Brethren Disaster Ministries is working with Puerto Rico District to plan its response following last year’s hurricanes. An allocation of $200,000 from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) has been approved by the denomination’s Mission and Ministry Board to provide funding for the effort.
What a wonderful God we serve! In August, Church World Service (CWS) announced the need for more disaster relief clean-up buckets in the warehouse at the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md. This request was prompted by Hurricane Harvey’s devastation of Houston, Texas. Little did they know Irma, Jose, and Maria were on their way, as well as a devastating earthquake in Mexico.
Church of the Brethren volunteers have done repairs to church buildings and homes in Puerto Rico this month. The church buildings receiving repair are connected with Segunda Iglesia Cristo Misionera (Caimito Church of the Brethren) and some nearby homes. Two groups of volunteers, totaling seven people, assisted with the project which received support from Brethren Disaster Ministries.
Roy Winter is on a trip to Puerto Rico this week to assess needs following Hurricane Maria and to meet with Church of the Brethren leaders in Puerto Rico District. Winter is associate executive director of Global Mission and Service and Brethren Disaster Ministries.
More CDS teams go to Florida, Brethren Disaster Ministries assesses post-hurricane needs.
Material Resources staff have put out an urgent call for donations of clean-up buckets for distribution by Church World Service (CWS). The program also has been shipping relief supplies to Texas to aid people who were affected by Hurricane Harvey and the subsequent flooding.
A worship service is planned as a closing event for the upper campus of the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., on April 30. Sale of the upper campus is expected to be completed in early May.
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.
A fifth team of volunteers from Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) arrived in Baton Rouge, La., on Thursday, Sept. 1. Four CDS teams already have completed their service there. The CDS volunteers have been caring for children and families who have been displaced by flooding and are living in American Red Cross shelters.
Two teams of Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) volunteers have begun work in Baton Rouge, La., this week, and more teams have been requested to help care for children and families who have been displaced by massive flooding.