Brethren Disaster Ministries is monitoring the deadly earthquake that struck in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, June 22. Staff are monitoring an expanding crisis in the horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya) where an extreme drought, soaring food prices, and high fuel costs are adding to a massive humanitarian crisis.
When Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in August 2021, Mechanicsburg (Pa.) Church of the Brethren member Sherri Kimmel worried about the family of a student she’d met through her work at Bucknell University. Her efforts to help that family led her to Church World Service (CWS), one of nine national organizations working with the US government to resettle the 76,000 Afghans lucky enough to reach the United States.
A new joint Church of the Brethren and Church World Service (CWS) effort supporting the resettlement of Afghan evacuees in the US has received support from the Mission and Ministry Board and a grant of $52,000 from the Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF).
The month of September has been a busy one for Children’s Disaster Services (CDS). With pandemic protocols in place, CDS volunteer teams have been responding to many requests to serve.
respond to Hurricane Ida and to provide care for children of Afghan evacuees, after a busy few weeks monitoring several deployment possibilities as well as preparing for multiple trainings to continue to prepare volunteers to respond to the special needs of children in disaster and trauma-related situations.
The Church of the Brethren’s Office of Peacebuilding and Policy is one of 88 faith organizations and 219 faith leaders sending a letter to President Biden urging him to provide a robust humanitarian response to the crisis in Afghanistan and to expand opportunities for Afghans to seek refuge in the US. The letter was organized by the Interfaith Immigration Coalition.
he Church of the Brethren stands by our conviction that “all war is sin” and “we may not participate or benefit from war” (1970 Church of the Brethren Annual Conference statement on war, www.brethren.org/ac/statements/1970-war) but we must ask how we have been complicit in the war in Afghanistan and how we are called to turn now to repentance and right living.
In line with our 2004 Annual Conference “Resolution: Iraq,” 2006 Church of the Brethren “Resolution: An End to the War in Iraq,” and 2011 Church of the Brethren “Resolution on the War in Afghanistan,” the Church of the Brethren Office of Peacebuilding and Policy along with our ecumenical and interfaith partners are watching and engaging with developments on the repeal of the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (2002 AUMF) and withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan.
In four grants from the Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF), Brethren Disaster Ministries staff have directed a total of $74,000 to relief efforts following floods and landslides in Afghanistan, flooding and landslides in Balkan nations, and spring storms in the United States.
A fasting initiative that starts March 28 is gaining attention from the Global Food Crisis Fund and the peace witness and advocacy office of the Church of the Brethren. Hunger advocate Tony Hall is appealing to Americans to join him in the fast, out of concern for rising food and energy prices and impending budget