As part of a new, unprecedented, and groundbreaking initiative, and as part of ongoing efforts, the Star Mountain Rehabilitation Center near Ramallah, Palestine/West Bank, in cooperation with the Al-Karama Center, with support from the “Khatwat” Foundation, and in consultation with the parents, has launched a soccer training group for boys and girls with intellectual disabilities. While the initiative centers on sports, it also aims to develop life skills, strengthen team spirit and self-confidence, and create safe spaces for play and joy. Soccer is not just a game, but an excellent means of empowering and integrating the Starmountain children. Like all children, they have the right to play and to shine. The support center is proud of every step the children take toward their future. Photos here.

Four young women from Denmark—all 20 years old—set out on August 11, 2026, for Sumbananga in western Tanzania to work at the Moravian Church’s orphanage in Rukwa Province, called Peter’s House. The four women are Tabita Ulkjær from Stubbekøbing, Victoria Holst Bendfeldt from Juelsminde, and Emma Hougaard Andersen and Lea Nygård Mejer Kristensen, both from Herning. Peter’s House has been a popular placement for volunteers from Denmark for 20 years. At the facility, the volunteers play with the children, engage in sports with them, help them with their homework, and perform practical tasks in the houses and on the grounds. The volunteers’ assignment lasts four months—not including the preparation period in Denmark. A photo taken before their departure can be found here. Information about the volunteer program of the Brødremenighedens Danske Mission (BDM) is available here.

In mid-August 2026, the summer issue of Clinica Evangelica Morava’s “Spotlight” was published in Ahuas, Honduras. See here. The hospital, located in the underdeveloped Mosquitia region—not far from the Atlantic Ocean—has, as always, some compelling stories to share. First, there’s 65-year-old Clarisa Esteban, who, due to her type 2 diabetes, was actually scheduled to have a foot amputated—since her toe bones were already exposed—but was ultimately treated without needing an amputation. Because the hospital has neither a podiatrist nor an internist nor an endocrinologist, a gynecologist performed the treatment. There is also a report on the hospital’s 80th anniversary on June 16, 2026. And third, there are brief reports on a health fair in Krupunta, the need for more solar energy, the status of construction on a new doctor’s apartment, volunteer efforts, and weather updates.

In mid-August 2026, staff members of the Medische Zending – Primary Health Care (Medical Mission) in Suriname were on the move a lot. The teams changed their locations almost daily. Vaccinations were administered at the Johannes-Arabie School in Nieuw Aurora in the Upper Suriname region. See here. The focus was on good oral and personal hygiene for the children in the nearby Maroon village of Goejaba. See here. On World Hepatitis Day, an informational event was held at the Pater-Voorbracht School in Jawjaw in the Sipaliwini District. The topic of sexually transmitted diseases was also addressed there. See here. A session on cervical cancer and breast self-examination was held for women and girls in Pokigron, south of the Brokopondo Reservoir. See here. To mark World Breastfeeding Month, staff at the polyclinic in Ladoani in the Sipaliwini District gave a presentation to mothers and young women on topics including the importance of breastfeeding. See here.

• Magalie, a student at the William Severinus Richenel Ritfeld School in downtown Paramaribo, took 4th place at the Mathematics Olympiad in Suriname on August 17, 2026. “We are very proud of you. You have represented us very well for four years. We wish you all the best in your future studies.” That’s what her classmates wrote. Eight photos here.
• Photos and videos from the 2026 Children’s Festival during Herrnhut Month in August at the 120-year-old Julius Theodor Wenzel School in Paramaribo, Suriname, can be found here. As part of the festivities, some of the children presented texts or plays they had rehearsed, and the top students were honored. Originally, the school was attended only by British-Indian and Indonesian children of contract workers who had been brought across the ocean to Suriname from their homelands by hundreds of plantation owners.

Learning together outside the school walls is a hallmark of the International Kindergarten & Shristi Academy of the Moravian Church in Kathmandu-Baneshwor, Nepal. That’s why a class visited the city’s A to Z Plant Center, where—as described on Facebook—they experienced “an impressive educational tour for little explorers.” Our children explored a wide variety of flowers, crops, fruit trees, and herbs, discovering the beauty and importance of nature along the way. At the end, each child adopted a plant and took it home.” Pictures here. Shortly thereafter, a day of learning was scheduled at Kathmandu’s wholesale vegetable market. The children “learned to distinguish between different types of vegetables. They examined the colorful, fresh selection and learned where healthy food comes from.” Pictures here. The following day, some children presented their learning portfolios to their parents. Pictures here.

Arngeir Langås, the general secretary of the Brødremenighedens Danske Mission (BDM), recently attended a conference of the International Association of Mission Studies (IAMS) in Pretoria, South Africa, along with 200 other scholars. Mission studies has long since established itself as an independent academic discipline alongside theology and history. The daily program always began with a devotional led by a representative from a different continent each day. Afterward, the plenary session split into nine thematic groups, where presentations on research projects in various fields were given. Arngeir Langås attended 17 of these presentations. In addition, there were six keynote lectures, one from each continent (IAMS from 1985 to 2026, Poetic Eco-Missiology in the Age of Digital Idolatry, Water Scarcity and Sustainability in Sub-Saharan Africa from the Perspective of African Women’s Theology, Artificial Intelligence, Technology, Missionary Witness). Find out much more here.

On August 20, 2026, three students from Emil Weder High School in Genadendal, South Africa—Cailey Fourie, Raywena Arnoldus, and Rivonia Olivier—spoke at a regional public speaking contest about the unique profile of the Moravian Church Mission Museum in Genadendal. See here. The museum’s leadership addressed the students—its ambassadors—with the following words: “Every generation bears the responsibility to remember the history that has shaped the community, to preserve this history, and to pass it on. Your voices build a bridge between the past, the present, and the future. Thanks to your dedication and courage, history remains alive. Speak with confidence. Tell your stories with conviction. Inspire others with your stories. We are incredibly proud of you.” The museum is located in a building dating from 1838, which once housed the first teacher’s college for local youth in all of southern Africa, founded by Moravian missionaries.