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08 Nov

November 8, 2011 |

Bishop Phil Whipple (right) conducting the ordination ceremony with Todd and Dina Lilley.

L-r: Daniel Lam, Phil Whipple, Todd Lilley, Dennis Sites, and Kevin Dagget.

L-r: Daniel Lam, Phil Whipple, Todd Lilley, Dennis Sites, and Kevin Dagget.

Todd Lilley, senior pastor of Mount Olivet UB church (Mt. Solon, Va.), was ordained by Bishop Phil Whipple on Sunday, October 31. Assisting in the ordination were Dennis Sites (senior pastor of Jerusalem Chapel, Churchville, Va.), Daniel Lam (a lay minister from Mount Olivet), and Kevin Dagget (pastor of a local Brethren in Christ church).

Fonda Cassidy, a member of Mount Olivet, writes:

“This was a great and joyous occasion for our church family. We all enjoyed a meal afterward together.We had 114 people in attendance. What a privilege we have been given by God to give His love away in such a manner, and have people who commit themselves to the calling of God and Christ Jesus. We are so thankful for our pastors. We are thankful for those who invest their lives in others!”

Todd has been pastor of Mount Olivet since 2007. He graduated in 1996 from Eastern Mennonite University with a degree in Management and Organization, and received a Masters in Church Leadership from Liberty University in 2010. He and Dina, a registered nurse, were married in 1989 and have two children.

07 Nov

November 7, 2011 |

Billy Simbo, former bishop of Sierra Leone Conference, now back in the States, sent this note on November 3 about his wife, Mamei:

“The diagnosis is that Mamei has poisoning in her blood which made her system shut down. She has pneumonia. All of this was confirmed from the fluid they drew out of her right lung yesterday. Also, they have her on dyalisis because her kidneys are not functioning so well today. At least now they know what the problem is and they are treating her accordingly. She will remain of the respirator for now and they will also keep her sedated. Thank you for praying with us and for us.”

04 Nov

November 4, 2011 |

Huntington University’s EXCEL Adult Degree Programs has launched an Online Writing and Learning (OWL) lab to assist students with their writing assignments.

EXCEL students can now email their work to the OWL to receive suggestions and feedback. The submissions are reviewed by EXCEL instructors with English/writing teaching backgrounds.

“Students have the opportunity to acquire feedback tailored to their specific needs before their paper is turned in and graded,” said Nilah Horner (right), an EXCEL instructor and facilitator of the OWL program. “Content-area instructors can then focus their time on instructing their subject matter rather than on writing improvement.”

02 Nov

November 2, 2011 |
"Refresh"

"Refresh"

Huntington University animation students are taking the festival circuit by storm. The Toronto International Student Animation Festival has announced their decision to feature “Refresh,” an animated film created by Huntington University seniors Sean Cruse of Melville, N.Y., Benjamin Kroll of Mount Lake Park, Md., and Matthew Weener of Hudsonville, Mich. This recognition marks the film’s fifth festival approval.

“Refresh” deals with the disparity between people who are privileged and those who live without. Without delving into politics in any way, the film simply asks audiences to take a hard look at how people use limited resources and if there is any way to help those with less.

“I came up with the idea after feeling a need in my heart to help those without clean water,” Cruse said. “Water is essential for life, and I believe in Jesus’ teachings to help those in need.”

The following festivals selected to feature “Refresh”:

  • 2011 Stop Motion Magazine Film Festival in Los Angeles, Calif.
  • 2011 Philadelphia Film & Animation Festival in Philadelphia, Pa.
  • 2011 Toronto International Student Animation Festival in Toronto, Canada.
  • 2011 Tallgrass Film Festival in Wichita, Kan.
  • 2011 Columbus International Film & Video Festival in Columbus, Ohio.

“Making festival pieces was one of the goals we set for ourselves when building the digital media arts program,” said Steve Leeper (right), associate professor of Digital Media Arts. “It has taken a few years, but we’re finally starting to see films like ‘Refresh’ reach a wider audience. This is a significant milestone for us. We tell our students from the beginning that being an artist and finding an audience is what we do now, not just something to think about off in the future. Sean, Ben, and Matt are making that statement true. We’re very proud of them.”

01 Nov

November 1, 2011 |

Rocky Spear (right), Senior Pastor, Mongul UB Church (Shippensburg, Pa.)

On September 11, 2011, Mongul Church began 40 Days of Community. During the next 40 days, 10 home groups met, along with two Sunday school classes and one Wednesday night small group. Over 110 individuals participated in small groups, with each group making plans to serve their community in a meaningful way.

Celebration Sunday was held October 23. Our volunteers prepared a breakfast held between the two morning services. The total morning attendance was 242, with 20 first-time guests.

Excitement is building for reaching into our community. God is working in Shippensburg, Pa.

31 Oct

October 31, 2011 |

On Sunday, October 30, Morocco Church (Temperance, Mich.) surprised Pastor Todd Greenman (right) and his wife Eva by honoring them for Pastor Appreciation Month. There was a reading in their honor, and a fun skit was performed by several church members.

The church presented Eva with flowers and a gift card to both of them. After the service a special cake was served to all who stayed for fellowship. Morocco prays for God’s blessing on Eva and Pastor Todd!

29 Oct

October 29, 2011 |

Passing out Bibles.

Sitting in car trunk.

Over 400 visitors came to the annual “Trunk and Treat” outreach at Findlay First UB (Findlay, Ohio). The church passed out 300 Bibles.

Six years earlier, it was noticed that the community was using the parking lot of Findlay First UB as a parking area for the trick or treat night. The church decided to provide coffee, a restroom break, and entertainment for the visitors.

Every year it has grown to one of the major outreach events for the community. This year, 13 trunks passed out candy, tracts, and Bibles to the participants.

27 Oct

October 27, 2011 |

A United Brethren work group from Canada traveled to Haiti on October 17 to conduct medical clinics in our churches. Joan Sider is sending daily reports for the team. She previously wrote about Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. Here is her report for Monday, October 24.

Joan Sider

We’re so grateful to God for our safe arrival home from our mission in Haiti. Each of the team members are thrilled about the trip we have had and what was accomplished in a relatively short period of time. Again, I want to stress that it is a two way street–we give, but they give so much also. That is why many of us return trip after trip.

Our last morning together at the guest house was a leisurely one–packing, taking pictures, having a new experience–drinking coconut water–chatting with Pastor Richard and other staff, and hardest of all, saying good-bye.

Audrey did her usual great job of writing a team song. We sang it together at our last meal. Thanks Audrey for keeping up the tradition.

26 Oct

October 26, 2011 |

We received this word from Cluster Leader Greg Helman today:

“Pastor Gayle Ruble has returned to his home as of Tuesday, October 25th and will be recuperating for about 6 weeks.  He is praising the Lord that he is in no pain and has been blessed greatly.  Please continue to keep him, his family and the Macedonia UB Church in your prayers.”

26 Oct

October 26, 2011 |

A United Brethren work group from Canada traveled to Haiti on October 17 to conduct medical clinics in our churches. Joan Sider is sending daily reports for the team. She previously wrote about Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Here is her report for Sunday, October 23.

Joan Sider

On Sunday, we were up at 6:00 a.m. for breakfast–one hour earlier than usual. This was so we could attend 7:00 a.m. church–we were a little late.

The service at Delmas 33 is somewhat more formal than the other churches. I think Pastor Richard is patterning it more like his Paris church. This isn’t a criticism, just an observation. We enjoyed the service. Bob and Jordan shared their faith stories and Bob, Kelly, and Jordan sang. They were a blessing.

It was good to hear Pastor Richard preach on Nehemiah. He stressed that we need to be very concerned about the work of the Lord. You must put your whole heart into service. There is always opposition, but you persevere. All have something to contribute–attend church, visit people, pray for people, etc. He invited those who wanted to publicly demonstrate their willingness to work in greater ways for God. I think there were about 25 who indicated this by coming to the front.

Following church, we came home for a brief time, had lunch, and then set off for Mission of Hope. This is where Kara-Lynn was for 6 months and will remain for another week there. Rachel, the gal we see usually when we visit, was with us and together with Kara-Lynn, told us about this expanding ministry. They have about 50 orphans who are there all the time. Then on school days, 2000 children come. They are fed daily, too. About 1000 attend the church on Sundays.

They have a clinic which at some point will become a full service hospital. They have helped to build 3-room homes for people for some of their staff and for some of the displaced earthquake people. In a village nearby, many volunteers come to help build homes. One of the streets has been named ‘Fraser Way’ in memory of John Fraser who was so instrumental in bringing lots of teams to MOH to build.

Leaving MOH, we went on to a new church in Archaeia pastored by Masilllon Jean-Jacques. I first met him at the convention in August. He and his church have been on probation for the past year, and will soon be received into membership of the UB church family here in Haiti. He is a great young man–father of 3 children with another on the way. He is in his last year of law as well.

The service was fantastic. We enjoyed it so much. Kelly and Margie shared their faith journeys and two songs were sung by Bob, Kelly, and Jordan. The people knew them and sang along. It was so wonderful to hear.

Pastor Richard was the guest speaker, and he spoke on faith. With God, all things are possible when we have faith.

The people all wanted to greet us at the end–hugs, kisses, and handshakes. We were so excited about the warmth and response of these people. I’ve been coming for a long time, and I believe this is the first place where we have been made to feel so welcome. No one was in a hurry to get home, that’s for sure.

We felt it was a fitting conclusion to our ministry here this week. God has blessed. We are humbled and grateful that He uses us. But lest you think it is just us blessing the Haitians, it is a two way street–they really bless us. Their welcome, their powerful worship and earnest praying, give us reason to pause.

On the way home, our first time driving in the dark on this trip, we dropped Kara-Lynn back at MOH. We wanted her to stay with the team for as long as possible.

Please pray for Kara-Lynn as she continues to seek direction for her future–should she or should she not be at MOH.

When we got home, we had a late supper and then most soon went to bed.

Have I told you lately that this is a hot, hot, hot place! October is definitely not the time for a team to come. The humidity has been high with temperatures in the high 90s and even 100.