April 24, 2009

ELGIN, IL – Brethren Disaster Ministries and Church of the Brethren volunteers are participating in an ecumenical Blitz Build currently taking place in New Orleans to rebuild homes destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

Brethren Disaster Ministries is providing 15 volunteers per week for all four weeks of the project.

The Blitz Build is sponsored by Church World Service with the participation of 10 Christian denominations, working with the local New Orleans longterm recovery organization Crescent Alliance Recovery Effort.

Volunteers began work on April 20 in the community of Little Woods, which is described as a historic lakefront community in New Orleans' Ninth Ward. The project will repair or rebuild 12 homes during the four weeks from April 19-May 16.

During the first morning orientation, more than 125 volunteers gathered from the 10 Christian denominations, including the Church of the Brethren, according to Brethren Disaster Ministries coordinator Jane Yount. The Blitz Build is gathering the diverse volunteers under the themes, "Working as One," and "Rebuilding Homes, Reclaiming Hope." To kick off the event, volunteers each hammered a single nail into a common board to represent their participation in the project.

A link to the photo album by CWS's Matthew Hackworth is provided at http://www.brethren.org/site/PageServer?pagename=serve_brethren_disaster_ministries_updates.

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 celebrated its 300th anniversary in 2008. It counts more than 125,000 members across the United States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Nigeria, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and India.

Church of the Brethren News Service