Children’s Disaster Services has three upcoming training events. Participants completing the 25-hour workshops will have the opportunity to become certified Children’s Disaster Services volunteers. CDS would love to see an increase in the number of Church of the Brethren-related volunteers.
“Please continue to pray for survivors in the affected areas [of Turkey and Syria] who face the trauma of losing homes and loved ones, continued aftershocks, living out of doors without basic amenities/food and in freezing temperatures, and in danger of diseases such as cholera. Their needs are great and will continue to be great for a long time to come. Please also pray for all the official and unofficial responders.”
— Brethren Disaster Ministries
Brethren Disaster Ministries has directed grants from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) to continue the Nigeria Crisis Response through 2023 and to support a response to flooding and conflict in South Sudan.
Brethren Disaster Ministries staff are monitoring the re-occurring storms and flooding in California and their damage, and sending prayers for those who are affected. The staff have reached out to leadership of Pacific Southwest District and received word that they have not heard from any Church of the Brethren congregations experiencing issues, either for their church buildings or their members.
The last few months at First Church of the Brethren North Fort Myers, Fla., has shown us all that God is truly in the details of our lives and our church. The strategic location of our building and the large parking lot made us the focal point of essential water and food distribution after the devastation our community received from Hurricane Ian.
Jesus Lounge Ministry has partnered with the Student Life Alliance in West Palm Beach, Fla., where pastor Founa Augustin Badet is the treasurer, and the Delray Beach Library “Let’s Talk Period” program to support at-risk teens and tweens with hygiene and feminine hygiene kits. The ministry is a Church of the Brethren new church start in Atlantic Southeast District.
Church of the Brethren ministries are assisting survivors of Hurricanes Ian and Fiona through shipments by Material Resources, Children’s Disaster Services teams in Florida, and acts of love and compassion in Puerto Rico.
Beginning Friday, Oct. 14, an online art auction to support the Ukrainian crisis response, overseen by Brethren Disaster Ministries, will open and receive bids for 180 donated art items.
Brethren Disaster Ministries staff have directed grants from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) to support relief efforts by the denomination’s Puerto Rico District following Hurricane Fiona, and in the African nations of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Nigeria, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uganda. To financially support the work of Brethren Disaster Ministries, and to give to these and other EDF grants, go to www.brethren.org/edf.
Brethren Disaster Ministries staff and the Atlantic Southeast District leadership are continuing to reach out to affected churches and communities to learn of the impact of the storm and the needs that have developed. So far there are no reports of injury among church members, but there is news of minor damage in two churches.
