A powerful and eye-opening trip to the Dominican Republic in February and March inspired me to share both the joys and challenges we encountered there, along with glimpses of how God is at work through his people.
There were many languages spoken around the tables at the Global Mission Dinner held during Annual Conference, as international guests from several countries joined Sharon Brugger Norton, the new executive director of Global Mission for the Church of the Brethren, under the umbrella of Rev. 21:1-5, “The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.”
Recent grants made from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) have been directed by Brethren Disaster Ministries to extend aid to organizations working in response to humanitarian needs created by the war between Israel and Hamas, with the violence now extended beyond Gaza into the West Bank and Lebanon
International guests at the 2024 Annual Conference include top leadership from several Church of the Brethren sister denominations around the world as well as a number from B.E.S.T. in Nigeria.
The staff of Brethren Disaster Ministries and Iglesia de los Hermanos (the Church of the Brethren) in the Dominican Republic (DR) are working together on an effort to aid displaced Haitians. A grant of $5,000 is being requested from the Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) to provide emergency food to Haitian citizens fleeing across the border to the Dominican Republic and away from the violence in Haiti. Haiti and the DR share the same Caribbean island.
From June 9-11, as part of an ongoing attempt by the Global Mission office of the Church of the Brethren in the US to encourage unity and reconciliation in the Church of the Brethren in the Dominican Republic (Iglesia de los Hermanos Republica Dominicana), retired pastor Alix Sable of Lancaster, Pa., and Global Food Initiative (GFI) manager Jeff Boshart met with church leaders.
Brethren Disaster Ministries has directed grants from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) for a tornado response and rebuilding program in Kentucky, aid to Ukrainian refugees and others affected by the war, a hurricane response in Honduras, projects of the Church of the Brethren in the Democratic Republic of Congo, among other needs.
For the first time since 2019, leaders of the Global Church of the Brethren Communion met in person, hosted by the Church of the Brethren in the Dominican Republic (DR). Leaders representing Brazil, the DR, Haiti, Honduras, India, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Sudan, Spain, and the United States met for five days, including days of meetings and visits to agricultural projects.
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.
Small, but important steps were taken this year in the life of Iglesia de los Hermanos (Church of the Brethren) in the Dominican Republic.
