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 However, today it is likely his machete has been replaced by a laptop and a satellite phone.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.

18 May Acts 29: A Volunteer Opportunity Near Detroit

The cabinet-making shop at Acts 29.

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

Recently, I was in the Detroit area looking for opportunities for UB people and churches who are interested in short-term volunteer work in the United States–specifically to unreached people groups in the US. Joining me were Paul Plato, the Missions Coordinator for the UB Church in Canada, and John and Chris Polegato, from the Grace UB church in Sherkston, Ontario.

We visited two exciting locations near Detroit, Mich., where groups are working with urban and ethnic populations. Both are eager for volunteers this summer. Perhaps you or someone from your church would be interested.

John and Chris Polegato, from the UB church in Sherkston, Ontario, plan to spend three weeks this summer with Acts 29. John is an ESL instructor for the Ontario government, and Chris is a Christian counselor.

One is Acts 29, in Hamtramck, Mich.

Acts 29 is presently focusing on a four-square-mile area recognized as Detroit’s second empowerment community. This area includes two square miles of Detroit proper, and two square miles of the city of Hamtramck. This area is home to five major people groups: African American, Polish, Arab, Bosnian, and Asian Indians (from Bangladesh).

The two square miles of Detroit is 80% African American. This empowerment community has some of the lowest rankings in the country in family structure, economics, education, employment development, and housing. The Christian faith is proclaimed by some, but not lived out in any way.

More prevalent is the Islamic faith, which claims 60% of Hamtramck’s population.

Acts 29 is involved in urban, cross-cultural, vocational, camping, educational, and community transformation ministry. They run a cabinet-making business out of their center and rehabilitate homes in the area. Pastor John Meyer told us, “Be prepared for anything when you come to Hamtramck.”

Cost per day for food and lodging is $41 per person.

For more information contact Sharon Buttry, the Missions Coordinator, or visit their website.

17 May New Missions Project: Helping a Future Pastor in Jamaica

Michael Thompson

Global Ministries has added a new project which you may be interested in supporting.

Michael Thompson has been serving as a lay leader at two of our United Brethren churches in Jamaica for the last six years. He is passionate about reaching people for Christ and making disciples, but returning to seminary can be a stretch for a married man with two children.

Michael has two jobs and is prepared to cover 50% of his schooling expenses. We’re looking for sponsors willing to make up the remaining $2500 per year to cover his tuition, books, and fees for the next five years while he attends the Jamaica Theological Seminary in Kingston.

He plans to continue serving the United Brethren churches of Jamaica in the future.

10 May Klines Welcome Their Third Child

David Kline with the newborn Aiden.

Congratulations to David and Melissa Kline on the birth of Aiden James, their third child. Aiden was born in Hong Kong on Monday afternoon, May 9 (Hong Kong time). The Klines are Global Ministries staff in Macau.

05 May 2011 Children’s Project

Each year, many UB churches raise money for missions through their summer children’s ministries, like Vacation Bible School, and channel that money to Global Ministries.

This year, Global Ministries will focus these funds on two medical needs:

• Medicine to supply our medical team traveling to Honduras this summer.
• AIDS medications for our Project Compassion children in India.

We created a short video and some activities for the children to use that focus attention on the needs and opportunity to share. The video and materials are available on DVD and in print. Or, you can simply visit our website and download either item.

03 May Global Ministries Unveils Strategic Plans

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

In early April, the Global Ministries Leadership Team met in Guelph, Ontario, to continue work on a number of strategic measures. These measures include:

• Conduct a series of one-day regional training events in 2012, to provide a broad overview of what God is doing around the globe and how we can be involved.. These will be done in partnership with the US Center for World Mission.
• Train and coach church planters in other countries to operate small business endeavors, which will provide funding for ministry and opportunity to penetrate Gospel-resistant areas. The first training event will take place in Sierra Leone in January 2012.
• Continue collaborating with sister national conferences eager to send their own missionaries and participate in the broader world of United Brethren missions. Already, Honduras has participated in a short-term endeavor in Haiti, and Jamaica has received several offerings to benefit Haiti and the Philippines.
• Develop a global prayer network to strengthen God’s hand to act among United Brethren ministries around the world through focused prayer. We’ll let you know more about this as plans develop.
• Hire an additional associate director at the Global Ministries office. This person will focus primarily on all matters related to missionary personnel (recruitment, training, support, etc.), plus small business development and other areas.

29 Apr UBs Give Over $11,000 for Tsunami Relief in Japan

To date, Global Ministries has received over $11,000 from UB churches and individual donors to support tsunami relief efforts in Japan. As we promised, this money has been forwarded to Samaritan’s Purse, an organization with which we partner for disaster relief.

The evangelical Christian community in Japan represents less than 1 percent of the population, but undaunted, they are eager to help their countrymen. Samaritan’s Purse is working with churches in Japan providing tangible help with blankets, kitchen kits, and hygiene kits.

In addition to buying supplies locally, Samaritan’s Purse airlifted 93 tons of emergency aid to Japan on a 747 jumbo jet just a week after the tsunami. Their team continues to work with local church partners to distribute essential items to tens of thousands of people in the hardest hit communities.

Transportation remains a big challenge on the road to recovery. Nearly every car in the affected area was destroyed, and the country is facing a fuel shortage. In response to this need, Samaritan’s Purse has purchased hundreds of bicycles that they are giving to churches and evacuation centers, so people can borrow them when needed.

To help displaced families return to their homes, Samaritan’s Purse is providing pastors with small, inexpensive pickup trucks, each one loaded with a generator, power washer, and clean-up tools. Their team is training Japanese Christians in how to do “mud-outs,” and are setting up tents to serve as bunkhouses for volunteers coming from churches elsewhere in Japan.