A new series of webinars will focus on urban ministry, co-sponsored by the Church of the Brethren Congregational Life Ministries. Dates and times, topics, presenter information, and brief descriptions follow:
One-and-a-Half Years in Cameroon: An Interview with an EYN District Secretary
Luka Tada was a district secretary of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) serving the District Church Council (DCC) Attagara in Gwoza Local Government in Borno State. He began his service as a district secretary before the Christian population of the area was forced out of Nigeria by the Boko Haram insurgents, and fled to Cameroon. Among other surviving pastors in the area, he fled with his church members to Cameroon where UNICEF placed them in a camp in Minawawo.
Disaster Grants Support WV Bridge Project, Displaced People in Africa, DRSI Project, Sudan Mission, Deportees
Brethren Disaster Ministries staff have directed grants from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund to a variety of projects in recent weeks. Among them are a bridge rebuilding project in West Virginia, assistance for refugees from Burundi living in Rwanda, assistance for people displaced by violence in the DR Congo, a Disaster Recovery Support Initiative aiding a longterm recovery group in South Carolina, food assistance in South Sudan, and aid for Haitian migrants returning to Haiti from the Dominican Republic. These grants total $85,950.
GFCF Grants Support Lybrook Ministries, Agriculture in Rwanda and the DR Congo
Recent grants allocated from the Church of the Brethren’s Global Food Crisis Fund (GFCF) support expansion of community gardening at the Lybrook Communities Ministries in New Mexico, and two agriculture projects that serve the Twa people in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. These three grants total $36,180.
Brethren Bits for March 25, 2016
In this issue: Churches invited to provide pictures on Annual Conference theme, personnel announcements, the new Messenger Online, an Earth Day Sunday focus on animals, Jones Chapel Church celebrates 75 years, Staunton holds renewal weekend with Carol Scheppard, Washington congregations pray together for Nigeria, and much more
German Mennonite Peace Prize to Go to EYN and Muslim Partners
A peace prize will be awarded to Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) and its Muslim partners who have cooperated in the “Christian and Muslim Peace Initiative” known as CAMPI. The announcement of the prize was made in a release from Mission 21, a partner organization of EYN that is based in Switzerland.
National Young Adult Conference Speakers to Focus on ‘Creating Harmony’
National Young Adult Conference 2016 will take place May 27-30 on the campus of Manchester University in North Manchester, Ind. Participants will focus on Colossians 3:12-17 and the theme “Creating Harmony.” The schedule includes worship, fellowship, recreation, Bible study, and service projects. Speakers include Christy Dowdy, Jim Grossnickle-Batterton, Drew Hart, Eric Landram, Waltrina Middleton, and Richard Zapata.
Project Sends Bibles to Nigeria
When Galen Hackman retired from pastoring Ephrata (Pa.) Church of the Brethren last October, the congregation collected money in his name in order to provide Bibles to Nigeria. The congregation knew that he had a heart for Nigeria because back in the 1990s he and his wife spent time there teaching at Kulp Bible College. The church raised more than $3,000 to purchase Bibles. This money along with a self-inking stamp to mark each Bible was sent with us to Nigeria this past January.
MMB Allocates $1 million to Continue Nigeria Crisis Response, Begins New Effort for Financial Support of Ongoing Ministries
A major action at the Spring meeting of the Mission and Ministry Board of the Church of the Brethren allocated another $1 million of donated funds to continue the Nigeria Crisis Response. The board also engaged in significant conversation about financial shortfalls for ongoing denominational ministries, and how to develop more support and foster relationship-building across the wider church.
Brethren Volunteer Service Unit 312 Begins Work
Volunteers who underwent orientation in the Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) Unit 312, the Winter 2016 unit, have been assigned to their project sites. The volunteers, their hometowns, and project assignments follow: