Broadening one’s outlook across borders

Luxembourg. Nearly 15,000 runners from all over the world registered for the Luxembourg Marathon on 27 May 2017. Also participating in the marathon were participants from an initiative called InterFaith – Run for a United World. The runners of this initiative were from various religions and denominations who are keen to promote an interfaith dialogue. Patrons of the initiative are the Archbishop of Luxembourg and the Dalai Lama.

Before the marathon, the agenda of the initiative called for a visit to the New Apostolic congregation Luxembourg-Ville. District Elder Dietmar Gehring offered the about sixty guests a detailed presentation on the history and teaching of the New Apostolic Church. Following this, there were many questions, which lead to a beautiful and enriching dialogue on matters of faith.

By the way, two members from the New Apostolic Church in Luxembourg took part in the marathon.

Makati, Philippines – Vacation Bible School (VBS) in the New Apostolic congregation in Makati, Metro Manila. Just over thirty children took the Church up on this offer, seventeen from other denominations. Vacation Bible School is offered every year for five days and word has gotten around. This year the focus was on such Bible stories as Noah’s Ark, Jesus and Zacchaeus, the prodigal son, and Jesus calming the storm. There were games and activities, singing, film viewing, and story telling. The children also prepared presentations of what they learned and shared this at the closing ceremony, for which the youth from Makati joined them. The event finished with fun activities in the nearby swimming pool.

Buenos Aires, Argentina. Large images, captions, and a pleasing and functional design, this is the new website of the New Apostolic Church South America. News and information about the Church, multi-media offers, and a calendar of events for the various groups in the Church. Everything has its place. And of course there is also a contact button for visitors to the national Church administration offices.

Balingsoela, Suriname. A youth service in Suriname is synonymous with African flair on South American turf in Dutch. Bishop Ruud Vis from the Netherlands enthusiastically embraced this mix of cultures to which the youth from across the country had been invited. They came by bus, about 230 of them. Before the service they watched YouTube videos, showing excerpts from New Apostolic divine services and concerts. After the service they enjoyed spending time together in fellowship.

Ottawa, Canada. An award from the Prime Minister is certainly something one does not receive every day. Caren Eigenmann from Port Moody in the province of British Columbia was honoured for her untiring efforts in early childhood education by Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, with the Award for Excellence in Early Childhood Education. She received the award on 3 May 2017 in Ottawa, Canada’s national capital. Caren is a gifted and very committed pre-school teacher, something that is also reflected in her work in Sunday School in her New Apostolic congregation.

Caren was honoured for her commitment to help build the foundation children need to get the best possible start in life. She infuses her classroom with lessons about social justice. She started a garden to contribute to a local food bank in order to teach the children about those who are less fortunate, thereby inspiring a wonder of nature and a curiosity about differences between people and cultures. Child Garden Preschool is a preschool programme for children aged thirty months to five years. It is inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach, a student-centred philosophy focusing on experiential learning with close involvement of the parents.

Chicago, Illinois, USA. Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider ordained a new Apostle for Venezuela in a divine service in Chicago on 11 June 2017. His name, Cesar Benito Barrera Baez (46). Until now, the New Apostolic congregations in Venezuela have been cared for by Apostle Felix Manuel Díaz Salazar. He, however, also cares for the members in Peru and Ecuador. Now Venezuela has its own Apostle.