Large Emergency Disaster Fund grants go to Church of the Brethren programs in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan

Brethren Disaster Ministries has directed large grants from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) to support Eglise des Freres au Congo (Church of the Brethren in the DRC) providing a six-month emergency humanitarian aid program for families affected by war, and to a program being developed by the Church of the Brethren Mission in South Sudan.

Also among recent grants, funding was provided for the Hurricane Helene response of Brethren Disaster Ministries.

Democratic Republic of Congo

A grant of $258,600 supports Eglise des Freres au Congo (Church of the Brethren in the DRC) providing a six-month emergency humanitarian aid program for families affected by the war in the eastern part of the country. The program supports families in the North and South Kivu Provinces and Congolese refugees in Burundi who have fled the violence. On Jan. 27, the rebel group M23 invaded the city of Goma, capital of the North Kivu Province. This is a continuation of fighting that started in May 2022.

The rebel group since January has continued a violent campaign that has spread to South Kivu Province and elsewhere. Reportedly backed by the Rwandan government including an estimated 3,000 or more Rwandan troops, M23 has been consolidating control over key cities in the eastern DRC. Experts are concerned the conflict is expanding into a regional war. Many thousands of people have been killed or injured.

The situation is more complicated due to the large population of displaced people around Goma seeking shelter and aid. Since January, more than 71,000 Congolese refugees have crossed the border into Burundi, seeking shelter, safety and aid. Congolese Church of the Brethren leaders report this includes dozens of church families.

*A Brethren Disaster Ministries volunteer at work at the short-term rebuilding response in Spruce Pine, N.C. Photo courtesy of BDM*

To support the Congolese Brethren three previous grants have provided targeted assistance. This current grant follows a visit to the Musenyi Refugee Camp in Rutana Province near the border with Tanzania. The camp houses double the capacity it was built for, including Brethren families. It is located on flat land that is prone to flooding. Run by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), it is underfunded with officials reporting that they can offer only limited medical care and food supplies. The World Food Program will run out of funding for this project at the end of June because of the cancellation by the Trump administration of USAID funding that had been supporting the project.

The Disaster Relief Ministry of the Church of the Brethren in the DRC requested funding to support relief programing and trauma relief training for Congolese refugees in Burundi and impacted families still in the DRC. A plan was designed to support 4,990 households living as refugees in Burundi and 1,000 households with particularly vulnerable family members. This program will provide them with food, household, and personal supplies for six months, and will fund seven workshops to support trauma healing and the mental health of refugees and three workshops to raise awareness of sexual and gender-based violence. The families selected for assistance are either members of the Church of the Brethren or are particularly vulnerable due to family members with special needs, physical disabilities, children who are orphaned or separated from their families, female-headed households, and the elderly. The program plan covers all staff costs, office space for leaders, and transportation of supplies. It is being coordinated with the Burundi Church of the Brethren, the Burundi government, the UNHCR, and other organizations supporting the refugee camps.

South Sudan

A grant of $125,000 supports staff of the Church of the Brethren Mission in South Sudan in providing humanitarian relief for families affected by escalating violence and natural disasters. Recent violence and the arrest of opposition leaders by South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir, combined with ethnic group tensions has pushed the country to the brink of civil war. The unrest has exacerbated a dire humanitarian crisis.

The situation deteriorated further when the Trump administration paused and then terminated most of the US humanitarian aid to the country. Nearly 70 percent of the population (7.7 million people) are facing acute food insecurity while more than 2.2 million are internally displaced and another 2.3 million are refugees in surrounding countries. Nearly 80 percent of the South Sudanese population is in need of humanitarian assistance. Exacerbating the situation is the increasing effect of climate change, with areas of the country experiencing both extreme flooding and extreme drought.

The program being developed by the Church of the Brethren Mission in South Sudan focuses on providing humanitarian relief to families affected by the escalating violence and recent flooding in Unity State. The program will focus on three groups: 1) communities with a Church of the Brethren congregation, 2) internally displaced families still in South Sudan, and 3) South Sudanese refugees that have fled to Uganda.

Hurricane Helene

A grant of $14,400 supports the Brethren Disaster Ministries response to Hurricane Helene, which last September affected the southeast and the eastern coast of the United States. Some North Carolina and southern Virginia churches in the Southeastern District of the Church of the Brethren were in the area directly impacted by the storm and its aftermath. In March, Brethren Disaster Ministries sent a team to visit western North Carolina to explore possibilities for developing a rebuilding site there. After meeting with potential partners, working with the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church, the town of Spruce Pine in Mitchell County was determined to be the most viable option.

A two-week short-term rebuilding response in Spruce Pine was scheduled for May 11-24. This grant provides financial support to the project. Additional grants may be needed to expand this program for future recovery work in western North Carolina.

Give financially in support of these grants at www.brethren.org/edf

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