12 Apr Josh Kesler Tells about the Nicaragua Baseball Trip

Right now, you can listen to an interview with Josh Kesler (right) about the January 2012 baseball trip to Nicaragua. Josh, senior pastor of The Well in Huntington, Ind., served as team pastor for the trip.

In January of 2012 a team of baseball players traveled to Masaya, Nicaragua to participate in training events, exhibition games, and a number of relational activities with local athletes and dignitaries. Local United Brethren churches, pastors, and members were able to develop friendships among an entirely new circle within their community and lasting relationships were formed with the visiting short-term volunteers.

The story was written up on UBCentral, with lots of photos. That information primarily came from Jeff Dice, who led the trip. But now you can hear–actually hear–the story of the trip from Josh Kesler.

12 Apr June 8-9: Mission Team Leader Training

Global Ministries will hold its next edition of this popular seminar June 8-9 in Chambersburg, Pa. This seminar is for persons interested in leading or participating in a short-term mission team. It’s a highly informative, interactive, and inspirational seminar.

June 8-9, 2012
Criders UB church
2380 Loudon Road
Chambersburg, Pa. 17202

The cost is $50 per person (or $45 each if you bring 5 persons from your church).

Ministers can earn 1 CEU for attending and can attend free of charge if they bring at least one other person from their church.

09 Apr A One-Day Missions Course Coming Your Way

We are offering a course which will cover a broad range of mission-related issues–history, trends, key concepts, strategy–and cover the history of United Brethren missions.

This course satisfies a requirement for ordination in the United Brethren denomination. However, people wanting a well-rounded view of missions are welcome to attend for just $50. This is the first time the course has been offered.

Date Options

Date: Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Time: 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Location: King Street UB Church, 162 E. King Street, Chambersburg, Pa.

Date: Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Time: 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Location: Shoreline UB Church, 769 N. Locust St., Oak Harbor, Ohio

Jeff Bleijerveld (right), Director of Global Ministries, is the teacher. Here’s what Jeff says about the course:

“Although only an introduction to missions, we will cover a broad spectrum of missions related issues that have both global and local impact. We’ll discuss both effective and detrimental mission strategies, and consider various trends in missions–historical and current trends, and trends specific to United Brethren missions. We’ll wrap up with practical help in implementing missions in the local church, including the opportunity for you to outline a basic missions policy for you or your local church based on the principles you will have learned.”

The cost is $100 if you are seeking ordination, $50 for everyone else.

09 Apr Summer Children’s Ministry Project

Global Ministries is partnering with national church planting efforts in Turkey. We invite our children’s ministries, whether a vacation Bible school, midweek or Sunday school, to participate in raising $10,000 to support a Turkish Children’s Bible Camp project. Turkey is the first Islamic country in which the United Brethren church has launched outreach efforts.

The video above tells about our new work in Turkey and the Children’s Project. The video will also be included in the next Mission Moments DVD, which will be mailed to each church in the coming weeks.

03 Apr Obit: Jayne Mote, Missionary to Macau

Jayne Louise Cleveland Mote, 71, of Caro, Mich., passed away Tuesday, April 3, 2012. Jayne, a schoolteacher for much of her life, served twice as a volunteer missionary in Macau: September 1998 – June 1999, and August 1999 – December 6, 1999.

Jayne was preceded in death by her husband, Loren John Mote, Sr.

Interment will be in Clarksville Cemetery, Clarksville, Mich. There will be no viewing or funeral service.

Memorial contributions may be made to the building fund of the Colwood church, 1840 N. Colwood Road, Caro, MI 48723.

03 Apr Sewing Machines for Centennial School in Sierra Leone

A quilt from Keystone Quilters presented to Centennial School (click to enlarge).

One of the five sewing machines donated to Centennial.

Centennial students

Joe Abu (right), Sierra Leone Liason to UB Churches in North America

The infrastructural rebuilding of Centennial Secondary School in Sierra Leone is well underway by the tri-partnership of Engineers Without Borders (EWB), the Centennial School Community, and the alumni association of the school (Centennial Old Students Association, or CeOSA). There are fringe benefits that are directly and indirectly in collaboration with the project implementation. This the story of one fringe benefit.

During the second trip of Engineers to Centennial Secondary School in order to refurbish the toilet/bath houses, the team members were appalled at the devastating lack of teaching materials/tools in all of the areas of the school, especially in the laboratories–the chemistry lab, physics lab, home economics lab, etc.

Jamee Pemberton, one of the EWB team members, returned home and shared the plight of the school with her women’s guild called Keystone Quilters. This group not only raised money for some sewing machines, but also collected needles, thread, and other kinds of sewing materials. Also, at the 2011 CeOSA convention, a group of the alumni association donated funds to buy five sewing machines for the school. God bless their hearts! Following are some pictures when the machines and sewing materials were presented.

The five sewing machines have been delivered to Centennial, along with a beautiful quilt from Keystone Quilters and boxes of various sewing materials.

29 Mar Leadership Training in Honduras

Honduran pastors involved in leadership training.

Sunday school teacher training at Puerto Cortes.

Thirty-two Honduran UB pastors participated in a training event. The conference is training leaders from each conference district using a program called ETBIL (Local Church-Based Theological Education). Thus far, 14 have completed the entire program.

Participants meet twice a month, for 6 hours at a time, to work through the units of study together. The idea is that this first generation of 14 will go on to train pastors in all districts, and then pastors will provide the same training for their own congregations.

“We continue being very focused on preparing leaders,” writes Superintendent Chavez.

Honduras has invested tremendous effort over the past three years to provide numerous regional training events of this nature. Many pastors have limited education and theological training. They also are often bi-vocational, so the on-site training is appreciated. Superintendent Juanita Chavez sees this as a high priority, and local churches are experiencing the benefits.

In addition, a workshop for Sunday school teachers was held on a recent Saturday in the Wesley Zion Church in Puerto Cortes.

As of January 2012, Rev. Gonzalo Alas was appointed to serve only the work in El Salvador and will no longer spend any of his time the El Copan region, where he had previously served as a church planter. Honduras oversees the work in El Salvador, but any gifts from other conferences would always be welcome and can be directed through Global Ministries.

28 Mar Video from January 2012 Student Trip to Sierra Leone

A group of students from the Taylor University School of Business traveled to Sierra Leone in January 2012. They taught entrepreneurship skills and other business-related skills to Sierra Leoneans. The team was led by Jeff Sherlock, a former UB missionary and current Global Ministries Leadership Team member.

Chad Cazel, a student member of the team, developed this video about the trip. Enjoy.

26 Mar Travelers to Sierra Leone

Six persons are from the United States are now in Sierra Leone, where they will participate in the annual Women’s Institute.

• Donna Hollopeter, associate director of Global Ministries, and her husband Jason.
• Penny Cole, pastor’s wife from Park UB in Bluffton, Ind.
• Matenneh Abu, wife of pastor Joe Abu of Mount Zion United African Church in Philadelphia, Pa.
• Two other women from the Mount Zion church.

21 Mar 2012 Easter Offering

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

As Easter approaches, we select a number of worthy projects we believe will advance the work of Christ. We invite your church to participate in this missions offering.

Business as Missions materials. Business as Missions refers to using business earnings to support an individual or group in accomplishing their ministry goals. Global Ministries is training its overseas staff, international church planters, and national conferences in its use. However, our materials are now printed only in English. Your gifts will enable us to translate and print these materials so we can respond to requests for further training and coaching in the Spanish-speaking world.

Church planting and construction. We never provide complete funding for a new church, but do offer some assistance to complete buildings where local believers have already bought property or initiated construction. Each project is carefully assessed and funds are provided based on need. In some cases, a work team may be sent.

Sierra Leone National Office. Wanting to centralize national leadership, Sierra Leone Conference has been working to renovate their national office building in Bo, which is in disrepair. A renovated national office will bring its key national leaders under one roof, make it possible to offer regular training events, and reduce travel expenses.

General Conference, Spring 2013. General Conference, held every three years, brings together leaders from our 10 national conferences. They report what God is doing in their countries, share vision, pray, and develop cooperative strategies to reach our world for Christ. The next General Conference will be held in Canada during the spring of 2013. While each National Conference is asked to pay its own expenses, your gifts help make up for any lack of resources.

Mission Team Leader Training. Interest in sending short-term volunteers overseas continues to grow. However, the effectiveness of mission teams often depends on the leadership and preparation of the group. Global Ministries has a short-term mission team leadership workshop that has been offered in the past. We’d like to offer it again on a regional basis.

Donations designated for our short-term mission team leadership workshops will cover the printing and preparation of materials and curriculum, travel expenses for the presenters, and some financial assistance to the participants.