Global Mission

A large number of people gathered uner a celebratory canopy.
During May, 2023, two church buildings were dedicated in the Dang region of Gujarat state, India. The photo is from a dedication ceremony of the Brethren Church Tekpada. Photo provided by Darryl Sankey

The Global Mission office works with autonomous Brethren bodies  in various countries around the world through mutual encouragement, sharing resources, and supporting each other’s efforts. It also supports emerging and ongoing missions and projects.

Global mission prayer updates and signup

Global mission prayer updates primarily share prayer requests received from the global Church of the Brethren and our partners around the world.  

Global Church of the Brethren Communion

For the Global Mission office, an area of particular energy and growth is the Global Church of the Brethren Communion (GCBC). We are part of a fellowship with eleven other Brethren denominations around the world: Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Honduras, India, Nigeria (general Nigeria page & history) (Nigeria Crisis Response), Rwanda, Spain, Uganda, United States, and Venezuela.

Brazil: One fellowship. Community outreach programs and family therapy.
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): 32 churches, 8,000 members.
Dominican Republic (DR): 15 churches, 10 fellowships, 2,800 members (including two districts).
Haiti: 22 churches, 8 stations, 4,500 members. Haiti Medical Project.
Honduras: Formally affiliated with GCBC on December 5, 2023. Details to come.
India: 29 churches, 39 worship centers, 10,000 members.
Nigeria: 605 local church councils (congregations), with additional preaching points and church plants under most councils, 750,000 or more members. A full denominational program including women’s and youth programs, agriculture program, educational institutions and a seminary, missions in neighboring countries.
Rwanda: 4 churches, 724 members, 12 choirs, 2 schools. Significant outreach to the Batwa community, preschool, and Bible school.
Spain: 6 churches, 275 members. Open-air revivals, community gardens.
Uganda: 15 churches with 732 members. Orphanage.
Venezuela: 40 churches, 1,611 members. Outreach to Indigenous people.

Project sponsored by the U.S. Church of the Brethren

South Sudan: This mission project sponsored by the Mission and Ministry Board has one full-time Global Mission staff person and several local staff working in the areas of agriculture, reconciliation, trauma healing, prison ministry, and evangelism. Two churches have been planted.

Emerging missions and projects

In addition to the countries where churches are members of the GCBC, there are emerging missions and projects in the following places:

Burundi: 50 churches and 6,000 members since 2006. Registered in Burundi but not yet formally recognized by the Global Church of the Brethren Communion.
Cameroon, Chad, Niger Republic, and Togo: Missions of EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria.
China: Hospice and autism projects (China is a former Church of the Brethren mission).
Colombia: Churches started by refugees from Venezuela.
Ecuador: Agriculture project (Ecuador is a former Church of the Brethren mission).
Kenya: Church planted by the emerging church in Burundi.
Mexico: Long-term Church of the Brethren-founded community project in Tijuana (Bittersweet Ministries).
Tanzania: Church planted by the emerging church in Burundi.
Ukraine: One fellowship.
Vietnam: Vision project for retinopathy of prematurity treatment (a former Brethren Volunteer Service location).

Other worldwide connections

Other worldwide connections not listed here include Brethren Volunteer Service projects and disaster recovery grants give through the Emergency Disaster Fund. Global Food Initiative partnerships are located in many of the countries listed.

Global mission ministries

The ministries of Global Mission seek to integrate faith and service as they challenge and equip Brethren to respond to human need and grow the church of Jesus Christ throughout the world.

Global Mission ministries include:

  • Global Food Initiative
  • International ministries (this page)
  • Global Church of the Brethren Communion

The programming of Global Mission falls into six broad categories:

  • church development
  • health and well-being
  • education
  • peacebuilding
  • economic empowerment and
  • agriculture development

Global Mission envisions the development of a global Church of the Brethren consisting of autonomous groups that witness to their broader communities while mutually encouraging one another as branches from the denomination vine. It seeks to deepen faith and relationships with established mission points, promoting outreach ministries and developing leadership. With emerging mission points, it seeks to promote core Brethren beliefs and practices while building organizational capacity and deepening faith.

Marcos Inhauser, GM staff in Brazil, has created an eight-minute YouTube video explaining the beliefs and practices of the Church of the Brethren. It is in both Spanish and English. We invite you to view it here:

  • Brethren.org offers translation

    The Church of the Brethren website offers instant translation into 15 languages.

  • A pastoral statement for Haiti

    Church of the Brethren general secretary David Steele has shared the following pastoral statement for Haiti during a state of emergency and widespread violence in the Caribbean island nation. The full text of the pastoral statement follows in three languages: English, Haitian Kreyol, and French:

  • How can I keep from singing?

    During the early hours of a recent morning, I was awakened by the sound of bombs exploding some distance away. Across the border from us, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, there are frequent skirmishes between rebels and the government forces. It is not uncommon for us to hear gunfire and explosions. There is no imminent danger to us here, but knowing that others are facing death and destruction is disconcerting to say the least.

  • Leading Church of the Brethren staff visit South Sudan

    In November 2023, the executive directors of the Church of the Brethren’s Service Ministries and Global Mission departments, Roy Winter and Eric Miller respectively, visited South Sudan for six days. During that time, they met with Athanasus Ungang, who is country director of Brethren Global Services, the Church of the Brethren mission project there.

  • People killed, church communities attacked in Christmastime violence in Nigeria

    Congregations and communities of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) were among those suffering attacks during the Christmas season in northern Nigeria, reported EYN staff.

  • Global Church of the Brethren Communion formally organizes

    The Global Church of the Brethren Communion held meetings by Zoom in late November and early December last year. “Significant things happened,” reported Eric Miller, executive director of Global Mission for the Church of the Brethren.

  • Churches in Nigeria fill with music, dancing, and prayer as WCC visits

    Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) was among the Nigerian denominations whose congregations received visits during a recent meeting of the World Council of Churches (WCC) executive committee in Abuja, Nigeria. Members of the WCC executive committee visited an array of congregations on Sunday, Nov. 12, “bringing a deep spiritual aspect to their gathering,” said a WCC release.

  • EYN farmers suffer violence in northeast Nigeria, interview with EYN district secretary for Wagga

    Clergy of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) have counted 107 farms harvested by Boko Haram said Mishak T. Madziga, EYN district secretary for the Wagga district, in an exclusive interview. In addition, he reported several deaths of EYN members at the hands of the terrorists. EYN president Joel S. Billi, who was in the area to celebrate the autonomy of a new local congregation, confirmed the report of many farmers losing their farms to Boko Haram in this critical time of harvest.