18 Feb Billy Simbo’s Mother Undergoes Surgery

Marie Simbo, mother of Billy Simbo, had her leg amputated just below the knee as the result of an infection. The operation occurred in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Billy Simbo (right), Bishop of Sierra Leone Conference, writes, “She is in good spirits. In fact, they have asked us to leave the room because she is too busy talking to each person who comes in instead of going to sleep. She went into surgery singing praises and came out rejoicing in the Lord for making it possible for her to have the surgery done.

“Our mother has always been a woman of great faith and an encourager to us and many others. The only shock is that this happened over a period of one week.”

On January 3, Bishop Simbo’s brother, Ansu, passed away in Spain, where he has been living and working for several years. His body is being returned to Sierra Leone for the funeral on Monday, Feb. 22.

18 Feb Marvin Schwartz Undergoes Surgery Feb. 17

Marvin Schwartz (right), pastor of New Horizons UB (Rockford, Ohio), had surgery yesterday (February 17) at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Indianapolis, Ind. He had a serious infection around his artificial hip. The hardware had to be removed until the infection is eliminated. That’s what yesterday’s surgery was about.

Marvin will remain at St. Vincent’s for 7-10 days. The doctor gave him a 90-95 percent “heal rate.”

16 Feb Sandy Whipple Breaks Her Wrist

Sandy Whipple, wife of Bishop Phil Whipple, fell on ice this afternoon and broke both bones in her wrist. She will have surgery around 5 p.m. tonight (Tuesday, Feb. 16). Please keep her in your prayers. She and Phil were scheduled on Friday for a two-week trip to Israel.

16 Feb George Rhodifer in the Hospital

George Rhodifer, pastor of Olivet UB Church (New Lebanon, Ohio) is in Veterans Administration hospital in Dayton, Ohio. He was having some gall bladder difficulties, but is doing well and is expected to be released today. This report comes from Roland Albert, pastor of the nearby Park Layne UB church. Please keep George in your prayers.

05 Feb Update on Ethan Conley

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!”

05 Feb Lee Rhodes: Citizen of the Year

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.

02 Feb The Titus Boggs Groundhog Day Letter

Titus Boggs, director of the Laurel Mission in Big Laurel, Kent., is famous for his annual Groundhog Day Letter. At least, famous among those of us who receive it.

Yesterday, I received #19 in the series. As usual, it contained a batch of delightfully corny jokes which I’d never heard before. It seems that some of the world’s best humor makes its way to the hollows of Big Laurel and stops there, until Titus releases it back to the world via his Groundhog Day Letter.

For example:

• The other night I left the window open and influenza.
• Do you know the difference beween Bird flu and Swine Flu? For bird flu, you need tweetment, and for swine flu you need oinkment.
• Did you hear about the man who watered just half of his lawn since there was a 50% chance of rain?
• I heard of a preacher who named his bed “the word” and his boat “visitation.” His wife then could answer the phone calls, “He’s in the word,” or “He’s out on visitation.”
• I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.
• Two cannibals were eating a clown. One cannibal said to the other, “Does this taste funny to you?”

Along with the frivolity, Titus reported that several people prayed to receive Christ this year at Laurel Mission. He noted of his six children, “They are good workers and helpers, and they each love Jesus.” He gave these updates on his family.

• Titus and his wife, Debbie, have now been ministering at Laurel Mission for 30 years.
• Nathan, 25, works at United Central, a coal mine supply company. He is also the mission’s youth pastor and leads an active group of teens weekly. “No challenge seems too big for Nathan.”
• Hannah, 22, lives and works at a high school in Vancleve, Kent., and also works part-time as a state social worker. In October, she spent ten days in Israel.
• Stephanie, 19, will complete high school in May and plans to attend Kentucky Mountain Bible College next fall. In January, she spent seven days in Jamaica on a mission trip.
• Erica, 17, loves gardening and animals, and is determined to serve her country in the Army.
• Lacy, 16, is the extrovert and is able to express herself very well.
• Taylor, 15, is the youngest, but the tallest, and she loves to do artwork.

Titus concluded his letter with this: “May the Son shine on you so that you cast a long shadow of influence every time you venture from your den.”

25 Jan Retirement of Larry Taylor

Bishop Phil Whipple (left) presents a retirement pin to Larry Taylor, as Larry's wife Linda looks on.

On January 17, Bishop Phil Whipple attended Park UB (Bluffton, Ind.) to present a retirement pin to Pastor Larry Taylor. The pin recognizes his 37 years as a United Brethren pastor at these churches:

• 1972-1986: Zanesville UB (Zanesville, Ind.).
• 1986-1999: Good Shepherd UB (Huntington, Ind.).
• 2000-2011: Park UB (Bluffton, Ind.).

Before joining the United Brethren denomination, Larry pastored Evangelical United Brethren (now United Methodist) congregations going back to 1964.