wfn.org | Brethren disaster projects close in Louisiana, open in Mississippi

[COBNews@aol.com]

Date: Jan. 19,	2006
Contact: Cheryl  Brumbaugh-Cayford
V: 847/742-5100 F: 847/742-6103
E-MAIL: _CoBNews@AOL.Com_ (mailto:CoBNews@AOL.Com) 
 
BRETHREN DISASTER RESPONSE PROJECTS CLOSE IN LOUISIANA, OPEN IN  MISSISSIPPI
 
Jan. 19, 2006 (Elgin, IL) --  The Church of the Brethren Disaster  Response 
program has completed a Hurricane Rita clean-up project based in  Roanoke,
La., 
as of Dec. 17, 2005, and has moved a project repairing damage from  Hurricane

Katrina in southern Alabama across the state line to  Mississippi.
 
During the two months that the project in the Lake Charles area of  Louisiana

was operating, more than 100 households received assistance with  debris, 
tree removal, and roof tarping, reported Jane Yount, coordinator of  Brethren

Disaster Response. Volunteers Ed and Bonnie Bryan and Brethren	Volunteer
Service 
volunteers Jodi Eller and Joan and Phil Taylor headed up the  effort with 
leadership from Roanoke Church of the Brethren and pastor James  Balmer, and
Lake 
Charles Community Church of the Brethren.
 
Brethren work teams accomplished much in the way of debris removal,  roofing,

and repairs in the area of Citronelle, Ala., since mid-September 2005.	Over 
the weekend, the project moved to Mississippi, where the Brethren have been  
invited to assist with rebuilding and repair projects in George County.  
Volunteer housing is in the Crossroads Pentecostal Church parsonage outside
of  
Lucedale, Yount reported. "The church is graciously providing this facility
to  us 
at no charge. We feel blessed by God's provision so that we can continue his 

work on behalf of those who have suffered loss," she said.
 
Another Brethren Disaster Response project continues in Pensacola, Fla.,  
following Hurricane Ivan. "The Florida Panhandle was clobbered first by  
Hurricane Ivan in September 2004, then by Hurricane Dennis in July 2005, 
affecting 
thousands of households in the poorest area of the state," Yount said.	"We
said 
we were in for the long haul, and that has proven to be true." The work  in 
Florida consists mainly of repairs to water-damaged sections of homes,	
including drywall, floors, insulation, and siding.
 
At another continuing project in Belmont County, Ohio, since June 2005	
volunteers have been doing repair work and completing rebuilding of homes 
damaged 
by flooding. Three additional rebuilds will be started after foundations  are

completed. 
 
A training for new district disaster coordinators will be held at the  
Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Md., on April 24-26. "There has been 
quite 
a turnover in district disaster coordinators in the last year," said  Yount, 
who reported that there are new coordinators in about ten districts. Any  
district disaster coordinator who has never been to a training will be
invited.  A
conference for all district disaster coordinators and disaster project	
directors is planned for 2007.
 
The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to  
continuing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its
faith  in 
community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith  
traditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrates its
 300th 
anniversary in 2008. It counts about 130,000 members across the United	
States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Brazil, the  
Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Nigeria.
 
# # #
 
For more information contact:
 
Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
Director of News Services
Church of the  Brethren General Board
1451 Dundee Ave.
Elgin, IL 60120
847-742-5100  ext. 260
_cbrumbaugh-cayford_gb@brethren.org_ 
(mailto:cbrumbaugh-cayford_gb@brethren.org) 
 
*****************************************************************
The  Church of the Brethren Newsline is produced by Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford,

 director of news services for the Church of the Brethren General Board. 
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