Growing together and growing closer

the idea is not to plow a lonely furrow, but to do it together: jesus christ sought fellowship and fostered it. and christians follow his example … all the time and on all continents. growing together and growing closer – in the circle of the apostles. photo: nac ghana. growing together and growing closer – in the circle of the apostles. photo: nac ghana. growing together and growing closer – in the circle of students. photo: nac sierra leone. growing together and growing closer – in the circle of students. photo: nac sierra leone. growing together and growing closer – in the circle of students. photo: nac sierra leone. growing together and growing closer – in the circle of the confirmands. photo: nac southern africa. growing together and growing closer – in the circle of the confirmands. photo: nac southern africa. growing together and growing closer – in sunday school. photo: nac southern africa. growing together and growing closer – in sunday school. photo: nac southern africa. growing together and growing closer – in the district churches. photo: ina brasil. growing together and growing closer – in the district churches. photo: ina brasil. growing together and growing closer – in the congregation. photo: nac indonesia. growing together and growing closer – in the congregation. photo: nac indonesia. growing together and growing closer – at the sickbed. photo: nac russia. growing together and growing closer – at the sickbed. photo: nac russia. growing together and growing closer – in the church of christ. photo: nac lithuania. in the circle of the apostles. last week in ghana, the apostles met with the district leaders of the bolgatanga apostle area. they discussed many topics concerning the operations of the church in the area , as well as the upcoming fiftieth anniversary of the new apostolic church in ghana. there was also a seminar on the topic of youth care after confirmation. in the circle of students. one of the first new apostolic schools in sierra leone is the karl kühnle memorial high school. three hundred junior and senior secondary school students are currently enrolled. the school’s focus is on science and commerce. during a meeting in mid-february, the school and the tissor community in kenema presented a newly constructed well to some special visitors: the country’s apostles. during the festivities, the students sang songs and performed plays for the parents, teachers, students and other invitees. the atmosphere was jubilant as the children gathered around the well to pump water and then drink it. now they no longer have to fetch water from far away. in the circle of the confirmands. district apostle john l. kriel and district apostle helper patrick mkhwanazi came together with the confirmands in the towerby congregation in johannesburg (south africa) on the first weekend in february. the two-day programme included discussions, fellowship, music, and the confirmation service on sunday. in sunday school. in mid february district apostle john l. kriel conducted a divine service for the sunday school children of the wentworth congregation (south africa). he based his sermon on 2 kings 5: 3. this unique divine service included over-the-altar interaction, which brought many interesting responses from the children. the beautiful presentation by the mass recorder ensemble also added an extra feeling of festivity to the occasion. in the district churches. district apostle raúl montes de oca (brazil) will be going into retirement at the beginning of august 2019. the district churches in south america will be merged into a new district apostle area. last sunday the retiring district apostle informed the members via circular. the new district in south america will be led by district apostle enrique eduard minio. in the congregation. the congregation cikarang in indonesia has just celebrated its fifth anniversary with apostle samuel hadiwidagdo. the members are happy at the growth the congregation has experienced over these five years. the membership has increased from an initial 64 to around 100. at the sickbed. apostle b. lazarev made a stop-over on his way to the congregations volgograd and astrachan (russia) in the middle of the night. in the morning he joined the family of evangelist suetian in the intensive care unit in order to visit their son. together they prayed for eugen to recover quickly and asked god to give the family and friends strength. in the church of christ. christians of various denominations gathered in vilnius (lithuania) for an interreligious meeting at the end of january. the members and ministers of the new apostolic congregation were also there. together they prayed for christian unity.