By Ruoxia Li and Eric Miller, co-directors of Global Mission
In recent years, there has been a concern about decline in the church in the US; however, the global church is growing in most of the 10 countries where the Church of the Brethren has sister denominations around the world. Annual grants provide critical funds to support leaders as they develop denominations in countries that are torn by conflict and disasters. Fellowships are forming in new countries. Churches are being built and leaders are being trained through programs in the US as well as those they design themselves or in nearby seminaries.
In the last year, major gifts have made possible the purchase of a new property for Delmas, the Haitian mother church. These gifts have supported the completion of the first translation of the Bible into Kamwe—a language in Nigeria—which is a culmination of work over decades. Your generosity has allowed us to send money to Nigeria to rebuild churches that were destroyed as Christians are persecuted and attacked. Your gifts also provide resources for building new churches in the African countries of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as well as in Venezuela. Evangelism of those churches is reaching people who have been marginalized in their own countries and gives them hope as they receive the Good News that Jesus cares and that they matter—to God and to the human family.
Your gifts help us build relationships with our brothers and sisters around the world. We pray for them, and they pray for us, and all of us are blessed. These relationships allow Brethren Disaster Ministries to respond quickly to needs that strike the areas where we have churches. As one example, churches in Rwanda and the DRC were able to distribute food to their members and neighbors after a volcano there. In addition to places where we have sister churches, your gifts also support projects in eight other countries around the world. This includes literally bringing sight to the blind in Vietnam, and supporting peacemakers in war-torn South Sudan.
Through your generosity, Brethren around the world will continue to do this and so much more in the coming year. They are able to do so much with so little. Despite many challenges, we can celebrate that our church is growing around the world!
Visit www.brethren.org/global/ for more information about the work of Global Mission and to sign up for the global mission prayer guide. Support this ministry of the Church of the Brethren at www.brethren.org/giveGM.