Being there for one another

Repairing shoes and more

The young people from the Bamenda district in Cameroon learned a lot in three days. A Priest brought over twenty pairs of broken shoes to the youth event on the church grounds in Ntarinkon, and was able to take them all home repaired. The event also served to help the youth people learn about spiritual things. Every day there were three Bible seminars in which the young people learned more about the Bible. On one day, the young people also walked through the streets of the town with a Priest to talk to passers-by about their faith and distribute the Church magazine community. The young people also learned practical things. For example, the girls learned about menstrual hygiene and what to do in the event of sexual assault. Together, the boys and girls also learned some life skills such as cooking—they had to prepare their own meals—how to handle a shaving machine to trim their hair, and to repair shoes. There was also time to let off steam with football, handball, and more. The young people went home after the three-day event with useful tips and many new experiences.

Running for your neighbour

A group of runners from the district of Augsburg/Nördlingen in Germany received an award for the most athletic team. The group consisted of 76 runners and competed at the Nördlingen city run on 6 July 2024 and received the award for the team with the most participants. Members of the New Apostolic Church have been participating in the city’s annual run since 2015. This time, every runner donated a contribution to the victims of the floods in the south of Germany at the end of May 2024. The runners had a lot of fun in spite of the downpour at the awards ceremony.

Singing for a good cause

Singing not only brought joy to the Nobuhle district choir, but also helped some of the less fortunate members of the Church in South Africa. On 24 August 2024, the district choir performed a benefit concert for the Masakhe Foundation at Nobuhle North Church. Apostle Gerome Mintoor opened the concert with a prayer. Then the choir presented what they had learned in many hours of preparation. The proceeds of the concert went towards supporting the Masakahe Foundation. The foundation itself handed over a donation of food parcels for members who are in need.

Sprouting seeds

A programme initiated by ministers in Senegal has produced some impressive results. It all began with the first bimonthly meeting of the year on Thursday, 4 January 2024. At the suggestion of Apostle Tounkang Mané, the district leaders launched the programme de soutien à l'Eglise (Church Support Programme). This means rice, millet, sesame, peanuts, and potatoes are grown to support the congregations. To this end, the brothers and sisters started to prepare the fields from the end of June. The Church donated the seeds. Already 77 days later, on 15 September, the congregations were able to reap the fruits of their labour. In Linkéto, for example, the young people led the harvest campaign. No one wanted to miss the opportunity: adults, young people, and children met to dig up the seeds, separate them from the straw, and put the finished product in bags. Even Apostle Mané did not shy away from physical labour and helped out. The surplus harvest was sold, with the proceeds going to the Church.

Joy over toilets

Thanks to numerous donations, the aid organisation human aktiv began building eleven toilet blocks in villages in Benin in August 2024. The toilets are planned as double cubicles with two toilets. The waste is collected in two pits and allowed to dry there. It can then be used as natural fertiliser on the fields, certainly a reason to be doubly pleased with the construction project.