Helping and serving our neighbours

The backbone of the congregations: the women in Nigeria

Once a year, the women from the various congregations get together for their Women Fellowship Convention. There are a variety of reasons. For one thing, it allows the women to share experiences and ideas across congregational boundaries. Beyond this, the convention offers talks, workshops, and seminars on spiritual and organisational topics. There are also sports and games, and it is a way to acknowledge the work done by the women in the congregations.

This year’s regional conventions in Nigeria have been taken place over recent weeks, many of them under the motto “Faithful to Christ”. The meetings usually last several days and always end with a special divine service, which the responsible Apostles conduct: these services are only attended by women and are held in our festively decorated churches.

Also in other countries in Africa, such as Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi, women do important work in the congregations. They look after the sick and the needy, teach the children, and are the people to approach when it comes to organisational matters in the congregations.

Human aktiv promotes projects for children

The board of directors of human aktiv has decided to support two projects. Funds will go to a project called “Prevention of sexual abuse of children”, run by Aktionkinderschutz, and to a music therapy project being offered at the children’s hospital in Schömberg.

Aktionkinderschutz equips primary school classes with teaching material to sensitise children, it says on the website of the NAC Southern Germany, and adds: “We are of the opinion that we are not as helpless as it may at first seem when it comes to the problem of sexual abuse of children. Prevention work in this field can play a crucial role in preventing sexual abuse.” More information on the teaching material used by the association can be found on its website, www.aktionkinderschutz.de.

The aim of the music therapy being offered at the children’s hospital—a clinic specialising in neurological disorders and disabled children—is to establish contact with the young patients. The stimulating and rewarding effects of music are used as an attention catcher and a communication tool. Both children without cognitive restrictions as well as those with severe restrictions—also some in a comatose state—benefit from music therapy.

Apply for volunteer work in Zambia

NAK-karitativ , the aid organisation of the New Apostolic Churches in Germany, is looking for two volunteers between the ages of 18 and 28 to work for the development volunteer service weltwärts.

weltwärts is not your classic aid organisation. “Its focus is on joint intercultural learning. As such, it offers volunteers the opportunity to become involved with development policy and cultural issues in the respective places of deployment. The encounter with people in foreign countries is an important component and makes the volunteers aware of global connections and interactions,” explains NAK-karitativ.

The volunteer service is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). NAK-karitativ has been a sending organisation of weltwärts since 2015 and a member of the fid-network International.

Information and application documents can be downloaded from the website of the aid organisation.