06 May Boom Times in Safford, Ariz.

Ron Gonzales, pastor of Open Bible Fellowship (Safford, Ariz.), reports on the exciting things happening as this booming Hispanic church.

“We had our first services in our newly remodeled 15,000 square-foot facility during the Easter weekend. We didn’t receive our certificate of occupancy for the property until Friday at 4:30. Without that we couldn’t have had our Easter services there. The work on the property was done over a period of 20 months by volunteers from the church.

“We had a 7:00 Saturday evening service and, on Easter Sunday, a 10:40 morning service. We did a drama production called ‘Victory Symphony.’ The combined attendance hit 650, with 29 conversions. Now we are making plans for our dedication service.”

06 May Mt. Victory’s New Sign

Mt. Victory UB officially lit a new church sign on April 16 during a church picnic and hotdog roast. The new sign is the latest in a series of property improvements. Within the past four years, the church has installed new siding, replaced the roof of the sanctuary, put up a new steeple, and completely remodeled the church basement into three classrooms and two utility rooms. The next step will be mounting the church bell on a stand near the front doors of the church. The bell had been in the original church steeple for over 100 years. Ed Gebert is the pastor.

06 May Palm Sunday at Idaville

Idaville UB (Idaville, Pa.) presented the musical drama “Fish Tales” on Palm Sunday. The program was performed by the “Praise Kids,” 13 children in grades 1-6….On Easter Sunday, Pastor Dirk Small was pleased to have 203 people attending. Several persons made decisions to accept Christ….April 27 was Rally Day. The group “The Praisin Puppets” presented a program to the children’s department.

06 May New Family Life Center at Criders

Criders UB (Chambersburg, Pa.) dedicated its new Family Life Center on May 4. The facility adds classrooms, a nursery, gymnasium, stage, and kitchen. Bishop Paul Hirschy was the guest speaker.

06 May East Washington Dedicates New Facility

East Washington UB (Ashley, Mich.) dedicated its new facility on April 13; they moved into it last October on their 100th anniversary. Bishop Paul Hirschy delivered a message which challenged them to be a praying church.

On Good Friday, East Washington participated with three other churches in a community service. The service included personal confession at a cross. Persons attending symbolized their personal confession by driving a nail into the cross and then taking the Lord’s Supper.

06 May Over 700 Attend Special Event

On Easter Sunday, Hillsdale UB (Hillsdale, Mich.) presented a procla-drama called “Crises and Cross Roads” which set an attendance record for the church of over 700. Procla-drama is a creative ministry tool for proclaiming the gospel. Live drama, video, special effects, and solos were interspersed at various points during the resurrection sermon of Pastor Les Smith. The Easter attendance was two-thirds larger than last year.

06 May Michigan Group Travels to Slovakia

On March 28, eleven people from Gaines UB (Caledonia, Mich.) traveled to Slovakia with The International Needs Network. Pastor Mark Beers writes, “We worked on the third floor of a community center at the church in Lucenec, Slovakia. The center will be used as an outreach for the church.

The 11 people stayed with families from the church and had several opportunities to speak in local churches. The highlight was being able to take communion with the people of the Ruzemberok church. Communion in that culture was taken from a common cup and was real wine. Both were a surprise to all, but what a great way to proclaim our oneness in Christ. The team returned to Grand Rapids on the evening of April 13 with a team of senior high youth waiting at the airport to welcome us home.”

06 May Lake View Holds Mini Missions Conference

A Mini-Missions Conference for kids K-12 will be held Saturday, June 21, at the Lake View UB church in Camden, Mich. It is being sponsored by the Michindoh Missions Commission. There will be crafts, games, food, and a focus on missions around the world. Kids will be taught a new game called Soccette, which is a combination of soccer and basketball. A missionary invented the game, and he and his family use it to create a bridge to share the gospel in Northern Africa.

There will also be a picnic lunch, plus a variety of activities for kids. The kids will also fill shoeboxes with such things as crayons, coloring books, markers, hand towels, hygiene products, small games and toys, and gospel tracts. These shoeboxes will then be distributed in places like Laurel Mission or to inner city ministries. Actual missionaries will be on hand for the kids to meet.