India

International guests at the 2024 Annual Conference include top leadership from several Church of the Brethren sister denominations around the world as well as a number from B.E.S.T. in Nigeria.

Brethren Disaster Ministries staff have directed grants from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) to Honduras, where relief work continues following last year’s Hurricanes Eta and Iota; to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the Brethren in Goma continue aid to those affected by the eruption of Mount Nyiragongo; to India, in support of the COVID-19 response of IMA World Health; and to Northern Plains District, which is helping organize rebuilding following the derecho that left a trail of destruction in Iowa last August. Honduras An additional allocation of $40,000 supports the Church World Service (CWS) rehabilitation program in Honduras for families affected by Hurricanes Eta and Iota. CWS has longterm partners in Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala that provided emergency relief programs and were supported by an initial EDF grant of $10,000. CWS has updated its response plan to include the rehabilitation of livelihoods and housing in Honduras. The goal of the program is to support 70 highly at-risk families in rebuilding their homes and livelihoods. A grant of $30,000 for the Proyecto Aldea Global (PAG) response to the hurricanes was approved concurrently with this grant. All programing will be coordinated by and between CWS and PAG, a long-time partner of Brethren Disaster Ministries. In the past 10 years, support has been given through the shipping of canned meat and EDF grants for PAG’s relief work following various storms. After Hurricane Eta, PAG quickly organized a relief program that included providing 8,500 family food bags for a week of provision, used clothing, mattresses, health kits, blankets, shoes, and family hygiene kits. These items reached 50 communities before Hurricane Iota struck. The relief work has continued after Hurricane Iota, reaching more communities and providing medical aid in more remote regions.

The Global Mission office of the Church of the Brethren has instituted a new communication tool named Country Advisory Teams (CATs). These teams are a way for the Global Mission leadership to stay informed and better understand each country or region where Church of the Brethren partners are involved.

Sisters Julia and Marina Moneta Facini travelled from São Paulo, Brazil, to attend National Youth Conference. They were two of six international participants who were able to get visas to attend the conference through the Church of the Brethren Global Mission and Service.

Church of the Brethren Newsline December 21, 2017   A grant of $15,000 has been given by the Church of the Brethren’s Global Mission and Service office to Gujarat United School of Theology (GUST) in India. The grant assists the school with much-needed repairs to classrooms and other facilities. GUST is a seminary of the Church of

The 101st Jilla Sabha was held in Champawadi, Vyara District, Tapi, on May 12-13. The meeting included the appointment of new leadership for the First District Church of the Brethren in India.

Indian Brethren gathered in Valsad, Gujarat, for the church’s 100th Jilla Sabha (district conference). The two-day event began on May 13 with worship and the regular business of the denomination, while May 14 was dedicated to a full day of celebration that ran late into the evening. Attending on behalf of the Church of the Brethren was David Steele, moderator, and Jay Wittmeyer, executive director of Global Mission and Service.

Church of the Brethren leaders general secretary Stan Noffsinger and mission executive Jay Wittmeyer joined the Church of North India (CNI) at its 15th Ordinary Meeting of the Synod. The triennial event was held Oct. 1- 4 at Sherwood College in the hill station community of Nainital, Uttrakhand, and was build around the theme “Come; Let Us Rebuild...” (Nehemiah 2:17).

A number of international guests are to be welcomed at this year’s Annual Conference of the Church of the Brethren, which takes places July 2-6 in Columbus, Ohio. Guests are expected from Nigeria, Brazil, and India. Global Mission and Service workers also will be attending from Nigeria, South Sudan, Haiti, and Honduras.

The Supreme Court in India has made a decision in a decades-long bitter court battle over ownership and control of former Brethren mission properties, following an early 1970s merger with the Church of North India (CNI) that included the former mission of the Church of the Brethren.