Brethren Disaster Ministries has directed a grant of $50,000 from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) to support the next phase of response to devastation in Haiti caused by Hurricane Matthew. The storm hit the island on Oct. 4, 2016, as a powerful category 4 hurricane, causing widespread damage and considerable losses, and up to 1,600 deaths.
Grants from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund support rebuilding projects in South Carolina and Detroit, as well as disaster relief work in South Sudan.
Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) is responding in North Carolina following Hurricane Matthew. Areas of the state suffered severe flooding caused by the hurricane that hit the east coast of the United States after sweeping over Haiti and other areas of the Caribbean. A CDS team of volunteers traveled to Fayetteville, N.C., on Tuesday to begin serving children and families affected by the flooding.
As Hurricane Matthew batters Florida today, Brethren Disaster Ministries continues to monitor the situation and is working to determine response plans in the Caribbean and on the east coast. Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) has put volunteers on alert.
Aug. 13 was a day of celebration for the inaugural class of the Haiti Theological Training program, Ecole Theologie de la Mission Evangelique des Eglises des Frères D’Haïti. The graduation ceremony witnessed 22 graduates walking across the stage to receive diplomas and shake hands with professors and guests of honor.
The Haiti Medical Project began as a partnership of American and Haitian Brethren responding to health needs in the wake of a devastating earthquake in 2010. In the time since, the project has grown tremendously with the help of grants from the Global Food Initiative (formerly the Global Food Crisis Fund) and the Royer Family Foundation, and the drive of passionate individuals from both the Church of the Brethren and L’Eglise des Freres Haitiens (Church of the Brethren in Haiti).
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.
A total of $77,958 has been distributed in recent grants from two funds of the Church of the Brethren, the Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) and the Global Food Crisis Fund (GFCF). The grants provide funding for the completion of a Brethren Disaster Ministries rebuilding project in New Jersey and the start up of a new rebuilding project in West Virginia, as well as a rabbit project in Haiti and assessment of GFCF-sponsored projects in the Africa Great Lakes region.
Thirty leaders of Eglise des Freres Haitiens (the Church of the Brethren in Haiti) gathered with about 20 persons from the United States for the first Haiti Service Ministries Consultation on Nov. 19-23. The focus was learning about Brethren ministries underway in Haiti, and building bridges of partnership among the Haitian Brethren and American Brethren. It was sponsored by the Global Mission and Service of the Church of the Brethren and organized by Dale Minnich, a volunteer with the Haiti Medical Project.
The Global Food Crisis Fund (GFCF) of the Church of the Brethren has given a grant of $35,000 to support the agricultural work of Eglise des Freres Haitiens, the Church of the Brethren in Haiti. This grant is in addition to three previous grants to the project. This is the fourth year for the agriculture program, which was planned to last five years as a post-disaster response effort following the earthquake that devastated Haiti in 2010.