07 Mar Raudales Family Now in the US
Francisco and Maira Raudales, along with son Jimmy, have moved to Miami and are now residents of the United States. Francisco was superintendent of Honduras Conference 1997-2009.
23 Feb Sierra Leone Planning Retreat
Participants share their vision statements for the conference. (Click to enlarge)
Sierra Leone Conference held a planning retreat February 1-4, 2012, in Bo. Over 150 people participated, representing churches and groups throughout the country. Bishop John Pessima says the final report is still being finalized.
20 Feb News from Honduras Conference
Honduras Conference held its annual meeting January 16-21, 2012. Superintendent Juanita Chavez (right) sent this report.
Juanita Chavez, superintendent of Honduras Conference
We are rejoicing in the Lord for the strong representation that we had from our churches at this years conference. We had nearly 300 people present each day.
Here are just a few items to report:
- Although Zion Church of Puerto Cortes nearly left the denomination, they have now asked that we send them a pastor. Pastor Neptaly Ponce has been assigned and will soon relocate along with his wife and new baby. In total there were four pastors reassigned at this year’s conference.
- Four new district superintendents have been appointed. None have been part of our administration before, but are outstanding young leaders who are acting quite responsibly.
- Five pastors were ordained–four men and one woman.
- The church plant in El Chaparral was officially received and a pastor has been assigned.
- We have now officially assigned Pastor Gonzalo Alas to El Salvador only. He no longer divides his time between El Salvador and El Copan in Honduras. We trust this will encourage the growth of the work in El Salvador.
- We have two feeding programs providing nutritious meals to more than 200 children through Mercy Ministries and our United Brethren in the United States. On March 10, 2012, we’ll have the first meeting of the Combehul Cooperative. The leadership team of Honduras has approved the construction of a retreat center on the Maria River. The goal is to develop a self-sustaining ministry that will benefit ministry to youth in this area.
- We continue training pastors and leaders regarding stewardship using a program called Total Stewardship.
- During the first week of March, we will launch a church-based theological program. We’ll be offering four-week intensives each month in various districts.
- Abdiel Lopez of Guatemala continues to offer seminars and training in the integration of scripture in ministry for pastors and leaders.
- We were blessed to send out 10 teenagers for 33 days of intense missions training with Teen Missions. It was a wonderful experience. These young people have returned with a renewed commitment to the Lord and his work. They have also been awakened to consider becoming missionaries.
We continue to thank the Lord for the short-term teams that come to Honduras and especially the medical team that will be arriving in the coming months.
17 Feb New Sound System for Sierra Leone
On February 5, Sierra Leone conference unveiled and dedicated a new sound system and instruments, made possible through a $3000 donation from a United Brethren couple in the United States. Bishop John Pessima wrote:
“Please extend our gratitude to the donors and let them know that we have started using the system to reach out to the unreached, and we are also using it to talk to the youths to stay away from violence as we are approching elections in November.”
14 Feb Get Acquainted with John Pessima
John Pessima (right), the new bishop of Sierra Leone Conference, came to the United States last fall to meet with the Global Ministries Leadership Team. During that time, he sat down with Communications Director Steve Dennie for an interview. The resulting article, much longer than a regular UBCentral post, is published in the new “Features” section of UBCentral.
Bishop Pessima talks about his childhood and call to the ministry, his experiences during the rebel war, his leadership team in Sierra Leone, various bright spots in the conference, and his priorities as bishop in seeing Sierra Leone Conference move forward.
11 Feb Video Update on the Andersons in Spain
Ron and Brenda Anderson are endorsed Global Ministries staff serving in Spain with European Christian Mission International. Here’s a video update they did around the recent Foundations training course. Ron explains, “Brenda and I spent the last week of January working with a group of ECM missionaries stationed in Spain, Albania, England, and France. This was a time to encourage them in their new missionary career and to help equip them to have the resilience to make the sacrifices necessary to do what God has asked them to do.”
08 Feb Work Progresses at Centennial School
Global Ministries, the Sierra Leone Conference, and the Lehigh Valley chapter of Engineers Without Borders have been working to bring a number of upgrades to the Centennial School in Mattru Jong, Sierra Leone. To date, new modernized latrines have been built, lighting is being installed to allow for evening classes and study, and very soon a drilled well will be installed.
One worker at the school shared this week that the students really like coming to class at night versus the late afternoon, as they have more time for chores and other work that can only be done during daylight hours. With Sierra Leone’s proximity to the equator, sunrise and sunset occur at approximately 6 am and 6 pm all year round.
Rev. Joe Abu is planning another trip along with engineering volunteers this spring. If you would like to donate to this project, you can do so by sending your gift, mark “Centennial School” to Global Ministries. If sending a check, be sure to make it out to Global Ministries.
07 Feb John Pessima, Sierra Leone’s New Bishop
Steve Dennie, Communications Director
On January 16, 2011, John Momoh Pessima was consecrated as the new bishop of Sierra Leone Conference. The service was held at the Au Memorial church in Kissy, a neighborhood on the east end of Freetown. Rev. Pessima grew up in that church and had been its pastor.
At the installation of John Pessima as bishop. L-r: Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries; outgoing bishop Billy Simbo, John Pessima.
The Council of Ordained Elders, which consists of all United Brethren ordained ministers in Sierra Leone Conference, recommended Rev. Pessima to become the new bishop. Their recommendation was referred to the National Conference meeting in December 2010, where it was unanimously approved.
Bishop Pessima succeeded Billy Simbo, who served three years in Sierra Leone in a transitional role under the umbrella of Global Ministries.
Bishop Pessima came to the United States in October 2011 to meet with the Global Ministries Leadership Team. During that time, he sat down with me for an interview.
Growing Up with Rev. Ali and the Kissy Church
John Pessima was born and raised in Freetown. His mother and father were both Christians. However, it was a polygamous home. John’s mother, the oldest of four wives, gave birth to 12 children. Only three of those children are still alive. Of those three, John is the youngest, and the only son.
John grew up in the Kissy United Brethren church. The pastor was Rev. Henry Ali, who in 1985 became the first General Superintendent of Sierra Leone Conference—the first Sierra Leonean, as opposed to a missionary, to oversee all of the United Brethren work in that country. Interestingly, Rev. Ali was blind. Yet he was a highly respected leader in the Sierra Leone church.
“Rev. Ali discipled me,” says Bishop Pessima. “He was a very good leader. Some of us young guys looked at his leadership qualities and decided to become pastors. We talked with him, and he encouraged us. Three of us went to college together.”
02 Feb Three Mission Team Leader Training Events
Global Ministries is sponsoring three seminars for persons interested in leading or participating in a short-term mission team. It’s a very informative, interactive, and fun seminar.
You can choose from these locations and dates.
March 2-3, 2012
Monroe UB church
205 South Adams Street
Monroe, Ind. 46772
March 9-10, 2012
HomeFront UB church
6265 8th Avenue
Grandville, Mich. 49418
June 8-9, 2012
Criders UB church
2380 Loudon Road
Chambersburg, Pa. 17202
The cost is $50 per person (or $45 if you bring 5 persons from your church). Ministers can earn 1 CEU for attending.
02 Feb The Deforestation of Sierra Leone
Al Jazeera did a fascinating 60-Minutes style report about the illegal logging trade in Sierra Leone, which threatens to deforest the country. It includes an undercover sting operation on the vice president himself. Chinese companies lead the way in this multi-million dollar business. You can watch the 25-minute report here and read the accompanying article.