{"id":218,"date":"2020-01-23T18:50:31","date_gmt":"2020-01-23T18:50:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.brethren.org\/bdm\/?page_id=218"},"modified":"2026-03-27T15:12:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T15:12:22","slug":"updates","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/bdm\/updates\/","title":{"rendered":"Updates"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<p><a href=\"#bridges\">Bridges newsletter<\/a> (for small screens)<\/p>\n<div class=\"feedzy-00067db87a023e8e463e71a5068a85d6 feedzy-rss\"><ul><li  style=\"padding: 15px 0 25px\" class=\"rss_item\"><span class=\"title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2026\/jeff-thomson-to-direct-bdm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noopener\">Jeff Thomson hired to direct Brethren Disaster Ministries<\/a><\/span><div class=\"rss_content\" style=\"\"><p>Jeff Thomson has been hired as director of Brethren Disaster Ministries for the Church of the Brethren. In his previous role as chief housing officer and general contractor with Interfaith Housing and Community Services, he collaborated with numerous volunteers while leading home repair programs for families in need in Hutchinson, Kan.<\/p><\/div><\/li><li  style=\"padding: 15px 0 25px\" class=\"rss_item\"><div class=\"rss_image\" style=\"height:150px;width:150px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2026\/special-annual-conference-events\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noopener\" title=\"Special Annual Conference events are offered in Fort Wayne this summer\" style=\"height:150px;width:150px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/06\/Embassytheatertour-square-150x150.jpg\" title=\"Special Annual Conference events are offered in Fort Wayne this summer\" style=\"height:150px;width:150px;\"><\/a><\/div><span class=\"title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2026\/special-annual-conference-events\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noopener\">Special Annual Conference events are offered in Fort Wayne this summer<\/a><\/span><div class=\"rss_content\" style=\"\"><p>The 2026 Annual Conference of the Church of the Brethren is offering a number of special events and opportunities this summer in Fort Wayne, Ind.<\/p><\/div><\/li><li  style=\"padding: 15px 0 25px\" class=\"rss_item\"><span class=\"title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2026\/adam-lane-to-be-cds-program-assistant\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noopener\">Adam Lane to begin as program assistant for Children\u2019s Disaster Services<\/a><\/span><div class=\"rss_content\" style=\"\"><p>Adam Lane begins May 27 as program assistant for Children\u2019s Disaster Services (CDS), a ministry within Brethren Disaster Ministries, working from the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md.<\/p><\/div><\/li><li  style=\"padding: 15px 0 25px\" class=\"rss_item\"><span class=\"title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2026\/grant-of-500000-to-church-supports-bdm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noopener\">Grant of $500,000 to the Church of the Brethren will support Brethren Disaster Ministries<\/a><\/span><div class=\"rss_content\" style=\"\"><p>The Church of the Brethren has been awarded a half-million dollar grant to support Brethren Disaster Ministries, reported Roy Winter, executive director of the Church of the Brethren\u2019s Service Ministries and Brethren Disaster Ministries. The grant will support \u201ca three-year program expansion and improvements to US based programs,\u201d he said. The grant was received from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its initiative, \u201cHope After the Storm: Capacity Building for Faith-Based Disaster Relief Organizations.\u201d<\/p><\/div><\/li><li  style=\"padding: 15px 0 25px\" class=\"rss_item\"><div class=\"rss_image\" style=\"height:150px;width:150px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2026\/bdm-rebuilding-program-new-focus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noopener\" title=\"Brethren Disaster Ministries Rebuilding Program serves Hurricane Helene and Western Maryland storm survivors\" style=\"height:150px;width:150px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/HendersonThermalBeltHabitatBuild-byDonaldPohlman-600px-150x150.jpg\" title=\"Brethren Disaster Ministries Rebuilding Program serves Hurricane Helene and Western Maryland storm survivors\" style=\"height:150px;width:150px;\"><\/a><\/div><span class=\"title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2026\/bdm-rebuilding-program-new-focus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noopener\">Brethren Disaster Ministries Rebuilding Program serves Hurricane Helene and Western Maryland storm survivors<\/a><\/span><div class=\"rss_content\" style=\"\"><p>The Brethren Disaster Ministries Rebuilding Program is transitioning toward recovery from 2024's Hurricane Helene in North Carolina, beginning in April 2026 when it is serving survivors in Ashe, Henderson, and Transylvania Counties.<\/p><\/div><\/li><li  style=\"padding: 15px 0 25px\" class=\"rss_item\"><span class=\"title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2026\/edf-grants-to-nigeria-and-lebanon\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noopener\">EDF grants continue Nigeria Crisis Response, support Lebanese affected by war<\/a><\/span><div class=\"rss_content\" style=\"\"><p>Brethren Disaster Ministries has directed grants from the Church of the Brethren\u2019s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) to continued support for the Nigeria Crisis Response as well as to support people in Lebanon who are affected by the war between Israel and Hezbollah.<\/p><\/div><\/li><li  style=\"padding: 15px 0 25px\" class=\"rss_item\"><div class=\"rss_image\" style=\"height:150px;width:150px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2026\/cds-responds-in-illinois-and-michigan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noopener\" title=\"Children\u2019s Disaster Services responds following tornados in Illinois and Michigan\" style=\"height:150px;width:150px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/CDS-IL-tornado-response-Carol-Waggy-and-Friends-by-Carolyn-Neher-600px-150x150.jpg\" title=\"Children\u2019s Disaster Services responds following tornados in Illinois and Michigan\" style=\"height:150px;width:150px;\"><\/a><\/div><span class=\"title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2026\/cds-responds-in-illinois-and-michigan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noopener\">Children\u2019s Disaster Services responds following tornados in Illinois and Michigan<\/a><\/span><div class=\"rss_content\" style=\"\"><p>On March 16-17, Children\u2019s Disaster Services (CDS), responded in Aroma Park, Ill., a suburb of Kankakee. The CDS volunteers served at a Multi-Agency Resource Center (MARC) supporting the community following a tornado that passed through Aroma Park on March 10.<\/p><\/div><\/li><li  style=\"padding: 15px 0 25px\" class=\"rss_item\"><span class=\"title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2026\/edf-large-grants-for-s-sudan-drc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noopener\">Emergency Disaster Fund gives large grants for Church of the Brethren mission in South Sudan, relief for Congolese refugees<\/a><\/span><div class=\"rss_content\" style=\"\"><p>Brethren Disaster Ministries staff have directed large grants from the Church of the Brethren\u2019s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) to the church\u2019s mission in South Sudan and to provide relief for Congolese refugees in Burundi and families continuing to be affected by violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).<\/p><\/div><\/li><li  style=\"padding: 15px 0 25px\" class=\"rss_item\"><div class=\"rss_image\" style=\"height:150px;width:150px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2026\/news-of-violence-affecting-eyn\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noopener\" title=\"EYN disaster relief staff, EYN Media share news of violence affecting the church in Nigeria\" style=\"height:150px;width:150px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/EYNMedia-BurntMarketSquareinShuwari-600px-150x150.jpg\" title=\"EYN disaster relief staff, EYN Media share news of violence affecting the church in Nigeria\" style=\"height:150px;width:150px;\"><\/a><\/div><span class=\"title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2026\/news-of-violence-affecting-eyn\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noopener\">EYN disaster relief staff, EYN Media share news of violence affecting the church in Nigeria<\/a><\/span><div class=\"rss_content\" style=\"\"><p>Two departments of Ekklesiyar Yan\u2019uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) have shared information about recent violence affecting members and congregations of EYN in northeast Nigeria.<\/p><\/div><\/li><li  style=\"padding: 15px 0 25px\" class=\"rss_item\"><div class=\"rss_image\" style=\"height:150px;width:150px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2026\/bdm-seeks-skilled-volunteers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noopener\" title=\"Brethren Disaster Ministries seeks skilled volunteers for special project in Louisiana in April\" style=\"height:150px;width:150px;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/02\/DrivingPilingsinPointe-au-Chien-IMG_2939-byZoeNagasawa-600px-150x150.jpg\" title=\"Brethren Disaster Ministries seeks skilled volunteers for special project in Louisiana in April\" style=\"height:150px;width:150px;\"><\/a><\/div><span class=\"title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2026\/bdm-seeks-skilled-volunteers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\" noopener\">Brethren Disaster Ministries seeks skilled volunteers for special project in Louisiana in April<\/a><\/span><div class=\"rss_content\" style=\"\"><p>Brethren Disaster Ministries, with leadership from Cliff Kindy, is organizing a team of skilled volunteers to serve in Pointe-au-Chien, La., from April 7-28 to rebuild a home destroyed by Hurricane Ida in 2021.<\/p><\/div><\/li><\/ul> <\/div><style type=\"text\/css\" media=\"all\">.feedzy-rss .rss_item .rss_image{float:left;position:relative;border:none;text-decoration:none;max-width:100%}.feedzy-rss .rss_item .rss_image span{display:inline-block;position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;background-position:50%;background-size:cover}.feedzy-rss .rss_item .rss_image{margin:.3em 1em 0 0;content-visibility:auto}.feedzy-rss ul{list-style:none}.feedzy-rss ul li{display:inline-block}<\/style>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\">\n<a name=\"bridges\"><\/a><h2>Bridges newsletters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/bdm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2026\/03\/Bridges-Winter-2026.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bridges &#8211; Winter 2026<\/a> (2 MB)<br>Hurricane Melissa response, BDM review and planning, CDS and Rebuilding update, Construction Assessment teams,  Disaster Response Auctions, blood drive, 2025 summary, jobs, and more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/bdm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2025\/11\/Bridges-Fall-2025.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bridges &#8211; Fall 2025<\/a> (1 MB)<br>Hurricane Katrina anniversary, CDS and Rebuilding updates, Tennessee, South Sudan, DR Congo<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/bdm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2025\/06\/Bridges-Summer-2025.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bridges &#8211; Summer 2025<\/a> (1.3 MB)<br>South Sudan, DR Congo, Ukraine, Rebuilding updates, CDS stories, blood drive, and more<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/bdm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2025\/03\/Bridges-2025-3.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bridges &#8211; Winter 2025<\/a> (2 MB)<br>California fires, DR Congo, 2024 volunteer totals, personal stories, Annual Conference blood drive, and more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/bdm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2024\/11\/Bridges-Fall-2024.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bridges &#8211; Fall 2024<\/a> (1.7 MB)<br>Hurricane response, CDS updates, Rebuilding news, global updates, and more<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a class=\"pdf\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/bdm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2024\/06\/Bridges-Summer-2024.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bridges &#8211; Summer 2024<\/a> (2 MB)<br>Haiti, South Sudan, Ukraine, spring storm season, Annual Conference blood drive, and more<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a class=\"pdf\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/bdm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/23\/2024\/03\/Bridges-Winter-2024.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bridges &#8211; Winter 2024<\/a> (500KB)<br>Ways to serve, Rebuilding updates, 2023 projects and expenses, Nigeria, DR Congo, and more<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For older back issues of Bridges,&nbsp;<a href=\"mailto:bdm@brethren.org\">contact the BDM office<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bridges newsletter (for small screens) Bridges newsletters Bridges &#8211; Winter 2026 (2 MB)Hurricane Melissa response, BDM review and planning, CDS and Rebuilding update, Construction Assessment teams, Disaster Response Auctions, blood drive, 2025 summary, jobs, and more. Bridges &#8211; Fall 2025 (1 MB)Hurricane Katrina anniversary, CDS and Rebuilding updates, Tennessee, South Sudan, DR Congo Bridges &#8211;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"class_list":["post-218","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/bdm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/bdm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/bdm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/bdm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/bdm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218"}],"version-history":[{"count":42,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/bdm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2096,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/bdm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/218\/revisions\/2096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/bdm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/bdm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}