Brethren give $50,000 to agriculture in N. Korea, among recent grants.

Six recent grants from the Global Food Crisis Fund (GFCF) and the Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) of the Church of the Brethren General Board total $90,500--among them $50,000 to support agriculture in North Korea, which continues to experience periodic famine.

The GFCF allocation of $50,000 for the Sustainable Agriculture and Community Development Program in North Korea represents the fourth year of supporting Agglobe International with the endeavor. Funds will help purchase seed, plastic sheeting, and fertilizer for farms in the program.

The alleviation of periodic famine in North Korea remains a compelling factor, said the grant request. “The Church of the Brethren’s reaching out to North Koreans goes beyond the matter of food security,” said GFCF manager Howard Royer. “It is a testament to risk-taking, bridge-building, and reconciliation in witness to the compassion and love of Jesus Christ for all peoples, and especially for the impoverished and estranged.”

In other grants from the EDF, $24,000 responds to a Church World Service (CWS) appeal to provide aid to Indonesia following flooding; $5,000 responds to a CWS appeal following severe storms and tornados in Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, and Arkansas in March; $4,000 responds to the United Farm Worker Foundation following a freeze that destroyed citrus crops and has affected some 28,000 farm workers; and $2,500 responds to a CWS appeal to support thousands who have been displaced by fighting in southern Colombia. The GFCF also has given $5,000 to help rebuild Liberia’s food capacity, in a grant requested by CWS and Church Aid, Inc.

Source: 4/25/2006 Newsline