International guests received a warm welcome from the 2026 Annual Conference. On Monday morning, June 29, during the opening business session Global Mission executive Sharon Brugger Norton introduced the guests from the stage. She noted that this might have been the first time that Annual Conference has welcomed international guests from Vietnam.
Roger Moreno, president of ASIGLEH (Church of the Brethren in Venezuela), had been planning to attend but could not because of the massive earthquakes that hit his country. The congregations of ASIGLEH were not directly affected but the church leadership has begun work to offer disaster assistance in affected areas. Brethren Disaster Ministries directed a grant of $5,000 from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund to help ASIGLEH begin the work.
Norton shared that several international guests who had wanted to attend could not be present because of inability to get visas to enter the United States.
The following international guests were welcomed by the delegate body:
From Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria):
EYN president Daniel Mbaya
EYN liaison officer Markus Gamache
Former EYN director of disaster ministries Yuguda Mdurvwa
EYN BEST group members Elisha and Ruth Shava
From la Iglesia de los Hermanos en la Republica Dominicana (Dominican Republic):
Moderator of the Asamblea, Santa Elena Rosario
Education coordinator Ariel Rosario
From South Sudan:
Church of the Brethren country director Athanasus Ungang
From Vietnam, social workers with the Retinopathy of Prematurity Project:
Doan Ngoc Doan Thanh
Tran Ngoc Uyen Nhi
Norton invited Conferencegoers to help welcome other international participants who may be here at Annual Conference but were not formally introduced.
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Find more Church of the Brethren news:
- Amy Gall Ritchie to serve as Annual Conference moderator-elect, among other election results
- Church of the Brethren welcomes a new church plant and a new fellowship
- International guests attend Annual Conference
- Loving our immigrant neighbors
- A reunion and a planning committee: The Brethren Disaster Ministries and Children’s Disaster Services breakfast