15 Apr Honduras Sending Out Its Own Missionaries

COMIBAN, a Latin American missions consortium, recently held a consultation in Honduras. The United Brethren in Honduras were specifically invited to attend. Rev. Juanita Chavez, our Honduran Superintendent, and Marilyn Reeck, a Global Ministries endorsed staffperson, attended. Rev. Chavez sent this report.

Yesterday I returned from the 2010 Mission Consultation held in the city of Siguatepeque. It was a wonderful experience for me. I was surprised to learn that there are currently 45 Hondurans serving as missionaries in various countries. A number were present and shared their experiences.

As a result of our discussions, a number of proposals were presented as challenges to each of the participants. Areas to which the Honduran United Brethren in Christ have pledged themselves are:

1. Mobilization. Target audience: Churches, pastors and leaders.
2. Training. Target audience: Training centers, Bible schools, and teachers of missions.

We have no doubt that God will enable us to also send missionaries from Honduras to share the good news of the gospel with those who have yet to hear.

14 Apr Dice Family Concluding 8 Months of Spanish Study

Jeff and April are non-traditional staff serving as our Central American Liaisons. Jeff is primarily on staff with Brown Corners UB in Clare, Mich., but in partnership with Global Ministries will spend about three months of the year working on projects, training leaders, developing micro-enterprise opportunities, and coordinating short-term trips to the region. His family plans to spend as many as two months per year on the field with him.

The whole Dice family has spent the last 8 months studying Spanish at the Spanish Language Institute in Costa Rica. On April 13, they sent this note:

Hello from Costa Rica! We are now in the home stretch, as we only have 7 days of school left. We had our oral proficiency interviews last Friday and received our marks today. April and I both tested at the level “Avanzado Medio.” April also took the Comprehensive Grammar Exam and scored an 84.

We are ready to return to Michigan and find some Spanish speakers to befriend.  We have both decided to take as many CLEP tests for college credit in Spanish as we can. I may continue studying Spanish at Central Michigan University. Pray that we can find opportunities to speak Spanish in Michigan!

The “avanzado medio” translates “mid-advanced,” which is quite high for someone who has been there for less than an entire year.

09 Apr Easter Story: Brazil

From Jean Bell, UB Endorsed missionary in Brazil

Because none of the churches in our small Brazilian community hold an Easter Sunrise service, we missionaries meet together to worship and celebrate Christ’s resurrection. But this year’s service was not quite the normal service.

The setting was near the baseball diamond of our school for missionary children. We sat about 25 feet from home plate. To our left grows an enormous rubber tree along with two gigantic mango trees, and to our right the school’s playing field, just in front of the elementary wing of the school.

After our favorite Easter songs in English and praying in English–oh, what a treat!–a colleague began his Easter meditation. Hardly had he begun when in our our peripheral vision we perceived movement in the air: a toucan. Not more than a few minutes later, a second toucan soared by and landed in the nearby rubber tree. Then, yes, 3 more that joined the others. They were very quiet for toucans, not squawking or making their deep clicking noises.

A former student leaned near my ear to whisper, “They’re Christian birds.”

“Congregating, right?” I returned.

Within minutes of the rising sun, swarms of small, raucous parakeets and parrots dipped and circled overhead. I whispered to Wes, “All we need now are the ibises and blue-gold macaws.”

Within minutes the ibises honked and hooted overhead, but the macaws never joined our worship service.

Needless to say, we missionaries and our families had our powers of concentration tested at the Easter Sunrise Service.

08 Apr Easter Story: Freetown, Sierra Leone

From Francis George, layperson from the Wellington UB church in Freetown, Sierra Leone

We started celebrating Easter by organizing a passion week service which lasted four days.

On Palm Sunday, the young adult group, which consists of about 24 persons,  presented their program which they called “Africana Sunday.” They gave prizes to the best Africana dress, both to men and women.

To raise fun, a competition was organized. We divided everyone into two groups, and each group selected a candidate to be the Africana Star. One group chose sister Mariatu Lengor, and the other group chose Brother Francis Alie Simbo. Brother Simbo finally won the competition as Africana Star.

The young adults decided to give 60% of the funds raised to the church (since the church is under construction) and 40% to the group.

For Easter Sunday, the men and women competed to raise the highest offering for that day. It is rather unfortunate that the women defeated the men.

07 Apr Easter Story: Spain

From Brenda Anderson, UB endorsed missionary (with husband Ron) in Spain

Typical of Spain are the religious processions. People carry elaborate statues that weigh thousands of pounds, lifted by up to 200 men and marched through the streets with candles atop, with bands playing funeral music behind. People line the streets in their best clothing, and special pastries are made. Most hope to return to their home town to participate.

The privilege of carrying these platforms with statues of Jesus or Mary is handed down from one generation to another. It is all very full of idolatry, and one can sense a religiosity without spirituality of knowing God.

Therefore, many Christians try to escape all this. Instead, they have Christian retreats from Thursday through Sunday, including special times of worship and ministering from the Word of God, good food and games, and relaxing together at a camp or other place. This year we did not attend one of these camps, for we are beginning a church plant and it didn’t seem to fit, but we did have a sunrise service, followed by breakfast together, and a special communion service.

31 Mar On the Road in Sierra Leone

We headed back to Freetown from Bo, passing mud brick homes with thatched roofs. The road from Bo to Freetown is completely paved, so it’s an easy trip.

We visited the farm in Waima yesterday with Billy Simbo and Randy Fennig. They’re doing a lot of experimental stuff to find out what works best. Randy has a great team working with him, mostly young guys keen to learn and be discipled.

From there we visited the village of Waima. Kids were either all over us or running in the other direction. We had a lunch they prepared with rice from the first harvest.

Later in the afternoon we visited Mattru Hospital. It was good to hear of people that have come to Christ recently and of the improvements being made with help from Global Ministries, the First Lady’s Foundation, and the United Nations. We had a serious discussion about the need for reports and financial updates, and they responded very well. The new doctor’s name is Dr. Skahr Lemgor. Rev Tom Macavoray of Riverside UB is the acting administrator.

This morning we visited briefly with Rev. John Labor and greeted Rev. Emmanuel Farma in Bo. We also met with some of the UBC leaders and discussed the water filter project that Brian and Gail Welch have proposed. The conference is very interested in helping to work with towns, villages, hospitals, schools, and orphanages that could benefit from the placement of sand filters. Due to the need to periodically maintain the filter, volunteers from local churches will need to make regular visits. It is hoped that the contact from UBC members will lead to opportunities to share the gospel and even plant new churches.

After this meeting we met with the president of the Rotary Club in Bo. Wil Kline, member of the Rotary Club in Huntington, Ind., delivered greetings and some small gifts. We delivered a proposal from the Welches that would link US and Sierra Leonian Rotarians and result in some matching grants to further support the water filtration project.

We’ll be having lunch with the Fennigs and Billy Simbo in Jui to continue discussing the agri-business projects and other business-as-mission initiatives. Randy and Toni have really thrown themselves into their work at the Evangelical College of Theology and the farm project. They are mentoring students and workers everywhere they go and are making an impact on people’s lives.

Jeff Sherlock and Wil Kline have also been a real blessing. Our first few days we spent a lot of time listening and asking questions, but it seems the creative juices are flowing at this point, and we’re having great discussions about both the near and distant future.

Things all seem to be falling nicely into place at every stop. We can certainly tell that we are being prayed for and that God’s hand is upon us.

31 Mar Deliks’ Coworker Injured in Car Accident

Arek and Donna Delik (right), endorsed missionaries serving with Operation Mobilization in Kutno, Poland, sent this report.

Janek, our co-worker, who is now taking care of the church, had a serious car accident two weeks ago. We received this news when we were in Thailand for an Operation Mobilization conference.

On March 14, Janek took Peter (an alcoholic) from Kutno to Teen Challenge (about 400 km from Kutno) to receive treatment. Teen Challenge is situated in the middle of a thick forest. As Janek turned into the forest, he lost control on the icy road and hit a car, with four passengers, coming from the other direction.

The van was totally smashed and Janek lost consciousness for awhile. To his horror, he couldn’t move his neck when he woke up. The police and ambulance came to the scene very quickly and took Janek and 2 ladies from the other car to the nearest hospital for emergency treatment. Janek had a big wound on his forehead and received 10 stitches, and worst of all C1, C2, and C3 vertebrae were broken. One lady had a fractured leg while the other had a broken hip. After stabilizing their conditions, they were all transferred to the main hospital in Gdansk 200 km away. A week later, Janet was discharged to his home in Kutno.

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30 Mar Water Filters for Sierra Leone

I had the privilege of meeting with Brian and Gail Welch of Fremont, Mich., earlier this year. The Welches were missionaries in Mattru for three terms. Gail was an RN at Mattru Hospital, and Brian taught at Centennial Secondary School in Mattru.

Through their non-profit organization, CoolWater, Brian and Gail are working to set up family and community water filters in places like Sierra Leone. They decided to focus on water filter projects due to the high mortality rate among children and the difficulty of providing safe drinking water in many villages, hospitals, and orphanages.

They first purchased the filters through International Aid. When the doors were closed, Dick DeVos (of Amway fame) began selling filter canisters. The actual filters are manufactured by Cascade Plastics in Grand Rapids. They can filter up to 70 gallons per day for 10-15 years, removing parasites, bacteria, and viruses. (Read more about the filters at Hydraid.org.)

CoolWater would like to place filters in small villages, schools, hospitals, and orphanages. The cost is about $60 per unit, plus $40 for shipping. The Rotary Club is providing matching grants, and the Welches are working on other grants as well. CoolWater has raised $4000. They would like to initially send 150 filters to Sierra Leone.

My suggestion to Brian and Gail was to first consult with Billy Simbo and see if there is any interest from the Sierra Leone Conference. In order to be successful, training and maintenance of the filters is required.

Aside from ensuring access to safe drinking water, this might also be a tremendous “in road” for evangelism and church planting in some villages and small towns. A volunteer from a neighboring UB church would set up the filter and provide training regarding its use. They would then make regular visits to check on the filter. As the relationship builds, the doors for sharing the gospel might also be opened.

29 Mar Global Ministries Guys Arrive in Sierra Leone

L-r: Jeff Bleijerveld, Jeff Sherlock, and Wil Kline.

Jeff Bleijerveld, Jeff Sherlock, and Wil Kline arrived safely in Sierra Leone late Sunday night. Their flight out of London was delayed by three hours, so they didn’t reach Freetown until 12:30.

Jeff Bleijerveld wrote this morning (March 29):

“The trip across from the island airport was pretty at night. The moon was quite bright. We traveled over a mountain to get here rather than travel through the towns, and it worked out great. Slept on a king-sized water bed. No heater, so it was amazingly cool. What a great idea. Woke up about 8:00 to dogs barking and roosters crowing. We’ve had our bucket baths and breakfast, and will be headed to Bo by about 1 pm.”

26 Mar Three Headed for Sierra Leone

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries, leaves for Sierra Leone tomorrow, March 27. He’ll be joined by two members of the Global Ministries Leadership Team, Wil Kline and Jeff Sherlock, both from College Park UB church in Huntington, Ind. They’ll return the following Saturday, April 3.

The trip will focus on three areas:

• Meet with Global Ministries missionaries Randy and Toni Fennig to see the progress of the agricultural development projects, and visit the farm at Bo.
• Visit Mattru Hospital to see the progress of various projects there.
• Talk to Sierra Leone leaders about a possible water filtration project.