Armenia study tour is planned for Sept. 2009.

Heifer International and the Church of the Brethren's Global Mission Partnerships are co-sponsoring a study tour to Armenia in Sept. 2009. The tour will be led by Jan Schrock, a former director of Brethren Volunteer Service and daughter of Dan West, who originally established Heifer Project as a program of the Church of the Brethren.

"It's an historic event for Brethren, harking to the remarkable engagement of Brethren with Armenians at a time of genocide almost a century ago. The response marked the entry of Brethren into overseas relief and service ministries," said Howard Royer, manager of the Church of the Brethren's Global Food Crisis Fund.

The Global Food Crisis Fund has maintained Brethren involvement with Armenia and Heifer International through a series of recent grants. The fund in 2004 gave a grant of $10,000 to Heifer for the Aigebetz "Sunrise" Project in Armenia, that helped orphaned teens who were no longer eligible for government support to become established with land, housing, training, and livestock. In 2006, a $10,000 grant to Heifer helped develop a Rural Women's Union in Armenia, networking women heads of households engaged in subsistent farming. Currently the fund supports the PASS Program in Armenia through a partnership with the Foods Resource Bank.

Source: 8/27/2008 Newsline