At home around the world: even teachers have to learn!

Makati (Philippines). Regular training events in the church domain are important and necessary. This insight was one reason for a seminar with Dr. Katherine Weber from Canada. She is a trained educator and responsible for Sunday School in her national district. As a member of the international Project Group “Children’s Teaching Material” she has played a significant role in the creation of the new instruction materials. District Apostle Urs Hebeisen from the Philippines had invited her—along with 26 Sunday School specialists from the District Churches of the Philippines, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, and Malaysia—to Makati. The three-day seminar was structured in line with the train-the-trainers principle, so that the content learned by the trainers could be passed along to the many districts in the countries they represent.

Swedru (Ghana). Two similar seminars already took place in the District Church of Ghana in the month of August. On Friday, 11 August, 22 Sunday School teachers were invited to Swedru, and a day later, another 24 teachers were invited to Agona Nkwanta. The participants of these groups are responsible for teaching in the congregations of the central region of the country. Group games, educational guidelines, biblical stories and how they are presented—all of this contributed to the success of the seminars. In any event, the participants were in good spirits, and had only praise for the relaxed learning environment.

Chicago (USA). It was with words of comfort that District Apostle Leonard Kolb, who is responsible for the USA, wrote to the congregations in his care. He drew attention to the terrible natural disasters of the past weeks—which included hurricanes, flooding, and earthquakes—in the Caribbean, Florida, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. The tragedy of Las Vegas had also had an impact on him: these events had affected many people very deeply, and had brought fear, grief, and loss. “How is it possible to deal with all of this?” he asked. His response came from Holy Scriptures: “We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4: 8-9). As citizens of the country and as Christians it is important to pray for the many people in distress, and also to come to their material aid in difficult hours.

Berlin (Germany). A breakthrough in ecumenical dialogue with other churches in Berlin and Brandenburg: on Monday, 9 October 2017, the Ecumenical Council of Berlin-Brandenburg (ECBB) accepted the application of the New Apostolic Church as an associate member. This guest membership was the objective of approximately a year’s worth of consultation between the parties involved. The ECBB now incorporates 32 member churches.