07 Dec UB Team Ministers to Lots and Lots of Children in Asia

Craft activities for children in the Beautiful Family and Project Compassion programs.

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

During November, a team of nine persons–eight from Emmanuel Community Church (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and one from Jerusalem Chapel (Churchville, Va.)–traveled to South Central Asia. In addition to providing a leadership development event, the team offered a variety of English conversation activities to 600 students at the local high school. Those activities included a fun-filled time of crafts, games, and Bible stories to 220 children who are part of our Beautiful Family and Project Compassion Ministries.

Getting to our ministry site involved some 16-hour flights and a 12-hour overnight train ride to the literal “end-of-the-line.” But the warm welcome and joy in the faces of the children in the leprosy and AIDS programs made it all worthwhile. During our time, 22 children made decisions to follow Jesus.

05 Dec How Hong Kong Youth Think About Love

Hong Kong Conference has a Social Service Division which operates youth centers at several large high-rise estates which can house thousands of people. It’s a pretty big deal.

The Social Service Division surveyed 3207 students, ages 12-23, during October and November, asking them about their perception of love. They could choose among 39 possible characteristics of love. Their top 5:

1. Trust.
2. Consideration.
3. Loyalty.
4. Good communication.
5. Honesty.

The bottom 5:

1. Romantic.
2. Satisfying sexual needs.
3. Making surprises.
4. Being able to provide support.
5. Fulfilling materialistic desires.

03 Dec The First North American Missionaries

Adoniram Judson

This week,Hillary Clinton became the first US Secretary of State to visit Burma–now called Myanmar–in 50 years. This gives occasion to recall another historical event regarding Burma.

On February 6, 2012, the 200th anniversary of the first North American missionaries sent by a mission agency from North America will be remembered in Salem, Mass. The program itself will take place at Park Street Church in Boston at 7:30 pm.

And who were those first missionaries? Adoniram Judson, Jr. and his first wife, Ann Hasseltine.

As an American Baptist missionary, Judson served in Burma for almost 40 years. At age 25, he became the first Protestant missionary sent from North America to preach in Burma (present day Myanmar). His mission and work led to the formation of the first Baptist association in America, inspired many Americans to become or support missionaries, translated the Bible into Burmese, and established a number of Baptist churches in Burma.

All three of his wives died either at sea of from tropical diseases, as did a number of his children. Judson himself died at sea in the Bay of Bengal on April 12, 1850, at 61 years of age.

You can read more about the Judsons on Wikipedia.

02 Dec Developing Leaders in Asia

Participants in the Leadership Challenge Conference (click to enlarge)

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

  Rev. Bob Bruce ( far right) and I had the privilege of sharing three days with 30 pastors and church planters in South Central Asia. The participants ranged in experience and education, but most were from among tribal groups that work primarily in agriculture.

During our time, we walked through 1 John and an adapted version of the five practices of the “Leadership Challenge.”

1. Model the Way
2. Inspire a Shared Vision
3. Challenge the Process
4. Enable Others to Act
5. Encourage the Heart

Using biblical models of leaders, we found that sharing stories, humor, and abundant opportunities for them to interact with one another resulted in some great applications they felt were worth taking home and using. We were also able to send each participant home with an Old and New Testament Bible Commentary in their regional language thanks to your gifts toward our Thanksgiving Offering.

21 Nov Central Asia Team Returning

Jeff Bleijerveld and the eight other members of the Central Asia team have returned safely to the United States. They flew into Chicago, and as this is being typed, are en route back to Fort Wayne, Ind.

14 Nov Update from the Earthquake in Turkey

I received this update, dated November 11, from Lori Wenzel of IN Network. We are in the early stages of starting ministry in Turkey in partnership with IN Network. Earlier we invited individuals and churches to contribute toward earthquake relief, which we are coordinating with IN Network.–Jeff Bleijerveld

Early this morning I talked by phone with Behnan who had just returned from the area where the earthquake struck in October in Eastern Turkey.

A 5.7 earthquake took another 80 lives that are documented and others are being searched for in the new rubble. More houses were destroyed and a multi-level hotel collapsed.

The people are experiencing a great deal of fear and are quite exposed to the winter snow and temperature. Behnan told me that the Evangelical Church in Van has been serving over 300 meals a day, and teams from the church are going out into the tent cities offering blankets and warm clothes to the people who are camping there and have lost everything.

We are receiving funds from many of you and your churches, and those gifts are being coordinated by IN Turkey to be sure they get where they are needed most. These gifts are important as the Church reaches out to their neighbors who are Christians, as well as to Muslim brothers and sisters.

In his latest email, Behnan reported, “Tonight in Van another earthquake took place (5.7). There are newly collapsed buildings. We were able to reach the believers and found that they are okay, but this sparked a lot of fear again. Right now everyone in Van is in the streets, and it is freezing cold. People are really in a desperate state. Please pray for Van and may God show His warmth to the believers and people of Van.”

09 Nov In East Asia with the Canadian Bishop

Brian Magnus and Jeff Bleijerveld (left) with Philippine superintendent Prudencio Lim (right) and two other persons from the Philippines.

From the Philippine national convention at the end of October 2011.

Brian Magnus (left) with David and Melissa Kline and children.

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

I recently completed a trip to Asia with Brian Magnus, bishop of the UB Church in Canada. Brian and I gathered with 47 key leaders and pastors in the Philippines, and later visited with Global Ministries staff in Macau and Hong Kong.

In the Philippines, we held a leadership conference, worked through a first draft of their national conference Discipline, introduced the historical foundations of the United Brethren Church, and gave an overview of United Brethren presence around the world today. A committee will continue working on their Discipline, which will result in national elections. Pray for them as they take the next steps needed to sustain their evangelistic and church planting efforts since 1983.

The United Brethren Church in Canada provides 50% of the support for David and Melissa Kline, UB staff in Macau, so it only seemed right to have the Canadian bishop visit with them and the rest of the Macau team while in the region. We saw a number of sites and had opportunities to visit with and encourage staff members. We also met with Ajiax Wo, superintendent of Hong Kong Conference, and saw some sites in Hong Kong before heading home.

07 Nov Sierra Leone Company Donates to UB School

Sierra Rutile Chief Operating Officer, Andy Taylor (center) at the Moriba Town school.

Sierra Rutile Limited, a prominent mining company in Sierra Leone, donated 30 desks and bench sets to the United Brethren primary school in Moriba Town. Thanking Sierra Rutile for their donation was UBC Conference Education Secretary Albert Combey.

The school at Moriba Town is one of 44 primary schools sponsored by United Brethren churches in Sierra Leone. The conference also operates five secondary (high) schools.

07 Nov Nine Persons Heading to Central Asia

Participants in the Central Asia trip (l-r): Annette Sites, Abbey and Sam Rocke, Anna and Pete Edgar, Laura Leichty, Letha Chambers, Bob Bruce, and Global Ministries director, Jeff Bleijerveld (all from Emmanuel Community Church in Fort Wayne, Ind.

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

A multi-tasking team of nine left Monday, November 7, for Central Asia. We will return on November 19. During out time in Central Asia, we will offer a leadership development event, conduct programs for children in our leprosy and AIDS ministry, and teach English in a local high school.

Pray for the team as we have multiple flights and an overnight train ride before they reach their destination. But primarily, pray for Christ’s love to be demonstrated across all cultural, linguistic, and spiritual barriers.

All but one of the team members are from Emmanuel Community Church in Fort Wayne, Ind. The exception is Annette Sites, from Jerusalem Chapel in Churchville, Va.

04 Nov A Report from South of the Rio Grande

Gary Brooks (right), Retired UB Minister and Missionary
Sent November 4, 2011

Denis Casco and I were in Mexico for a Pastors’Training Seminar this week. I flew to Mexico City on Thursday, October 20, and was met by Denis Casco, Bishop of Mexico Conference of the United Brethren in Christ. After a bite to eat at the airport, we boarded a bus for the three-hour ride to Querétaro. Security was tight and efficient. Once passengers were seated, he went through the bus taking a photo of every passenger, just in case.

A couple hours after we checked into our hotel, Brother Guadalupe picked us up and took us to the site where the first session was about to begin. Denis preached on Thursday night. There were over 50 people in attendance.

The next morning, I began a series of messages from I and II Peter, and Jude, dealing with a pastor´s preparation to confront the false teachers who had secretly worked their way into the early Church.

Denis began teaching about the dangers of the G-twelve movement, many of whose false teachings have been embraced by evangelical pastors seeking fast numerical growth in their churches. This movement is very strong in Spanish charismatic churches. It was a subject that was very close to the participants in the seminar. Those who attended did not miss a single session. Our average attendance during the 2.5-day seminar held steadily at 25-30 church workers.

After the last session on Saturday afternoon, Denis and I returned to Mexico City. Sunday morning, we walked along the Avenida (Paseo) de La Reforma, the broadest avenue in the city. We never felt in danger at any time during the four hours we spent on the streets of this huge city. The government closes off the avenue to motorized traffic on Sunday mornings, leaving the length and breadth of the road open for pedestrian and bike traffic. We saw hundreds of entire families riding bikes along the way.

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