Brethren Disaster Ministries has directed grants from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) to continued support for the Nigeria Crisis Response, to aid those affected in three central African countries by the warfare in Goma and the surrounding area, to aid those affected by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, and to aid those affected by the war in Ukraine, among others.
Nigeria Crisis Response
An allocation of $185,000 supports the Nigeria Crisis Response through 2025. Since 2014, the Nigeria Crisis Response has provided more than $6 million in ministry resources to five response partners; helped Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) endure the ongoing crisis; and provided extensive humanitarian aid and recovery assistance for some of the most vulnerable people.
There has been progress, but the need is still great in Nigeria. Ongoing violence has added to great economic disparity, so much so that Nigeria has more people living in extreme poverty than any other country. The security situation is increasingly complicated as different groups spread terror and destruction in northeast Nigeria, and now spreading throughout the country. Further, Fulani herdsmen and other insurgents are attacking villages in central and northeastern regions and increasingly across most of Nigeria.
The ongoing violence and lack of security continue to heavily impact EYN. Church leaders report that an increase in kidnappings, the continued killing of people, vandalism, and increased crime are making it unsafe to travel. Through all of these challenges, the EYN Disaster Relief Management team has continued with food distributions and medical assistance, as well as livelihood empowerment through seeds and fertilizer distributions, agricultural training, skills training, and business start-ups.
The 2025 response plan focuses on more home repairs and water projects to allow families to return to their homes. Some areas of Gwoza, now under United Nations or Nigerian government control, are stable enough to allow the return of families displaced for more than 10 years. This budget for home repairs is higher because of the program carryover from 2024. Other program areas, including education, agriculture, and livelihood programs, will continue. The Peace Building programing continues with the support of Mennonite Central Committee.
Brethren Disaster Ministries has worked with the EYN Disaster Relief Management to plan for a three-year phasing out of EDF funding for the Nigeria Crisis Response, of which 2025 is the second year.
In another grant to EYN, $25,000 supports the church’s response to extreme flooding caused by the Sept. 10, 2024, collapse of the Alau dam in northeastern Borno State. This followed extreme rains, which are increasingly common due to climate change. The worst of the flooding was in the large city of Maiduguri, where more than 70 percent of residents were displaced according to the Nigeria National Emergency Management Agency. The flooding submerged homes, killed at least 150 people, and displaced more than 419,000 others. The Food and Agriculture Organization reported that the floods damaged 274,668 acres of farmland, leading to an estimated loss of 183,789 tons of food. The flooding triggered a major cholera outbreak, with 1,200 cases reported across the northeastern states. The grant funded aid to the most vulnerable households including distribution of rice, cooking oil, and salt for 2,410 people from 697 households, mainly children, women, and the elderly from the Maisandari and Maiduguri districts of EYN.
Invasion of Goma response
Four grants have been given to aid those affected by the violent invasion of the city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as well as resulting increased needs of refugees who have fled the violence including people who fled across national borders into Burundi and Rwanda.
L’Eglise des Freres au Congo (the Church of the Brethren in the DRC) received a grant of $30,000 for a first Rapid Response to the invasion of Goma. These emergency funds provided food and water to Congolese Brethren and other vulnerable people in Goma following the Jan. 27 invasion by M23, a well-armed rebel group reportedly backed by the Rwandan government. This is only the most recent outbreak of such violence, which has in past years many thousands of people to flee to the Goma area for refuge, ending up in IDP camps for internally displaced people.
The United Nations reported: “In the three weeks leading to ongoing battle in Goma, intensifying conflict between the M23/AFC, the Congolese army and their allies had already displaced 400,000 new people, adding to the 4.6 million people already uprooted by years of violence in eastern DRC. Protection issues, including attacks on civilians, sexual violence, and human rights violations, have reached epidemic levels.” The death toll from the invasion of Goma alone was over 700 people, with thousands injured, all while fighting continued. The fighting and security situation led to the suspension of flights and humanitarian aid, causing desperation for food, water, and security.
L’Eglise des Freres au Congo has a history of responding to needs in the community, but in this new situation was affected itself with two congregations sheltering in Goma requiring a rapid response for the needs of church members. Brethren Disaster Ministries staff have been in contact the church leaders throughout the crisis and a plan was developed to provide emergency aid to families in Goma who did not have access to food and water. The distribution was done slowly and one house at a time to avoid attracting the attention of criminal or rebel groups.
A further allocation of $20,000 to l’Eglise des Freres au Congo helped provide food and water to Congolese Brethren and other vulnerable people trapped in South Kivu Province, where most of the Church of the Brethren congregations are established. The M23 invasion continued and by Feb. 16 had captured the city of Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu Province and the second largest city in the eastern part of the DRC. As managed with the first distribution, aid was provided in small amounts to the most vulnerable within the congregations and their neighbors. Great care was taken to not be noticed due to ongoing unrest and lawlessness.
A grant of $15,000 has been given to the Church of the Brethren in Burundi’s aid program for Congolese refugees fleeing the violence of the M23 invasion. Burundi shares a border with the eastern part of the DRC. The Burundi church is helping support Congolese refugees in three communities, where 45 families from each community have been selected for assistance. The 135 families, or about 675 individuals, are mostly women, children, and the elderly without any resources to care for themselves. The food aid was expected to provide basic nutrition for up to a month.
An allocation of $8,600 will help rebuild or repair 11 homes damaged in fighting between M23 rebels and the Congolese military that has spilled over into Rwanda. The Rwanda Church of the Brethren has churches and members in the Gisenyi district situated across the border from Goma where artillery or bombs have also struck. Two church members were killed and many houses were damaged. The Rwandan church held a special offering that is providing needed food, supplies, and cash assistance to these families, and created a relief committee that identified 11 severely damaged homes as belonging to “poverty stricken and vulnerable households” or to families who lost loved ones. The home repairs will provide a total of 53 people with safe and dignified living conditions.
Israel-Hamas war in Gaza
The International Orthodox Christian Charities received a grant of $30,000 for its response to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The grant is part of a plan developed by Brethren Disaster Ministries in conversation with the Church of the Brethren Mission and Ministry Board to respond to this war by working with the following four partners: International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) doing relief programing in the Gaza Strip; Bethlehem Bible College Shephard Society doing relief programing in Gaza and with displaced Palestinians in the West Bank; Wi’am: The Palestinian Conflict Transformation Center doing relief programing in Gaza and the West Bank; and the Lebanese Society for Education and Social Development doing relief programing in Lebanon for families displaced by Israeli attacks on Hezbollah forces.
IOCC has requested assistance with a program focused on the needs of children who have suffered persistent exposure to violence, displacement, and loss, inflicting severe mental and physical health consequences. The program focuses on some of the most at-risk children: those with disabilities living in the Al-Maghazi Refugee Camp and its neighboring communities in the Gaza Strip. The program will provide psychosocial and recreational support to 200 children, half with disabilities and half without.
Ukraine war
An allocation of $70,000 was made to the International Orthodox Christian Charities for its Russia-Ukraine War Response. The ongoing focus of the Brethren Disaster Ministries response is to identify and support those who remain underserved. The International Orthodox Christian Charities has a long history of humanitarian and development programing in Eastern Europe working through partnerships with the network of Orthodox churches.
The organization has requested funds to continue its women’s programing in a new region, the Zakarpattia region of western Ukraine, to strengthen women’s economic resilience, promote self-sufficiency, and enhance their contribution to local economic recovery. The program provides 30 women– including 20 women displaced from other parts of Ukraine and 10 local women needing economic assistance–with business training, with 15 receiving small business grants and 10 receiving career planning training and a paid internship.
Children’s Disaster Services
An allocation of $5,000 covered the CDS response to the Los Angeles wildfires of early this year. These funds supported the travel, feeding, and housing of volunteers serving children and families affected by the fires.
Find out more about Brethren Disaster Ministries at www.brethren.org/bdm
Support this work by giving financially to the Emergency Disaster Fund at https://churchofthebrethren.givingfuel.com/bdm
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