Engage: Global Mission Gathering will be held on the theme “United in Mission” on Sunday, Sept. 20, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. (Eastern time) at Lancaster (Pa.) Church of the Brethren. This will be an evening celebrating the Global Church of the Brethren Communion. Hear firsthand from Brethren leaders and partners connected with the church in Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, and Nigeria, and explore what it means to be united in mission.
Brethren Disaster Ministries has directed the latest round of grants, made this spring through early summer, from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF). The grants support disaster relief efforts and aid in North Carolina, Western Maryland, Ukraine, Gaza and the West Bank, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Venezuela, and Cuba.
International guests received a warm welcome from the 2026 Annual Conference. On Monday morning, June 29, during the opening business session Global Mission executive Sharon Brugger Norton introduced the guests from the stage. She noted that this might have been the first time that Annual Conference has welcomed international guests from Vietnam.
Brethren Disaster Ministries has directed grants from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) to continued support for the Nigeria Crisis Response as well as to support people in Lebanon who are affected by the war between Israel and Hezbollah.
Two departments of Ekklesiyar Yan’uwa a Nigeria (EYN, the Church of the Brethren in Nigeria) have shared information about recent violence affecting members and congregations of EYN in northeast Nigeria.
The last set of grants for 2025 from the Church of the Brethren’s Global Food Initiative (GFI) rounded out the year by supporting needs around the world, from Honduras to Rwanda, Nigeria to Ecuador, as well as local projects in Pennsylvania.
On Nov. 20, I attended a congressional hearing on the redesignation of Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern.” Coming from a different meeting, I arrived 10 minutes before the start. The room was so full that there was a line down the hallway. This was the most interest in Nigeria that I’ve witnessed on Capitol Hill since the abduction of the schoolgirls from Chibok more than 10 years ago. I am hopeful to see this much attention on Nigeria, but the focus of this attention on potential military action is troubling.
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.”
Zakaria Bulus spoke at a recent US Commission on International Religious Freedom hearing on governance in Nigeria, on the topic “Foundation for Securing Freedom of Religion or Belief.”
Brethren Disaster Ministries has directed grants from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) to continued support for the Nigeria Crisis Response, to aid those affected in three central African countries by the warfare in Goma and the surrounding area, to aid those affected by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, and to aid those affected by the war in Ukraine, among others.