End of the work day.

A team of 8 persons from UB churches in Canada is in Haiti right now. Joan Sider, from New Hope church in Toronto, is sending back daily reports. Here is her report for Wednesday, February 1.

Joan Sider, New Hope Community Church, Toronto, Ontario

Before I tell of today’s work, let me mention the school associated with this Gonaives church. There are 5 classes of children ranging in age probably equivalent to our K-6 schools. The pastor’s wife is the director/principal and there are 3 female and 2 male teachers. I went into each classroom, took pictures, and greeted the children. They stood to their feet as I entered. They are dressed in their school uniforms and the female teachers have vests made of the same material as the girls. The older classes had scribblers and appeared to be doing a lot of work from the blackboard. There is a lot of rote teaching, and in the mornings when Audrey is doing the quilting with the ladies, it can be quite noisy. One of these 5 classes meets at the back of the church and we’re at the front.

It was very interesting to notice that the children taught by the ladies, had an extra long break because the principal and the female teachers wanted to quilt. So, as kids do, they were playing and not being too quiet about it. I was surprised when two of the teachers started into a second round of quilting–it was a lucky day for those children. The principal and one of the teachers each won a quilt in the draw. The others received sewing kits.

Now to start today. The owner of this hotel and the pastor drove us back and forth to our work sites–Audrey, to the old church and the men to the construction site. I floated between the two places.

At the construction site, the work began slowly–the men were looking for things to do. However, it wasn’t too long before each found a job–carrying blocks and mortar to the block layers. The remaining 6 courses were laid on the east wall first, leaving the window spaces open, and then the same was done for the west wall. Lots of trips were made by our men–back and forth, back and forth.

A load of blocks arrived–305 to be exact (Pastor told us the number). Watching the men form a chain and pass the blocks along to the final guy who piled them was something. They were out in the open sun and it was hot work. However, there were no complaints.

Boards to make the column forms were finally finished and two of the columns were prepared for the concrete to be poured from the top. These boards needed to be cut, so they used the new generator to power up the electric saw. This generator will be left in Gonaives when we leave.

When the forms were ready, some of our guys helped carry concrete from one end of the outside yard to the other to fill the columns. What a task! The sad thing is that one of the column’s boards did not contain the concrete as it should, and it had to be fixed so that the concrete would remain. This took quite a bit of time and was somewhat discouraging to the pastor. Hopefully tomorrow, when we return, we will find that all is well and the column is solid.

The men who do the mixing of the mortar and concrete are busy at this hard job without much of a break all day. No one complains. Water has to be carried from a place nearby, and keeping the two big barrels filled with water is quite the job, too. You don’t want to see them run out of water on the site or else the work has to stop, since water is a big part of mixing concrete/mortar.

The timing of everything being done is something to watch. No one is waiting around for another to complete the job he has.

Audrey had another great day. As usual, four quilts were done in the morning and three this afternoon. Today for the first time, she gave a brief devotional. Well, Audrey wrote the devotional in French and the pastor’s wife read it out to them. It was the story of Dorcas from the Bible. Michel had been asked to come translate Audrey’s French into Creole, but all the ladies knew French.

After the reading was finished, Michel said, “I want to ask some questions to see if the ladies were listening.” He asked, and some answered. It was obvious to me that some had not been listening too well. He asked if they had questions. Several did, so a good little discussion followed. They really seemed to enjoy this time.

154 women have quilted in the last 2 1/2 days. Not all are new–many participated over and over. But that is a lot of women to have around. They are extremely fast workers and Audrey is thrilled that so many quilts are getting done.

When the day’s work is over, all the equipment must be returned to the pastor’s house for safe keeping. Audrey doesn’t have to take her stuff far–just across the courtyard between the church and the house—but the guys have to travel a little further. Sometimes they’ll take a bin and walk the distance, but something like the generator has to be taken in one of the cars.

We come back to the hotel for lunch each day. When we arrived back at the hotel at day’s end today, cokes and other soft drinks along with sugar cane was waiting for us to enjoy. After showering and cleaning up, we had supper—salad, many items from which to choose, and then spaghetti with shrimp. The sauce on the shrimp was quite spicy.

Following our meal we sat around the patio and the snack box was brought out, along with some more sugar cane. It isn’t that we needed anything more to eat, but something sweet seemed to finish off the meal.

The men were very tired today–this physical labor is not something they are used to doing–but again, no complaints are heard. This is so amazing.

You can choose from these locations and dates.

March 2-3, 2012
Monroe UB church
205 South Adams Street
Monroe, Ind. 46772

March 9-10, 2012
HomeFront UB church
6265 8th Avenue
Grandville, Mich. 49418

June 8-9, 2012
Criders UB church
2380 Loudon Road
Chambersburg, Pa. 17202

The cost is $50 per person (or $45 if you bring 5 persons from your church). Ministers can earn 1 CEU for attending.

For more information, including lodging options, and to register, go to the UBGlobal.org site.

Top: the entire team together (with Joan behind the camera). Bottom right: the guest house. Bottom left: Joan Sider and Pastor Wedemarc, a professional engineer.

A team of 8 persons from UB churches in Canada is in Haiti right now. Joan Sider, from New Hope church in Toronto, is sending back daily reports. Here is her report for Wednesday, February 1.

Our day began early–and nothing like a cold water shower to get you up and at it. The shower was good, but it is still a shock when that first cold water hits. I’m not complaining, just giving you the facts.

Everyone slept well, enjoying the coolness of our rooms with the AC. Speaking of temperature–January/February is the best time to come. It is mid-80s, but here in Gonaives, at this time of year there is a good breeze. It would be very hot on the construction site, if there were no breeze.

We had a good breakfast–scrambled egg and cheese sandwiches, coffee and juice. It was filling and delicious. Haiti-style egg McMuffin, I guess. We ate out on the patio and enjoyed the breeze indicating another good day weather-wise.

Another great day with lots accomplished. I spent the morning with Audrey and the quilting ladies. There were 7 in the first group and the remaining 3 groups had 12. One of the women knew how to use the sewing machine and so worked away at binding the quilts, won by one of the women each time–their names go in a hat and one is drawn. All the other women were given a sewing kit. The women enjoy the bright coloured material used in these kits. They were actually arguing over the kits this morning trying to get the brightest material ones.

There is a young man, Michel, who has been a great help to Audrey. He helps organize the ladies since he speaks English very well. It is a blessing to see a young man keen to serve the Lord by helping this way. I saw him actually doing a few ties on the quilt. We are expecially thankful to God for providing him. This leaves Michel to be with the men on the construction site.

We had a break for lunch and came back to the hotel. We had sandwiches and french fries. What a treat. The hotel manager, Fennel, is a very gracious host and bends over backwards to serve us. He also helps transport 1/2 of the group to the work sites.

I spent the afternoon at the church. It is so amazing to see language, which so often can be a barrier, being broken down with gestures, smiles, and other body language. It is sometimes like a game of charades. Bonding and relationships are developing between the Haitian workers and our men.

Today, there were 4 expert block layers, so our men supplied the mortar and blocks. They were able to complete 6 courses on all sides of the church. Preparation for the columns were started and the electric hand saw came in handy once some electricity was available. Hand sawing the boards here is hard work. The wood is so solid.

Pastor Richard and I had good opportunities to chat and discuss future plans in the various areas where we have churches. I also get to speak to several of the young men while they take short breaks. John, a young chap about 18 or so, wanted me to adopt him. I guess you know what my answer was–but I hope I did it gently.

We had a 4 course dinner tonight. Soup, salad, main dish–chicken, goat, rice and conch–then ending with dessert–yes, dessert–a fruit cup.

The team have decided that Gonaives is the place to do ministry. We feel so blessed to be able to stay here. Something that makes me enjoy it is that there are three cats–but I’m not making friends with them really, just observing them and missing my own.

The team were able to relax this evening while Pastor Wedemarc (finally, the correct spelling–straight from the man himself) and Pastor Richard and I went to visit a nearby church–long enough to meet the pastor and see part of the congregation who came for Bible study. I believe there may be some interest in this church becoming part of the Haitian UB family. The pastor will meet with Pastor Richard for further discussion on Friday.

Our debriefing time took place out on the patio and each contributed how they saw God today. As our faces differ, so did our experiences. We know God is with us and we are rejoicing in this another opportunity to fellowship with our Haitian friends–people we have known for such a short time, and yet feel like we’ve been friends for a long time.

The evening ended with the snack box finally getting brought out. It wasn’t that we needed more food!

The Canadian work team in Haiti.

Joan Sider, New Hope Community Church, Toronto, Ontario

A team of eight persons from Canada is currently in Haiti, the latest of a long string of work groups from Ontario over the years. Joan Sider, a member of many of those teams, sent back this report about their first full day in the country, Tuesday, January 31.

Our day began very early. Pastor Oliam Richard wanted us away by 6 am, so breakfast was at 5:30.

Packing up the van took some time–we had 10 bins, 1 generator, and all our personal belongings, plus 11 people to fit into a 15-passenger van. The roof was loaded as you can imagine–and the items were held down with rope and a tarp tied over it all. I can’t begin to imagine the weight we carried.

What a privilege for us to have Michel along on this trip north. He is our interpreter, a very good one at that, but also a brother in the Lord. We were thrilled to learn that Michel has a job in the field of his interest. He is on probation for a three-month period I believe and if successful. will have the job permanently.

Our trip to Gonaives was interesting–the road north is indeed a great improvement over the last number of years. We were slowed in traffic in towns, as would be expected. People are everywhere holding markets.

One sad thing was, a man carrying some wood was hit by a car. Fortunately, people dragged him off to the side of the road so he wouldn’t be hit by other traffic. He appeared to have at least a broken leg. Hopefully the Doctors Without Borders vehicle that we saw had someone who could help him.

We were fortunate at one point on the drive to have missed hitting a cow crossing the road. The cow sped up and just made it off the road in time. It would have been a bad thing for us if it hadn’t.

We saw many rice fields in varying stages of growth. They have high quality rice grown in Haiti. Most of it is exported, since it is too expensive for Haitians to buy and use. About 90% of Haiti’s rice is imported from the US.

Arriving in Gonaives, we went to the church site to figure out what our schedule would be. Then we headed for the recommended hotel “L’Eternal Est Mon Secours Hotel” run by a Christian couple known to Pastor Weed Maarce (I’ve seen this name spelled 3 ways, so don’t know which is correct). It is a lovely place–and we are so glad we’ll be here for the 4 nights. The couple are bending over backwards to serve us and make our stay a good one. We had a lovely supper tonight and will have our first breakfast at 7:15 tomorrow morning.

Driving back and forth from the hotel to the church site, we nearly hit a dog one time and a pig another. The animals roam all over–goats, chickens, as well. The drivers don’t seem to slow down at all, so if they can’t manage to get out of the way, game over. No, I haven’t seen much road kill, so they must be successful.

We had sandwiches for lunch at the hotel after getting settled into our rooms. Then it was off to the church work site. Block laying is the stage they’re at, so our guys jumped in right away and began carrying cement and blocks as well as laying blocks on top of the first row which was already in place. The building is about 80-by-40 feet. Unfortunately, after getting several more layers in place, it was discovered that the first row of block was not level. It was tilting inwards. Our guys were very glad they hadn’t laid the first course of blocks. It meant that much of what some of them had laid, needed to be torn out. Once all was made right, they were able to manage laying 4 more rows–6 had been the goal for the day.

Around 3, Audrey, Michel and I headed over to the old church to set up the quilting frames for the first session of quilt tying. Thanks to James Jackson’s great construction of stands, we were able to set up the quilt in record time. James had a great design and they worked well.

At 4:00, 6 ladies came over a period of 30 minutes or so. It was a good start and since we weren’t really ready until 4:15, they were finished in record time by 5:30. That was the leaving time for us to get back to the hotel, have supper–and then get back to church for a service.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time at the church with them. Four different musical groups sang and Pastor Richard gave a brief message. The people were enthusiastic in their worship as we have come to expect. I brought greetings and introduced the team. Just as amen was said, the lights went out and it was DAAAAARRRRKKKKKK! Flashlights were on within seconds–obviously, this wasn’t a first experience of this kind of happening.

Arriving back to the hotel, we spent a few minutes debriefing, sharing with each other God moments from the day. It was interesting to hear the various things mentioned.

The team is jelling and working together well. We are sensing God’s using us to bless, but we are being blessed so much more by our Haitian brothers and sisters.

Grace UB church in Hong Kong.

Inside Grace UB church in Hong Kong

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

While visiting in Thailand and Hong Kong with three leader from King Street UB in Chambersburg, Pa., we spent time touring some of our UB churches in Hong Kong.

I’m not sure what the cost per square foot may be for you where you meet in the United States or Canada, but in Hong Kong the average price per square foot is about $1400 US–the highest in the world. Compare this with an average of $1068 per square foot in Manhattan.

Mark Choi told us that the 60-seat Grace UB church is worth $2,000,000 today. This space is simply a second floor room with no parking or external property and is completely surrounded by other tenants.

Arek’s sister just called and informed us that Arek’s dad just passed away 15 minutes ago. It happened quite suddenly, as Arek had talked to Dad just the day earlier, so you can imagine it is quite shocking for Arek even though we do expect that can happen any time. We are packing and get ready to travel to Slupsk now. Please remember Arek and his family!

You can email the Deliks at .

This historic decision took place on the heels of the North American Mission Leaders Conference. Present during the conference were Jeff Bleijerveld, our Global Ministries director, and Dave Datema, a member of the Global Ministries Leadership Team who is director of Frontier Missionary Fellowship at the US Center for World Mission.

The organization’s new name will be announced in early 2012 at a special Bi-Centennial Celebration in Salem, Mass. It was there, 200 years ago, that the first North American missionaries were commissioned for overseas service by an organized mission society.

The decision to form one new mission entity was not motivated by a desire to preserve “what is” but rather to better position them to pursue “what could be.” Five desired outcomes for the new organization were stated:

1. Provide a powerful model of a unified, broadly based, evangelical, forward-thinking national mission movement for the rest of the world.
2. Leverage the combined strengths of these two organizations to envision new ways to increase the effectiveness of the Great Commission community in North America.
3. Provide a single point of entry for leaders from the majority world/global south to engage with missin-focused evangelicals in North America.
4. Harness the collective wisdom and expertise of the most inclusive (church, business, education, mission) network of North American Great Commission oriented evangelicals.
5. Attract growing numbers of next-generation mission leaders as well as innovative pioneers who operate on the periphery of the traditional mission enterprise.

The team.

Cody Young giving his testimony to kids at a clinic.

Team members with some of the kids at a clinic.

Steve Dennie, Communications Director

Jeff Dice: “I’ve been to Nicaragua 29 times, and have probably been on 45 mission trips in my life. But it’ll be hard to top this one.”

Jeff is a Global Ministries “nontraditional” staffmember serving part of the year in Nicaragua. He visited Huntington, Ind., soon after returning from Nicaragua as part of team which, on their Facebook page, described themselves as, “We are a group of men heading to Nicaragua to play baseball and share Jesus with kids.” They did both quite well.

The team had 20 members:

• Jeff and his son Camden.
• A friend of Jeff’s who is a coach in Clare, Mich., and his son.
• 10 baseball players from Huntington University.
• 3 soccer players from Huntington University who wanted a mission experience during January Term and, according to Jeff, “actually played pretty good baseball.”
• 2 former baseball players from Anderson University (Anderson, Ind.). One of them, Cory Young, played minor league baseball (shortstop and outfield) for the Baltimore Orioles.
• Josh Kesler, pastor of The Well in Huntington, Ind. He went along as the team pastor.

“We had a mixed bag of people, but the chemistry was unbelievable,” Jeff said. “From the first day, I’m happy to say, we never had any kind of group issue. The maturity of these guys was amazing.”

L-r: "Goliath," Camden Dice, and Cody Young. Cody Young is 6'3."

The team spent a week in Masaya, of city of 130,000 (the country’s third largest) which is the center of our work in Nicaragua. Nicaragua has a four-team winter league, which they would call their professional league. It includes players from many countries. Then in February, 16 teams—all Nicaraguans—begin playing what they call their First Division.

“We played the team from Masaya that plays in the First Division,” Jeff explained. “The level of player was at or slightly above that of a US college player. We matched up because we had Derrick McKinney and Mitch Bowers pitching. They are elite college-level players, both from Huntington University. That leveled it out for us.”

They played their first game—actually, a double-header–on Saturday, January 7. They lost the first game 3-0, but won the second 6-2. The team’s Facebook page recorded it this way: “McKinney scared the crap out of several local hitters by buzzing them inside and high. He pitched really well except to a hitter we now call Goliath. He is 6’7″ and hit a McKinney 3-2 offering that is on it’s way to Costa Rica.”

Jeff recalls, “After the inning, Derrick walked over to the Nicaraguan bench to shake Goliath’s hand. We had this baseball connection that overrode any barriers present, because we all loved baseball.”

The Americans shattered four bats during those first two games. They went to the local bat maker and bought ten more bats. Then they stopped at the local Papa Johns, where they ordered 8 large pizzas and watched the Cincinnati Bengals lose to the Houston Texans.

On Monday, January 9, they began a series of baseball clinics which ran every day from 9 am to 12:30 pm, a different age group each day. After the clinic they would get some lunch, and then have a few hours before the evening game.

The clinics were conducted in partnership with the Masaya mayor’s office, which contacted local baseball coaches. Those coaches then brought their teams to the clinics—an average of 40-50 players each day.

Jeff Dice (center) and son Camden (second from right) with three of the players.

Jeff says, “The partnership with the mayor’s office was critical to the success of the trip. The mayor encouraged us to be evangelistic, which was exciting to us. He told us to share our faith. He said that Christians make good citizens. He’s Sandinista, but there’s a new breed of Sandinistas.”

With the mayor’s blessing, they used the city stadium—a very nice stadium–every day for the morning clinics and the evening games. That would be Roberto Clemente Stadium in Masaya, named after the Pittsburgh Pirates star—the first Latin American elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame–who was killed in 1972 in a plane crash while taking relief supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua.

For the clinics, they employed 10 translators so the players could communicate with the kids. They had six stations at which kids sharpen their skills in specific areas—hitting, pitching, infield defense, outfield defense, bunting, and base running. They spent about 40 minutes at each station.

During those clinics, players had a chance to share their testimonies and incorporate the Gospel presentation.

“The first day was for age 6 and under, but after that we asked kids for a response,” Jeff says. “Quite a few kids told us, through translators, that they wanted to give their heart to Christ. Since we had some pastors there, we hope some connections were made to help them begin their journey. We didn’t think about having follow-up in place, so on future trips we’ll want to do that. Maybe bring some Spanish resources to help kids start their journey.”

This kid wanted Drew Adams' jersey. Ask and receive.

Adam Christner, one of the players, commented on Facebook after the second day’s clinic, “I’m sure every kid that has been at the camp will never forget it. I’ve never seen that many smiling kids at once. God is truly working through baseball to talk to these kids.”

Said, a guy who was not a Christian before the clinics, told Jeff Denton he would “see him in heaven.” Pretty neat stuff.

They played another double-header on Tuesday night, January 10, again splitting the series. It was a twilight series, beginning at 5 pm with darkness coming around 6 pm. Being short on pitching, they borrowed some pitchers from the opposing team.

Another double-header came the next night, Wednesday. They described the night on the team Facebook page: “We won the first game 7-2, with Derek McKinney pitching brilliantly after yielding 4 walks in the first inning. He settled down and pitched really well. Blake Hohlbein came within 10 feet of leaving the yard. Camden Dice made a diving catch in right field. We lost the second game 3-2, but had so much fun we didn’t really care!”

The players had names on their jerseys. Josh Kesler took the nickname “El Guapo,” from the movie “Three Amigos.” The name means “The Handsome.”

Jeff says, “The local people took it good naturedly. When we would drive the truck through town, with Josh usually in the passenger seat, somebody would always yell out ‘Guapo!’ That happened probably three times each journey. ‘Guapo!’ That told us we were having a far-reaching impact on the city.”

On Sunday, they attended a baseball game between the two top city-league teams in Masaya. Jeff recalls, “There was this fairly inebriated man who was continually berating the umpires from behind the fence directly behind homeplate. During the music interlude between one of the innings, this man began to dance. Cody Young jumped down from his seat and danced with him for a few minutes.”

Jeff figures about half of the translators stuck around for the games, which enabled the US and Nicaraguan players to communicate. When Derrick McKinney wasn’t pitching, he would go sit on the Nicaraguan bench with a translator. Other players had similar experiences.

After six games, they were tied, 3 wins apiece. “We were hot and cold, but we scored some runs and had bright spots everywhere,” Jeff said. “Adam Christner and Sean Marion really led us offensively.”

The rubber match came Saturday, January 15. The US team went up 6-0 in the final game, but the Nicaraguans roared back and tied the score. “They said, ‘Can we just quit now?’ So we quit, tied.” Both teams went 3-3-1 for the series.

Jeff says, “It was a perfect storm—the combination of playing baseball and sharing Christ. The three soccer guys even got to play a few times on AstroTurf at a private club, which they said was awesome.

“There were instant bonds with the other team. I think every one of our players traded jerseys with a Nicaraguan player. The city wants us to come back and partner. To a man, I think every one of the guys wants to go back.”

Click on the photos below for a larger view.