Brethren Disaster Ministries has directed grants from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) to the Disaster Recovery Support Initiative and the task of developing new project sites following the 2017 hurricane and fire season. In addition, a grant has been given to assist families displaced by violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Church of the Brethren Newsline September 28, 2017 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). Brethren Disaster Ministries is organizing the Church of the Brethren response in Puerto Rico, following Hurricane Maria. The response will include–in the short term–the shipping of a container of disaster relief supplies and a visit
The latest grants from two Church of the Brethren funds–the Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) and the Global Food Initiative (GFI)–have been given to Brethren Disaster Ministries work following flooding in the area of Columbia, S.C.; the church’s mission in South Sudan, where staff are responding to needs of people affected by the country’s civil war; the Shalom Ministry for Reconciliation in the Democratic Republic of Congo serving people affected by conflict; and community gardens related to Church of the Brethren congregations.
Fledgling Church of the Brethren mission projects in two areas of the world–Venezuela and the Great Lakes region of Africa–have been formally approved by the denomination’s Mission and Ministry Board, at its March 3-8 meeting.
Working through a nascent Brethren church in the region, the Church of the Brethren sponsored a capacity-building conference to bring Batwa together from Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The following is excerpted from a report by Dr. David Niyonzima, detailing the conference and some of the learnings gained from the interaction:
The Global Food Crisis Fund (GFCF) of the Church of the Brethren has provided several grants in recent months that support agriculture by a Brethren group in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a gardening project in Alaska, nutrition education and cooking classes for Spanish speaking population living around Roanoke, Va., and the work of a Brethren Volunteer Service worker at the Church of the Brethren Office of Public Witness in Washington, D.C.
The Church of the Brethren’s Global Food Crisis Fund (GFCF) has allocated a number of grants totaling more than $90,000. The allocations support Proyecto Aldea Global in Honduras, THARS in Burundi, a community garden related to Mountain View Church of the Brethren in Idaho, two community garden projects in Spain, and agricultural training in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Grants have gone to several ministries in Africa and Haiti from two funds of the Church of the Brethren, the Global Food Crisis Fund (GFCF) and the Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF). The four grants total $49,330.
Global Mission and Service executive director Jay Wittmeyer spent several days visiting the fledgling Brethren group in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), returning on Sept. 18. Wittmeyer flew into Bujumbura, Burundi, and then traveled overland into the Congo, first to Uvira in South Kivu and then south to Fizi and Ngovi.
The Global Food Crisis Fund (GFCF) this week announces three grants, to support a new Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) position at the Church of the Brethren Office of Public Witness, and for agriculture work in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.