http:\/\/af.reuters.com\/article\/topNews\/idAFKCN0ZF1K7<\/a> ).<\/p>\n\u201cWith increasing violence and growing crowds of people seeking protection, urgent action and support from the ecumenical community is needed in South Sudan as the country teeters on the brink of a humanitarian crisis,\u201d reported the World Council of Churches (WCC) in a release dated July 15.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe country is on the brink of economic collapse, and prices of food items, particularly maize flour–a staple food in South Sudan–has soared over the past days,\u201d the release said.<\/p>\n
A peace advisory group of the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) met on June 13 in Nairobi, Kenya, and released an appeal for all partners and friends of South Sudan to contribute any amount at their disposal for immediate support of extremely vulnerable women and children affected by the crisis.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith churches becoming sheltering places, there is a need for any humanitarian assistance that can be mobilized,\u201d said the appeal, which also called for churches in the region and internationally to speak in one voice for peace. \u201cThe South Sudanese Church leaders feel very strongly that such a united voice could have some impact,\u201d said the appeal.<\/p>\n
The South Sudan Council of Churches condemned all acts of violence, without exception, in a statement that was read over the radio. \u201cThe time for carrying and using weapons has ended; now is the time to build a peaceful nation,\u201d said the statement. \u201cWe pray for those who have been killed, and for their families, and we ask God\u2019s forgiveness for those who have done the killing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Church leaders urged repentance and a firm commitment from all armed individuals, forces, and communities, and from their leaders, to create an atmosphere where violence is not an option.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Purchase of relief vehicle<\/strong><\/p>\nA relief vehicle has been purchased for use in South Sudan, using donations to the Church of the Brethren Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) and funds provided by the Global Mission and Service office. The staff at Brethren Disaster Ministries requested an EDF allocation of up to $16,400 for the purchase.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Church of the Brethren mission is working to build peace and strengthen communities of faith while helping meet the needs of the most vulnerable in communities where we have relationships,\u201d said the grant request. \u201cThis work has included hosting work camps from the US, distributing emergency supplies after a fire, and distributing emergency food to starving communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
The EDF grant covers half the cost of the vehicle, with the other half coming from Global Mission and Service funds designated for South Sudan. It is anticipated the vehicle will be used on future disaster response and relief activities. The vehicle is a Toyota Landcruiser Hardtop Long Bed with seating for 13 people.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As the situation in South Sudan deteriorates, with recent eruption of renewed armed conflict and United Nations reports that 4.8 million people face food shortages, the Church of the Brethren has donated a vehicle to aid staff in food distribution and other relief work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[456,9,1263,399,10],"wf_post_folders":[],"class_list":["post-11689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-brethren-disaster-ministries","tag-emergency-disaster-fund","tag-peace","tag-south-sudan","tag-sudan"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11689"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11692,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11689\/revisions\/11692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11689"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=11689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/11\/delivery-of-relief-goods-in-s-sudan.jpg\")