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.
Many of us woke up Saturday morning with news of the U.S. military strike on Venezuela that led to the capture of Venezuela President Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. We have received an official statement from the president’s office of the Church of the Brethren in Venezuela (ASIGLEH) calling for calm, prudence and peace
The Church of the Brethren in Venezuela, Iglesia de los Hermanos Venezuela, has issued the following statement this morning. Please pray for our brothers and sisters during these difficult times.
Brethren Disaster Ministries has directed the last grants for 2025 from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) headed by a large grant of $120,000 to support the Hurricane Melissa recovery program of Églises des Frères d’Haïti (the Church of the Brethren in Haiti) and $5,000 to support emergency relief in Cuba after Hurricane Melissa via ASIGLEH (the Church of the Brethren in Venezuela).
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.
The Church of the Brethren’s Global Food Initiative (GFI) has given its latest round of grants to support food ministries at four Church of the Brethren congregations in Illinois and Ohio; the Beyond Abundance Program of Phahama Grain Phakama in South Africa; and the purchase of electric mills for indigenous Amazon communities to grind cassava, via the Church of the Brethren in Venezuela.
Brethren Disaster Ministries has directed two $10,000 grants from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) to a flood relief program of ASIGLEH (the Church of the Brethren in Venezuela) and to the work of partner organization Child Life Disaster Relief.
International guests at the 2024 Annual Conference include top leadership from several Church of the Brethren sister denominations around the world as well as a number from B.E.S.T. in Nigeria.