15 Jan 102 Hours of Prayer

The four-day Honduras Annual Conference started with 102 hours of continual prayer. Numerous people filled each hour from Saturday until the beginning of the conference on Wednesday, January 15.

15 Jan Work Team in Sierra Leone

A 13-person construction team flew into Sierra Leone on January 9, and arrived at Mattru on Sunday, January 12.

The team includes several persons who are returning to Sierra Leone:

• James and Michelle (Becker) Berg, along with a son and daughter. Michelle was a nurse at Mattru during the mid-1980s, and met James when he came to Mattru with a construction crew from Canada.
• Nathaniel Burkholder. His parents, Dennis and Becky Burkholder, served at Mattru during the 1980s.
• Jimmie Cole. His parents were missionaries in Sierra Leone 1967-1969.

They will begin renovations on Harmonie House, which housed missionary nurses until the rebel war began in the early 1990s. Among other things, the team will replace the roof.

Since roofs on other Mattru Hospital buildings also need to be replaced, Global Ministries bought welding equipment to make steel truss roofs. Thanks to termites, wood trusses last just 8-10 years. The welding equipment, which this team took with them, will also be used to develop a steel fabrication shop in Mattru to provide employment for some local UB people.

15 Jan Honduras Conference Begins Tonight

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries, has arrived in Honduras to attend the annual Honduras National Conference meeting. He says they anticipate 200 pastors and delegates coming to La Ceiba for the four-day meeting, which starts Wednesday night, January 15.

14 Jan Relief for Violence in South Sudan

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

On December 15, 2013, violence erupted in the capital of South Sudan. The violence quickly spread, dividing the nation along ethnic and political lines. The conflict has resulted in well over 1000 deaths and hundreds of thousands of refugees.

Christian Horizons Global (CHG), the organization with which we partner in Haiti, has worked in South Sudan for seven years and is in a strategic position to help. CHG operates out of five centers in South Sudan, three of them near the capital of Juba. Mark Wallace, a United Brethren minister and member of the Global Ministries Leadership Team, leads CHG.

Neil Cudney, pastor of the Mill Crossing UB church in Cambridge, Ontario, serves on staff with CHG. He writes:

“We’ve had 1,5000 people show up at our centres seeking refuge. The personal stories I’ve been getting out of South Sudan are utterly heart breaking. One of our pastors saw children shot right in front of him because they were from the ‘other’ tribe. After the soldiers left, their school friends carried the bodies away. I can’t fit this in my head! My heart is broken…such great gains were being made in our disability work there.”

CH Global has worked in South Sudan for seven years. Since the nation became independent in 2011 (separated from Sudan), CHG have worked with church, community, and government leaders in various programs. It is heartbreaking how quickly things have changed in the past month. CHG’s local staff and partners face immense challenges as they try to serve where there is a severe shortage of basic life essentials.

At CHG’s two-acre training facility in the rural region of Kejo-Keji, 3000 people have come under the CH Global banner looking for support. Children are baking under the hot sun with no shade or water.

Though the need is overwhelming, CHG is in a unique position to respond. Their local South Sudanese staff and volunteers are in strategic locations to provide such basic life-sustaining needs as food, water, and latrines. CHG’s main priority is to areas where there is no United Nations or non-government-organization (NGO) support.

Global Ministries wants to help. A gift of $29.50 can provide for one individual for the next month. Less than $30 can sustain a life.

Any gifts sent to Global Ministries will be passed on directly to CH Global without any administrative fees being levied, just as we always do with relief projects. Be sure to indicate that your gift is for “South Sudan Relief.”

20 Dec Mattru Hospital: A Renewed Focus in Sierra Leone

Bishop John Pessima leading a planning session.

A study group.

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

In the years ahead, Mattru Hospital in Sierra Leone will be an important focus of Global Ministries.

Throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s, dozens of United Brethren missionaries served at Mattru Hospital. The hospital was recognized as one of the best hospitals in all of West Africa. People came from neighboring countries—Ghana, Guinea, Burkina Faso—to be treated at Mattru Hospital.

Then the civil war hit Sierra Leone. All missionaries were evacuated in 1994, and years of rebel warfare left the hospital in shambles and the staff scattered.

In 2001, Doctors Without Borders reopened Mattru Hospital and invested thousands of dollars in equipment, renovations, and personnel. A year later they returned the hospital to Sierra Leone Conference. But Mattru Hospital has struggled ever since.

Mattru is the only hospital in the Bonthe District. There may be clinics, but no surgery, emergency care, early childhood, obstetrics, etc. They want to do these things, but lack the capability.

The Need for a Strategic Plan

Before I went to Sierra Leone in February 2013, Sierra Leone Conference invited me to help them develop a strategic plan for Mattru Hospital. I said I would only be a facilitator; I wouldn’t write the plan for them.

Meeting with the village chief.

I talked to them about some of the people to include around the table, but they went much further. They brought in the paramount chief, regional and national medical directors, and people from non-government organizations (NGOs) who have worked in other West African nations. These folks were all key stakeholders, not necessarily in Mattru Hospital itself, but in the success of medical work in Sierra Leone.

A family practitioner from Auburn, Ind., accompanied me to Sierra Leone. [It is necessary to refer to him anonymously.] His involvement with Mattru Hospital began in 1984 when he spent time there as a medical student. He and his wife later returned as fulltime missionaries.

In November 2012, this couple were volunteering at a hospital in Guinea and decided to spend some time in Sierra Leone. He conducted an assessment with hospital staff and conference leaders, and sent me a 26-page document. That greatly helped get the ball rolling.

Dr. Dennis Marke (left) and Dr. Martin Salia.

Also participating in those meetings were two Sierra Leonean doctors, Dennis Marke and Martin Salia, who have United Brethren roots and had served at Mattru Hospital. They now work at a hospital in Freetown, but came to Mattru for the planning meetings and made tremendous contributions.

Two Days of Meetings

We broke into groups to focus on issues related to five areas: medical care, finance, administration, community relations, and property. After working for several hours, the groups presented their findings.

I asked the committee to select the three most crucial items from each group. That gave us a list of 15 items. Then Bishop John Pessima appointed a five-person committee to fine-tune the plan, working out specific goals and a timeline. Both Dr. Dennis Marke and Dr. Martin Salia were part of that group. (more…)

19 Dec Jamaica Work Team: June 2014

Union Chapel (Fort Wayne, Ind.) is organizing a work team to go to Jamaica to work on the dining hall complex at Regent College of the Caribbean. The tentative dates (still flexible at this point) are June 21-29, 2014.

The team is open to individuals or churches that would like to join them.

Current estimated cost is $875 plus airfare. Current airfare from Fort Wayne is around $700, but could change by June.

To be part of the team, you must have a valid passport and agree to follow the team rules. To apply for the team, get more information, or if you would like to contribute to construction cost which would lower individual cost, send an email to Dwight Kuntz.

12 Dec Photos from the Tour of Turkey

About 160 photos from the Seven Churches of Revelation Tour of Turkey have been posted in a Facebook album. They are on the United Brethren Facebook page.

A major article about the tour was posted previously on UBCentral.

09 Dec Hundreds of African Youth Attend Annual Youth Camp

A parade, with the various district youth groups represented, is part of the annual youth camp in Sierra Leone.

Once a year, Sierra Leone Conference holds a large camp for all United Brethren youth in Sierra Leone. Over 400 young people attended the 2013 youth camp, which was held in Bo, the country’s second-largest city (and the location of the conference headquarters).

The camps use workshops to train the youth in various areas. They also do in-the-field training. Bishop John Pessima (right) says, “We take them out two times during the camp to reach out to the community. They use tracts and the Bible. We also present the Jesus film to the community, wherever the camp is held. Then, after the film, the youth move around and talk to the people, and then bring for follow-up the names of people who accepted Christ.”

In 2014, says Bishop John Pessima, they’ll probably hold the camp in Mattru. “We tax the various churches to contribute to the youth camp,” says Bishop Pessima. “That is the only funding we have.”

Bishop Pessima says Sierra Leone Conference is working with AWANA, the Christian children’s program popular in the United States. In fact, Bishop Pessima is AWANA’s national chairman for all of Sierra Leone.

This fall, Bishop Pessima met with the regional African director, who has visiting Sierra Leone. “He has visited us three times now, and is working directly with us,” says Bishop Pessima. “AWANA is working very well for us. If we teach these young children and bring them up in the way of the Lord, it will change all of Siera Leone.”

He says there is also interest in reviving Christian Endeavor, which was once widely used in Sierra Leone. “Through it, some of us came to the Lord,” he says.

06 Dec The Seven Churches Tour of Turkey

The group on an old Roman road. (click to enlarge)

In the Ephesus amphitheater.

Dr. Mark Fairchild (right) with Macit, the guide.

Walking among the ruins.

Steve Dennie, UB Director of Communications

A group of nearly 20 persons from the United States, most of them United Brethren pastors and wives, spent ten days in Turkey November 4-13, 2013. This “Seven Churches of Revelation Tour” was sponsored by Global Ministries, the international arm of the United Brethren churches in the US and Canada.

Several years ago, Global Ministries began pursuing ministry opportunities in Turkey—the first predominantly Muslim nation into which the UB church has ventured. They organized this trip not only as an educational experience for UB pastors, but to introduce UB leaders to ministry opportunities in Turkey. Global Ministries is partnering with IN Network, a mission agency which works in Turkey.

The United Brethren participants were:

• Bishop Phil Whipple.
• Jeff Bleijerveld, director of Global Ministries.
• Donna Hollopeter, associate director of Global Ministries, and her husband, Jason.
• Gary Dilley, pastor of College Park UB church (Huntington, Ind.), and his wife, Rhonda.
• Mike Caley, pastor of Banner of Christ UB church (Byron Center, Mich.).
• John Erwin, pastor of Hopewell UB church (Auburn, Ind.).
• Patrick Daugherty, associate pastor of Atlantic Avenue UB church (New Castle, Pa.).
• Micheal Dean, pastor of Sabetha UB church (Sabetha, Kansas).
• Mark Ralph, pastor of Mt. Zion UB church (Wayne, Ohio).
• Steve Henry, pastor of Victory Heights UB church (Franklin, Pa.), and his wife, Amanda.

Three ministers from other denominations tagged along at the invitation of IN Network.

Leading the trip was Dr. Mark Fairchild, who chairs the Bible & Religion department at Huntington University. His numerous trips to Turkey include two from last summer—one with the Biblical Archaeology Society, the other as a consultant, at the invitation of the Turkish government, to a committee writing curriculum for a Christianity course to be taught in public schools. He knows his stuff, and is recognized for knowing it.

(more…)