15 Nov Salt, Water, and Orphans in Haiti

Surveying the Salt Basin Project in Gonvaives, Haiti.

A water purification business that began with funds provided for Haiti small business development.

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

On August 29 – September 2, I visited Haiti with Global Ministries associate director Donna Hollopeter and Kyle Bushre, pastor of Outreach and Missions at King Street UB church in Chambersburg, Pa. I wrote previously about some of the Haitian churches we visited. Here are a few other notes about the visit.

The Salt Basin Project is going well, with six basins now dug. These basins take about five years to reach full productivity and peak at 15
 years. About one ton of salt is in storage currently
 waiting for prices to increase (seasonal
changes).

Twenty people from the nearby
community of Jubilee have full or seasonal
employment. This is significant, as the
community of Jubilee is among the poorest we have encountered in Haiti. The people rummage through garbage that is dumped nearby, and Voodoo is prevalent throughout the community.

Donna discussed a number of opportunities for volunteers and projects with Pastor Oliam Richard, who oversees our churches in Haiti. They included:

• Medical teams. There is no problem with bringing in medications and supplies.
• The need for continued sponsorship of school students through CH Global, a Canada-based organization with which we partner in Haiti.
• The sponsorship of UB pastors who would like to study at approved ministry 
institutes.
• Teams to teach English as a Second Language.

Loving Shepherd is a ministry in which Haitian orphans are matched with loving, Christian parents who will raise them as their own along with other children, whether biological or adopted. The director of Loving Shepherd (Rick Schwartz) is a member of Emmanuel Community UB church in Fort Wayne, Ind. Kent Kotesky, the executive pastor at Emmanuel, would like to introduce some United Brethren pastors to their ministry in La Cayes. He has asked if I would accompany them and introduce the same group to our United Brethren in Haiti.

I discussed this with Pastor Richard, and he was quite interested and willing to have the group come. He suggested that Haitian churches might have orphans who need to be connected with Loving Shepherd, or parents willing to open their homes to children.

We met with Pastor Harold of Gamaliel Seminary–a Saturday only training for pastors and lay leaders. He has connections with the UB church in Delmas 33 and was hopeful to secure some funding from Global Ministries. We told him we would fund UB students on a project level if he could provide a doctrinal statement, an outline of the course of study, and an adequate profile of each student. The following day we received the first two items.

About an hour beyond Canaan we had lunch at a beach resort. It was a refreshing break and much appreciated, but the purpose was to introduce us to the wonderful facilities Haiti has to offer to tourists. We were encouraged to tell our friends about it.

05 Nov Glimpses of Various UB Churches in Haiti

Donna Hollopeter (foreground) at the UB church in Jerusalem located just outside of Port Au Prince. It consists of displaced earthquake victims who are building a church and a school, and evangelizing this newly created community without any outside assistance.

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

On August 29 – September 2, I visited Haiti with Global Ministries associate director Donna Hollopeter and Kyle Bushre, pastor of Outreach and Missions at King Street UB church in Chambersburg, Pa. We visited a number of our churches in Haiti. Here are some notes and observations about those churches.

The Gonaives church has been able to purchase land with help from Canada and Global Ministries. The church laid footings, foundations and floor, and Canada blocked up the first story. Now they would like to lay the second floor to close in the structure and move from the current church location, which they rent. Services are running 300 in attendance. There are 100 students in the school they host.

The Archaie church, under the leadership of Pastor Jacques Marcion, has an attendance of 200 and a schol of 100 meeting in a rented space. They are working to raise the $16,000 needed to buy a property near the coastal highway.

We traveled to Canaan, which is a resettlement location for those who lost their homes in the earthquake. Once a vast and rocky hillside, it now is home to more than 20,000 families. Here we visited a new church plant, led by Pastor Wilber (also the pastor of Croix du Bouquet), and saw the “tent” church attended by more than 100 and the footings they have already laid for a school. A water filtration project located there is the result of a micro-loan through CH Global using UB funding.

We visited two churches in Cite Soliel.
 The earthquake heavily damaged both 
churches in this area, and both needed to be rebuilt.

First we visited with Cite Soliel #1. Pastor Baptistin is still working to obtain land title to the original property and two adjacent properties they have purchased. So far no reconstruction has taken place, and the building consists of nothing more than a tarp suspended between two neighboring walls. They currently have 150 in attendance and hope to expand their school program. Pastor Richard is going to look into the inability of the pastor to gain access to the mayor’s office.

We then visited Cite Soliel #2, led by Pastor Supreme. There the proper documentation was obtained and the church was able to not only rebuild, but to also expand their facilities.

We visited with the Sibert UB church led by Pastor Israel. The church has about 60 members and some 100 children in school. Many of the children in this school are sponsored, and we were able to meet with one member who had benefitted from a micro-loan in order to buy a sewing machine. We have 33 micro-loan projects in Haiti through CH Global. According to Elsa Hilaire, to date we have 100% return on all loan payments even at 7% interest.

There is still discussion taking place about opening a bread-baking operation at Sibert, but we were told more research is needed to assure there would be enough demand.

Jerusalem UB (Canaan) is led by Pastor Adrienne. Church members purchased land, started a church 2 years ago that meets in a tent, and purchased materials for a permanent structure–all without outside funding. Sixty-five currently attend, and a school is being started this year. We asked them how we might pray for their ministry. They asked us to pray for their impact on their community, employment, and physical strength. They made no mention of any need for funds.

On Sunday morning, I spoke at Delmas 33 on the parable of the sower from Mark 4:3-9. The church consists of a more urban demographic than many of the other churches in Haiti. The building can hold approximately 500, and the bottom floor was fairly full on Sunday morning. This is also the location of the national assembly which took place recently for the second year in a row.

26 Oct Hurricane Sandy and Haiti

Mark Wallace of Christian Horizons, an organization with which we partner in Haiti, sent this note on October 26 about Hurricane Sandy’s affect on Haiti.

Please pray for the people of Haiti. Once again, this fragile country faces another challenge due to the impact of Hurricane Sandy.

Our national director reports that there has been no electricity for many days. People are without water and food and are difficult to reach. More than one dozen deaths have been recorded, and many houses and bridges have been destroyed.

The impact of this hurricane has increased the challenges in Haiti.

Efforts to supply water to people from the water depot are under way. Please pray that assistance would reach those in need and for the children in our CH Global programs.

26 Oct Rick Tyler Joins Global Ministries Family

Rick Tyler (right) has been approved as endorsed staff with Global Ministries. Rick and his wife, Diane, are from Parkwood Gardens UB church in Guelph, Ontario.

Rick has served in the home office of Christian Missions Resource Centre since November 2011. With CMRC, Rick is involved with mission trips to South America. In the past, he has led mission teams to various locations, mostly in the Caribbean and Central America.

Rick has served with Christian Missions Resource Centre in Ontario, Canada for 12 years–first as a volunteer, and on staff since November 2011. He is well suited for his role in communications, since his background includes working in Christian television and media for over 35 years. Self-educated and self-employed, his projects include pioneering works to well seasoned ministries.

CMRC’s mission is to help the world’s needy both 
spiritually and in practical gifts of helps. They have projects in Cuba, Peru, and Guatemala.

24 Oct A Visit to Jamaica

Dinner in Mandeville with Harold and MaryAnne Hancock (left), Owen, Frances and Sasha Gordon (right), and Donna Hollopeter (at the rail).

Malvern Camp as it stands currently. The first floor was used during camp. Jamaica is raising funds and volunteers before we proceed with this 50/50 project.

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

At the end of August, Donna Hollopeter and I traveled to Jamaica and met with the leadership there. Here are a few notes from that visit.

Jamaica Bible College is now called Regent College of the Caribbean. The president of Regent is Owen Gordon, a UB pastor in Jamaica Conference. The school now accommodates a high school program for delinquent teens, business, education, and trade school programming.

Harold and MaryAnne Hancock arrived in August as Global Ministries staff serving at the college, and were settling in well and ready to start the semester.

Regent is building a new dining commons. The current facility is outdated and far too small to accommodate students for meals and chapel services. Up until now, they have been working on the project without any requests for assistance from Global Ministries. However, I’m sure they would accept any volunteer assistance.

Owen Gordon continues to coordinate building projects for Jamaica Conference. All projects are submitted to conference leadership, whether they include Regent projects or not, so there is no concern regarding potential conflicts of interest.

We visited Malvern Camp. More work needs to be done, but the conference was able to hold three weeks of camp using the new (but incomplete) building. At this point, Jamaica Conference needs to determine costs to complete the project, and the preparedness of their people to contribute funds and volunteers before we can make plans for more work teams.

We discussed various issues with Bishop Isaac Nugent and other Jamaica leaders, including the idea of church-to-church partnerships between Jamaican and North American churches. Such partnerships would be limited to no more than 3 years and a partnering agreement should be signed indicating roles, responsibilities, and specific goals.

18 Oct Conference and Education Updates from Honduras

A recent Church-Based Theological Education seminar that took place in La Cieba, Honduras.

Juanita Chavez (right), superintendent of Honduras Conference, recently attended COICOM–the Confederation Iberoamerican of Communicators, Media, Pastors and Christian Leaders. She was joined by several other UBs from Honduras. There were more than 5000 participants, domestic and foreign, in attendance during the five days of the conference.

The conference also continues its program of continuing studies ETBIL (Local Church-Based Theological Education). They just came through an intensive week of studies from 7 am to 8 pm each day. This has become a model for the theological education and training of both pastors and lay leaders throughout the conference and is proving to be quite successful.

Although a specific date has not been set for their annual conference in January, they are planning to conduct 100 hours of prayer throughout their churches prior to the event.

09 Oct In Venezuela with the Reecks

Roger and Marilyn Reeck, Wycliffe Bible Translators, Honduras

On Sunday we eagerly watched the presidential elections in Venezuela. A few months ago we had little interest in that country but, since last May when we helped at the first One Story workshop, the Lord has laid this South American country on our hearts. We are consultant/trainers for two of the five One Story projects there.

During this past week we have feverishly worked on Spanish stories for the next One Story workshop. We leave on Wednesday, October 11, again for Venezuela. Our time will be divided between two activities. We fly together to Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, and the next day leave separately to two different areas of the country. Marilyn will travel to a Karina village, and Roger will travel to the Amazonas to visit a Curripaco village area. We will be observing One Story projects among these ethnic groups. We will then travel to a retreat center near the city of Valencia for a one week workshop. There will be 5 different language groups represented.

La Ceiba One Story Workshop. This was truly an exercise in flexibility. The particular group of participants, the date (finally settled on September 17-27), and the focus of the workshop kept changing. Finally, plans came together and then things changed again. We were to have 3 participants from Venezuela, one from Mexico, 2 from Honduras, and one from Nicaragua. Then the day they were to arrive, 3 were not able to fly (passport and yellow fever vaccine problems). We regrouped and came up with new workshop topics and schedule. The participants included Braulio from Venezuela; Jotam, a Mayagna Indian from Nicaragua; and two Misquito men from Honduras. Praise the Lord that in spite of many difficulties, the goals were achieved.

The end of October, Roger will leave for Texas and be in the US until the middle of December. His pain level has remained high while here in Honduras, and we have chosen that he not be here during the months of the worst rains. We pray that being in a different weather situation will help relieve his pain. He continues to wear the boot and prosthesis on his left leg.

27 Sep Bryan and Emily Gerlach, New Staff in Thailand

Bryan and Emily Gerlach

Bryan and Emily Gerlach have been approved as full support staff with Global Ministries. They will serve in northern Thailand sometime in the second half of 2013.

Bryan grew up in the Mt. Pleasant UB church in Chambersburg, Pa., and was a leader in the youth group. He graduated in 2010 from Houghton College (Houghton, NY) with a degree in Music Education. His short-term mission work includes trips to Mexico, eastern Europe, and the Ivory Coast.

Emily grew up in a military family, and lived a couple years at a time in Japan, the Azores, the Netherlands, and in six different states. She became a Christian during high school through a youth group. She attended three years of college at Spring Arbor (Spring Arbor, Mich.), and then transferred to Buffalo State College (Buffalo, NY), from which she graduated in 2011 with a degree in Art Education. She also participated in cross-cultural trips to Egypt and Belize.

Bryan and Emily were married in July 2010. In August 2011, they began a year as missionary teachers at All Nations Christian Academy in South Korea. While there, they attended a church that was very focused on human rights issues, including the plight of children and refugees who become exploited in human trafficking in Southeast Asia, especially northern Thailand.

They are currently living in Chambersburg, Pa. In preparation for service in Thailand, they are raising support and working in a Global Ministries internship in partnership with the King Street and Mount Pleasant UB churches in Chambersburg.

24 Sep Sarah Bonner, New Global Ministries Staff

Sarah Bonner has joined the Global Ministries family as an endorsed staff. She grew up in the Emmanuel Community Church in Fort Wayne, Ind. Her sister, Jenaya, is part of the Global Ministries staff in Macau.

Sarah serves with Every Community for Christ, the church multiplication catalyst of One Mission Society (formerly OMS International). She works at the OMS World Headquarters in Greenwood, Ind., as the administrative assistant to the international director of Every Community for Christ.

Sarah assists with communication, organization, and event coordination. This involves many different tasks such as email and phone correspondence, providing up-to-date documents and information, creating organizational systems, and helping to plan training events at headquarters and around the world.

Sarah graduated from Huntington University in 2011 with a degree in sociology. She had the opportunity to complete two internships at OMS headquarters in 2011, and God has opened the doors for her to continue to serve in Greenwood. She is currently raising support to serve fulltime in this capacity.

11 Sep Cholera Outbreak in Sierra Leone

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

Reports from our Sierra National Conference in West Africa indicate that up until August 9 there had been 203 deaths in the country due to an outbreak of cholera.

Cholera is an infection in the small intestine caused by a particular bacteria. It can lead to profuse, watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking water or eating food that has been contaminated by the feces of an infected person. The severity of the diarrhea and vomiting can lead to rapid dehydration and electrolyte imbalance, and death in some cases. Worldwide, it affects 3–5 million people and causes 100,000 – 130,000 deaths per year on average.

However, we are pleased to receive news that in the areas where water filter systems were introduced last summer by former missionaries Bryan and Gail Welch of Coolwater Projects, no symptoms or outbreaks have occurred.

There remain a number of water filter systems that were not installed last summer due to time restraints, but hopes are that the remaining filters can be installed by volunteers from within the conference in areas where they are most critically needed.