consecrated as a bishop of the worldwide Moravian Church in the port town of Puerto Lempira in the Honduran Mosquitia. He is the fifth bishop of the Iglesia Morava in Honduras. The consecration was performed by Bishops Evelio Marmol (Honduras) and Rogelio Juan Zacarias (Nicaragua).
There are two provinces of the worldwide Moravian Church in the Honduran Mosquitia. After the official Unity Province underwent Pentecostal changes in the 1990s, the traditional congregations came together in the Mission Province of Honduras. In the meantime, both sides have begun a process of reunification. As in Nicaragua, several ethnic groups belong to the church in Honduras, especially Miskito and, to a lesser extent, Mayangna.

• The Morava bookstore in the entrance area of the office of the leadership of the Nicaragua Unity Province in Bilwi/Puerto Cabezas informs that the Bible, the hymnbook (small and large editions), and the daily devotionals in Miskito, Mayangna, and Spanish, a sermon Bible, a Bible dictionary (Reina Valera version), and many other products are available for those who would like to delve deeper into the Bible. The bookstore, which also offers beverages, a few stationery items, and photocopying services, is open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pictures here. 
• On November 5, 2025, the Moravian High School (formerly Colegio Moravo Secundaria) in Bluefields in southeastern Nicaragua celebrated the 104th anniversary of its founding with a festive service followed by a large banquet in the school gym. See here and here. 

The popular Suriname Calendar 2026 is now available at the museum Das Herrnhuter Haus in themoravian neighborhood of Zeist, Netherlands. It costs €15.95, excluding shipping. To the online shop here.The advertisement states: "A calendar full of photos and emotions, full of texts and experiences from Suriname. You often hear people say that once you've been to Suriname, you fall in love with the country. For years, the proceeds from the calendar have been used to support small, effective, and appealing social projects in Suriname run by the Suriname Calendar Foundation, which was founded in 1994," including projects run by the Moravian Church in Suriname in the areas of education, welfare, and health. The cover pages of the last six calendars can be viewed here. Anyone who supports the foundation with an annual donation of 26 euros will receive a free copy of the calendar as soon as it is published.

The school foundation of the Moravian Church in Suriname recently drew the attention of its approximately 1,400 teachers to a series of lectures on bullying and classroom dynamics by Dutch educator Dr. Nathalie Hoekstra. It particularly recommended lecture no. 7: The role of the teacher in the social dynamics of a school class. The entire lecture in Dutch here. The author emphasizes that teachers are a kind of social worker and are seen as role models. Students mirror their attitudes and behavior. It is therefore extremely important how teachers interact with their students. How teachers view their students, how they reprimand and praise them, influences the behavior of the students among themselves. Dr. Nathalie Hoekstra outlines four specific ways in which teachers can specifically promote engagement, positivity, and cooperation in the classroom. Her basic thesis is that the subtle, often indirect influence of teachers controls the social dynamics of a class and the likelihood of bullying.

The International Kindergarten & Shristi Academy of the Moravian Church in Kathmandu, Nepal, had scheduled a student science fair for Saturday, November 15, 2025. It took place indoors and outdoors at the school in the Baneshwor district. Facebook reported: "The fair was impressive proof of the brilliance of our young students! Each project on display showed a very special engagement with scientific and technical principles. The potential of our future leaders was evident at every booth." The young developers of the respective projects, which had been inspired in class, answered questions from parents and various visitors from the public. More than 70 pictures here. A short Video here. Among other things, water filters, an automatic drawing machine, and studies on aerodynamics were on display.

• On November 24, 2025, the Moravian Mission School in Leh, Ladakh, northern India, posted a wealth of images accompanied by music on Facebook, writing: “Our students are doing great things in every respect.” See here.
• A highlight in the everyday life of the International Kindergarten & Shristi Academy of the Moravian Church in Kathmandu-Baneshwor was an outing for the little ones: On Facebook on November 24, 2025, it said: “A day full of laughter and learning at the zoo! The children from the toddler group, kindergarten, and preschool had the opportunity to see their favorite animals up close.” See here.
• The five congregations of the still young Moravian Church in Myanmar, which now has around 300 members, meet regularly for worship services in private homes. However, many members have had to leave their homes for political reasons, losing all their possessions. Some of them now live in the Sami Township refugee camp.

On November 17, 2025, the leaders of the mission, ecumenical, and partnership organizations under the umbrella of the Evangelische Mission Weltweit (EMW) welcomed a resolution passed by the EKD Synod in Dresden the previous week. The resolution asks the EKD Council to “continue to vigorously advocate to political parties, the federal government, the Bundestag, and EU institutions for a strong German and European development policy and humanitarian aid, and to remind them of the internationally agreed goal of allocating 0.7 percent of economic output to public development assistance.” However, the Synod resolution also addresses the EKD member churches, asking them to “consider the special responsibility of the still wealthy churches of the North for the Global South” despite all the necessary austerity measures, and adding the demand that the work of the Church Development Service and the international partnership work of the mission agencies should be the last areas in which cuts are made. To the complete press release here.