UBCentral

Everywhere we go in the Philippines we are met with smiles. This morning Pastor Prudencio Lim, superintendent of the Philippine Conference, took Pastor Mike Brown and me to visit pastors and churches around the greater Manila area.

Our day ended in Sucat Paranaque, a Manila slum area where Pastor Noel Bartolata, his wife and six children have been serving for 19 years. The church, along with all other homes and shelters, is built on squatter’s land. The neighborhood is a maze of alley ways and stairways. Cooking is done over small fires and families sleep together in the same bed or on floors. Yet Pastor Noel and his family wouldn’t think of leaving their community.

If you saw these smiles each day, you may not want to leave either.

I learned a couple of important lessons about eating out in Hong Kong. Ajiax Woo (center) and Mark Choi (right) were tremendous hosts, but someone should have told me before we started to leave my tea cup full if I didn’t want more. I believe Mark had refilled my cup at least 15 times before David Kline quietly leaned over and told me to stop drinking the tea if I wanted him to stop.

Otherwise, Dim Sum with our Hong Kong leaders was a great experience. We finished off with Mango Jello. Why don’t they sell that at Krogers?

This past Sunday, May 4, Carlson and Naomi Becker (left, with David Kline on right) were honored by the Living Stone United Brethren congregation in Taipa, Macau. Visitors for the packed-house afternoon gathering included the Living Stone congregation, English students, neighbors, friends from the Living Water Church, and a delegation from the Hong Kong Conference.

The Beckers are wrapping up three years of ministry. They arrived in Macau in September 2005 and have contributed to the ministry in a variety of ways. Perhaps the most enduring contribution will be the leadership mentoring they offered to the church family of Living Stone. Carlson and Naomi have worked closely with Pastor Michael Chan, and just this past Sunday morning presented to the congregation its first five-member leadership team.

It was an honor for me to express gratitude to the Beckers on behalf of Global Ministries and the entire United Brethren family for their years of service. Carlson and Naomi tell me this will be their third and final retirement. We’ll see!