23 Jun Project: Colonia la Estancia Church Plant

Pastor Basilio in the Colonia la Estancia building.

When the church plant began in La Estancia, Pastor Basilio was driving back and forth some two hours from Guatemala City to Escuintla. In the process, he and his family of seven lost their home in the city due to a lack of finances. Today, they live in a very basic shelter next to the church plant.

Although unemployment in their area is at 50% and most only work seasonally in the sugar cane fields, the congregation of 60 has purchased a 6×15 meter lot on which they built a picnic-style shelter where the congregation gathers. In order for the building to be improved, footers need to be poured, walls constructed, and a roof installed. They calculate that it would cost $8000 to make the improvements on the property.

A team would be welcome but would need to recognize that their accommodations would be quite rustic. If you’re up for that kind of challenge, the best time would be during the month of September. Workers are laid off from May until October, and rain is heavy during the summer months. The members of the church can’t offer much, but are willing to volunteer alongside a work team.

20 Jun Teens from Germany Visit the US

Donna Hollopeter with the teens from Germany (click to enlarge).

Galen and Maritta Fiedler, non-traditional staff with Global Ministries, brought a group of 18 teens and 2 chaperones from the Aloys Henhofer School in Germany. They spent the week of June 13 participating in the regular teen camp at Camp Cobutic in Bellafontaine, Ohio.

They are now spending six days visiting Huntington University. During their time in Indiana, they’ll visit Shipshewana, the Fort Wayne Zoo, and get a special tour of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

In the mornings, Donna Hollopeter is offering some fun English learning activities. Donna was among the first to receive a TESOL Certificate (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) from the Institute for TESOL Studies at Huntington University.

20 Jun 5 Teams, 4 Countries

Several short-term mission teams are currently overseas or traveling.

Honduras Medical Team. A group of 22 people arrived in Honduras on June 17, ready to conduct a series of clinics at UB churches. They are staying in Olanchito. They conducted clinics on Saturday (June 18) and Monday (June 20). So far they have seen 700 medical patients and 300 patients for eyeglasses. The team is led by Fonda and Robert Cassidy of Mt. Olivet UB church (Mt. Solon, Va.). All of the team members are having a great time and settling in very well. The team will be in Honduras doing clinics each day this week and will return to the U.S. on Saturday, June 25.

They have asked for prayer for a specific situation. They saw a woman, age 40+, who is pregnant with twins and was just diagnosed with lung cancer. The team is attempting to get the woman to a hospital for an early delivery of the babies so that some kind of cancer treatment can begin.

Sierra Leone. Two groups will soon be ministering in Sierra Leone.

Gail Welch, a former UB missionaries at Mattru Hospital, is leading a group of 7 persons who will spend a month installing water filtration systems in villages throughout the country.

On June 20, a group of five persons from Criders UB (Chambersburg, Pa.) began their journey to Sierra Leone. They will work at Jonathan’s House, an orphanage in Bo, and stay with Randy and Toni Fennig.

Nicaragua. A group of 25 youth and adult sponsors from College Park UB (Huntington, Ind.) left today (June 20) for Nicaragua. They will be there for 10 days, working with UB staffperson Jeff Dice and conducting a VBS in the evenings.

Poland. Roger and Sharon McDonald are leading a group of 15 persons to Poland, where they will conduct an English camp alongside UB endorsed staff Arek and Donna Delik. They leave Friday morning, June 24.

15 Jun Mission Project: Motorcycles for Superintendents

Global Ministries has posted a new mission project involving Sierra Leone.

Project: Honda XL 125 motorcycles for the six regional superintendents.
Location: Sierra Leone
Cost:$40,800 ($6800 per motorcycle)

Sierra Leone National Conference has six regional superintendents who supervise church ministries in their regions. Over the years, these regional superintendents have not been as effective as expected due to lack of transportation. The Honda XL 125 motorcycle is very common and will be a reliable means of transportation, enabling these superintendents to fulfill their leadership duties.

The national conference has grown extensively over the past three years. It now includes 73 churches and 15 preaching points, plus 54 schools with a total enrollment of just over 10,000 students and 376 teachers. The conference has budgeted funds to cover fuel expenses and will cover repairs.

14 Jun Mission Project: Sierra Leone National Office

Global Ministries has added a new mission project on the UBGlobal.org website.

Project: Renovations on the national office.
Location: Bo, Sierra Leone
Cost: $30,000

The United Brethren National Office in Bo was built 19 years ago. It has seven rooms, a hall, and restroom. However, the building was never totally completed due to the rebel war of the 1990s and subsequent lack of funds.

Currently, the Superintendent of Administration uses the building, and the lecture hall is used by a new United Brethren fellowship. The superintendent’s office is the only room in relatively good condition. The hall is used once every two years for Bi–Annual Conference, but could be used further for training, workshops, and other events held by the United Brethren or other church groups.

Sierra Leone Conference wants to complete the building so that all other members of our leadership team–the Bishop, superintendents, National Youth Director, Development Coordinator, Women’s Director, Education Secretary–can use the building. The conference office serves 73 churches and 15 preaching points, plus 54 schools with a total enrollment of just over 10,000 students and 376 teachers. There is one theological college and one hospital.

Among the renovations required are:

• Constructing a fence around the perimeter.
• Upgrades to the electrical system.
• Repairs to the roof.
• Additional restroom space.
• Repair of the existing facilities.

Once these offices have been renovated, Bishop John Pessima will able to relocate his home to Bo. He still lives in Freetown, a half-day drive from their offices and not centrally located within the conference.

13 Jun Guatemala Project: Rivers of Living Water Church

Rivers of Living Water Church in Barcena, Guatemala

Global Ministries has posted a new mission project:

Description: Work team to construct a second floor to the Rivers of Living Water Church
Location: Barcena, Guatemala
Cost: $8500

The Rios de Agua Viva United Brethren Church is located in Barcena, about 20 miles from Guatemala City. This church plant was actually started by another group, but they abandoned the work when the neighborhood didn’t seem to respond. Of the 4000 people who live in Barcena, only 10% have fulltime employment. Pastor Cesar’s family live in their hometown some 80 miles away, while he lives in a tin hut across the street from the church plant. He supports himself and his family by laying brick.

The church building has walls, a floor, a temporary corrugated steel roof, and electricity. However, the community does not have a water supply. The congregation has paid for all of the work accomplished thus far, and there are no liens.

They would love to have help from a team to construct a second floor, which they could use for ministry and as a living space for the pastor’s family. They estimate that it will cost $8500. Low cost accommodations would be available in Guatemala at a guesthouse owned by CH Global, one of our partnering agencies.

13 Jun The Reecks: 40 Years, and 40 Years

Endorsed missionaries Roger and Marilyn Reeck celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary on June 3, 2011. Except Roger was in Columbia and Marilyn was in Dallas, Tex. But they did communicate through the internet. They’ll have a belated celebration in July in Honduras, with three of their four daughters present.

At the same time, the Reecks completed 40 years of missionary service with Wycliffe Bible Translators. They write, “The Lord has certainly been wonderful to us during these years–through all of the ups and downs. We have been involved in such a wide variety of activiteis that it has never been boring. It has been an honor and privilage to serve Him in this way.”

In May, their third daughter, Amanda, traveled to Honduras on a medical trip and was able to spend a few days with her parents. She graduated from Baylor School of Medicine on May 29, and is beginning a three-year internship in internal medicine in Dallas.

Right now, Roger is in Bogota, Columbia. He writes, “I am helping a small group of jungle Indians translate Psalms into their language while still keeping a poetic style. It is so fulfilling to share this knowledge with the Waimaha Indians as they choose just the right words to make the Psalms sound poetic and beautiful.”

07 Jun Marion and Candy Hall Join GM Staff

Marion and Candy Hall have joined the Global Ministries endorsed staff. They have been traveling together to Toalmus, Hungary, for a number of years to work with Word of Life Bible Institute. Marion tells us they love working with the students and then joining them as they go out into the community to share the gospel.

Recently, Marion was asked to spend at least a year at World of Life Bible Institute as the Dean of Men. He will work in a number of areas related to dormitory life and spiritual development. They are raising support and require $2730 per month.

The Halls are from the Harrison UB church in Harrison, Mich. They were married in 1967 and have two grown children.

If you would like to support them, you can send your checks to:

Word of Life Fellowship, Inc.
PO Box 600
Schroon Lake, NY 12870

For more information call: 518-494-6329.

02 Jun ScriptureEarth.org

David Spencer, a UB endorsed missionary serving in Brazil with Wycliffe Bible Translators, sent this note about a fascinating resource you might want to check out:

Many people still may view missions as a man with a pith helmet and machete chopping his way through the jungle. However, today it is likely his machete has been replaced by a laptop and a satellite phone.

We would like you to know about some technology that Wycliffe is using to help provide access to the translated Scriptures. By logging onto scriptureearth.org you will find about 250 Bibles and New Testaments. Right now they are mostly from the Americas. Scripture is being added daily.

The goal is to post all minority language translations from around the globe! You will want to take a look! Find a language that you have never heard of from Brazil or another country and read a few lines. By having the translated Scriptures available online, individuals will be able to download their New Testament to their cell phone, computer, or to the Bible Society, who will print it out and send it to them for a very nominal fee.

Praise the Lord for the technology He is providing for disseminating His Word!

02 Jun Separating Jesus from “Christian” Culture

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

While visiting in Dearborn, Mich., recently, I was told about a Muslim woman who, although she professes no faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, still has the habit of removing the Gideon Bible from the nightstand of hotel rooms and placing it in the highest location she can find in the room.

Why would she do something so strange? Well, according to her Muslim culture, religious books are sacred and ought to be treated with respect. In her view, the Bible deserves that sort of respect, too, even though it is not her religious book.

This sheds some light on the violent reaction of the Muslim world to Pastor Terry Jones’ “Burn a Koran Day.” But more importantly, it provides insight into what has become known as the Jesus Movement.

Around the world, there are those who are embracing Jesus, without necessarily embracing Christian culture. In fact, they would still consider themselves cultural Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, or Muslims after they have received Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

The idea of Bible-believing followers of Jesus identifying themselves as anything other than Christian has been a hot topic for some time. I personally have serious reservations about certain aspects of “insider” movements, where converts remain within their former faith community and continue worshiping in their mosque or Buddhist temple. However, the issue of culture is a little bit different.

We talk about our Christian culture as North Americans and have our own impressions as to what we mean by “Christian.” However, Christian culture conjures up a variety of mental images in other countries.

A friend was living in Jordan and joined a group of Muslim men to drink tea. As they chatted, the host asked if he would like to watch a Christian movie with them. My friend had no idea what to think. Could it be that he had a copy of the “Jesus” video.

Moments later, the host emerged with a pornographic film. Unfortunately, “Christian” means anything we value here in the West or that emerges from our society. After all, we are a Christian country, right? So, is the Easter Bunny “Christian”? What about Halloween?

The truth is that some aspects of our own culture are not particularly honoring to Jesus, while certain aspects of other cultures may actually be more God-honoring…like the Muslim woman giving the Bible a more prominent place.

For many people serving on the front lines of cross-cultural ministry, it’s been both a fascinating and challenging journey. Separating out religious belief from culture can be tedious, but finding a way through the maze has allowed for many to be followers of Christ without experiencing outright rejection from their community.

Remaining as part of their cultural group means that movements of people coming to Christ can be made possible–accepting Jesus, without necessarily embracing Western culture.

If you’re interested in reading more about Jesus Movements, try this article on the MissionFrontiers.org site.