24 Jun Crossroads Cities

Macau is becoming what we called a “crossroads” city. While the population consists primarily of Chinese and Macanese (people of Portuguese descent), you increasingly find people from many other countries. New York, Paris, Berlin, Toronto–those are well-known crossroads cities, where you see the nations gathered. Now Macau is joining their ranks. 

On the high-speed ferry from Hong Kong, I met a Canadian coming to Macau on a six-month contract to work with Cirque du Soleil. You find Filipinos and East Indians everywhere, many coming on short-term contracts or seeking service-industry jobs. Unfortunately, Macau’s growth and international attraction is built on misfortune–gambling.

We have a missionary team in this crossroads city. What do we do about that? What might God be intending? Can we reach people who then go back to their homelands and have an impact beyond Macau? 

Living Stone UB church in Macau has already begun embracing this opportunity. Three Filipinos currently attend the church, and they are increasingly open to saying, “We’re going to reach internationals.” 

20 Jun In Hong Kong with Ajiax Wo

During my May trip to Asia, I spent a couple hours with Ajiax Wo (right), superintendent of Hong Kong Conference. David Kline, one of our Macau missionaries, was with me. We went out to eat with Ajiax and Mark Choi, their mission director. Then Ajiax took me on a quick tour around downtown Hong Kong.

We went through the stock exchange, and then down to the harbor. They keep filling in Victoria Harbor to reclaim more land from the sea. Skyscrapers now stand where the shoreline used to be.

Hong Kong built a huge new airport. The previous airport was located in the downtown area at the end of Victoria Harbor. People would go to the top of buildings, where it seemed like you could reach out and touch airplanes as they came in to land.

Ajiax is a really cool guy. He’s in his mid-30s, a really sharp guy. David Kline and I both scratched our heads, thinking, “It’s hard to believe some woman hasn’t grabbed this guy.”

15 Jun An Americanized Canadian?

Last Sunday I spoke in Guelph, Ontario, at Parkwood Gardens UB church. Brian Magnus, the pastor, introduced me.

I told the congregation it was great to be back among Canadians, who don’t ask me where I’m from. In the United States, people hear my accent and ask me if I’m from Canada. “It’s nice to fit back in,” I said.

Brian then commented, “You don’t sound like a Canadian anymore.”

I asked the congregation, “Do I sound like an American?”

Their heads went, “Yeah.”

I was crushed.

13 Jun A Canadian Church with an International Audience

The neighborhood surrounding Parkwood Gardens UB church in Guelph, Ontario, looks like the United Nations, with people from all over the world. Guelph is becoming a bedroom community of Toronto, which is exploding with its international presence. This is reflected in the congregation.

Last Sunday, when I spoke at Parkwood Gardens, I told about my trip to the Philippines in May. I commented on how Filipinos are some of the friendliest people in the world and that I enjoyed getting to know them.

I noticed big smiles on the faces of people among the Asian contingent. “Are you from the Philippines?” I asked. “Oh yes yes,” they said. Probably 25-30 Filipinos attended the two services that morning.

I challenged the congregation to keep their eyes and ears open to the immigrant populations around them. Sometimes mission fields are not developed by parachuting a missionary into a foreign country, but by starting something locally among immigrants. This can open doors for missionaries and, in some cases, the immigrants themselves may return to their homeland.

10 May Filipino Smiles

Everywhere we go in the Philippines we are met with smiles. This morning Pastor Prudencio Lim, superintendent of the Philippine Conference, took Pastor Mike Brown and me to visit pastors and churches around the greater Manila area.

Our day ended in Sucat Paranaque, a Manila slum area where Pastor Noel Bartolata, his wife and six children have been serving for 19 years. The church, along with all other homes and shelters, is built on squatter’s land. The neighborhood is a maze of alley ways and stairways. Cooking is done over small fires and families sleep together in the same bed or on floors. Yet Pastor Noel and his family wouldn’t think of leaving their community.

If you saw these smiles each day, you may not want to leave either.

09 May Dim Sum in Hong Kong

I learned a couple of important lessons about eating out in Hong Kong. Ajiax Woo (center) and Mark Choi (right) were tremendous hosts, but someone should have told me before we started to leave my tea cup full if I didn’t want more. I believe Mark had refilled my cup at least 15 times before David Kline quietly leaned over and told me to stop drinking the tea if I wanted him to stop.

Otherwise, Dim Sum with our Hong Kong leaders was a great experience. We finished off with Mango Jello. Why don’t they sell that at Krogers?

05 May Carlson and Naomi Becker Honored in Macau

This past Sunday, May 4, Carlson and Naomi Becker (left, with David Kline on right) were honored by the Living Stone United Brethren congregation in Taipa, Macau. Visitors for the packed-house afternoon gathering included the Living Stone congregation, English students, neighbors, friends from the Living Water Church, and a delegation from the Hong Kong Conference.

The Beckers are wrapping up three years of ministry. They arrived in Macau in September 2005 and have contributed to the ministry in a variety of ways. Perhaps the most enduring contribution will be the leadership mentoring they offered to the church family of Living Stone. Carlson and Naomi have worked closely with Pastor Michael Chan, and just this past Sunday morning presented to the congregation its first five-member leadership team.

It was an honor for me to express gratitude to the Beckers on behalf of Global Ministries and the entire United Brethren family for their years of service. Carlson and Naomi tell me this will be their third and final retirement. We’ll see!

12 Jul Do Others Have a Similar Passion?

Gary Dilley, Director of Global Ministries, 2001-2008

Mt. Pleasant UB church in Chambersburg, Pa., is partnering with a UB church in Mexico that has a big vision to make a difference in a city of 70,000 people. But they are wondering, “Could we work with other UB churches in North America that share our interest in Mexico? We would enjoy working with others and not just doing this on our own.” They have asked Global Ministries to work as a “clearinghouse” for churches and individuals interested in partnerships and ways God’s people can work together.

In a similar way, the Brown Corners UB church in Clare, Mich., has a passion for helping our churches in Nicaragua. The UB church in Fowlerville, Mich., is highly focused on church planting work in the Copan region of Honduras. Salem Chapel in southeast Ohio has involved itself with the new churches in San Jose, Costa Rica. A new church plant, Bethany House of the Lord, in Cumberland, MD, has intentionally sought to enhance kingdom work in Africa and India. These are just a few examples.

Working as partners enables you to do things you could never do on your own as a “Lone Ranger.” It’s a joy to watch UB churches work alongside each other, and alongside churches in other parts of the world. It may be helpful to know who else shares your church’s specific passions. This might also provide the opportunity to do a work team together, or to join forces to accomplish a specific project.

People in your church may have a passion for sports outreach ministry, and you wonder if other UB churches feel the same way, and if that can be used in cross-cultural ministry? Or perhaps your passion is in children’s ministry or music, or medical outreach, or leadership development, or in helping pastors’ families. The list could go on.

I’d love to get UB churches connected so they can do things like this together. Global Ministries is developing some ideas along this line, and plan to use the UBMissions.com website to help churches network with each other over places and projects. You’ll be hearing more about this. In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you about specific missions-related interests your church may have, whether it involves a country or a type of ministry.

29 Sep Death of Archie Cameron

Archie Cameron, a missionary pioneer with the United Brethren church, passed away at 2:30 a.m. Thursday morning, September 29. He was 87 years old. His death occurred at the hospital in La Ceiba, Honduras. Archie had lived in Honduras since 1952.

For much of this year, Archie had been battling physical problems, including an enlarged heart and kidney ailments. Roger Reeck, a son-in-law living in La Ceiba, said Archie was spending several days a month in the hospital. He had gone into the hospital on Wednesday, September 28, and this time he didn’t leave.

The funeral will be held Sunday, October 2, at the Amor Viviente (Living Love) church in La Ceiba. This is not a United Brethren church, but the Bethel United Brethren Church, which Archie founded, wouldn’t be big enough to hold this funeral. Having lived in Honduras since 1951, Archie is extremely well-known and beloved throughout northern Honduras.

Archie will be buried in La Ceiba next to his wife, Maisy, who passed away April 23, 2003. Archie has three daughters–Heather, Sharon, and Marilyn–all of whom were born in Canada and arrived in Honduras with their parents in 1952 aboard a ship. Archie and Maisy also adopted three Honduran children: Robert, Dean, and Arthur. Robert and Arthur live in La Ceiba, while Dean lives in Canada. Marilyn and Roger Reeck, missionaries with Wycliffe Bible Translators, also live in La Ceiba.

Archie is credited with starting the Spanish-speaking United Brethren work in Honduras. When his family arrived in July 1952, we were working primarily with several English-speaking churches which had affiliated with us in 1945. Those churches, however, chose to go independent in early 1953. Archie immediately cast his full attention to the predominant Spanish-speaking population. He soon founded the Bethel UB church in Honduras, and it became a launching pad for much of the UB work which exists today in Honduras.

Archie, along with family members and laypersons from Bethel, conducted evangelistic meetings in villages throughout northern Honduras. People were won to Christ, and churches arose in those villages. Often, Archie and his group were the first evangelical witness in those villages.

Today, Honduras National Conference has nearly 90 churches, along with a thriving school (which Archie also started), a campground, and other ministries. It is the fastest-growing of the nine worldwide UB national conferences. Honduras oversaw the starting of mission work in Nicaragua in the 1960s, and Honduras and Nicaragua now oversee mission districts in Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Guatemala.

A book about Archie’s life, and about the history of Honduras Conference in general, was published in 2001. It is called Tio Archie. Copies can be ordered from the United Brethren Bookstore for $5 each.

30 Dec News from India About the Tsunami

We heard today from our couple in India concerning the tsunami which devastated countries along the Indian Ocean. They report, “The impact of the Tsunami was felt by villages about 1 to 2 miles from here. There were 5000 people who came to Narsapur because their houses were either destroyed, or as a precautionary measure to avoid further damages from any follow-up waves. Many of these people were housed and fed in the schools and colleges nearby. The hospitals, both the leprosy and the regular hospital, were used in aiding the people in need of care and shelter.

“As of yesterday, most of the people have gone back to their homes. Our area does not seem to be as badly hit as some of the areas further south. We will get a better assessment of the damage, we hope, soon. We are going to give clothes and towels to about 250 fisherman on January 2 who are Christians The pastors of two villages have shared this need. The government is helping, but it is hard to know exactly who have been helped. We felt that we should start somewhere.

“Many of these people will not have any new clothes for the New Year, which is a cultural thing here, since they have no earnings. The fishermen have been told not to go into the sea as yet. Many have lost their nets and some of their boats have been damaged. The cost of repair of boats and buying nets would be helpful, we are sure. We will need to find out about the cost of this need. The government is also giving rice and lentils. We hope that the right people will get these supplies. We will look into this need as well after the government have done their part.”

Narsapur is not far from the seacoast. They are fine in Narsapur, but the villages on the coast were hit hard by the tsunami. Homes were destroyed and people lost their lives. Several thousand people came into Narsapur right after the waves hit, but are now returning to what is left of their homes. The hospital dealt with many medical needs, and will be assessing how they can help with medical and health-related needs in the days to come.

Relief agencies are coming in, too. They don’t know how long the relief agencies will stay–if they will be there for a long time, or only for the short-term. Therefore, they don’t know the extent to which they and Narsapur Hospital will need to be involved.

If you wish to donate toward the relief efforts, you may do so by sending funds to Global Ministries. Global Ministries will forward the money to World Relief, the relief arm of the National Association of Evangelicals, unless the money can be used by our people in India.