DISASTER RESPONSE

Our prayers continue for those affected by the devastating hurricane this fall in Jamaica, where Naperville pastor Dennis Webb has numerous friends and family members. The Naperville church has been coordinating a response of needed supplies in cooperation with the Caribbean-American Family Network. Contact Naperville at napervillecob@gmail.com for more information.

Brethren Disaster Ministries is continuing work this year at a rebuilding site in Letcher County, Ky., with new builds and repairs of homes damaged during the July 2022 flooding event. Seth Long, Executive Director, was featured on a Nov 4 podcast talking about the work on HOMES Inc. in the community. You can listen here: https://www.christianapp.org/news/podcast. Our district is assisting with a team in Letcher County this week (Dec. 7-13).  In 2026, our district’s volunteer week will shift to the summer, late August/early September. A group of nearly 100 disaster response volunteers also served in Johnson County, Tenn., from Sept. 21 to Nov. 15 to aid in the recovery from Hurricane Helene. 

For those interested in volunteering with Children’s Disaster Services, several trainings are available in late winter/spring 2026: Feb. 20-21 in Beaufort, S.C. or Bradford, Ohio; Feb. 27-28 in Glendale, Ariz.; or March 14-15 in La Verne, Calif. Registration, including all meals, curriculum, and overnight is $55 for early bird, and $65 if sent less than three weeks before the event. Participants in the 25-hour training, which includes a simulated shelter experience, learn to provide comfort and encouragement to children by offering the healing young children need in traumatic situations. Learn more and register at https://www.brethren.org/cds/training/. 

With the closure of the Material Resources program in New Windsor, Md. (where the Brethren Service Center offices will remain), the Church World Service Kit Depot location at the Elgin office is also closing and will no longer be a location that receives kits. Learn more at cwskits.org/cws-kits-end-of-the-year-updates. It appears the nearest drop-off location to our district now is the CWS Service Annex in Elkhart, Indiana. There is also a location in Boone, Iowa, near Ames. Kits can also be shipped to one of the remaining depots.