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.

05 Sep Earthquake Off the Coast of Costa Rica

A 7.6 magnitute earthquake off the coast of Costa Rica set off a tsunami watch for much of the Caribbean. We have a couple churches in San Jose, the capital.

Global Ministries director Jeff Bleijerveld, associate director Donna Hollopeter, and Kyle Bushre, a staff pastor from King Street church (Chambersburg, Pa.) are currently in Costa Rica. They report that they are fine and unaffected by the earthquake.

The earthquake occurred three hours before they arrived. Jeff said there was not much damage in San Jose.

The earthquake occurred about 95 miles west of San Jose, and ran more than 28 miles deep. Parts of the country were rattled, but there were no reports of injuries.

27 Aug India: Project Compassion

Through the generous gifts of donors, Project Compassion is able provide children infected with HIV/AIDS with a clean place to live where they will be cared for, comforted, loved, encouraged, fed, and educated. 98% of these children have lost their parents to HIV/AIDS and many of the children themselves will not live beyond their teen years.

If you’d like to know more about this program, contact Global Ministries by email or call 1-888-622-3019.

(If you are receiving this post by email, you will need to go to the original post on UBCentral to view the video.)

20 Aug Bishop of Sierra Leone Coming to the USA

Joe Abu, senior pastor, Zion United African Church, Philadelphia, Pa.

Bishop John Pessima (right) is the bishop of the United Brethren in Christ Church in Sierra Leone, West Africa. When he came to the United States in the fall of 2011, some United Brethren churches invited him to speak. That was a blessing to the ministries in Africa and to their partners here in the United States.

As the representative of the UB Church in Sierra Leone to our partners in the United States and Canada, I am excited to announce to you that Bishop Pessima is scheduled to be here again in late October through November, and will be delighted to be your 2012 Thank Offering. Of course, you can invite him to preach or speak about Sierra Leone, too. He will be all yours!

Since I will travel to Sierra Leone for a leadership conference in early September, I kindly suggest that you contact me as soon as possible if you are interested in inviting the bishop speak at your church or group. First come, first served. I need to have all of this set up before leaving. This is my contact information:

Joseph C. Abu
172 W. Shelley Dr.
Claymont, DE. 19703
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 267-240-9942.

20 Aug When Missionaries Resettle in the USA: Not So Easy

Doug and Ruth Weber, after many years as missionaries in Ecuador, recently relocated to the United States. Doug wrote on his blog about attending a re-entry program for missionaries returning to the USA after living overseas for many years, and how they go through five stages: Settled, Unsettled, Chaos, Resettling, and Settled. He explained hos this process related to their own experiences as a family. Read his August 18 post, called “Through the Chaos.”

14 Aug India Project: Home-Based Care Program

India has a population of 1.15 billion and it’s estimated that 2.3 million are currently living with HIV/AIDS. These are staggering figures. A majority of these persons come from poor homes living from what they earn on a daily basis.

The Home-Based Care program was started to help a small group of very carefully selected families from among the poorest of the poor, ranging in age from 20 to 40. They are in need of comfort, counseling, and guidance in how to live with the situation they are facing.

Currently, 65 families come once a month to receive counseling and a medical checkup. Possible admission is given if needed. A meal is provided, giving them time to share their problems with persons facing the same situation and to speak to counselors.

Gifts and donations enable us to provide monthly provisions. In addition to providing hope, we give them rice, lentils, sugar, soap, toothpaste, and tea to bring a partial measure to hope to a small family. The cost is just $20 a month for the entire family. If you’d like to know more about this program, contact us by email at UBGlobal, or call 1-888-622-3019.

09 Aug Targeted Prayer for the Final Week of Ramadan

Jeff Bleijerveld (right), Director of Global Ministries

Three weeks ago, on Thursday, July 19, a sighting of the crescent moon marked the beginning of the ninth month in the Islamic lunar calendar: Ramadan (or Ramazan as some pronoun it). During Ramadan, observant Muslims worldwide abstain from food, drink, and sex every day from dawn to dusk. It’s also a time of great feasts, from each evening’s iftar, or fast-breaking meal, to the three days of celebration that conclude the month. This festival, known as Eid al-Fitr, is characterized by visits to friends and neighbors, toys and carnivals for children, and family meals in restaurants and cafés.

Ramadan ends on August 18, 2012. During the final week, they celebrate what is called the “Night of Power.” That’s when, according to the Quran, Heaven opens up for a period of time, and anyone who is praying at just the right moment may receive great blessings from God. On the Night of Power, hundreds of thousands of Muslims stay awake all night praying.

What a tremendous time to be praying that God would reveal himself to them and invite them to become followers of Jesus.

If you’d like to know more about Islam, read the article about Islam on the UBGlobal website.

09 Aug Clean Water for Centennial High School in Sierra Leone

Joe Abu (right), pastor of Mount Zion United African Church in Philadelphia, Pa., put together a video about a team that went to Sierra Leone in May 2012 to help drill a well for Centennial High School in Mattru. He says the students and teachers had been without clean water for years. An upcoming trip will install a solar pump to pump clean water around the campus. These projects are being done in partnership with Engineers Without Borders of Lehigh valley, Centennial School, and the Alumni Association of the School (CeOSA).

09 Aug Do You Support the Ministry, or Just the Missionary?

A new article was added to the Resources section of the UBGlobal website: “Engaged with the Mission or Just the Missionary? Why and How One Church Shifted Its Approach.” It’s an enlightening article which probably applies to how your United Brethren church views mission support.

John Kless, pastor of a Pennsylvania church with about 160 people, says his church has long been enthusiastic about supporting many missionaries around the world. But he realized that they were more interested in the missionaries than the people those missionaries worked among.

“Our church had sent out a couple to serve among the unreached peoples of Papua New Guinea, but they had recently returned home to a ministry in New Mexico….We had forgotten all about the unreached of Papua New Guinea! It dawned on me that I loved missionaries but I couldn’t care less about the lost people they were sent to reach!”

The article describes the steps they took to focus more on unreached people, and not just on missionaries.

UBGlobal includes a number of other resource articles, including a series on understanding the various major world religions–Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Animism.

02 Aug Harrisburg Group Spends Ten Days in Honduras

Ministry team members with UB people from Puerto Cortes. Derek Thrush is kneeling in front, second from the left. (click to enlarge)

With Puerto Cortes children (click to enlarge)

At the end of June, 11 persons from Devonshire Church in Harrisburg, Pa., traveled to Puerto Cortes, Honduras. There, they spent 10 days reconnecting and ministering with their sister church, Iglesia Luz. Their primary ministry focus throughout the week was leading a weeklong Children’s Bible School, building relationships in the community, and serving the surrounding communities. They also helped with construction of a wall at the church, ministered at an orphanage, and helped the needs of elderly in the community.

Says Associate Pastor Derek Thrush (right), who led the trip, “During our time in Puerto Cortes, we experienced the leading of the Holy Spirit as we served Iglesia Luz and its surrounding community. We ministered to nearly 100 children each day, visited with and prayed with many in the community, and helped build a much-needed concrete block wall for the church. Our team was humbled by the warmth, love, and hospitality of our Honduran brothers and sisters in Christ.”