Haiti Earthquake Response

The magnitude of the suffering in Haiti caused by the earthquake on Jan. 12 is hard to put into words. Upon his return from his trip to Haiti, Roy Winter, Executive Director of Brethren Disaster Ministries, has been developing an appropriate plan of action to support both the affected Haitian Brethren as well as the wider population. Out of $300,000 in grants from the Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) for Haiti relief thus far, $150,000 is being used for Brethren Disaster Ministries’ response including:  

·         Daily hot meals for schoolchildren and the Kids Club at the Delmas 3 Church of the Brethren;

·         The hiring of teachers to support the school program;

·         A biweekly food packet to families in the communities around three Church of the Brethren congregations in Port-au-Prince;

·         One-time food packets for congregations or families that are supporting displaced earthquake survivors;

·         Food purchasing program to support farmers and buyers;

·         Temporary Shelter Program for 20 families, or about 120 people; and

·         Material aid, including special Church of the Brethren Family Household Kits (see description below and attached flyer for complete instructions).

 Additional EDF grants totaling $150,000 are supporting a large-scale Church World Service (CWS) response in collaboration with Christians in the US and worldwide. The CWS response includes food and non-food relief assistance; water, sanitation and hygiene; emergency shelter; psychosocial support; reconstruction; livelihood and agriculture rehabilitation; and other forms of assistance.

CWS Kits continue to be needed – The Material Resources warehouse in New Windsor has an urgent need for CWS Hygiene Kits, Baby Kits and School Kits. For instructions on assembling the kits, visit www.churchworldservice.org/kits.

Family Household Kits -- Brethren Disaster Ministries is encouraging Church of the Brethren families and congregations to put together Family Household Kits to help Haitian families as they work to provide for themselves.  Click here for complete instructions.  Videos showing the kit contents are available on YouTube. 

 The first one is 4:27 minutes long and features Roy Winter putting together the Family Household Kit and explaining the water filtration system that will be added to the kit at the Brethren Service Center: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzrzXZ0G4hw.  As you purchase supplies for the kit, be sure to follow the instructions in the attached flyer.

The second video is an appeal to continue to make hygiene and school kits, and Roy asks for heavy duty tarps for families: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT9zJ-cBtkM   This video is 0:53 minutes long.

The Shenandoah District Office serves as a collection point for the kits and tarps.  Shenandoah’s Disaster Coordinating Team are in touch with BDM staff and are aware of their deadlines for shipping kits and tarps to Haiti and will work to make sure that our district’s contributions are at the Brethren Service Center on time.

We thank you for your concern and generous support of

Shenandoah District and Brethren Disaster Ministries.

Janet Elsea Called As Volunteer Mission Servant

Background: members and congregations of the Church of the Brethren in Shenandoah District immediately offered prayers, money and resources upon hearing of the devastating earthquake in Haiti on January 12, 2010. The District Board, through its staff, has worked hard to keep current information and transmission of funds and materials from members through the Church of the Brethren Emergency Disaster Ministries program and District Disaster Ministries. The response is amazing!

In addition to these on going efforts, there are a number of members and congregations that have long established relationships with other mission and service efforts in Haiti. These ministries are also being well supported. However, linking these additional efforts to each other and back to Haiti could benefit from greater coordination, support, sharing and communication.

The Executive Committee has called Janet Elsea as volunteer Mission Servant. She will be working with a Mission Servant Advisory Team of 4 to 6 persons in an initial six month process at first focused on coordination, support and sharing by members and churches working with long established mission and service projects in Haiti. 

For more than a year, the Executive Committee has been discussing both Church of the Brethren and non-Brethren mission efforts by our members and churches in several locations around the world. As recently as September 30, that discussion included the following guideline:   “finding ways the district can increase communication between churches engaged in mission efforts, exploring a role in coordination of efforts- both resources available and opportunities for mission; uplifting mission accomplishments, and sharing information through a well managed web site. There is a hope that the efforts by the district would be ones that support and coordinate the mission efforts of our churches, not compete.”

For more information about this venture, please contact Janet Elsea. Check out the “Shenandoah District Missions Info” group on Facebook.

2009 District Calendar

Click on a date on the calendar to see the meetings or event(s) listed.

It may be cold outside today, but National Youth Conference is not too far away!  Are you ready?  The National Youth Cabinet and our district's NYC Transportation Team have been making lists and checking them twice to make your NYC experience is a great one!  Click here to find out more about National Youth Conference and district-sponsored travel options.