“My life was quite simple: everything was exciting,” says André Miku Mpeti, a retired Priest. Born in the Congo, he came to Belgium as a young man and has now been living in Iceland for many years.

A District Evangelist becomes Apostle, children collect several hundred euros for other children, a District Apostle apologises for the botched webcast of a service, and India launches a new website.

It has been a year of coming together: mergers between District Churches, reconciliation among apostolic denominations, and reaching out to guests with a service for the departed. Following is a look back over the most important events of 2016…

They have become a kind of an emblem in many congregations in Europe: the poster series picturing members of the Church like you and me. The new series for 2017 has just been released in its tried and tested design and aims to drive a new message home.

Although fully concentrated, they sit in divine service without understanding a word. When central divine services are broadcast by satellite, some brothers and sisters go home almost the same way they came, because their world is the world of Signed Language. But things are changing.

“Not only in Africa are there plans to merge neighbouring church districts, but also in Germany.” This is how nak.org, the official website of the New Apostolic Church, announces a pending third merger.

It is late November. Christmas still seems so far away, let alone the new year. But Chief Apostle Jean-Luc Schneider wants to record his New Year’s message today. All good things come in threes.

Which New Apostolic magazine has the largest circulation? community or maybe the glossy Unsere Familie. Wrong! The bestseller comes from Africa. A portrait on today’s International Print Day.

Switzerland will shortly be taking vital steps for the future: Apostle Jürg Zbinden has been chosen as Helper to assist District Apostle Markus Fehlbaum, who is planning to retire in June 2018.

They do not need churches for their services, nor do they need big events for an active church life. District Elder Alex Michel Reyes de Martinez talks about how New Apostolic Christians live their faith in the Caribbean.

A youth convention without borders and music for the up-and-coming generation: these are two of the topics currently being discussed by the European District Apostles. They are meeting in Zurich (Switzerland) for their final conference of the year.

Joy and sorrow are never far apart. Remembering the departed bridges the gap between this life and the afterlife. News from around the New Apostolic world about premières and farewells.

On 5 February 1855 two missionaries arrived in Papua, the western part of the island of New Guinea, to preach the gospel to the inhabitants. Even today missionaries are active on this second largest island in the world.

It was on 31 October 1517 that Martin Luther is said to have nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the church door in Wittenberg. In them he called for a discussion concerning the failings and shortcomings of the church at the time. This act sparked the Reformation of the church in Germany, which soon found adherents in many other European countries.

Making a guest service out of the service for the departed? Across Europe this will be a first and take place on 6 November 2016. But a congregation in Africa is going even further—and will number more participants in the end than all of Europe put together.

Apostles around the world are involved in building our conception of ministry. What has been gathered in meetings and working groups to date is currently being discussed by the District Apostles in Perth. Here is an overview.

Two thousand kilometres to the nearest city and yet in the middle of a metropolitan area. This is where the District Apostles are convening for their second international meeting this year: originally called “place with plenty of sun”, it is now better known as Perth.

nak-karitativ invested more than two million euros in humanitarian projects on three continents over the past year. This is documented in the annual report for 2015 that has just been published.