Showing Care and Compassion for Our World and Our Neighbor
"Sharing God's love through acts of service" is the core of Brethren Volunteer Service. The program is grounded in Christian faith and brings spiritual dimension to: advocating justice, working for peace, serving basic human needs, and maintaining the integrity of creation. BVS has been a major ministry of the Church of the Brethren since 1948, building on previous service models by the denomination. Participants as well as projects served are changed through this process of service and faith exploration. Five training events are held annually preparing 50 to 100 persons for service and personal growth in projects around the world. This is another of the Church of the Brethren's unique offerings to a world in need of "another way of living."
$400,000 will fully fund the current ministry efforts of BVS.
$30,000 will support one training event and prepare up to a dozen persons to serve.
$3,000 will recruit, train, place, and support one new BVSer for two years of service.
For more information call Brethren Volunteer Service at 1-800-323-8039.
World Mission Sunday is the annual October offering emphasis for the Church of the Brethren General Board. A wide variety of interpretive materials about mission and ministry work (usually overseas projects) are developed and offered free of charge to any and all Church of the Brethren congregations. These materials educate and inspire mission thinking and action by Brethren across the country. Giving that supports this work lays the foundation for ministry worldwide and is leveraged into thousands of dollars of support for the ministries of the church and a global Brethren presence.
$25,000 will underwrite the production and free distribution of all three General Board offering emphases for the year.
$10,000 will insure World Mission Sunday materials are available to those who desire them.
$1,000 will pay for a creative touch or a splash of color that gets us all to take a second look.
Contact General Board Funding at 1-800-323-8039 for more information.
Workcamps seek to provide an experience that connects faith, service, and spiritual growth. They invite junior and senior high youth and young adults to serve others and to reflect on their own lives. Youth/Young Adult Ministries staff offer more than two dozen of these experiences each summer, and most camps are filled every year. Sites are located across the US, in the Caribbean, and elsewhere.
$30,000 will support the entire workcamp program for the current year.
$3,000 will plan and promote one of this year's workcamp experiences.
$300 will cover the registration fee for one economically challenged racial/ethnic participant
For more information contact the office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries at 1-800-323-8039
Dominican Republic Health Services
The goal of this ministry is to provide medical care with physician services to sugar cane worker communities surrounding the city of Sabana Grande de Boya. In 1998, following the devastation of Hurricane Georges, the Commission for Dominican Ecumenical Work (COTEDO) established a comprehensive health project in the sugar cane worker communities (bateyes). Included in this project: home reconstruction, latrine construction, community health education, and physician/pharmaceutical services. Dr. Hilcias Ricardo, a member of the Peniel new church start of the Brethren in Santo Domingo, accepted the call to serve as the first physician on this project. She continues to serve in this capacity among the eight different communities around Sabana Grande de Boya. Needed: regular funding support for Dr. Ricardo's salary and benefits.
$10,800 will provide a full year of salary and benefits to a primary physician
$900 will fund this ministry effort for one month.
$90 will ship one clinic box of medical supplies to the DR
Contact Global Mission Partnerships at 1-800-323-8039 for more information.
In 1978, concerned Church of the Brethren members formed the Death Row Support Project for the purpose of facilitating one-to-one correspondence with some of the many people who have been sentenced to death row. Since then, thousands of people from all over the country and around the world have responded to the challenge of initiating correspondence with death row prisoners.
$800 will cover all the costs associated with this challenging ministry.
Contact the Brethren Witness office at 1-800-323-8039 to get involved or learn more.