The College Park team. Senior pastor Gary Dilley is in front, second from the right.

The College Park team. Senior pastor Gary Dilley is in front, second from the right.

A group from College Park Church (Huntington, Ind.) spent March 28 – April 5 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The team included senior pastor Gary Dilley.

College Park has a long-standing relationship with missionaries Dennis and Deb Osberg, who are involved in the leadership of Academia Los Pinares, a bilingual school in Tegucigalpa. Many families in the capital, including unchurches families, take advantage of the excellent education offered by the school. The education is from a Christian biblical perspective.

Many of the teachers at Academia Los Pinares are young professionals, including some recent Huntington University graduates. Part of the team did professional development for those teachers.

The Osbergs are also involved with an inner-city church reaching out to its community. Another part of the College Park team assisting in this church’s daily feeding program and investment in neighborhood families.

During the Easter season, United Brethren churches are invited to raise funds for several Global Ministries projects. Most churches take an offering, which is then forwarded to Global Ministries. This year’s Easter Offering will support the following projects. Bulletin inserts have been sent to all UB churches with information about these projects.

HIV/AIDS Ministries in India: $20,000
We have three avenues for HIV/AIDS work in India. These may seem like medical-only projects, but the spiritual work is evident in the lives that are changed early in or near the end of people’s lives. Many have taken baptism and joined churches.

  1. Project Compassion currently serves 54 children with HIV/AIDS. It provides medical treatment, drugs, education, spiritual counseling, food, clothing, vocational training, and caregivers’ salaries.
  2. Home Based Care has 70 families who are HIV/AIDS positive. They live in their own villages, but come to the hospital once a month for provisions, medical care, and spiritual counseling. The Indian government provides drugs after we get them registered. During the month, workers visit the villages to check on the patients’ progress.
  3. The Care and Counseling Center, with 20 beds, treats various ailments. It may involve surgery or treating any infections in the final stages of life. The ages range from 1-50 years. The Indian government withdrew funding for this project. In 2013 we started asking patients to pay, in full or in part, for the drugs they need. If they can’t pay, we provide them.

Leadership Development in Mexico: $15,000
The leaders of our 45 churches in Mexico have limited resources for training. Most pastors are bi-vocational, so training takes place through non-formal learning, periodic seminars, and the internet.

Denis Casco, our bishop in Mexico, is training these new United Brethren pastors but needs financial resources to accomplish the task. Your gifts will help buy materials, conduct training events, and cover some of Denis Casco’s expenses.

Conference Center in Nicaragua : $10,000
The new conference center in Masaya is nearly completed. It will provide classroom space, dining facilities, and lodging for 48 persons. In addition, it will be used by volunteers and outside groups to provide income for Nicaragua Conference.

Hospital Renovations in Sierra Leone: $15,000
The United Brethren Mattru Hospital is the only hospital for hundreds of miles. It offers medical care to hundreds of people each month while also sharing the Gospel with them.

In 2013, we repaired vehicles and began renovating a guesthouse and doctor’s quarters. We’d like to finish these projects and continue upgrading the facilities at Mattru Hospital.

We invite you to give toward these projects through your church, or by sending a check directly to Global Ministries:

Global Ministries
302 Lake Street
Huntington, IN 46750

Rick Tyler (left) on the field with Christian Missions Resource Centre.

Rick Tyler (left) on the field with Christian Missions Resource Centre.

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

Rick Tyler is an endorsed member of the Global Ministries staff from Parkwood Gardens UB church in Guelph, Ontario. He serves with the Christian Missions Resource Centre. Rick is currently in Peru on a missions trip. I asked him if he could share a little bit about what they’re doing. Rick sent the following.

Christian Missions Resource Centre serves indigenous ministries in Cuba, Peru, Guatemala and Jamaica spiritually, and with practical gifts of helps.

High in the Peruvian Andies, our short-term mission team in Urubamba, Peru, is ministering with Mision America Church and school (March 29- April 12). Pastor David and Duska Chavez have served their community for over 15 years. Their church has grown to include a TV channel that CMRC had the privilege of building a production studio for last fall. With a medical doctor and family therapist on this year’s team, our team will journey to remote villages offering medical clinics and distributing blankets.

The Mision America school includes all grades, with teaching in both Spanish and English. The school is recognized by local officials as a model educational institution, and enrollment is on the rise. We assist with construction projects and supplies as the school continues to grow.

I consider it a privilege to call these folks friends, and I marvel at their faith in God’s provision. Every trip has its God moments, and this trip is no exception.

The support and encouragement received from Parkwood Gardens church (my home church in Guelph, Ontario), the Ontario Conference, family and friends is greatly appreciated. My mission work truly is a team effort.

Denis and Reina Casco.

Denis and Reina Casco.

Congratulations to Denis and Reina Casco, whose 38th anniversary is today. Denis is bishop of Mexico Conference, and Reina pastors a church in Glendale, Calif. Unfortunately, they won’t be celebrating the day together–Denis is currently traveling in El Salvador.

Denis and Reina are originally from Honduras. Denis is the son of the late Arturo Casco, a prominent UB minister and church planter for many years. Denis was trained as a lawyer and worked for World Vision International in Honduras.

They moved to the United States in 1988, at the request of Global Ministries, to launch Latin American Ministries. Denis started a number of Hispanic UB churches in southern California, and also developed relationships with other Hispanic churches in the Southwest.

Relationships in the California churches brought Denis into contact with a group of independent churches in central Mexico, and he began providing general oversight. When Latin American Ministries drew to an end in 2003, Denis maintained his work with the churches in Mexico and in the cities of Juarez and El Paso, which face each other across the Rio Grande. They became an official national conference in 2005, and chose Denis as their bishop.

We now have about 40 churches in Mexico, mostly in the central part of the country north of Mexico City. Denis and Reina continue living in the Los Angeles area, and Denis, often accompanied by his wife, is continuously traveling to visit the churches under his jurisdiction.

Huntington University won an agriculture contest. Actually, it was a public relations contest, but it involved agriculture–a marketing/PR campaign to promote agriculture to young-adult Hoosiers (ages 18-35).

HU’s team, named “Hoosier Grown,” was among 30 teams from 17 Indiana colleges that submitted entries in the contest. The 30 teams were winnowed down to three finalists, who made presentations at the Statehouse.

And Huntington won with their proposal, which includes a new brand image, an integrated social-media marketing plan, and an increase in awareness of the agriculture economy and opportunities. The two runners-up were the University of Indianapolis and the University of Southern Indiana.

They won money, too. Lt. Governor Sue Ellspermann presented a $25,000 check to the team–$10,000 for Huntington University, the rest to be divided among the seven student team members–four seniors, one junior, and two sophomores.

Dr. Ann McPherren (right) led the HU team, which included a mix of majors–public relations, film production, business administration and marketing, graphic design, animation, and biology pre-med. Some of the team members grew up on or currently work on farms and were members of 4-H or active in the FFA. One team member serves as his county’s membership chairman for the Indiana Farm Bureau.

The prize money came from outside sponsors, including Indiana Soybean Alliance, Indiana Corn Marketing Council, Elanco, and Indiana Farm Bureau.