08 Aug On This Day in UB History: August 8 (Oneta Sewell Thone)

Oneta Sewell Thone

Oneta Sewell Thone, RN, passed away on August 8, 1979, after an illness of several months. She was a member of the UB church in Jerry City, Ohio.

Oneta served three terms as a missionary nurse in Sierra Leone. She arrived there in 1944, in the midst of World War II, and ran the Gbangbaia dispensary for three years with the help of a small national staff.

She returned to Sierra Leone for a second term 1949-1952, during which she was instrumental in opening a dispensary at Mattru–the beginnings of Mattru Hospital. She was soon joined by another RN, Juanita Smith, a United Brethren preacher’s kid from Illinois whose sister, Leora Ackerman, was then serving as a UB missionary in Honduras.

Oneta and Juanita held daily clinics at Mattru and in surrounding villages. Recognizing that a full-fledged hospital would require a lot of nurses, they started a nursing school in 1950 with three students, all of them graduates of our Minnie Mull School for Girls in Bonthe. After two years of training, all three girls transferred to a hospital in Freetown to obtain their midwifery certification. Meanwhile, other Minnie Mull students enrolled.

Oneta Sewell concluded her second term in 1952. She returned for one year, 1965-1966, in response to a special appeal). She spent 15 years working at a clinic in Kansas run by Dr. Leslie Huntley, who had served as the UB doctor at Gbangbaia prior to Oneta’s arrival. Then she moved back to Ohio, got married to Walter Thone in 1973, and spent four years, 1971-1975, as president of the Sandusky Branch of the Women’s Missionary Association.

07 Aug On This Day in UB History: August 7 (Bishop John Coons)

Bishop John Coons

Bishop John Coons died of stomach cancer on August 7, 1869, at age 71. He was our 12th bishop, serving 1841-1845. Poor health probably kept him from being re-elected. However, he continued as an active minister until about age 70.

Coons was born near Martinsburg, Va., on October 25, 1797. When he was about ten years old, his family joined the westward migration, settling in southern Ohio. He became a Christian in 1821 through the ministry of Jacob Antrim, a United Brethren minister who had come from Pennsylvania.

As was common back then, Coons began preaching soon after his conversion. In 1822, he was licensed as a minister in Miami Conference, which then consisted of all United Brethren work west of the Allegheny mountains. He began serving a circuit of churches, and in 1826 was ordained by bishops Christian Newcomer and Henry Kumler, Sr.

According to biographer Henry Adams Thompson, Coons had very little education, and couldn’t even read until after he became a Christian. However, he was said to be a quick learner with an inquiring mind and a strong memory.

Coons spent most of his adult life pastoring churches, either as an itinerant with a large circuit of churches, or as what they called a “stationed” pastor, serving a congregation in one location. Although he was said to have “delicate” health, virility didn’t seem to be an issue. He had eight children by his first wife, whom he married in 1821 and who passed away in 1840. He then married a widow, and by her had seven more children.

Coons was described as about six feet tall, a neat dresser, a commanding but not particularly great preacher, tender-hearted, polite, dignified, and beyond reproach. “Not a single charge of guilt against his Christian life is recorded to blot his memory,” wrote Thompson.

Thompson described Coons as “free from any disposition to succeed if it brought injustice to others, and never uttering a word intentionally to injure the Christian life or character of any. He seemingly guarded with as much care the good name of his brethren as he did his own.”

Coons didn’t leave any particular mark on the church, but was one of those ministers–of whom there were many throughout our history–who served long, served faithfully, served capably, and influenced the spiritual lives of hundreds of people.

07 Aug On This Day in UB History: August 7 (Pauline O’Sullivan)

On August 7, 1964, Pauline O’Sullivan began a three-year term serving as a missionary in Sierra Leone. She was probably the first missionary to come from one of our mission fields–in her case, Jamaica. Her uncle, Rev. James O’Sullivan, a Jamaican, founded the UB mission work in Jamaica.

Pauline graduated from Huntington College in 1962, and became the first United Brethren missionary assigned to the teaching staff at the Kabala Rupp school for missionary children. The Missionary Church founded the school in 1956, but the United Brethren church and several other mission organizations became joint sponsors.

The first UB students were Ron Baker and David and Steve Burkett, all of whom became students in 1956. During Pauline O’Sullivan’s tenure, UB students included Doug and Darlene Cox, Annette and Joyce Baker, Sharon Birdsall, and others.

06 Aug On This Day in UB History: August 6 (Vicki Snider)

In 1988, Stan and Vicki Snider were UB missionaries living in Mattru, Sierra Leone. On July 6, they rejoiced as Vicki gave birth to a baby girl, Cathryn. But during the week of August 1, Vicki fell ill with fever. The hospital staff kept a very close watch on her. Then, on August 6, Vicki suddenly slipped into a coma.

The next day, a Sunday, Vicki was transported to Freetown, and on Monday a chartered Lear Jet air ambulance flew her to the Netherlands, where she was admitted to the respected Harbour Hospital and Institute for Tropical Medicine in Rotterdam. Just eleven weeks before, UB missionary Patti Stone had died there. Now, the same medical staff who treated Patti now cared for Vicki.

The initial diagnosis was Fulminant Hepatitis A, the same illness that killed Patti. Vicki’s liver was not functioning properly, and doctors feared she wouldn’t survive.

Meanwhile, Christians across the US and Canada prayed for Vicki. Within a few days, reports came of slight improvement. By Tuesday, August 16, Vicki had been moved out of the Intensive Care Unit to her own private room. It was mostly uphill from there. Stan, Vicki, and newborn Cathryn spent five weeks in Rotterdam. On September 11, 1988, they flew back to their home in Toronto.

Stan returned to Sierra Leone in November 1988 to assist with some mechanical problems and stayed for six weeks. The entire family returned to Sierra Leone on March 21, 1989.

Bishop Jerry Datema reported that during the 1989-1993 quadrennium, UB people gave $150,00 to help pay the medical and emergency evacuation costs for Patti Stone and Vicki Snider.

04 Aug On This Day in UB History: August 4 (Crossing the Atlantic)

Clarence and Erma Carlson and children.

On August 4, 1942, Clarence Carlson boarded an Egyptian cargo ship in Freetown, Sierra Leone, to begin the journey back to the United States. War was on, and German submarines roamed the Atlantic Ocean. Two years before, when he sailed for Africa, the US was not in the war; it was still dangerous, but Americans were not targets. Now they were.

Carlson had already spent nearly 12 years in Sierra Leone. He and his wife, Erma, and two children left in 1938; Erma and both children were sick, but especially Erma–it would take her several months to recover. Back in the States, they were well aware of the need for leadership in Sierra Leone. They prayed about it for severa months, and finally decided there was only one thing to do. Clarence would return to Sierra Leone by himself.

Carlson wrote in the Missionary Monthly publication, “It is not easy to look forward to the separation of our family, but on the other hand, we could not be happy with this burden on our hearts. We shall both be happy in the knowledge that we are obeying what we believe to be the will of God for us.”

Dr. Leslie and Carolyn Huntley, who were stationed at Gbangbaia, later said of Carlson, “He was so gentle and genuine in his love and concern for all….He loved people, especially his wife and family, but he was a true Christian leader for our African workers.”

After two years, it was time to leave. The only other passenger on that Egyptian cargo ship was a correspondent with the International News Service. They slept in their clothes, with the cabin doors open and life preservers handy. They had an escort for the first two days, but then the ship was on its own. Upon reaching Trinidad in the West Indies, they joined a convoy for the rest of the journey to New York City, arriving on September 12.

02 Aug On This Day in UB History: August 3 (Floy Mulkey)

Two of Floy Mulkey’s missionary photos.

On August 3, 1970, Floy Mulkey finished her fifth and final term as a missionary in Sierra Leone. A Huntington College graduate, Floy spent 19 years, 1951-1970, teaching in our high schools and serving in the Sierra Leone national office.

Floy entered missionary service the same year as Bethel Mote, who served in Sierra Leone 1951-1973 (one more term than Floy). They traveled together a number of times, prompting Missions Director George Fleming to describe them as “twins.”

Floy Mulkey passed away January 21, 1996, in her hometown of Philomath, Oregon.

31 Jul On This Day in UB History: July 31 (Archie Cameron)

Clockwise from upper left: Archie Cameron. Archie and Maisy Cameron (on the ends) with their daughters and Hondurans. Archie with members of the Bethel Band, which he founded and led. Archie preaching in 1997. Archie playing the accordion–one of many instruments he played–to accompany some Honduran girls. Archie and Maisy.

On July 31, 1952, a ship docked in La Ceiba, Honduras, with five Canadians aboard: Archie and Maisy Cameron and their three daughters. Immigration and customs red tape forced them to spend their first night in Honduras aboard the ship. They could only stand on the deck and catch a limited glimpse of this city which would become their home for more years than any of them imagined.

Archie’s father was born in Scotland, but immigrated to Canada. A return visit to Scotland proved ill-timed: World War I broke out, and the family was stranded in Glasgow for the duration. It was there, in 1917, that Archie was born. After the war, they returned to Toronto.

Archie grew up, was married, and became a Christian in a Presbyterian church in Toronto. He became Baptist for a while, and then began working with a classmate at Toronto Bible College who was pastoring a United Brethren church in Toronto. After graduating, Archie was assigned to three UB churches on the Niagara circuit–Sherkston, Stevensville, and Garrison Road–but all the while felt God calling him to missionary service in Africa.

Archie and Maisy interviewed with the UB Mission board, and were redirected to Honduras. Archie realized God had called him to the world, not specifically to Africa. So Honduras it would be…as it turned out, for the rest of his life.

We had become involved in Honduras in 1944, assuming oversight of five churches along the north coast. These English-speaking congregations consisted primarily of immigrants from Caribbean islands. We had sent missionaries to teach in the mission school. Don and Leora Ackerman and Betty Brown met the Camerons at the dock on August 1.

In 1953, the English churches got upset about our stand on secret societies and parted company. But by then, Archie had begun working among the majority Spanish population. They now commanded Archie’s full attention. He soon founded the Bethel UB church in Honduras, and it became the 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.

Honduras Conference was officially organized in 1956, and Archie remained its leader until 1986, when he retired. Today, Honduras Conference has 110 churches and church plants and over 5000 members. The work which started in Honduras has now spread to Nicaragua, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Guatemala.

Archie and Maisy Cameron continued living in Honduras. Maisy passed away in 2003, and Archie died two years later at age 87. Physically, Archie Cameron was a small man. But the impact of his life makes Archie Cameron one of the United Brethren giants of the 20th Century.

28 Jul On This Day in UB History: July 28 (the Sherlocks)

Jeff and Joan Sherlock and children (left) with the Luke and Audrey Fetters (middle) and Phil and Darlene Burkett families.

On July 28, 1990, the Sherlock family left for Macau. They thought it would be for four years.

Jeff and Joan Sherlock met at Camp Scioto, the Central Conference camp near Junction City, Ohio. Joan traveled that summer with a Huntington College singing group which ministered at Camp Scioto. Jeff, like just about everyone in his family, worked at the camp. A long-distance courtship began, and Jeff and Joan were married in July l979.

They set up home in southern Ohio, became active in the Avlon UB church in Bremen, and brought three children into the world. For 12 years, Jeff worked for a large printing company, progressing from job estimating to quality control to sales. While working fulltime, he earned a Business degree and a masters in Business Administration from Ohio University.

In 1989, as he approached the end of the MBA program, Jeff began praying about doing something more significant with his life. He said, “I was doing my job very successfully and would have become quite well off. But no matter how efficiently I made catalog inserts, there was no eternal significance. In the long term, I had nothing to gain except money.”

Then along came the Missions Impact newsletter, with an ad seeking a new missionary couple for Macau—specifically, someone with business skills. It ran for several months, and each month Jeff would think, Hmmm, they haven’t found anyone yet.

In March 1990, the Sherlocks went to Huntington, Ind., for an interview with the UB mission staff. The Board of Missions would meet March 23 to make any official appointment. But Jeff also interviewed for a teaching position at Huntington College, something he had long desired. The interview went very well. And yet, it didn’t seem right to him. Macau beckoned.

As they left the college, Jeff asked his wife, “How do you feel about this?”

He thought he knew Joan’s answer. It was a choice between living close to Joan’s family, or going to the other side of the world. A choice between the familiar and the unknown. He knew her desires, and he knew her fears. But Joan surprised him.

“I just don’t think Huntington is where we’re supposed to be right now,” she said.

And so, they sold everything and left behind their life in southern Ohio, and began ministering alongside the Fetters and Burkett families and their Chinese coworkers. Half of Jeff’s job description involved teaching in the English Language Program, and half involved finance—business manager of the mission, and treasurer of Living Water Church and the ELP.

Even before arriving in Macau, Jeff felt his financial duties should be turned over to a national. This was especially important since China would take control of Macau in 1999, and nobody knew if missionaries would still be welcome. So Jeff resolved, during his four years in Macau, to train at least one local person to handle the finances.

As it turned out, three of the first eleven members of Living Water Church were experienced in bookkeeping and finance, and the ELP’s newly-hired administrative assistant had worked ten years as assistant manager of a trading company. Jeff quickly realized finances could be turned over much sooner.

The Macau missionaries had been asking the Board of Missions for more teachers so that the pastors, Luke Fetters and Phil Burkett, could do more actual pastoring. Huntington’s response: great idea, but no money.

Jeff raised the idea of replacing his family of five with several single missionaries. As a result, by February 1993, three single missionaries were in Macau, enabling the ministry to expand in some new directions. That story was told on July 23.

The Sherlocks left Macau in December 1992, shortly after the Fetters family returned from furlough. In the words of Luke Fetters, they “accomplished more in two-and-a-half years than anyone could have expected.”

27 Jul On This Day in UB History: July 27 (Germany)

Pastor Alimamy Sesay (left) and Adama Thorlie, representatives to the 2017 General Conference in Chambersburg, Pa.

In 2006, Germany joined the ranks of countries with United Brethren churches. It represented a full circle of sorts.

William Otterbein, one of our founders, came to America as a missionary from Germany, and the early United Brethren were mostly German-speaking people. When we began venturing into foreign missions in the mid-1800s, we started with Sierra Leone in 1855. But a lot of German delegates lobbied for their home country, and the 1869 General Conference consented. In October 1869—we moved quickly back then—Rev. and Mrs. C. Bischoff of Zanesville, Ohio, sailed for Europe to begin ministering in Bavaria.

By the spring of 1870, the Bischoffs reported that 72 persons had joined the church.
In 1879, a German mission district was organized with six missionaries, 235 members, and 34 preaching points. All of which stayed with the “other” United Brethren group after we split off in 1889.

Our group eventually made it back to Germany. However, we took a very unusual route, going through that original mission field, Sierra Leone.

On July 27, 1997, an independent church started in Berlin with eleven members from Catholic, Methodist, Pentecostal, and United Brethren backgrounds. The church targeted the many African immigrants in Berlin, especially those who had fled the civil wars in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

In November 2000, the congregation began worshiping at the Magdalene church in Neukölln, a borough in the southeastern part of Berlin in what was once the American sector. Forty percent of Neukölln’s residents were foreign-born, the largest constituencies being Turkish, Arab, and Kurdish, with a much smaller number of people of African background.

The growing congregation recognized the need for a pastor. Along came a Sierra Leonean named Peter Sorie Mansaray, who became the pastor in November 2003. He had just completed two years of theological studies at the Academy of Missions at the University of Hamburg.

After nine years of existence the church, which consisted mostly of United Brethren immigrants from Sierra Leone, felt led to become part of the worldwide United Brethren in Christ Church. So in September 2006, Pastor Mansaray flew to Africa to attend the annual meeting of Sierra Leone Conference. He presented their desire, and the conference accepted the Berlin church as a mission district of Sierra Leone Conference.

“This meant that we had given up our independence, accepted the doctrines and teachings of the United Brethren, and were now directly answerable to the Bishop of the Sierra Leone Conference,” stated the website.

In July 2007, Bishop Billy Simbo of Sierra Leone traveled to Germany to lead the culminating service of the church’s tenth anniversary.

According to the church’s website, “The UBC Berlin is an English-speaking community. However, we are moving in the direction of having bilingual services due to an increase of and desire of opening our church to German natives.” Most members of the church had lived in Germany for over ten years and knew the German language well. Their children, having been born in Germany, spoke perfect German and English, and sometimes the African tribal language of their parents.

Earlier this month, Germany was represented for the first time at General Conference, the international gathering. The current pastor, Alimamy Sesay, and a lay woman named Adama Thorlie, a Sierra Leonean who has been with the church since it started, attended the US National Conference July 12-15 and then the General Conference on July 16-17 in Chambersburg, Pa.