05 May 2017 VBS Mission Project

Every year, children in Vacation Bible School support a mission project of some kind. For 2017, Global Ministries has selected Project Compassion, which ministers to children in India who live with HIV/AIDS.

Global Ministries is providing five short videos along with suggested foods, activities, and ideas for follow-up at home which can be used for VBS or summer Sunday school.

Through these short daily videos and activities, your kids will learn and experience a taste of what daily life is like for these UB children on the other side of the world—whether by learning how to say say hello, or trying out lentils and rice.

Our prayer is that our kids will deepen in their understanding of God’s global family as they have the opportunity to learn, pray, and give.

If you are interested in receiving these materials, let us know at by sending an email toinfo@ubglobal.org or by calling toll-free (888) 622-3019.

21 Apr UB Minister Completes the Africa Study Bible

Rev. John Jusu and the Africa Study Bible.

The publication of the Africa Study Bible was completed recently and has been made available for distribution. Dr. John Jusu, an ordained minister with the Sierra Leone United Brethren in Christ, served as the editor for the project. Dr. Jusu currently serves as the Dean of the School of Education and Social Sciences at Africa International University in Nairobi, Kenya, having served previously at the Evangelical School of Theology in Sierra Leone. This new Study Bible seeks to communicate biblical truth in a way that reflects and relates to African culture and daily life.

21 Apr AWANA in Sierra Leone

AWANA at the Lumley church in Sierra Leone.

Rev. Sorie Kamanda, lead pastor of the Lumley United Brethren church in Sierra Leone, shared some photos and videos of their recent Awana Vacation Bible School. The Lumley Church is located just outside of Freetown. The Awana program is used by 47,000 churches around the world, involving 3.7 million children and youth, 470,000 volunteers, and 260 field staff.

19 Apr Progress on the Solar and Water Projects at Mattru

Progress is being made at Mattru Hospital in Sierra Leone. Global Ministries staff member Matt Asher (right) is working with others to prepare the site for the 100kVA solar array and water purification/packaging project. Solar panels, batteries, packaging equipment, and supplies are on their way and will be installed in the coming months. The project will eventually provide electricity to the hospital and sell excess electricity to a limited number of consumers in the community.

The SOLA WATA business on the hospital campus will sell packaged drinking water in the surrounding towns and villages. These installations, and the resultant income, will greatly enhance the hospital’s ability to be substantially more self-sustaining while advancing its medical work and ministry to the surrounding 200,000 residents of Bonthe District.

08 Mar 21 People Baptized in Lake Nicaragua

Juan Pavón, our national leader in Nicaragua, sent this photo of a baptism service which took place last week. They baptized 21 people from the Niquinohomo District in Lake Nicaragua.

03 Mar Poland, Hong Kong, and the Year of the Rooster

Arek and Donna Delik are endorsed United Brethren missionaries serving in Poland with Operation Mobilization. Donna is originally from a United Brethren church in Hong Kong. In their March 2017 newsletter, she tells about a recent visit by UBs from Hong Kong.

We had been serving in Kutno for more than17 years and it was the very first time we had friends from Hong Kong celebrating the Lunar New Year with us in Poland. We were very grateful for these four wonderful sisters from our supporting church, who sacrificed this most important time for Chinese families and came such a long way to bless us as well as the Polish people they encountered.

We began the Year of Rooster with a great Chinese New Year celebration with our Polish friends. We were thankful to our friends from Hong Kong who helped put up several colorful Chinese Culture events in Kutno as well as Gostynin during this Chinese New Year holiday. It was a fun time to share a little bit of our culture, and more important, these events provided the platform for us to share the good news with our audiences through Chinese calligraphy and Christian music, etc.

A journalist who attended one of our events wrote an article in the local newspaper and commented, “All these Chinese ladies are believers, and from the songs they sing, we know that the Lord Jesus Christ is the strength of their lives.” Praise the Lord that people saw Jesus in our lives, as it was not about us but all about Jesus.

For us, the highlights of this visit were the fellowship we could have and the fun of serving together. These four sisters demonstrated the important fundamental qualities which all short–term mission teams need–flexibility and humility. Before the trip, we had many discussions via internet, as they were very sincere and eager to know what our needs and expectations were. In order to be well prepared for the Chinese Culture event, they even went the extra mile to attend classes to learn Chinese calligraphy, handicraft, and tea ceremony, etc. Their desire was to be ambassadors of Christ through words and deeds.

10 Feb Medical Team Heading to Sierra Leone

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

Another team is headed to the Mattru UBC Hospital in Sierra Leone today. The team will be there from February 10-29 and will be comprised of both medical and technical volunteers.

Our travelers include: Ray Proud, Hope Grube, Michael Seigel, Nick Pranger, Sharon McDonald, Dr. James Myers, Dr. Jonathan Steen, Dr. Alyssa Welch and her husband, Joe Welch. Dr. Richard Toupin planned to accompany the team but could not for health reasons. However, Dr. Ron Baker, who just returned from Sierra Leone in mid-January, has agreed to join up with the team early next week.

Be praying for the team as they address a number of repair and facility issues, offer medical care in the absence of a doctor, and make visits in the community to conduct and train others to do Discovery Bible Studies.

30 Jan Mexico Mission Trip – June 2-11, 2017

If you are looking for an opportunity to serve alongside the international church, then consider being a part of this short term mission trip to the heart of Mexico. During our time there we will participate in ministry projects associated with United Brethren churches in and around the city of Queretaro, Mexico, including children’s ministry programs. Come explore the possibility of developing your own ministry partnership between your home church and a United Brethren church in Mexico.

Details

Dates: June 2-11, 2017
Cost: $1200 per person (includes airfare, lodging, ground transportation in Mexico, meals, and materials for the ministry projects)
Team size: Limited to 20 people.
Application Due Date: February 15, 2017.

Other Things to Know

• Available to people from all United Brethren churches in the United States.
• Must be 16 years old or older to participate.
• Pre- and post-trip meetings will be held online and in person.
• Speaking Spanish is helpful but is NOT a requirement.

For more information, call Bobby Culler at (717) 264-8414 ext. 204 or email at: bobbyc@mtp-church.org. Visit the Global Ministries website.

30 Jan $23,000 of Supplies for Mattru Hospital

Materials at the FAME warehouse.

On January 26, Global Ministries staffers went to Indianapolis to pick up over $18,000 worth of medical equipment and supplies for Mattru Hospital. It all came from FAME (Fellowship of Associates in Medical Evangelism), an organization that receives medical, dental, and other healthcare supplies from generous donors and channels everything to mission hospitals and medical missionaries.

The same day, Global Ministries received $5000 in medical supplies from DeKalb Memorial Hospital of Auburn, Ind. Dr. Richard Toupin, a former UB doctor at Mattru, works at that hospital. He and his wife, Cathy, will lead a medical team to Mattru in February.

Global Ministries did an inventory and created a shipping list of all items, and then delivered everything to West African Education and Medical Mission for shipment to Sierra Leone. Directors Drs. Karen and Tom Asher generously offered us 20 feet of space in a 40-foot shipping container they are sending to Sierra Leone this month.

30 Jan Funeral of Evelyn Baker

The funeral for Evelyn Baker–former UB missionary in Sierra Leone and First Lady of Huntington University–was held Saturday, January 28. (Full obituary.) The funeral was held at College Park UB church in Huntington, Ind.

While serving as missionaries in Sierra Leone during the 1950s, DeWitt and Evelyn started Centennial Secondary School in Mattru, the country’s first United Brethren high school (read more about Centennial’s beginning). At the funeral, a delegation of alumni from Centennial, who now live in the States, traveled through the night from the east coast.

They blessed the funeral service with two songs. The first was sung in the Mende tribal language spoken in that part of the country. For that song, they invited DeWitt and Evelyn’s son Ron, who is fluent in Mende, to sing with them.