When distances pose a challenge …

Borneo. Eight divine services in eight days. This was the agenda of Apostle Samuel Hadiwidagdo’s trip to Borneo. He travelled by plane, boat, and car on the “island of a thousand rivers”, as Borneo is also called. After Greenland and New Guinea, Borneo is the third largest island in the world. It is divided into three states: the sultanate of Brunei in the north-east, Malaysia in the north and west, and Indonesia in the south. The Indonesians call their part of the island Kalimantan.

The Apostle began his trip in the congregation of Muara in the sultanate of Brunei. The New Apostolic Church there is still not officially recognised, which is why the congregation meets for worship in rented premises. From there the Apostle continued on to the Malaysian part of the island, where he celebrated several divine services. The final service of his trip was in the congregation Pontianak in Kalimantan.

Argentina. The new church in Concordia will save many quite a few kilometres. It was dedicated by Apostle Gerardo Zanotti on 6 August 2017. Concordia, in the province of Entre Rios, is some 400 kilometres from Buenos Aires. The congregation is overjoyed that they finally have their own church. The dedication was attended by 130 participants, among them also some from the immediate neighbourhood. He expressed how happy he was about this new church.

Azerbaijan and Georgia. The congregations in these countries in the Caucasus are far apart. The members have long distances to cover to attend divine services, and it makes things difficult for them. District Apostle Rainer Storck went on a pastoral care visit to these two countries in mid August. In Tiflis, the national capital of Georgia, he placed District Elder Peter Ugrimov into retirement. The District Elder played a decisive role in the development of the New Apostolic Church in Georgia over the past twenty years. He is already 75 years old. Over the last ten years he was district rector in Georgia and responsible for the congregations there. Starting in 2012 he was also asked to look after the congregations in Azerbaijan.

South-East Asia. community is the name of the church magazine that is distributed around the world by the New Apostolic Church International. Worldwide? Well, yes, provided you speak one of the international languages, such as Standard Chinese, for example. It has just been added to the list of community editions, and the first issue has just been uploaded. About 900 million people speak Chinese: in the Peoples’ Republic of China, Taiwan, and Singapore. District Apostle Urs Hebeisen wrote: “We are happy to present to you the first Chinese version of community.”

South Africa. South Africa: The retired Apostle Willi Louis Jeanne de Smedt passed away last Friday, 25 August 2017. District Apostle John Kriel conducted the funeral in the Gezina congregation in Pretoria. Apostle de Smedt was born on 8 February 1931 in Belgium. His family immigrated to Africa in 1935. His father lost his job, forcing the family to move to Pretoria (South Africa) in 1948. One year later the young man received an invitation to a divine service in the New Apostolic Church. Together with his family, he was sealed on 25 May 1950. In July 1952 he was ordained a Sub-Deacon, his first ministry. Other ministries followed. He served God’s children for 45 years, 15 of these as an Apostle. In 1997 he went into retirement. He attended divine services diligently until a week before his death. Just over two weeks ago he and his wife, Hannie, celebrated their sixty-fifth wedding anniversary!

Germany. The retired Apostle Herbert Schneider from Germany also passed away. He was 87 years old. He received the Deacon ministry in 1956 and served the Church as a minister for nearly 38 years, ten of these as an Apostle. He worked for quite a number of years in West Africa. On one of these trips he contracted malaria, which caused considerable discomfort and led to his early retirement in 1994.