At home around the world: A District Elder visits victims of the hurricane in the Fiji Islands. The Church in Zambia welcomes the country’s president. And in the USA, a group of Boy Scouts find their way into the church building.

This year’s first divine service for the departed will be celebrated by Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider in Bielefeld in Germany. There, at the north-eastern tip of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the first New Apostolic services are recorded to have taken place in 1868 already. nac.today takes a look at this New Apostolic stronghold.

The New Apostolic Church is starting a new project: every day starting 1 March 2016, it will share striking statements from sermons over social media. These will be published in German and English on neuapostolisch.de and newapostolic.org, as well as on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Spearheading the project actively here is the New Apostolic Church of Northern Germany.

In all churches there are memorial ceremonies and services—defined to a greater or lesser extent—for loved ones who have passed away. Some Orthodox denominations celebrate with bread and cake at the grave. Other churches celebrate services of remembrance. The New Apostolic Church celebrates divine services for the departed three times each year.

Believers here gather for divine service in a stadium even during the rainy season. It is here that hundreds of believers receive the sacrament of Holy Sealing in the same divine service—and it is here that many have not yet seen the Chief Apostle. The latter will change this weekend.

A concert to mark the visit of the Chief Apostle? That's actually pretty standard for the agenda, just like this weekend in Kinshasa. What is unusual about this concert is where the instrumentalists have learned their handiwork, namely in the Church's own music school.

A strong will to succeed will help us to secure many individual victories, District Apostle Rüdiger Krause of northern Germany writes in “Spotlight”. He tells us which fundamental attitude will help us win the race.

“Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language that they may not understand one another’s speech.” Six thousand languages have developed since then, and everyone speaks at least one of them: their mother tongue.

The Chief Apostle will be in the company of twenty Apostles and 14 Bishops this coming weekend. The journey is taking them to West Africa, right on the Atlantic. What is on the itinerary?

A women’s rights activist and the hosting organization under a new name … These were two distinct aspects at the recent opening of a new clinic run by the New Apostolic Church in Zambia.

Berlin, Germany’s national capital, is the city infamous for the huge concrete wall that for decades divided it into two halves. Chief Apostle Schneider will be in Berlin this coming weekend. The unique history of the city teaches a lesson that can be applied to congregations worldwide.

Pastoral care should not just remain a concept. It has to be practised in order to be experienced. Pastoral care goes to heart and it takes an active interest especially in the bad moments of peoples’ lives. Such as in Taiwan after the earthquake or when congregations are scattered and regular divine services are not possible.

Victory with Christ. How do we achieve that? District Apostle Mark Woll has found a tried and tested recipe in Romans 12: 21: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

True to the motto “Educating the leaders” a new training programme has been initiated. This follows a decision by the Chief Apostle who stipulates that the Church leaders need more than firm faith and a good knowledge of the Bible.

New Year in February? Yes, in China. The Chinese use two calendars, the western calendar and the traditional Chinese calendar. And according to the Chinese lunisolar system the New Year begins on 8 February this year.

A New Apostolic Church influenced by the Gothic Revival? And inside the edifice, on one of its walls, there is the headdress of a Native American Indian chief. Intrigued?

“Victory with Christ”. It sounds like a battle cry, a fight, a competition. Is that Christ-like? District Apostle Urs Hebeisen from the Philippines is the first contributor to our series on this year’s motto.

Reviews and goals for the future, taking stock and planning … these are the organizational tasks that the leaders of the various District Churches are busy with at the end of a year. It was no different in the past year. And while all this was going on, our brothers and sisters in Zambia received a very special Christmas gift.