At home around the world: International women’s assembly in Zambia

Sesheke, Zambia

“Serving the Lord with joy” — this was the motto captioning the event, which was billed as the “NAC International Sisters’ Fellowship”, a several-day gathering of sisters in faith from the District Churches of Zambia, Malawi, and Zimbabwe. Over 4,500 New Apostolic women gathered together to talk with one another, discuss spiritual topics, and work together actively for the benefit of the common good. There is one Apostle who serves as coordinator for matters pertaining to women in the aforementioned District Churches, and that is Apostle Kububa Soko. In an interview featured on the website of the New Apostolic Church Zambia, he answered questions concerning the event. This year’s meeting dealt predominantly with the question of fostering fellowship and reinforcing one another in faith, explained the Apostle. In addition, the sisters collected donations for the construction of another classroom for the Sesheke pre-school. The discussions focused on how best to impart the content of the Catechism, as well as on preventative methods against the spread of HIV/AIDS. Next year’s annual meeting will take place in Mzuzu, Malawi in 2016.

United Kingdom and Ireland

In total there are some 40 congregations in the United Kingdom and Ireland. From Birmingham to Worthing in England, from Carrickmacross to Waterford in Ireland, Glasgow in Scotland, Brynamman and Cardiff in Wales, as well as Ramsey on the Isle of Man — 40 congregations. However, only seventeen of these have their own church building. And several of these have already become quite old. It is for this reason that the responsible District Apostle, Rüdiger Krause from Hamburg, is appealing to all his brothers and sisters in faith throughout the entire District Apostle district for an offering of solidarity for the congregations in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In his letter for Thanksgiving Day, he expresses, “The construction material is significantly poorer in comparison with Germany and Scandinavia, and here and there we must even consider whether it is worthwhile to invest any further in the existing premises or think about constructing a new building. This is a collective task that I would like to accomplish together with you over the next years.”

Pattaya and Bangkok, Thailand

On the first weekend in September, Apostle Fred Wolf visited two congregations in Thailand. Pattaya is located in the greater Bangkok area. There the Apostle celebrated the divine service in the house of one of the congregation’s members. He preached about our relationship with God and spoke of God’s great love for us. Another topic that came up was patience, and he advised the believers to learn from Jesus in this aspect in particular too. On Sunday, 6 September 2015, the Apostle conducted service in the congregation of Bangkok. There he talked about the importance of assuming personal responsibility for one’s faith. Both congregations were delighted over this visit from their Apostle. There was likewise joy over the fact that a number of guests had also participated in this divine service.