The 13 members of Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) Unit 339 have begun service at their project sites. The volunteers completed orientation on July 27 to Aug. 4 at Inspiration Hills Camp in Burbank, Ohio.
By Sharon Franzén Brethren Disaster Ministries (BDM) has opened a new Rebuilding project site in Yancey County, N.C., expanding its long-term response to communities affected by Hurricane Helene in 2024. The site opened June 7, 2026, after volunteers served earlier this year in Ashe, Henderson, and Transylvania Counties. Yancey County was among the communities hardest
The Church of the Brethren has been awarded a half-million dollar grant to support Brethren Disaster Ministries, reported Roy Winter, executive director of the Church of the Brethren’s Service Ministries and Brethren Disaster Ministries. The grant will support “a three-year program expansion and improvements to US based programs,” he said. The grant was received from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its initiative, “Hope After the Storm: Capacity Building for Faith-Based Disaster Relief Organizations.”
The Brethren Disaster Ministries Rebuilding Program is transitioning toward recovery from 2024’s Hurricane Helene in North Carolina, beginning in April 2026 when it is serving survivors in Ashe, Henderson, and Transylvania Counties.
Brethren Disaster Ministries, with leadership from Cliff Kindy, is organizing a team of skilled volunteers to serve in Pointe-au-Chien, La., from April 7-28 to rebuild a home destroyed by Hurricane Ida in 2021.
From Sept. 21 to Nov. 15, 2025, more than 95 Brethren Disaster Ministries Rebuilding volunteers traveled to Johnson County, Tenn., to support 11 households impacted by Hurricane Helene.
The volunteers from Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) Unit 338 have begun work at their project sites, after completing orientation earlier this month. This was the fall 2025 unit of BVS.
Brethren Volunteer Service (BVS) Unit 337, the 2025 summer unit, completed orientation at Camp Colorado on July 27 through Aug. 4.
“Growing up in a small country I always wanted to try new things,” said Lieketseng “Keke” Phooko, who hails from Lesotho, a country entirely surrounded by South Africa. “I always wanted to be outside of my home country to practice English.” Phooko has been able to do these things, and so much more, working for Brethren Disaster Ministries.
Onsite coordinator is not a thankless job, but it can be invisible. Each year’s coordinators are listed in the Annual Conference booklet, and their work is celebrated by the Annual Conference director, and receives applause. But it is an essential and largely invisible task!
