Bishop Ron Ramsey just called from St. Joseph Hospital in Fort Wayne, Ind. He went there to visit Wardena Waldfogel, wife of Bishop Emeritus Raymond Waldfogel. Wardena had just come out of surgery on her carotid arteries. 

Bishop Ramsey says they were optimistic about how things went. She’ll be going home within a day or two. He asks that you pray for Wardena’s continued healing.

Bishop Ramsey once had Bishop and Mrs. Waldfogel as parishioners. During the 1970s, he pastored the United Brethren church in Sacramento, Calif. Back then, bishops lived on their districts. Bishop Waldfogel was bishop of the West District, and lived in Sacramento, where he attended Ron Ramsey’s church.

The Waldfogels live at 2002 North Avenue, Huntington, IN 46750.

You always need to organize yourself beyond what you are. If you’re a church of 200 and want to be a church of 500, you need to organize like a church of 500. Otherwise, you won’t get there. 

When I became pastor of Mainstreet Church in Walbridge, Ohio, we started at about 220, grew, and began adding staff. I took the staff to larger churches on little field trips. How does it look and feel? How do they structure themselves? We began to tinker. God blessed us and the church grew. 

Over half of our growth was new converts. You get people who don’t know anything, and it’s fun. You get a chance to infect them with the real disease. 

I covet that for you. Not that you get big; that doesn’t make any difference to me. What makes a difference is that you become effective in what God has called you to do. 

ABCNews used some video of Polly Dunten and her daughters in a music montage. The video shows the three sitting on Polly’s hospital bed holding up the words “The Tumor is Gone,” and then the daughters kiss Polly. Previous posts have talked about Polly’s July 28 surgery to remove a brain tumor.)

It just lasts a few seconds. You first must suffer through a short commercial for a dishwasher. Then the music segment starts (Irma Thomas singing the pleasant “River Waiting”). The clip of Polly is about mid-way through.

In case you missed the note on the UB News page: Last Sunday, Lee Hiney concluded 20 years as pastor of Mt. Zion UB church in Wayne, Ohio. Mt. Zion church is now seeking a new senior pastor.

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Donna Hollopeter is a big Nascar fan. Her son-in-law builds cars for Jeff Burton, #31.

A couple weeks ago, she took the Richard Petty Driving Experience at the Daytona speedway in Florida. It’s something she’s always wanted to do.

  • You put on a fireproof suit and helmet.
  • You climb through the window of a modified Nascar vehicle.
  • You get strapped in real tight (including a device to support your neck).
  • The driver looks over and asks, “Are you ready?”
  • You give him the thumbs up…and off you go.

About halfway around the track, the driver asked, “How are you doing?” Donna gave another thumbs up.

At which point he floored it, taking the car to 170 mph. Donna says she wasn’t aware of how fast they were going, just looking straight ahead. But then she looked at the wall, “which was pretty close,” and realized–yes, they were going fast.

After three laps, it was over. Then Donna’s husband, Jason, took his turn.

“It was totally awesome!” Donna says.

HurricaneHannah.jpgThis week, Global Ministries sent $1317 to Samaritan’s Purse for Haiti hurricane relief. We have developed a strategic partnership with Samaritan’s Purse to deal with disaster relief situations.

Oliam Richard, superintendent of our churches in Haiti, sent this note:

“In the southern South of the country, two people have been killed by Hurricane Hannah, and some of the churches have been flooded out in Cayes. In the northern part of the country, like Gonaives, is worse. We have a church there. People have lost their goods because their homes have flooded.

“In Saint-Marc, one of our churches was damaged; one part of the roof flew away in the story. The situation in Port-au-Prince is not as terrible as in other parts of the country.

“The living conditions of people is worse than before. We need your prayers. More hurricanes are on the way. Please pass this news to other brothers and sisters, so that they will pray for Haiti and especially our church members.”

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The Oliver 1850: Before, after, and the guys who made it happen (Randy Fennig is third from the right).

Randy Fennig grew up on a farm, and earned a degree in Agricultural Economics at Purdue University. So don’t be surprised that in Sierra Leone, he’ll work in agricultural development.

You may be interested in some of the farm equipment Randy Fennig is taking to Sierra Leone.

Like the Oliver 1850 tractor. “I pretty much grew up with this tractor, and spent hundreds of hours on it. My brother hadn’t used it for probably ten years. I asked him if could renovate it and take it to Africa  with me. The guys at my home church in Portland, Ind., a United Methodist Church, made it a project and financed the renovation. They have a couple of really good mechanics. They pulled the engine, repainted the tractor, and it’s ready to go.”

He’s also taking:

  • A disc, donated by the pastor’s wife at his home church.
  • A chisel plow, which Randy bought at a farm auction.
  • A grain drill he won on eBay.
  • Corn planter units from a neighboring farmer.

“It’s mostly experimental,” Randy says. “I’m not sure where ministry will take us, but since we were sending a container, it was a good opportunity to send some machinery which might be useful. We’ll see where it goes.”

Jennifer Blandin, Macau
Jennifer Blandin, one of our missionaries in Macau, is a sports buff. So you can imagine her delight upon having the chance to attend the Olympics for five days. She went with two other friends. Here are excerpts from her most recent newsletter.

During our stay in Beijing, we were able to attend the women’s team gymnastic finals, men’s volleyball prelims, women’s basketball prelims, and softball prelims. Other than the gymnastics, the event tickets allowed us to watch two games/matches for each sport.

Being a softball fan, it worked out that we were able to get tickets for two sessions, thus could attend four games. One of the amazing things that happened was that for all the sports we had tickets for, we saw the USA play. And, for at least three of the sports, we watched China play. “Why is this amazing?” you ask. Well, the tickets available in Macau had to be purchased months in advance. Also, my friends and I were choosing what we would see based on what events we wanted to see and how the times would work in a day’s schedule. We were not able to choose WHO we would see competing!

Some of the highlights of the experience were:

Watching the events in person, rather than just on TV!
The atmosphere was amazing! The crowds were often lively, and I had the opportunity to watch the various ways fans cheer for their respective countries.

For example, at the softball competition:

  • One man dressed in traditional Japanese clothing led the Japanese fans in their cheering. Their cheers were short and repeated often.
  • The American fans often yelled out the names of the players and would do a few cheers that I remember from when I played softball.
  • Across the board, the Chinese fans had one battle cry, “Give it gas!” which is the literal translation of it. The figurative meaning would be “Don’t give up!” or “Keep going!”

Many friendly volunteers!

Most of the Olympic volunteers had a smile on their face and showed a genuine enthusiasm to help us. Sometimes the volunteers could not give us the exact directions to the destination we needed, but often their help could get us in the general direction and toward another volunteer who could help us.

East vs. West style of softball!
This was a rather funny discussion that was relayed to me later by my friend Jana. While I had gone to buy something during the break between two softball games, Jana and our Chinese friend (Joanne) got into a discussion about the different styles of playing softball. (Mind you, Joanne had little or no knowledge of the sport before attending the games.)

Joanne’s opinion was that the East played softball more correctly–because the players were thinner and thus “softer” in their playing of the game. The players from the West (not just USA) were often meatier and played “harder” or more aggressive. Amazing the various perspectives that can be held for just one activity and what we consider “correct”!

A sports lover’s dream–watching athletes give all that they had to compete!
Some athletes came to the Olympics with the reachable goal to win a medal; others came with the goal of just participating in the Olympics. Either way, no matter the final score, the competition was good. Athletes were giving all they could in hopes of fulfilling their dream. I found that was something special to watch.

Closing Ceremony
Seven years of planning for a 17-day event! Wow! Isn’t it funny how the planning takes a lot more time than the completion of the actual event! Even my own planning to attend the games for 5 days took one year of preparation. Yet, in the end it was worth it.

While the Olympics are mostly focused around sports, I wonder if God was looking down smiling at the view. Why? Maybe, just maybe, it was a good preview of what heaven will be like. People, from around the world, came together with one focus–to cheer on the athletes. In heaven it will be the children of God coming together with one focus–to worship and praise the One True Savior and Lord.

Hundreds of Huntington University students plunged into their college experience by volunteering at several places throughout the Huntington community on August 23.

For 15 years, the university’s new students have participated in the Joe Mertz Center’s Volunteer Plunge. This year, 28 teams comprised of more than 350 freshmen and transfer students, 28 mentor students, and 30 faculty worked on projects from 1 to 3 p.m.

The Volunteer Plunge is a part-day of community service held each year in conjunction with Huntington University’s three-day new student orientation.

The teams helped with painting, cleaning out facilities, building maintenance, lawn care, mulching, washing vehicles, socializing with nursing home residents, picking up litter and repairing fences.

Said Grace McBrayer, director of first year students and volunteer service, “A summer’s worth of orchestration culminated as students and staff spread out into the community of Huntington and a bit beyond. Certainly many thanks go to the myriad of people and organizations willing to host our students out in the community, as well as the Joe Mertz Center student staff who worked hard during the days before the plunge to arrange details regarding the vans, work supplies and other logistics.”

Service locations for the 2008 Volunteer Plunge included the Huntington Head Start, YMCA, Bible Baptist Church, Homier Baseball Field, The Church of Our Glorious King, Salamonie Interpretive Center, The Huntington County Chapter of the American Red Cross, Helping Paws, Miller’s Merry Manor, the Huntington County Boys and Girls Club, Salamonie Reservoir, College Park Church, Victory Knoll, Love INC, Pathfinder Services, Forks of the Wabash, Dan Quayle Center, Riverview Middle School, Good Shepherd Church, Huntington Church of the Brethren, Huntington First Church of the Nazarene, Kids Kampus, Springwater Church 509 Ministries, and Habitat for Humanity.

Founded in 1992, the Joe Mertz Center for Volunteer Service has become an integral part of Huntington University campus life. During the 2007-2008 academic year, students, faculty and staff volunteered for more than 12,900 hours, serving families, organizations and programs.

The JMC is a student-directed organization that mobilizes the campus community for Christian service. The JMC aims to involve students in the local community, instill a lifelong tendency toward service and promote the idea that one person can make a difference. The Joe Mertz Center has been listed as an exemplary program in the John Templeton Foundation Honor Roll of Character-Building Colleges.

Attaboy_small.jpgWhen Attaboy launches its Rock Hop & Roll tour in September, three of the band members will take their alma mater with them. The Huntington-based alternative rock group has partnered with Huntington University.
Attaboy includes (left to right) Micah Beckwith, Amos Caley, Jeff Edgel and Chris Brumbaugh.

  • Drummer Micah Beckwith graduated from the university in 2005 with a double major in business management, and economics and finance.
  • Amos Caley, also a 2005 alumnus, has a bachelor’s degree in Bible and religion.
  • Guitarist Jeff Edgel majored in elementary education and graduated in 2004.
  • Though bassist Chris Brumbaugh is not an alumnus, he has lived in Huntington all of his life and is a United Brethren member.

“I’m really impressed because we’re always touring, and we’re always thinking about how we can market ourselves creatively,” said Caley, vocalist and pianist for Attaboy. “We’ve seen many colleges and universities not thinking the same way. They don’t try things out of the box….We’ve never seen a university hitch its wagon to a band. We’re fully anticipating extending the partnership.”

From the university’s standpoint, Attaboy offered access to thousands of teenagers and young adults who otherwise may have never heard of Huntington.

“It’s a catchy way to get students’ attention,” said Nate Perry, the university’s director of undergraduate admissions. “Obviously, music is popular. Young people love music. The other thing is for Attaboy, it’s not just about being in front during a concert. It’s about trying to build relationships with students. Students truly appreciate that. Anyone can get on stage and play, but it takes someone special to develop relationships with an audience.”

The partnership involves co-branding between the band and the university – everything from Web site links to T-shirts to concerts at the university.

Attaboy’s music has appeared on three promotional CDs and one DVD for the university. Acoustic hip-hop artist Heath McNease and indie-rock newcomers The Fabulous also have tracks on the CD and are part of the Rock Hop & Roll tour.

“With this CD, the university has the power to help us get our music out to thousands of people that we wouldn’t have access to otherwise,” Beckwith said. “That’s great for us. It helps us tremendously as a band to have that level of exposure.”

Creatively, the band’s messages resonated with the audience that Huntington targets with its admissions efforts.

“Another pretty natural connection is that the music we write is very focused around junior high, high school and early college students – their struggles for acceptance, maturity, trying to figure out who they are. Those questions lead to much of our songwriting. We try to add a positive spin with hope and encouragement.

“I think the overall message of our concerts blends well with the message Huntington wants to send with its education. It’s a match made in heaven.”

The month-long Rock Hop & Roll tour kicks off at the South Whitley United Methodist Church in South Whitley, Ind., at 7 p.m. on Sept. 6. For more information, log on to www.attaboyonline.com.