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A post nearly two years ago told about the Oliver 1850 tractor that Randy Fennig took to Sierra Leone in 2008. But now you can hear Randy tell the tractor’s story in person in this two-minute video. The tractor is used in agricultural development in Sierra Leone.
2010 Honduras Medical Team (click to enlarge)
The 19 members of the Honduras Medical Team returned to the States Saturday night, June 19. Co-leader Robert Cassidy called Donna Hollopeter in the Global Ministries office with an updated report.
Donna Hollopeter received a call this morning from Robert Cassidy, co-leader of the Honduras Medical Team which is currently at work in Honduras.
On Wednesday, June 16, they held their fourth clinic, this one in the seaside city of Puerto Cortes. They saw 804 people. That brings the total persons treated thus far to 2328.
One member of the team brought 600 pairs of eye-glasses. They are all gone.
Robert reports that everybody is in good health, that the clinics are well-organized, and that Rev. Benulda Saenz, the Honduran district leader in whose district these clinics are being held, has been terrific to work with.
Today, June 17, the team will hold their fifth and final clinic in a small village outside of San Pedro Sula.
Donna Hollopeter received an update this morning (June 16) from the Honduras Medical Team. Yesterday, June 15, they had the largest clinic they have ever had, seeing over 550 patients. An additional 200 persons came for glasses (there are a couple people who do nothing but dispense reading glasses).
Everyone is doing well. Today, June 16, they hold a clinic in the seaside city of Puerto Cortez.
Jeff Gordon (left), a UB member from Canada, with Mrs. Michel (right) and her son.
The Michel family are members of our Delmas UB Church in Port au Prince, Haiti. The apartment building where they rented a small apartment was destroyed in the earthquake last January, so this widow and her son are living in a tent, unsure of what the future holds. The son has served as a capable translator for Canadian visitors on several recent trips (Canada Conference provides primary oversight of Haiti).
On Wednesday, June 16, Mrs. Michel will undergo a serious surgery. She will be away at a distant hospital (having to travel there by bus) for at least three weeks. Her daughter will remain with her during this time.
This surgery is possibly only because generous people helped with the finances.
Pray for a successful operation and complete recovery, and for the sons leftb ack in Port au Prince who will not be able to visit their mother. Also, pray for the daughter as she gives care to her mother at the hospital.
Dave and Becky Spencer, Global Ministries endorsed missionaries serving in Brazil with Wycliffe Bible Translators, leave Brazil today (June 15) to begin their furlough.
Jessica Hollopeter is pleased to report that she has reached 100% of her pledged support. She is now preparing to move to Greenwood, Ind., by the end of June to begin her service with One Mission Society (formerly OMS International). She will then begin a month of cross-cultural training to prepare her for missionary life on and off the field.
Jessica’s two-year contract with OMS begins June 28.
She writes, “Please, please keep praying for me. This is a huge transition for me, and just knowing that I have people thinking and praying about me is such a humbling and awe-inspiring feeling. I feel a great debt to everyone who has taken this journey with me and your prayers, letters, and e-mails do mean so much to me.”
Bob and Lois Conway are concluding another term at Jamaica Bible College. Bob (right), an ordained UB minister, has been teaching at the college. They’ll return to the States for the summer, and then go back to Jamaica in the fall.
During the first week of May, 40 of the younger students accepted Christ during chapel services. Lois has been helping teach discipleship classes to the new converts.
While back in the States during the summer, they will teach at two Good News camp, attend the UB campmeeting at Rhodes Grove camp (Chambersburg, Pa.), and Bob will teach a course in the Ecclesiastes Institute, based at Rhodes Grove.
Schoolkids in Haiti
With the help of CH Global, 62 Haitian children have found sponsors among people in our Canadian UB churches, and schools are operating in three of our churches in Haiti. We’d like to double the number of schools and, with the help of US donors, sponsor an additional 200 children before the end of 2010.
Sponsoring a child provides access to education, nutrition, healthcare, and an opportunity for the entire family to come to know Christ as Savior. All of our programming is offered through our Haitian United Brethren churches and benefits our people and their surrounding communities.
As we look to the future, we recognize there is no “magic pill” for Haiti. However, investing long-term in education and the spiritual development of children and adults is one way we can make a meaningful difference.
In the coming days, we’ll be looking for ways to provide micro-enterprise opportunities. The old saying compares teaching a man to fish as opposed to giving him a fish. In Haiti, the question is not whether the man has a fish or knows how to fish: most simply don’t have access to the pond. Haitians have skills and abilities that would allow them to support themselves and their families. Sometimes all they lack is an initial investment to get them started.
Here is an update from Doug Birdsall regarding the Lausanne Congress planned for October 2010 in South Africa. Four thousand participants have been selected from 200 countries. I will have the privilege of representing the United Brethren church. This will be the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization; the Second Congress was held 36 years ago, in 1974.
Doug Birdsall (right) is executive chairman of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization. He grew up in a United Brethren preacher’s home, a son of Roger and Mary Lou Birdsall, and a sibling to Brent, Brian, and Connie. Doug has been working on this historic meeting for five years.
Greetings from 37,000 feet over the North Atlantic. As I write to you I am flying home from London to Boston on the final leg of a round-the-world trip for the Lausanne Movement. The trip began 17 days ago as I departed from Boston going to Hong Kong, with subsequent stops in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, and Dubai before going on to Cape Town, South Africa.
While in Cape Town, our Lausanne Global Lausanne Leadership and our Cape Town 2010 Congress Team – 120 gifted and highly motivated people – held a productive week of meetings. We were dazzled as leaders of each working team presented their reports and had a growing awareness of history in the making. At the end of the presentations at the Convention Centre, Archbishop Henry Orombi of Uganda, Honorary Chairman of the Congress, turned to me and said, “This is incredible, just amazing. This will go down as the most thoroughly planned Congress on world evangelization in history!”
