Huntington University has been ranked as the top school in Indiana for its economic value by Educate To Career, a California non-profit.

Huntington was ranked 39 out of more than 1,200 schools nationwide. HU students make an average of $31,600 upon graduation, according to ETC.

The ranking system measures improvement in earnings and employability of graduates against the total cost of the education at the institution.

Superintendent Juanita Chavez leading EBTL training.

Superintendent Juanita Chavez leading EBTL training.

Juanita Chavez sent an update on recent visits to churches that have been using the EBTIL (Church-based Theological Education) program. Local pastors and lay leaders are participating. The training begins with a thorough program of discipleship that takes place in a small group setting. This is followed by Bible and leadership training.

All 115 UB churches in Honduras are being challenged to contribute 20 lempiras ($1.00 US) for every adult, youth, and child in their congregation to support this ministry. They have asked Global Ministries to assist them with another $9200 for 2014 and 2015. We recently sent the first gift of $186 in support of this ministry.

Needed: $15,000 from July 2014 to January 2015

The Ebola virus is on the rise in West and Central Africa. The population in Sierra Leone is highly at risk of infection. Cultural and burial practices which bring people into close contact with corpses also risk infection. Weak nursing practices can also easily expose medical and nursing professionals to the infection.

Recently, Sierra Leone confirmed at least 14 cases in the Kailahun district. In June 2014, suspected cases have been reported in Bo, Moyamba, and Koinadugu districts in both the northern and southern parts of Sierra Leone. Ebola is highly contagious and has no treatment. The fatality rate can be as high as 90%.

But though Ebola can’t be treated, it can be prevented. Sierra Leone Conference, which includes 78 United Brethren churches plus many schools, has proposed a project which would engage faith leaders (not just United Brethren) in fighting the spread of Ebola. Pastors and teachers are highly respected and listened to in their communities. Engaging them will go a long way in making the wider population aware of high-risk behaviors.

Most of our 78 churches in Sierra Leone are located in the Bo and Bonthe districts. The project would focus on creating awareness about the Ebola virus and its prevention in the Bo and Bonthe districts. They want to:

  • Hold two consultative meetings with 200 stakeholders each in Bo and Bonthe districts.
  • Make 100,000 residents in the Bo and Bonthe districts aware of the contribution of religion to the prevention and control of   Ebola.
  • Bring together 100 pastors and church leaders in the Bo and Bonthe districts to train them to teach people about the   transmission and prevention of Ebola.
  • Bring together 200 teachers from all schools in the Bo and Bonthe districts to teach people about the transmission and   prevention of Ebola.
  • Produce and distribute promotional materials on the subject.
  • Pay airtime for daily radio discussions by facilitators and panelists, with jingles created in several local tribal languages.
  • Use “street sensitization” to make people aware of the issue—motorcycles and other vehicles with public address systems,   comedians to move with the vehicles, jingles in the local tribal languages, fact sheets on Ebola to distribute in street parades,   large signs erected in strategic locations, and more.

Interested in supporting this project?

Send your check to:
Global Ministries
302 Lake Street
Huntington, IN 46750

Include project code “SL005” on the memo line.

A Missions Day will be held Thursday, August 21, at Rhodes Grove Camp (Chambersburg, Pa.). It starts at 9 am.

The theme is ““Our God is Greater, Awesome in Power.” The special speaker is Jenaya Bonner (right), Global Ministries staff in Macau. She will give an update on the UB work in Macau and Hong Kong.

Lunch will be served at $12 per person

The afternoon will include the sale of items, crafts, food, and baked goods. Please come, and bring friends.

Rhodes Grove Camp is located at 7693 Browns Mill Rd Chambersburg, PA 17202. Phone: (717) 375-4162.

Dr. Sherilyn Emberton cuts the ribbon. (Mayor Tom Henry is on the right.)

Dr. Sherilyn Emberton cuts the ribbon. (Mayor Tom Henry is on the right.)

The crowd at the ribbon-cutting.

The crowd at the ribbon-cutting.

Huntington University students in the inaugural Occupational Therapy class.

Huntington University students in the inaugural Occupational Therapy class.


Steve Dennie, Communications Director

A ribbon-cutting on Monday, July 14, opened two very significant doors for Huntington University:

  • HU’s first doctoral program: Occupational Therapy.
  • HU’s first campus in Fort Wayne, Ind.

The ceremony included short speeches from various people involved with the project, including Dr. Sherilyn Emberton, president of Huntington University. Among other things, she front-and-centered HU’s commitment to Christian values. Tom Henry, mayor of Fort Wayne, spoke. So did Dr. Ruth Ford, the person hired to head the program.

Dr. Ruth Ford

Dr. Ruth Ford

An excellent choice, by the way. Dr. Ford has 37 clinical years of experience in management, acute care, rehabilitation, outpatient, long-term care, and home health. She has managed more than 500 occupational and physical therapists and speech language pathologists, and has opened multiple occupational therapy programs. She also has 13 years of experience in academia, including expertise in the clinical and business aspects of the field.

Joining her are three fulltime faculty and three adjunct faculty. In addition, the program is getting much support from the Fort Wayne medical community (healthcare is the city’s largest employer). Networking will be very important.

What is occupational therapy?

OT2Here’s a very simplistic explanation: it helps people with health-related problems participate in everyday life activities. The “occupation” is the everyday activity—eating, dressing, bathing, cooking, grocery shopping, writing, etc. For a child, the “occupation” may involve play activities.

Occupational therapists look at every environment in which the person needs to function—home, work, school, etc.—and figure out what adaptations need to be made. Examples:

  • Helping a child with disabilities (including autism) participate in school and social situations.
  • Helping people recover from injuries (like the loss of a limb).
  • Helping older adults cope with physical and cognitive changes.
  • Helping a Parkinson’s patient with such things as handwriting aids, workplace modifications, wheelchair use, cooking and homemaking adaptations, bathing and dressing.

The Fort Wayne Campus

All classes will be held at the Parkview Randallia campus, just off of State Street (1819 Carew Street). That’s on the northeast side of the downtown, about 29 miles (41 minutes) from Huntington University.

The Randallia campus is the former Parkview Hospital before they built a new main hospital on the north side of Fort Wayne. The former Fort Wayne Cardiology building has been renovated to include office space, a student lounge, and specialty classrooms and labs. It’s very nice. Six months ago, we were told, the area was “sawdust.”

The program takes three years—no masters is needed. It can accommodate 32 students in each class. The inaugural class is a diverse group from across the country, ranging from recent graduates, to persons with prior medical and business experience, to second-career students.

Darlene F. Eberly (right), 67, passed away at 7:45 am on Tuesday, July 8, 2014, at the Hershey Medical Center in Hershey, Pa. She was surrounded by her loving family.

Visitation: 5-8 pm Friday, July 11, 2014.
Visitation location: Harold M. Zimmerman & Son Funeral Home, 45 S. Carlisle St., Greencastle, Pa.
Funeral: 10 am Saturday, July 12. Visitation one hour preceding the service.
Funeral location: Otterbein UB church, 146 Leitersburg St., Greencastle, Pa.

Rev. David G. Rawley, pastor of Otterbein UB church, and Rev. Leroy Eberly will officiate at the funeral. Burial will be at the Cedar Hill Cemetery in Greencastle.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be given in her memory to Here’s Hope Ministries, P.O Box 323, Greencastle, PA 17225.

Darlene and her husband of 50 years, Robert Eberly, were married in 1964 and had two children, Brenda Moore (Roanoke, Ind.) and Deborah Ramer (Greencastle, Pa.). A third daughter, Katrina, died in infancy in 1967. Bob and Darlene were members of Otterbein UB church in Greencastle, Pa.

The family served as United Brethren missionaries in Sierra Leone 1979-1983. Bob was business manager and, for a short time, acting field superintendent. Brenda was hostess at the UB mission house in Freetown. They have remained heavily involved in mission work, including UB work in Honduras and Sierra Leone.

Bob and Darlene co-founded Here’s Hope Ministries and in 2005 started Hosanna House a foster care home for children in Belize, Central America. Brenda and her husband, Chris, an ordained UB minister, are endorsed staff with Global Ministries; they serve with Here’s Hope Ministries.

More recently, Darlene worked as the office manager for the Eberly real estate rentals. In March, she began radiation treatments for aggressive melanoma cancer. Bob, a member of the denominational Executive Leadership Team, is mayor of Greencastle, Pa.

Cards can be sent to Bob Eberly at PO Box 323, Greencastle, PA  17225

Bob and Darlene EberlyDarlene Eberly, the wife of Robert Eberly, passed away at 7:45 Tuesday morning, July 8. In March, she began radiation treatments for aggressive melanoma cancer.

Bob and Darlene Eberly served as United Brethren missionaries in Sierra Leone 1979-1983–Bob as business manager (and, for a while, acting field superintendent), and Darlene as hostess in the UB mission house in Freetown. They have remained heavily involved in mission work, including UB work in Honduras and Sierra Leone.

Their daughter, Brenda Moore, and her husband Chris, an ordained UB minister, are endorsed staff with Global Ministries; they serve with Here’s Hope Ministries, which operates in Belize and several other countries. Bob Eberly is founder and president of Here’s Hope Ministries. Bob is also a member of the denominational Executive Leadership Team.

Funeral details will be posted when available.

Addresses:
Robert Eberly
PO Box 323
Greencastle, PA  17225

Chris and Brenda Moore
336 Hillside Ave
Roanoke, IN  46783

Global Ministries provides opportunity for ministerial students to receive sponsor funding for ministry/theological education.

Rev. Justin Marva (right) is the conference administrator for Sierra Leone National Conference. He has served in his current role and as a pastor for 15 years. He currently holds a Bachelor of Theology degree with a minor in Missions, and also holds a secondary education teacher’s certificate.

Rev. Marva would like to pursue graduate education at the Africa International University in Nairobi, Kenya. It is a three-year program that will cost $7000 per year. Rev. Marva currently earns $170 per month. He has a wife and one daughter, but has committed to paying 2% of his expenses.

Rev. Marva hopes to use his graduate degree to be more effective in his service to the Lord and the United Brethren in Christ of Sierra Leone in training leaders for the future. He has the full endorsement of his national conference leadership.

Rev. Robert (Bobby) Blaine passed away early in the morning of July 5, 2014. He was 94 years old. His wife of 66 years, Virginia, passed away in 2010. He is survived by his two children, James and Jacalyn, along with four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Bobby Blaine graduated from Huntington College, where he engineered the most legendary prank in school history: taking a cow to the top of the Administration Building (now called Becker Hall). Beginning in 1948, he pastored churches in Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, and Kansas. His longest tenure, 1964-1987, was as pastor of Good Shepherd UB church in Greenfield, Ohio. He retired from that church, and continued living in Greenfield until his death.

The funeral will be held at 1 pm on Wednesday, July 9, at Anchor Baptist Church, 456 Jamison Road, Washington Court House, Ohio. Visitation will be held for two hours prior to the service, beginning 11 am.

Take a trip to the Holy Land this fall with Huntington University.

Middle East expert Dr. Mark Fairchild (right), an HU professor, will be your host. Traveling along with him for this trip through Israel and Turkey will be President Sherilyn Emberton and Vince Haupert, vice president for advancement.

The tour will take place from October 30 to November 12. During that time, you will visit multiple sites throughout the Holy Land, including Ephesus, Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, and Jerusalem.

The basic daily schedule:

October 31: Arrive in Istanbul, Turkey.
November 1: Pergamum
November 3: Sardis
November 3: Laodicea.
November 4: Ephesus.
November 5: Cappadocia.
November 6: Istanbul.
November 7: Istanbul.
November 8: Tel Aviv, Nazareth, Sea of Galilee.
November 9: Sea of Galilee, Jerusalem.
November 10: Jerusalem.
November 11: Jerusalem.
November 12: Return to the US.

“Walk where Jesus walked and travel the roads that Paul traveled as he shared the Gospel with people throughout the Mediterranean World,” said Fairchild, who has personally explored many sites in Turkey, including discovering the oldest known synagogue. “This tour will describe the early Christian faith from its beginnings in Galilee, through our Lord’s final days in Jerusalem, culminating in his crucifixion and resurrection.”

Throughout the tour, you will visit churches and ancient sites where the apostle Paul wrote his epistles. The trip will pair scripture with experience as God’s Word comes to life before your eyes.

The trip is $4,450 per person, including international airfare (leaving from Chicago) and hotel stay. Registration for the trip has been extended until July 25, but space is limited.

For more information, contact Vince Haupert at 260-359-4089 or vhaupert@huntington.edu.