UBCentral

During the Easter holiday, Pixley UB looked for a way to reach out to neighborhood families. Pastor Rodney Bittick writes, “Originally we considered running a three-day VBS on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. But knowing that our small number of workers could be easily overwhelmed by a daily increasing volume of children, we decided to try a more modest one-day carnival-type event. Our goal was two-fold: to establish a connection between the church and its largely Hispanic neighbors, and to get scriptures and Christian materials into the homes.

“Setting aside the same three days, we set to work on Monday making take-home bags. We made bags for children and adults in both Spanish and English. They contained Scripture portions and tracts as well as treats and other prizes.

“On Tuesday, we canvassed the homes in the immediate neighborhood of the church, passing out flyers and inviting them to the party. We decided to call it √îFiesta de Vida’ (Festival of Life).

“Wednesday was party day! The church parking lot was decorated with colorful signs (in Spanish) and helium balloons. Activities included games, coloring pages, and a flannel graph story telling of Jesus’ crucifixion, death and resurrection. Hot dogs and sodas were served and the party ended with the breaking of a pi‚Äìata. The party ended at noon, and each person present was given a gift bag.

“In all, about 35 children and approximately 17 adults attended. Most of the grown-ups and many of the smaller children spoke only Spanish.”

Valerie Reynolds, associate pastor of Mt. Hope UB in Carson City, Mich., writes, “In our effort to make an impact in our small community, we have changed our focus to trying to become friends to our neighbors. One of the things that we are doing is having a ‘Project Night’ the first and third Mondays of each month. One night, for instance, we did scrapbooking and quilting. So far around 30% of the participants have been unchurched women. We are intentionally looking for ways to become friends with our neighbors and looking for ways to invite them to a non-church activity where we can get to know them more personally. The excitement is spreading within our church as we are being challenged to live the lifestyle of Jesus.”

Lee Rhodes, pastor of Countryside UB (Breckenridge, Mich.), sent this report.

“Our youth group, TLC (Teens Loving Christ), held an activity day at Central Michigan University’s Student Activity Center. We rented two buses from the school to transport 74 middle school and high school students. There were 28 adults that chaperoned. Events included wallyball, swimming, bowling, basketball, pool, volleyball, eating donated food and purchased pizzas, and two sets of devotions for each group. During the day, there were five conversions and eight recommitments to Christ.

“This is an annual event. This is the first year both age groups went on the same day. The Student Activity Center was quite empty until we arrived. The youth were pumped. TLC youth come from various churches in the area. For this event we had 13 youth come from a different school district as well. Kurt Peters, 19, has been leading TLC for several years. He is now on staff part time. John Cole is assisting him by leading the middle school age group in devotions and some activities on a regular basis. The two halves of the group meet at the same time on Sunday evenings, sharing worship time but split for most of the other activities.”

Titus Boggs, director of the Laurel Mission (Big Laurel, Kent.), reports that the mission’s clothing store has almost no summer clothing. The residents who shop at the clothing store are beginning to request such items. Any help would be appreciated. Titus can be contacted at: titus@ub.org.

Highland Heights UB in New Castle has changed its name to Neshannock Community Church. Rev. Ron Lambright is the senior pastor there.

Park Layne UB (Dayton, Ohio) held a five-day revival which resulted in three conversions and some rededications. An average of 30-40 people attended each night. Associate Pastor George Rhodifer was the speaker.

The Easter Services on Sunday was well, attended. There were 25 for the Sunrise Service and about 35 for the Breakfast that followed. Pastor Roland Albert brought the Worship Morning message. His theme was “He is Risen, He is Alive, What About You?” This rebuilding church set a new attendance mark of 51.

Two weeks prior to Easter, Living Water UB (Clarksburg, W. Va.) began the process of knocking on every door in the city–all 7000 of them. Pastor Chris Mullett writes, “We began with the 415 homes closest to the church. Twenty-four adults and ten youth members participated in the visitation. We bought a packet of flower seeds for each of the homes to be visited and attached an invitation to our Easter service.

“Our Easter service was our largest attendance in our 28-month existence. We had 140, many of them visiting for the first time. Our next neighborhood outreach, in May, will target getting people to church for Memorial Day. This summer we will target a neighborhood with an invitation for children to attend a Bible school in a local park.”