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The two-day Mission Team Leader Training is underway at Mainstreet Church in Walbridge, Ohio. Jeff Bleijerveld and Donna Hollopeter are teaching 12 people, who have come to learn how to effectively lead a short-term mission team. Three other persons from the east were signed up, but had to cancel out because of the blizzard.
Camp Cotubic in Bellefontaine, Ohio, has announced its summer camp schedule.
June 13-18: Teen Camp (grades 7-12). Cost: $260
June 27 – July 2: Discover Camp (grades 5-6). Cost: $260.
July 18-22: Voyager Camp (grades 2-4). Cost: $240.
You can register online.
Camp Cotubic began in the 1970s as a year-round camp operated by Central Conference, which included UB churches in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. Though Camp Cotubic is no longer operated by the United Brethren church, it continues serving the United Brethren constituency.
Extensive water damage at Victory Heights UB
Steve Henry, Pastor, Victory Heights Church (Franklin, Pa.)
On Monday morning, February 1, I received a call from my Head Trustee saying that I needed to go to the church ASAP because a water line had broken. Actually one line broke (froze) and a water input line came off a humidifier, so it was two water leaks at the same time.
Over 700 gallons of water saturated the foyer, restrooms, nursery, pastor’s office, kitchen, boiler room, much ceiling, and a Sunday school room. Water was flowing out of the air conditioning vents, lights, outlets, and light switches! Minimal damage occured to the fellowship hall and the sanctuary.
We moved our services to a vacant store at our local mall, and we had a great service on Sunday, February 7. We believe God is teaching us that a building is nice, but the church isn’t dependant on a building to be a church. We are a body because of the bond of Christ no matter where we meet.
It will be 4-6 weeks until we can get back into the church, so please pray that this missions opportunity to worship in the mall will be fruitful for the Kingdom of God.
Phil Whipple, Bishop
I’d like to give a little plug for Feedburner. I’ve been using this service to deliver UBCentral straight to my email each day. Anything posted during the previous 24 hours is sent to my inbox.
This works well for people who check email every day, but who don’t necessarily check the same websites every day. It comes to you; you don’t have to do anything except check your email. You can then scan it quickly to see what’s happening in the United Brethren world.
For people who may feel disconnected, Feedburner is a good tool to help them stay informed. I find it very convenient. It’s a free service from Google. About 50 UB people are currently using Feedburner.
It’s easy to signup. You submit your email address, and that’s it. Each email includes a link for removing yourself from the list.
Isaac Stevenson
I received an email this morning from Jeannie Browning, whose husband, Fred, is pastor of the Cream Ridge United Brethren church in Lenore, Idaho. She told me about Isaac Stevenson, a six-year-old boy from their church who saw pictures of children suffering in Haiti and wanted to do something for them.
Isaac raised over $450. Jeannie asked me if Global Ministries could send the funds to Samaritan’s Purse. I assured her that 100 percent of the money would go to Samaritan’s Purse.
Here is the story, taken from a local newspaper account.
Wanting to help the children of Haiti, Isaac gave the contents of his piggy bank, which came to $4. His parents decided to help him by holding a bake sale.
Isaac went to the city park and began selling baked goods to local residents.
One man asked him how much it cost for a loaf of bread. “Two dollars,” Isaac said.
“Is your goal to make $100?” the man asked.
“Yes,” Isaac told him.
The man handed Isaac a $100 bill and said, “Your goal is met.”
But it didn’t stop there. Altogether, Isaac raised $459.36 for Haiti.
L-r: Paul Plato (Canada), Bishop Phil Whipple, and Juan Pavon (Nicaragua) during the Tuesday night service at General Conference.
Bishop Phil Whipple speaking during the General Conference business sessions.
I enjoyed attending General Conference in January. I thought it went very well.
Every country, regardless of size, sent two delegates to Honduras. That was a change from before, when the number of delegates was based on size. It was healthy that the United States church agreed to that change. If the United States had come with far more delegates than any other conference, it would have been hard to see each other as partners. Instead, we were just one among equals.
We shared ideas and information about what was happening in our separate countries. We all wanted to support, learn from, and cooperate with each other.
Delegates from Canada and Jamaica were interested in the materials we are developing for clusters. I told them, “If it applies to your situation, great. You know what works for your people.” It’s good when we can create a resource and share it.
The Hondurans were warm and gracious hosts. They set a high standard for a host nation, particularly with the opening service, which both wrapped up their national conference and launched the international meeting.
We didn’t talk about where to hold the next General Conference in 2013. However, I suspect it’ll be a while before we come back to the United States. The visa problems people had were all American issues. I’d like to continue going to other countries, as long as cost isn’t prohibitive. I look forward to the next meeting in three years, wherever we end up.
A meeting for United Brethren children’s workers will be held May 18-19 at First UB church in Holly Hill, Fla. The church has lodging facilities. More details will come later.
Ethan Conley
Ethan Conley, grandson of Chet Conley, the Impact Minister at First UB (Findlay, Ohio), almost died two weeks ago. He is still in the hospital. His father writes:
“Ethan’s biopsy has confirmed his original diagnosis of Viral Myositis with Rhabdomyolysis. Ethan’s doctor came in today and said that Ethan is the ONLY person in the WORLD to survive after reaching CPK levels of nearly 700,000. A normal CPK level in a human is 200. What a mighty God we serve!!! God is still in the miracle business!”
Last Sunday, January 31, Jeff Bleijerveld, my wife Sandy, and I drove to South Bend, Ind., to attend a Hispanic church which is interested in possibly joining us. Connections were made through the Clearview UB church, a Hispanic congregation in Goshen, Ind. The two congregations have already done a few things together.
This congregation had originally been part of the Missionary Church. It closed for a while, then reopened under the umbrella of a different group. However, that didn’t work out, and the church went independent.
They own their building on a rather large plot of land toward downtown South Bend. When we arrived, people were scattered around the pews on their knees praying. Praying out loud.
The worship service started at 10:00 and lasted two hours. People arrived throughout that two-hour window; they probably started with 30 people, and ended with around 40. There were a lot of children and young adults. They had a very passionate songleader, very engaged with what he was singing about. Other people played guitars, drums, and congas. Throughout the church people had other percussion instruments that they played as well.
The service was in Spanish, but a lady translated for us. During the singing, she would start translating the first few phrases, and then get lost in the song, singing in Spanish. She translated anything spoken. People in the congregation knew enough English that if she got stuck, they would help her.
The pastor preached on being part of the family of God and how we are adopted into the family. He used a number of scriptures. It was clearly a message he spent plenty of time putting together.
At the end of the service, the pastor asked me to give a brief testimony. Since he was a very short man, I drew the analogy with Boehm and Otterbein, two men of different stature and different backgrounds who found that they shared the same passion for Christ.
Jeff Bleijerveld also spoke. Then we went out to a restaurant with the pastor and his wife, and four ladies from the church who comprise the board. We talked about what it would mean for them to become United Brethren. I don’t know that it will happen. This was just an exploratory meeting, and there are always issues to be resolved. But they were very interested, and we enjoyed the chance to get acquainted.
Lee Rhodes, pastor of Countryside UB (Breckenridge, Mich.), was honored with the Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Citizen Award. An online article describes him as “arguably one of the most popular men in Breckenridge” who “takes on many leadership roles with his church throughout the state.”
Lee and Eileen Rhodes have lived in Breckenridge for the past 21 years, and all three of their children graduated from the local high school. He has been a minister since 1985. He is currently chairman of the denominational Pastoral Ministry Leadership Team.
