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Jamaica Conference held its annual Youth Rally on February 13 at the York Town UB church. Deon McLennon writes, “It was a blessed day of youth fellowship and competition. Youth representatives from all of the districts competed in song, drama, elocution, group song, junior and senior quiz, youth preaching, choral speaking, and dub poetry. The top church was the Greater Portmore UB Church.”
In my opinion, “When Helping Hurts” is the single best book I’ve read on the topic of working with the poor. Not only should every Christian worker read it; every Christian ought to read it whether or not they work directly with the poor.
The authors of the book, Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, are community development specialists with the Chalmers Center for Economic Development and professors at Covenant College. Striking to me were the misperceptions we often have regarding the true needs of the poor. Summarizing the results of a polls, they comment:
Poor people typically talk in terms of shame, inferiority, powerlessness, humiliation, fear, hopelessness, depression, social isolation, and voicelessness. North American audiences (or the wealthy) tend to emphasize a lack of material things such as food, money, clean water, medicine, housing, etc.
The result of such misconceptions is that we seek only to bring relief or aid, when what is ultimately needed is rehabilitation and restoration in relationship with God and others. They write that there are three reasons we do this:
Key to their approach to relief and development is assessing local assets. Too often we ask, “What do they need?” and fail to ask the even more important question, “What do they have?” They point attention to Colossians 1:16-17, where we’re told the Christ is holding all things together and that he does not allow the effects of sin to completely destroy the inherent goodness of the assets he has created. In Christ, God is reconciling to himself all things–natural resources, individuals, neighborhood associations, schools, businesses, governments, etc. All are being liberated from their “bondage to decay” (Romans 8:12).
The process of assessment involves appreciating, envisioning, co-constructing and sustaining, and can only be done together. We need to move from “doing for” to “doing with” so that eventually they will be able to do it for themselves and even assist others in the same way they have been helped.
Finally, they wrap up the book with a chapter entitled, “Doing Short-term Missions Without Doing Long-Term Harm.” This is a Must Read for anyone going on a short-term trip. The key here is quite simple: don’t do for people what they can, or should, do for themselves. The goal is for the work to be done primarily by the community members with the team in a helping role. Stay away from the “go-help-and save-them” and maintain a “go-as-a-learner” attitude.
A building for the Buen Samaritano church in Honduras is well underway, thanks to the 2009 Thank Offering.
A year ago, the Buen Samaritano (Good Samaritan) church in Honduras was meeting under a tree on the property they had purchased. They were able to take the next step using funds from the 2009 Self-Denial Offering.
Today, Buen Samaritano has constructed a building consisting of walls and a roof. Although work remains, the congregation is encouraged and moving forward using their own resources. Pastor Mariano Mondragon told me that the most exciting thing has been seeing people continue to come to Christ over the past year.
L-r: Isaac Nugent (Jamaica), Denis Casco (Mexico), and Ajiax Wo (Hong Kong).
Some of the United Brethren churches in Mexico are in El Paso, Texas, and Juarez, Mexico, two cities which face each other across the Texas border. Denis Casco, Bishop of Mexico Conference, says this work is much different from the work done in central Mexico, because of the drug problems.
“In this area, 30-40 people die every day, including some people from our churches,” he told the General Conference delegates in January. “It’s a very dangerous area.”
He mentioned three difficult situations:
Denis says, “To protect myself, I usually take a taxi from El Paso to the border and walk across. I do the same on my way back. I want to protect my life and reputation, but I cannot abandon this area.”
J. R. and Cathy Reich
This summer, Global Ministries will sponsor the first UB mission trip to Germany. The team leaders will be J. R. and Cathy Reich, from The Well UB church in Huntington, Ind. Cathy is administrative assistant to Bishop Phil Whipple.
The team will participate in two five-day English Camps at a school in an area south of the Black Forest. They will use conversational English to build relationships and share their faith.
Date: July 31–August 14.
Cost: $1800 per person.
While in Germany, team members will live with German families from the school where Galen and Maritta Fiedler teach. The Fiedlers are the Global Ministries missionary family with whom the team will work and who will host the team.
The $1800 cost includes airfare, in-country transportation, food, travel insurance, and ministry materials.
There are still a few positions available for this trip. If you are interested in joining this team, it is important to mail your completed application form by mid-March. You can download the application in two formats: PDF, or a fillable MS Word form.
For more information, you can contact either of these persons by email:
Cathy Reich, Administrative Assistant to Bishop Phil Whipple.
Donna Hollopeter in the Global Ministries office.
The City Soleil UB church, which was destroyed. A work crew from Canada was coming to work on the roof, but the earthquake forced the cancellation of that trip. The pastor is Rev. Baptistin.
Another UB church in City Soleil, this one led by Pastor Supreme. The building is believed to be unusable.
The church yard of our newest church, in Delmas, still under construction.
A church in the Delmas area. Part of this gate wall was destroyed. A large number of Haitians came here for refuge.
The Delmas church. This is the future main church and convention center. It was not destroyed. The team from Canada would have been working on this, too.
Bob Bruce, Pastor of Spiritual Care at Emmanuel Community Church (Fort Wayne, Ind.), shows Din Wan, a recent Burmese immigrant, how to eat an ice cream cone.
My wife and I, along with Bob and Kathy Bruce from Emmanuel Community Church (Fort Wayne, Ind.) are involved with a family of Burmese immigrants. A couple days ago, Bob and I took the five children to McDonald’s for ice cream. They had never eaten ice cream before.
To to honest, the reaction was somewhat mixed. Some thought ice cream was pretty tasty; others couldn’t figure out why anyone would eat something that cold on a winter night.
But the biggest challenge seemed to be eating it. However, not to fear, Bob Bruce (or Mr. Bob to the Burmese kids) demonstrated with fine fashion the most effective method of eating an ice cream cone.
Lane and Shane Smith
NOTE (March 29, 2010): This trip has been canceled.
Lane and Shane Smith, from Shoreline UB (Oak Harbor, Ohio), will lead a group of 8 people, from teens through age 30, on a ministry experience to Spain. The group will work with missionaries Troy and Julie Hendricks.
Dates: July 26–August 6.
Cost: $2500 per person.
Persons Needed: 8.
Trip members will be involved in a five-day English Camp built around recreational sports. This will be a wonderful opportunity to build relationships with Spanish youth while playing basketball or Frisbee golf or other special activities. The Spanish youth are interested in developing conversational English skills.
While in Spain, the team will learn about Spanish culture, the language, and learn more about the work with which Troy and Julie are involved.
Openings are still available. The $2500 cost includes air travel, in-country travel, lodging, food, travel insurance, and other miscellaneous expenses. It is important to submit completed applications by mid-March so Troy and Julie can begin preparing to host the team.
You can download the application. If you have questions, please contact either of these by email:
Shane and Lane Smith.
Donna Hollopeter at the Global Ministries office.
I spoke with Samaritan’s Purse and the World Medical Mission in Boone, N.C., this morning about a number of areas in which we might be able to connect some dots between them and our United Brethren churches in Haiti. I’ll be communicating with our Canadian United Brethren, who oversee the work in Haiti, to see if we can coordinate something.
However, an immediate need is for physical therapists. Haitians are having amputations and other types of surgery, but have no one available to provide the help needed after surgery. If anyone is interested, call our office (toll-free: 888-622-3019) and we’ll arrange to get them there as soon as possible. If assistance is needed with flight expenses, Global Ministries may be able to provide help.
L-r: Ajiax Wo (Superintendent of Hong Kong Conference), Jeff Dice (former UB missionary to Macau), and Karis Vong, pastor of Living Water UB church in Macau.
On the first day of General Conference (January 11, 2010), Karis Vong reported about the ministry in Macau. Karis is pastor of the Living Water church, the first UB church in Macau, which this year is 22 years old. Here are some excerpts from her verbal report:
The land size of Macau keeps expanding, as they reclaim land from the ocean. Look at these statistics:
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| Year | Square Kilometers | Population |
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| 1989 | 17.4 | 440,500 |
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| 1999 | 23.2 | 437,455 |
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| 2009 | 29.2 | 549,200 |
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