DISASTER RESPONSE

We invite continued prayers for the community of Lena, Ill., located just about five miles north of our Yellow Creek congregation near Pearl City. Lena was hit by an EF-2 tornado on Friday, April 17. The Yellow Creek church building had some water in the basement, but otherwise we are not aware of any Church of the Brethren members directly affected by the storms. Lena, however, experienced some significant damage, although there were thankfully no fatalities. Several other tornadoes also hit Illinois, including one near Rockton in Winnebago County and others in the east-central part of the state. Pearl City also experienced trees down and some other damage from storms during the week. Brethren Disaster Ministries and our district disaster coordinator, Rick Koch, have been monitoring for any possible response needs.

Brethren Disaster Ministries (BDM) is transitioning toward recovery from 2024’s Hurricane Helene in North Carolina. In April it began serving survivors in Ashe, Henderson, and Transylvania counties. For more than three years, beginning in October 2022, BDM ran shortand long-term projects in Kentucky to respond to devastating July 2022 flooding in the south and southeastern part of the state.

BDM also ran a one-week project April 26-May 2 in western Maryland’s Allegany County in response to a flash flood that occurred in May 2025 and resulted in extensive damage.

Our district’s volunteer week this year has shifted to the summer, in late August/early September.