21 Jul Arek and Donna Delik: Poland Update

Arek and Donna Delik are UB endorsed missionaries serving with Operation Mobilization in Kutno, Poland. Here are excerpts from a recent newsletter.

When you are in the mission field, sometimes you are forced into a position which you may feel inadequate and not comfortable with. This is how we feel this year. We are so thankful that the team has expanded from two of us to six adults altogether in the last eight months. And we realize that instead of being leaders with no members to lead, we now have four co-workers with us. We had been working alone for the last five years, and so used to do everything by ourselves and sometimes even wearing ourselves out. Then we had to learn to work differently when there are others in the team. We don’t feel very comfortable with this shift in responsibility and we know that our inadequacy may disqualify us as leaders.
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21 Jul Update from Dave Datema Family

Dave and Cathie Datema are endorsed UB missionaries serving with the US Center for World Mission in Pasadena, Calif. They sent this update on July 7.

“For the past year, we have been considering our ability to care for Cuyler’s needs while living in the rented house we currently occupy. We have considered moving to a different part of the country where housing is more affordable. We’re still not sure what the final solution is, but as we seek God’s guidance it doesn’t seem that we should leave the work here in Pasadena, for now. In the meantime, we have peace about Dave continuing on with the INSIGHT program.

“For INSIGHT’s first four years Dave was the Program Director (August 2001 to May 2005). During this past year, Dave served as INSIGHT Coordinator, helping to facilitate other INSIGHT programs beginning elsewhere. One will begin in Minneapolis this fall and another is slated to begin in Detroit in the fall of 2007.

“Beginning in mid-June, Dave once again resumed the position of Program Director for the site here in Pasadena. Dave missed the daily interaction with students and is looking forward to taking on this role again.  There is much work to be done in the next seven weeks to be ready.”

21 Jul Update from Jennifer Blandin

Jennifer Blandin, UB missionary in Macau, sent this update on July 7.
“During the month of June, our staff took a short trip to Hong Kong for a team retreat and to check out the new Disneyland. Like most things in Hong Kong, Disneyland is compact. But we still had a lot of fun! We also gained a new appreciation for Mickey, Minnie, and the gang! I’m guessing even the best trained athletes wouldn’t last 10 minutes of being in those costumes! But it would be a quick way to lose weight!
 
“Besides visiting Disneyland, we enjoyed walking around Hong Kong, hanging out at the hotel room, and playing a marathon game of Phase 10. It was nice to have some down-time together.
 
“Before Carlson and Naomi Becker headed back to the States for the summer, Living Stone Church had an outing into China for a steak dinner. The food was close to steaks you get in the States, and the time with people was a definite bonus.”

14 Jul Six Persons Headed to Sierra Leone

On July 13, six persons from the US National Conference began traveling to Sierra Leone, where they will participate in a major leadership development initiative. This trip begins a three-year effort to bring renewal and strength to Sierra Leone Conference. It will include training, a series of additional teams, plus projects which UB churches in North America can help accomplish.

This is something of an “intervention,” and it comes only at the request of Sierra Leone Conference. The civil war in the 1990s cut short many things, including the training and development needed to successfully move the Sierra Leone churches from “mission field” to self-governing “national conference.” The conference realizes its need for outside help, and called to us for that help.

The persons currently in Sierra Leone are: Ruth Ann Price (team leader), Jeff Sherlock, Randy Fennig, Luke Fetters, Todd Fetters, and Billy Simbo. Todd Fetters is the only one who is not a member of the Global Ministries Leadership Team. Billy Simbo, a Sierra Leonean and former President of the Sierra Leone Bible College, now pastors a UB church in New Jersey.

These US leaders will spend six days meeting with about 70 African pastors and lay leaders. They will interact on leadership development, biblical decision-making, preaching, and principles of financial management. Presentations will be given, case studies will be considered, and then the participants will break into small groups to discuss specific ways to implement what they have learned. The overall theme involves drawing lessons from the life of Joseph. At the conclusion, each participant will be challenged to make a personal action plan for growing as a leader.

Randy Fennig and Ruth Ann Price visited Sierra Leone in February of this year to assess needs and bring back recommendations to the Global Ministries team. It was their impression that the war left such devastation and trauma that the Sierra Leoneans lack the ability to “rebuild the walls” without assistance. After the leadership training, Randy, a former Africa Inland Mission missionary in Mozambique, will spend an additional week in Sierra Leone studying needs and possibilities.

“We are giving this our best effort and hoping that something very good will happen,” says Gary Dilley, the US Director of Global Ministries.

Sierra Leone was our first mission field, started in the 1850s, so our ties and history run deep. They currently have 35 churches and 5000 members. Islam is advancing aggressively in Sierra Leone and now claims 60% of the population, compared to 30% tribal religion and 10% Christian. The evangelistic challenges for our churches are great. Sierra Leone is also the world’s poorest country.

Please pass this information along to your congregation and remember this effort in prayer.