11 Jan Report from Mattru Hospital

Jeff Bleijerveld (right), Director of Global Ministries

The following email was received Wednesday morning, January 11. Director Bleijerveld and associate director Michelle Harris are at Mattru Hospital in Sierra Leone with a medical team which will return on January 14. 

Our time in Sierra Leone is running down but the patients are increasing, especially since we were interviewed on the radio.

With the increase in patients, we have also dealt with some challenging needs. Three children under two were admitted with cerebral malaria. This morning one of them passed away. Continue to pray for the other two. We have also had three women admitted with cervical cancer. All three are terminal. Nothing can be done by the doctors to change their diagnosis. As Dr. Ron Baker always reminds us, “We treat, but it is God who heals.”

Micheal, who had major surgery, is doing better. So are a number of other patients who have had a variety of procedures, including a successful c-section and two hernia repairs. A molar pregnancy and DNC will take place today.

We have meetings with Bishop John Pessima and the hospital board later this day. There are some important, yet delicate issues to deal with. We’d appreciate your prayers.

Tomorrow, a group will be doing a medical clinic in Madena where Francis Mustafa and his wife, Bobbi, have started an elementary school with 400 students. Francis is from Sierra Leone, but taught high school biology in Indiana for many years. In fact, he was recognized as Teacher of the Year in Indiana some 15 years ago. The group will also visit the missionary cemetery in Gbangbaia where Dr. Ron Baker’s eight-year-old brother was laid to rest following a boating accident. Also buried there are many other missionaries who succumbed to a variety of diseases as young adults.

Yesterday we signed a contract with Daniel Kamara. He will be the new business manager at the hospital and will help us stay on track with the new income from the solar and water projects. He will be moving here with his wife and daughter and get started on January 30.

The team is healthy (aside from itchy bug bites) and sleeping relatively well. Unity has been great, and our interactions with the leadership and staff have been very encouraging. However, the pressing needs and sorrow many of the patients deal with on a daily basis weighs heavy on our hearts. Pray with us that our work today and in the future might be effective and seasoned liberally with God’s love and mercy.

Read Jeff’s earlier report from January 6.

06 Jan Report from Medical Team in Sierra Leone

Jeff Bleijerveld (right) Director of Global Ministries

Jeff is part of a 10-person team, mostly medical personnel, which is spending January 2-14 in Sierra Leone. He sent this report on Friday, January 6.

We made a number of important visits on our way to the Mattru Hospital, including the Minister of Health and Chief Medical Officer in Freetown. In Mattru, we also met with the paramount chief and regional health directors.

Michelle and I have been in multiple meetings with hospital and conference leadership. We have also been asked to audit the hospital’s books for 2016 with the help of Matt Milich, an investment banker. Matt’s wife is one of the doctors, so it has been fun to see how God created a project here that’s perfectly suited to his gifts. The audit is going to take a few days and may include a number of recommendations. We also plan to meet the new business manager, Daniel Kamara. He is coming on staff as part of the solar and water projects. He has business accounting and finance education and has had excellent experience serving with the United Methodist Church.

Dr. Ron Baker’s mother, Evelyn, is in hospice and his wife, Jane, was hospitalized with influenza A. Jane is doing much better; his mother remains the same. Ron is recovering from bronchitis and is fine during most of the day, but coughs a lot during the night.

Yesterday a patient named Michael had surgery. He had a acute abdominal pain, infection and swelling and needed immediate surgery. He has come through the surgery well.

We have also connected with Francis and Bobbi Mustafa. They operate a 400 student grade 1-6 school in Francis’ hometown. We’ll send a small team to do a medical clinic there next Thursday.

At the end of the day, yesterday we went for a swim in the Jong River. It has a lovely sand bottom and clear water. It was one of Ron’s favorite things to do growing up. He can still swim across the river and back–even while recovering from bronchitis.

Thanks for your prayers. All are doing well. God is providing many opportunities to meet people, pray for patients, and share the gospel.

05 Jan Medical Team in Sierra Leone Through Jan 14

On Monday, January 2, a team left for Sierra Leone. It’s mostly a medical team which will work at Mattru Hospital. They will return January 14.

The travelers include two persons from Global Ministries, director Jeff Bleijerveld and associate director Michelle Harris (right). We are beginning a major and very exciting initiative at Mattru Hospital. Part of Michelle’s responsibilities include overseeing the missionary personnel we will be assigning to the hospital beginning early this year. This is Michelle’s first visit to Sierra Leone, though she lived ten years in the African nation of Gabon.

They are joined by a team of medical volunteers led by Dr. Ron Baker, who served at Mattru 1974-1990. The other team members include:

• Dr. Dan and Elaine (RN) Metzger, who served at Mattru during the 1980s.
• Dr. Ian and Laura Jackson and Esther (their 10 month old baby).
• Dr. Kim Stillman, a third-year ER resident, and her husband Matt Millich (MBA).
• Brooke Snyder, a nursing student.

Jeff and Michelle will help the medical team in whatever way they can. They will also meet with our national leaders to discuss several exciting projects, including the installation at Mattru Hospital of a solar electricity system and a water filtration system.

Information about these projects, and about several medical and other personnel who will soon join our team at Mattru, will be coming soon.

05 Jan A New Role for Missionary Dave Datema

UB endorsed missionary Dave Datema (right) transitioned out of his role as one of three General Directors for Frontier Ventures, effective January 1. He will remain with Frontier Ventures in Pasadena, Calif., and with the US Center for World Mission, but will change roles. Here is his explanation.

“There are several reasons why I think it is time for me to step down from the Office of the General Director. The first reason is that I never planned on being GD for a long time. Back in 2009 when Dr. Ralph Winter asked me about taking the role, I saw that his health was rapidly declining and that the organization needed somebody to take the reins. I did so thinking that my role would be transitional, not knowing how long that transition might be. Now, seven and a half years later, it seems that I have been in this role much longer than any transition might necessitate. It was never my intention to be a lifelong General Director.

“The second reason is that I have increasingly recognized that my life-giving interests were more in the area of missiology than organizational development. I didn’t know in 2009 that so much of this role would cater to the latter not the former. Over the years, I have had many experiences, good and bad, that tested my mettle as an organizational leader. I’ve come to realize that my best contribution to Frontier Ventures is not the same as what some long for in an organizational leader.

“The third reason is that spending so much time on the organizational side has depleted my energy reserves. My zeal for it has slowly eroded. Years of living in a world of planning, org chart shuffling, dealing with personnel issues, real estate management and endless policies and procedures have taken their toll on my general well-being. As a wise man once said, ‘Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.’

“I now look forward to my new assignment and future. First, I hope to get our campus collaboration onto firm footing for a new season of ministry together. Second, I am looking forward to diving into a full-time ThM Program at Fuller in June, possibly leading to PhD work. Ironically, pursuing doctoral-level work was one of the main reasons we came here 17 years ago. Yet the road we travel rarely goes in a straight line. I’m trusting that God has been in the twists and turns and that being on this road again is part of his plan for me. Someone once said, ‘There is no knowing. But walking makes the road.’ It is in that spirit that I move forward, still part of this community, but in a different role. I covet your prayers.”

18 Oct A Jam Session with the Pachecos

Milton and Erika Pacheco with Rosanna Dunn.

At Rosanna’s organ.

Milton and Rosanna jamming.

Milton and Erika Pacheco, a Honduran couple, are in the States this fall raising support as they prepare to become United Brethren missionaries in Thailand. A few days ago they had the opportunity to visit Rosanna Dunn, the maternal grandmother of Brian Glunt, one of their Thailand team members. Rosanna, 93, is supporting the Pachecos financially and through prayer.

Rosanna, who lives north of Indianapolis, started learning to play the electric organ in her 80s. she and Milton, a talented musician, were able to have a little jam session.

23 Sep Milton and Erika Pacheco: Speaking Schedule this Fall

The Pachecos at Mt. Hope UB church in Carson City, Mich.

Milton and Erika with Nancy N’Gele, a former UB missionary in Sierra Leone.

Milton and Erika Pacheco, a couple from Honduras, plan to join our team in Thailand in early 2017. They are currently in the States speaking in United Brethren churches and raising support.

On September 18, they visited Mt. Hope UB church in Carson City, Mich. There, they met Nancy N’Gele, who served 11 years as a missionary in Sierra Leone.

Here is the Pachecos’ schedule through the end of November, in case you have opportunity to go hear them. In some churches, they will also do music–a very talented couple.

September 18: Mt. Hope UB church (Carson City, Mich.).
September 25: Franklin UB (New Albany, Ohio).
October 2: Otterbein UB (Greencastle, Pa.).
October 9: Heart o’ the Lakes (Brooklyn, Mich.).
October 16: New Horizons (Rockford, Ohio).
October 23: Mt. Zion UB (Decatur, Ind.).
October 30: Clearview Hispanic (Goshen, Ind.).
November 6: Fountain UB (Keyser W. Va.).
November 13: Salem UB (Chambersburg, Pa.).
November 20: Eden UB (Mason, Mich.).

23 Sep United Brethren Kids Raise $7895 for Guatemala

Each summer, Global Ministries provides a mission project for local churches to promote during their summer children’s ministries. Materials are prepared in advance so the children learn about the ministry they are supporting. The project usually relates to something of interest to kids. In the past they have contributed to the needs of Syrian and Iraqi children living in refugee camps in Southern Turkey and have supported our Mexican United Brethren children’s outreach ministry. This year the focus was on children’s ministry in Guatemala.

Once again, we are amazed at the enthusiasm and sacrifice of our children who raised $7895 to purchase teaching materials and improve the spaces where children gather for Sunday school and outreach activities in Guatemala. On behalf of our Guatemalan United Brethren, we thank all our children for their prayers and support of this ministry.

20 Jun Medical Personnel Needed for Mattru Hospital

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

Imagine what it would be like if you shared your doctor with 400,000 other people. That’s the situation in Sierra Leone today where just 17 medical doctors serve a population of more than 7 million. Prior to the outbreak of Ebola the ratio was 250,000:1, but many doctors died fighting this deadly infection.

The United Brethren in Christ established a hospital in the town of Mattru Jong nearly seventy years ago. Originally missionary doctors and nurses staffed the hospital and it was slowly being handed over to local administrators and physicians when civil war broke out in 1991. When it reopened 11 years later, it was but a pale reflection of the regional health center it had once been and has struggled since that time to gain momentum.

At the request of the Sierra Leone National Conference, Global Ministries is seeking to recruit a team of missionaries to serve for six to eight years training and mentoring hospital staff. We’re recruiting general practitioners, surgeons, pediatricians, OB specialists along with individuals with administration and engineering experience.

If you, or someone you know, might be interested, contact us by email or by using this online form.

17 Jun UB Missionaries Available to Speak in Your Church

Global Ministries is excited to announce two new family units approved for missionary service! We can’t post their full names here, because they serve in countries which are closed to missionary work. However, you can contact the Global Ministries office about them.

• Harrison, from a United Brethren church in Indiana, will depart in August to teach in the Middle East.
• Another couple has been serving in a closed Asian country, and will return to their field in early 2017.

In addition, a young woman on staff with Global Ministries who has been teaching in a closed country for several years will be in the States during July and August of 2016. She is available to share with groups and churches about what God is doing on the other side of the world.

Finally, get Milton and Erika Pacheco on your schedule while you can. They are fellow UBs from Honduras Conference who will be a part of the international United Brethren team in Thailand. They’ll be in the United States during the late summer and fall of 2016.

If you are interested in having any of these persons share their vision with your mission team or congregation, or if you’d like more information, contact Global Ministries at [email protected].

08 Jun Michelle Harris to Join Global Ministries Staff

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

On July 1, Michelle Harris will join the Global Ministries staff as one of the three associate directors (alongside Frank Y and David Kline). She brings over 25 years of cross-cultural experience in mentoring, training, and teaching in a variety of settings. Michelle will work with our short-term missions program, oversee some of our staff serving abroad, be a great resource to those seeking to work with refugees and immigrants, and use her gifts in writing.

In 2012, Michelle and her family moved to Fort Wayne, Ind., after serving 1994-2012 with InterVarsity Link in Europe and Africa. During those years, they lived a year in Paris, 11 years in the African nation of Gabon, and the last seven years in Nice, France. Michelle has been a teacher in an international school, a student minister, and a team leader. Since relocating to Fort Wayne, she has coordinated low-cost translation services at the Reclamation Project, which works in 18 languages.

Michelle graduated from Ball State University in 1990 with a degree in Education, and this summer will complete a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at Ashland University in Indiana. Her husband, Scott, is an InterVarsity campus minister working with international students in Fort Wayne. They have two children, Justin and Anna. Michelle serves with the women’s ministry at Emmanuel Community Church in Fort Wayne.

Michelle is passionate about the beauty of the international church and the ways we can learn from and serve one another. She loves to write and read. She is excited about this next chapter with Global Ministries.