Chris Elliott, a farmer and pastor from Pennsylvania, and his daughter Grace are serving in Rwanda from January to May 2022. Chris is helping with farming and also visiting other churches and projects in Rwanda and nearby countries. Grace is teaching in the church’s nursery school. Read Chris’ latest reflection. Find past reflections here.
Officially recognized Church of the Brethren groups exist in the African Great Lakes region (Rwanda, Burundi, and Democratic Republic of Congo), Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, India, Nigeria (general Nigeria page & history) (Nigeria Crisis Response), Spain, and Venezuela.
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:
Mission prayer updates
Related news
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Small, but important steps were taken this year in the life of Iglesia de los Hermanos (Church of the Brethren) in the Dominican Republic.
- Nigerian Brethren mourn deaths of denominational trustee, seminary lecturer, staff driver
Communications staff of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) have shared prayer concerns for the deaths of an EYN trustee, a lecturer at Kulp Theological Seminary, and a staff driver, among other losses.
- Global Mission office focuses resources on known and trusted partners around the world
Do you ever receive requests for financial support from pastors or church workers from other countries? The Global Mission office of the Church of the Brethren often receives requests for support from Christians around the world. Though we are blessed by God, we have limited resources, and therefore focus our resources on our partners.
- Global Mission releases list of grants made to international partners in 2021
Global Mission co-executives Eric Miller and Ruoxia Li have announced the grants their office distributed to international partners last year, in 2021. Close to $700,000 was distributed, made possible through donations to the mission work of the Church of the Brethren denomination. Norm and Carol Spicher Waggy, who previously served as interim directors of Global Mission, contributed to the work of identifying grant recipients.
- Prospects for new ministry in Ecuador emerge from passion and compassion
At her new church, Silva brought her passion and compassion for children’s and youth ministries in Ecuador. One of her friends from work in New Jersey was from Ecuador. This friend invited her to on numerous trips to Ecuador to work with a church near the city of Cayambe with a local congregation, about an hour north of Quito, Ecuador’s capital city. In early 2020, Silva shared with her pastors the idea of organizing a trip to Ecuador.
- Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria dedicates two factories
Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) has dedicated water and bread factories on March 3. The factories are based in Mubi North Local Government Area, Adamawa State. The factories called Crago Bread and Stover Kulp Water are named after two of the Brethren missionaries from the USA who worked in Nigeria.
- Church of the Brethren is consolidated in Venezuela
The city of Cúcuta in the sister Republic of Colombia was the place chosen and prepared by God for the first Annual Conference of the Association “Church of the Brethren Venezuela” (ASIGLEH) from Feb. 21 to Feb. 28, 2022, and with the theme “Expansión” (a call to consolidate identity).
- EYN leadership solicits prayers as pastor’s wife held by kidnappers
“We solicit for your prayers. The wife of the pastor of EYN LCC [local church] Wachirakabi has been kidnapped last night. Let’s commit her to God in prayers for His miraculous intervention in the situation,” Anthony A. Ndamsai shared via WhatsApp. Cecilia John Anthony was reportedly kidnapped from a village in Askira/ Uba Local Government Area of Borno State.