01 Mar Easter Mission Project: Ministry Center in Thailand

Our future ministry center in Chiang Rai, Thailand.

Global Ministries is launching a major mission effort in Chiang Rai, the northern-most provincial capital in the once infamous “Golden Triangle.” We will focus on reaching Thai Buddhists. A team of United Brethren missionaries from three countries—the United States, Honduras, and Hong Kong—will begin arriving in 2016.

This year’s annual Easter Offering will help prepare the way. We hope to raise $50,000 to renovate our ministry center in Chiang Rai.

Global Ministries and Hong Kong Conference, together, bought a two-story building in a fast-growing part of Chiang Rai. This will be our base of operations for a number of ministries. The building sits on the corner of a busy street in what would be a middle-class neighborhood. To get anywhere, people in that neighborhood pass our building.

The building was previously owned by a doctor and her family. She works at a nearby hospital, and is very excited about the types of ministry we hope to bring to the neighborhood.

It is a solid building, structurally sound, with a very good roof. However, it has sat empty for a couple years and needs a lot of work. We want to expand the upstairs and turn it into classrooms for teaching English and other subjects. The downstairs will include a large space for group activities. Other major renovations are needed.

• Nearly all windows must be replaced.
• The interior walls are very thin. The exterior walls have no treatment on the inside.
• The decrepit bathroom needs rebuilt.
• The stairway needs repaired.
• A new air conditioning system will be installed (this is very important in that part of the world).
• A new kitchen area is needed.

Nearby are the city’s three major shopping outlets. A few minutes away is the Big C, which is like a full-size Meijer or WalMart. Across from the Big C is a very modern mall, similar to what you would find in North America. Further up the highway is another major store, like a Costco. This is a developing part of the city. In addition, the area is home to many out-of-town temporary workers employed at the malls.

Across from our ministry center is a simple but clean extended stay hotel. Several UBs from Hong Kong stayed there, and intentionally walked to our building at 11pm just to see what it was like. They felt very safe. Many small vendors were still selling their food and other goods. Motorcycles and cars zipped by.

We have a large vision for this building. We will offer language learning in both English and Mandarin Chinese—the two most sought-after languages in Thailand. We will offer activities to engage the surrounding community. We will build caring relationships that open doors to love people and share the Gospel. Others will use the building to reach into the community—visiting teams, local Thai Christians, and partner organizations in the region.

Over time, we are praying for a discipleship multiplication movement to begin among the Thai Buddhists, resulting in new churches being planted.

We United Brethren have just over 20 years of experience in northern Thailand. Three United Brethren churches have been planted among the Akha hill tribes, along the border with Burma, under the leadership of Hong Kong Conference. Chiang Rai is the closest large city. It gives us the opportunity to possibly help people from the mountain churches who come to the city for jobs and education. But it provides an even greater opportunity to spread the Gospel to Thai Buddhists—the least-reached people group in Thailand.

You can donate online to the 2016 Easter Offering. Your financial support would be greatly appreciated.

(Thanks to Google Street View, you can drive down the street right past our building. The building is on the right, just after you begin seeing a silver pickup truck ahead of you on the road.)

09 Feb Canadian Team in Haiti Once Again

The Canadian team standing by the same tree outside the Chevalier church–the same tree where the first Canadian team, in 2002, also had a photo taken. Joan Sider, a regular visitor to Haiti, is on the far right.

It was quite a celebration as the congregation of the Archaie church marched to their new church building on January 31.

Persons from the Archaie congregation made the move into their new building on January 31.

A team from the UB churches in Canada has been in Haiti since the end of January. They have been involved in a variety of ministries, including quilting classes, eye clinics, construction, and children’s ministry. The Canadian churches have sent teams to Haiti every year since 2002.

On January 31, they were in Archaie for the opening service of their new church. The people and guest choir members marched from the old church to the new church, accompanied by a marching band. It was very celebratory. King Street UB church in Chambersburg, Pa., was instrumental in seeing this accomplished.

They distributed dozens of eyeglasses in several locations after doing vision tests, which typically took 20-25 minutes. Joan Sider wrote, “There was one particular man who was thrilled at being able to see so clearly. His face just lit up.”

They went into a school to teach girls who were having their menstrual cycle, and gave out 54 “Day for Girls” kits. Joan wrote, “The girls seemed very interested and appreciative of this gift. It was fun watching them learn how to use each piece of the kit.” Ladies from the UB church in Kitchener, Ontario, made these kits.

At Cayes, they joined a bucket brigade to pass stone for the floor of the new sanctuary.

On February 3, Joan Sider was in a motorcycle mishap while riding with a pastor to the Archambault church, which otherwise required a 15-20 minute walk over rough terrain. She tumbled off the bike, the pastor landed on her leg, and the motorcycle landed atop him. Joan was shaken up and sore, but not badly hurt. A doctor and nurse were handy, so she was well cared for.

February 8 found them in Grande Saline for a full, productive day. They produced four quilts; in a drawing, two men and two women “won” quilts. The Children’s Ministry attracted about 50 children, who were very attentive despite many distractions. About 43 kits were given out in the Day for Girls presentation. The eye clinic gave out 35 pairs of glasses. They gave out ten baby bonnets knitted by a lady from the New Dundee church in Ontario.

They also held the first medical clinic of the trip, working with Haitian doctor Robinson Germain (right), who has ministered alongside them on previous trips. They saw 44 patients, mostly with high blood pressure and women’s issues. There were some issues with malaria, but improved water purification has greatly improved the situation.

The team will return to Canada on Thursday, February 11.

05 Feb Opportunity to Serve Syrian Refugees in Lebanon

Does the thought of working with Syrian refugees interest you or someone you know? ELIC, our partner in the Middle East and Asia, has a few spots left on their teams going to Lebanon this July. We are looking to fill those spots with United Brethren people. Help share an opportunity to impact the lives of refugees through the power of education! Contact the Global Ministries office if you’re interested.

08 Jan HU and Global Ministries Team in Thailand

In the photo taken soon after having traveled 40 hours, the team is receiving some pointers on Thai culture and basic phrases.

Global Ministries associate directors Frank Y and Donna Hollopeter are traveling with a team from Huntington University’s Institute for TESOL Studies (ITS) in Chiang Rai, Thailand. ITS executive director Shoshannah McKinney, along with a group of seven students, are teaching English and practicing conversation in a number of schools and local ministries. Pray their words and actions would be seasoned with grace and that participants will be open to hear the good news of the gospel.

14 Dec Bicycles for Nicaragua Pastors

Are you, or is your church, looking for a Christmas missions project? How about providing a bicycle to a pastor or church planter in Nicaragua?

Brown Corners UB church in Clare, Mich., has already made it possible for six pastors to receive bicycles so they can minister more effectively in their rural communities. Three more pastors would benefit from having a bicycle. The entire cost for three more bicycles is $500.

If you’d like to help, send your gift marked “Bicycles for Nicaragua” to:

11 Dec 20,000 Missionaries FROM China

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

Last month in Hong Kong, the Lausanne Movement held an historic gathering of 900 Chinese leaders for the launch of the Mission China 2030 vision. This vision is to see 20,000 missionaries sent out from China by the year 2030, one for every missionary received by China in the past 200 years.

The seeds of this vision were planted when more than 200 Chinese leaders were prevented from attending the Cape Town 2010 Congress. The vision took root in 2013, when many of those leaders and leaders of the global church were able to meet in Seoul. Michael Oh, Executive Director and CEO of the Lausanne Movement, reports that two hundred of those who attended the gathering in Hong Kong committed their lives to serve as missionaries!

The United Brethren in Christ is a part of this vision as our Hong Kong conference is preparing to send Julie Hui (right) to join our international team in Chiang Rai, Thailand. Julie just completed her graduate work in TESOL at Huntington University and is traveling home to Hong Kong today.

Pray for Julie and for the other 20,000 we are trusting God will send out from China by 2030.

27 Oct February 16: Jamaica Construction Teams Need More People

Additional personnel are needed for two construction teams going to Jamaica in February 2016.

The first team is the Eden UB Church (Mason, Mich.), which is going to Jamaica the first week in February. They need two persons to assist them. For more information about this, please contact Dwight Kuntz or Martha at the Eden UB Church.

The second team is from Living Grace (formerly Union Chapel) in Fort Wayne, Ind. They are going to Jamaica the second week in February. They could use 2 or 3 persons. If interested, please contact Pastor Gary Reiber for more information. His email is <greiber_uc@verizon.net>. Or, you can contact Dwight Kuntz.

26 Oct Here and There in the Global Ministries World

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

Following are some items from Jeff’s report to the October 2015 meeting of the Executive Leadership Team.

Central America

• All Central American conference leaders and delegates are participating in quarterly training events in order to implement the BILD (discipleship and leadership development) model among their churches. BILD is already being used widely throughout our Honduran UB churches.

Africa

• In Sierra Leone, there are very few remaining cases of Ebola. During this time the hospital has done relatively well. Church planting and the construction of a school building continue in the mission region of Pujehun, and conference leaders have remained in contact with our UB churches in Liberia.
• On November 10-23, 2015, Jeff Bleijerveld will travel with Rev. Brian Magnus, Rev. Joseph Abu, and Rev. Derek Thrush to be introduced to our newest UB churches in Liberia. From there we will travel to Sierra Leone, during which time we will participate in a ministerial retreat with pastors.
• The Christian Health Association of Sierra Leone (CHASL) recently facilitated the donation of a new Land Cruiser ambulance for the Mattru UBIC Hospital. Currently, CHASL is providing assistance in writing a grant proposal to USAID to pay for the purchase, and also to complete installation of a solar electric system that would power the hospital. The surplus electricity could then be sold to the surrounding community. The profits from these sales would be used to assist in paying hospital salaries.

Caribbean

• Jamaica will host General Conference February 27–March 4, 2016. Each National Conference has been urged over the past months to raise funds to send their national leader and at least one delegate.
• Six United Brethren students from Haiti graduated from the Gamaliel Bible Institute. All six received sponsorship assistance from our church in Fowlerville, Mich., and from the U.S. National Office.

China

• We continue to dialogue with Macau churches and staff regarding a ministry redesign. It would focus more on a disciple multiplication model.
• During October, Global Ministries associate director Frank Y teamed with Mike Cook of Huntington University to conduct a staff retreat in Macau. It included Global Ministries and Huntington University staff from China.
• Jen Blandin recently completed a six-month Home Ministry Assignment and returned to Macau on September 2, 2015. She will be working to implement a new disciple-making strategy.

Thailand

• We are completing the process required to purchase property in Chiang Rai. During our last trip in May, we were introduced to a number of Thai church planters eager for the participation of missionaries in their church planting endeavors.
• We also continued dialogue with the Chiang Rai International Christian School (CRICS) regarding a variety of joint-venture ministries in the region. We are actively promoting opportunities for educators to teach at CRICS.
• Brian and Rachel Glunt are on full support and are completing a 12-month internship before leaving for Chiang Rai, Thailand.
• Ignite, a one-day mission information and inspiration event, is scheduled to take place at Rhodes Grove Camp in Chambersburg, Pa., on May 7, 2016. Considerable interest in attending is being expressed.

Other

• International Needs works among Syrian and Iraqi refugees in Turkey. This work was promoted during our churches’ summer children’s ministry programs. The children raised some $4800 for the project, and another $2900 came from churches. On top of that, $2200 from the Arnold Bible Fund and an individual donor provided for Action Bibles (graphic novel New Testaments) to be distributed among children in the refugee camps.
• We recently increased to 10% the amount we charge to project donations (previously 7%) and missionary support (6%). This is providing some help to our general budget and is making up for the decline in giving to our general fund.
• Seth and Rebecca Mallay are members of Hillsdale UB (Hillsdale, Mich.). They have been endorsed to serve as missionaries with World Medical Mission (Samaritan’s Purse) in Togo, West Africa.

22 Oct ELIC/Global Ministries Partnership

Jeff Bleijerveld (right), Director of Global Ministries

This past year, we formed an official partnership with the English Language Institute/China (ELIC). Since 1981, ELIC has been placing passionately committed Christians in teaching roles across Asia and the Middle East. A number of United Brethren people have served with ELIC, including Global Ministries Associate Director Frank Y.

We are sending churches a packet of information, along with a DVD that contains a short video highlighting our partnership and the opportunity to be involved in either short-term or long-term ministry on ELIC/Global Ministries projects. We recommend that you use it during your announcements on Sunday, November 8, or at your earliest convenience.

Through ELIC, we have the opportunity to send a team of eight UB volunteers to work among Syrian refugees in Lebanon next summer. ELIC’s 7+1 program makes it possible for one volunteer to travel free for every seven that join the team.

We hope that you’ll take advantage of this unique opportunity and present this ministry to your church family. If you have questions, feel free to contact us at info@ubglobal.org.