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.
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.”
The Global Food Initiative (GFI) has given its latest round of grants to support well drilling by the Haiti Medical Project, an agricultural training component for students at the Great Lakes Bible School in Rwanda, and “Farming God’s Way” in the Church of the Brethren in Burundi.
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.
Keynote speaker Dennis R. Edwards of North Park Theological Seminary, and preachers Etienne Nsanzimana of the Church of the Brethren in Rwanda and Jeff Carter of Bethany Theological Seminary, led the main sessions at the first-ever L.E.A.D. Conference of the Church of the Brethren on Nov. 15-17.
During the early hours of a recent morning, I was awakened by the sound of bombs exploding some distance away. Across the border from us, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, there are frequent skirmishes between rebels and the government forces. It is not uncommon for us to hear gunfire and explosions. There is no imminent danger to us here, but knowing that others are facing death and destruction is disconcerting to say the least.
The Church of the Brethren in Rwanda is receiving an emergency grant to aid those affected by extreme flooding this week. Etienne Nsanzimana, founding pastor in Rwanda, shared that the churches are “overwhelmed by this terrible flood.”
The staff of Brethren Disaster Ministries have directed recent grants from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) to support aid being provided to families in need by the Rwanda Church of the Brethren; and to support volunteer training by Child Life Disaster Relief.
Brethren Disaster Ministries staff have directed grants from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) to support relief efforts by the denomination’s Puerto Rico District following Hurricane Fiona, and in the African nations of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Nigeria, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uganda. To financially support the work of Brethren Disaster Ministries, and to give to these and other EDF grants, go to www.brethren.org/edf.
The latest round of grants from the Global Food Initiative (GFI) have been given to ministries of Churches of the Brethren in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), for the Seed Projects; Rwanda, for purchase of a grain mill; and Venezuela, for agriculture micro-projects. For more about the GFI and to contribute financially to these grants, go to www.brethren.org/gfi.