Pastor Richard (left) with UB Haiti Superintendent Supreme (right)

We received word that Pastor Oliam Richard passed away on Sunday night. He was with his family in Paris. In an official announcement of his passing, Matt Robertshaw, the Global Outreach Director from the UB Church in Canada had this to say:

Pastor Richard was born in Haiti and studied theology in Jamaica before working with the Salvation Army in the United States. By 2000 he was leading a small evangelical denomination with churches in Paris and in Haiti. He connected with UB bishop Ray Seilhamer and joined the international United Brethren church. He served as superintendent of the United Brethren church in Haiti for 19 years. 

In the last few years he has spent time in Haiti and with his family in France, and continued to be involved with churches in both countries. He will be missed by many in Haiti, North America, France and beyond.

Services will be held in his honour in Paris on the 26th and 27th of October.

The family and communities in grief would appreciate your prayers.

Let’s join our brothers and sisters around the world in prayer for Pastor Richard’s family. Let’s also join in celebrating his life and the impact he made for the Kingdom.

This is your chance to put your graphic design skills on display. We are looking for the best design for a new shirt on the UB Merch Store using the slogan, “Frontier from the Beginning,” a phrase coined by Frank Yang, Director of UB Global, during his address at National Conference. There have been a couple early attempts at a new design, but thankfully wiser heads prevailed and a decision was made to invite other, more design-minded individuals into the process.

We know you are out there and we are inviting you to submit your design(s) for the Frontier from the Beginning t-shirt design contest. You have until October 20, 2023 to submit your unique design(s) to ub.org/frontier. The winning design will be announced the following week, and soon after, made available for purchase in the new UB Merch store. The winning designer will receive a shirt with their design and $50 to spend in the store.

To learn more about the contest rules and how you can enter, visit ub.org/frontier.

If you would like more information about what Frontier from the Beginning really means as well as some inspiration to get you started, watch this short explainer video.