Reina Casco, wife of Bishop Denis Casco of Mexico Conference, underwent surgery on Sunday, September 7, for what Bishop Casco described as “brain bleeding.” The surgery was done at Huntington Memorial Hospital in the Los Angeles area, where the Cascos live.

Denis later wrote: “Reina’ surgery was successful. She is doing well,. She is in Intensive Care Unit for her recuperation.” He expects her to remain hospitalized for another ten days.

Reina is pastor of a former United Brethren church in Glendale, Calif.

Address:

Reina Casco
2427 Rochelle Avenue
Monrovia, CA 91016

Global Ministries is sponsoring a trip to Jamaica during January to work at the Malvern Camp. The team will continue work on the new dormitory at the camp. The first floor is completed, but work needs to begin on the second floor.

Dates: January 3-10, 2015.
Team Leader: Dwight Kuntz (right).
Cost: $750 per person, plus airfare.

The $750 includes in-country travel, food, lodging, supplemental health insurance, and cost of materials.

L-r: Peter Kainwo, Bishop John Pessima, and two pastors from Kenema.

L-r: Peter Kainwo, Bishop John Pessima, and two pastors from Kenema.

Rice and other food items for UBs in Kenema.

Rice and other food items for UBs in Kenema.

Unloading food supplies.

Unloading food supplies.

Kenema, the third-largest city in Sierra Leone, is at the center of the Ebola outbreak. The city has been sealed off by government troops. The Kenema hospital is the primary hospital for dealing with Ebola. A number of healthcare workers there have contracted the disease and died. One was a United Brethren pastor’s wife.

On Saturday, August 23, Bishop John Pessima of Sierra Leone Conference took rice and other food items to Kenema for United Brethren pastors and members in that area. He was accompanied by his four superintendents. Three of them were stopped at a checkpoint. However, Bishop Pessima and Superintendent Peter Kainwa were allowed into Kenema with the items.

Bishop Pessima writes, “On behalf of the conference, I want to thank Global Ministries for their support during this crisis, Dr. and Mrs. Jusu in Kenya, Faith UBC Church at Lumley, and many more that are supporting us. It is not yet over. We are still raising more food for Kenema, because it is really had for them at this time.

Various persons took their turn in the ground-breaking.

Various persons took their turn in the ground-breaking.

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On the left is John Pessima, bishop of Sierra Leone Conference.

On the left is John Pessima, bishop of Sierra Leone Conference.

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

Sierra Leone Conference held a groundbreaking for a Christian school in Pujehun. The conference has been doing extensive evangelistic and church planting work among the primarily Sunni Muslim population of this province.

The conference has used education to support church planting efforts in other regions, and hopes this will provide further opportunity to evangelize and disciple young people and their families.

A champion of this work has been Rev. Micheal Mudge (right), pastor of Bethany House of the Lord, a UB church in Cumberland, Md. He has raised tens of thousands of dollars from his local church, churches in his cluster, and groups and churches outside the United Brethren denomination.

Steve Dennie, Communications Director

Here is information taken from a number of sources about the Ebola epidemic. The outbreak is being covered well by the major US newspapers and by international media sources. That’s encouraging. Here are tidbits from here and there, with an emphasis on Sierra Leone, where the United Brethren church has about 70 churches. The statistics about total confirmed cases and deaths in each country are the latest (as of Saturday evening, August 9) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

West Africa

On August 8, the World Health Organization described the Ebola outbreak in West Africa as an international public health emergency requiring an extraordinary response to stop its spread. It is the largest and longest outbreak ever recorded of Ebola.

The Ebola outbreak is focused in three neighboring countries: Guinea (where it started), Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Total confirmed cases: 1,779. About 961 have died.

Many people are avoiding hospitals, no matter what their ailment. Doctors worry that deaths from malaria, dysentery, and other diseases will rise.

The disease can come from infected animals. Cooking kills the Ebola virus, but handling raw meat prior to cooking can pass it along. Ebola may also infect fruit bats, whose droppings on fruit and vegetables may pass it along to people.

More health workers are desperately needed not only to treat victims, but to track down everyone who came in contact with the victims—a very difficult task in West Africa.

Sierra Leone: 717 cases, 298 dead.

Ebola didn’t start in Sierra Leone, but Sierra Leone now records more new cases than any other country. It has become the epicenter of the epidemic.

A state of emergency has been declared. On August 4, an “enforced holiday” required that everybody stay home.

Every district in the country has recorded cases of Ebola. “Dead body management” teams, seven persons per team, have been formed in every district to dispose of corpses.

The hardest hit districts: Kenema (center of the diamond trade) and Kailahun. There have been 570 confirmed Ebola cases in Kenema and Kailahun. United Brethren churches exist in both places. Military troops have been sent to Kenema, along with police from Freetown and Bo (the two largest cities). Food prices in Kenema are soaring.

On August 7, the army established a complete blockade of Kenema and Kailahun, with 16 checkpoints blocking the major highways. Except for essential needs, nobody can enter or leave. Soldiers patrol the bush to make sure nobody slips past the roadblocks.

Armed soldiers surround homes of the infected to keep them isolated, and homes are searched to make sure sick persons are quarantined. Family members, distrustful of medical workers, have forcibly removed sick relatives from clinics and taken them home, putting many more people at risk.

Buckets of chlorine sit outside restaurants so people can wash their hands. People have stopped shaking hands.

One nurse who contracted Ebola and died in Kenema was the wife of a United Brethren pastor.

At the UB hospital in Mattru, a patient who had tested positive for Ebola escaped. He was later found vomiting blood on the way to Bo, and was taken to the Ebola ward at Kenema. At last report, three workers at Mattru had contracted Ebola.

Here’s an example of how Ebola spreads. I man caught Ebola from a female patient in Kenema, who died. The man then traveled to Bonthe, where he infected at least one person. Then he went to Freedom and got himself admitted to the Macauley Street hospital, where he infected an intern who has now fallen ill.

In Freetown, vehicles with loudspeakers go up and down the streets, blaring messages to educate the populace about Ebola. Many people continue to deny that Ebola is for real, claiming that the deaths are actually coming from other diseases, like cholera, and then attributed to Ebola.

The hospital in Kenema, the main one in the country fighting the disease, is mostly empty. A Western medical technician told people, “Don’t touch the walls! Totally infected.”

Over 20 healthcare workers at the Kenema hospital have died from Ebola, including nurses, support staff, and the country’s leading doctor who was spearheading the battle against Ebola. People view the hospital as a death trap, because so many patients and health workers have died there. They are afraid of potentially catching Ebola from an infected nurse. Those who do come to the hospital are in very advanced stages of the disease.

A temporary isolation ward, a tent, was built at the back of the hospital grounds. It is packed to capacity with about 50 patients. About four people die there each day. But many more die in the city and beyond, frustrating attempts to isolate and control the disease.

On a positive note: survivors are released from the Ebola ward every afternoon. They receive some money to get home (about $10 US), fresh clothes, and a certificate declaring them Ebola-free. As they leave, the staff photograph and congratulate them. Children also receive a toy. A seven-year-old boy was given a small plastic truck, which he proudly showed off to nurses before leaving the compound.

Guinea: 495 cases, 367 dead.

Researchers think Patient Zero–the first Ebola victim–was a 2-year-old boy who died on December 6, 2013, in a village in southeast Guinea. A week later his mother died, followed soon by his sister and grandmother. All showed the typical symptoms–fever, vomiting, and diarrhea–but didn’t know why they were sick.

Two mourners at the grandmother’s funeral took Ebola to their village, and a health worker took it to another village, where both he and his own doctor died. They infected relatives from other towns. By March, when the epidemic was recognized as Ebola, it had spread to three countries.

The outbreak occurred in a border region where people travel a lot, and where roads had been improved to facilitate travel. As one article noted, “The disease was on the move before health officials even knew it had struck.”

In Conakry, the capital city, a man collapsed in the street and nobody helped him for five hours, fearing they would catch the disease. Police finally came, but left him lying there.

In Guinea, 145 healthcare workers have been infected, and 80 have died.

Guinea closed its borders with Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Liberia: 554 cases, 294 dead

A state of emergency has been declared for the next 90 days. The US is advising people to avoid traveling to Liberia, and the families of diplomats have been evacuated.

The Washington Post reported that there are bodies in the streets, and people are afraid to bury the dead. Ebola is most contagious after the victim is dead.

Soldiers have quarantined neighborhoods, schools are closed, people are lining up at banks to withdraw money, and food is being hoarded.

Some hospitals have closed, as healthcare workers–63 have been infected, and 32 have died–fear catching the disease and often just walk off the job.

In Monrovia, the capital, a hospital closed after many workers contracted Ebola. Those victims included the hospital director (from Cameroon), six staff, two nuns, and a 75-year-old missionary from Spain.

Alexis Moens of Doctors Without Borders said, “This is a dangerous place. There’s no system; there’s no isolation. You make mistakes here, you get infected.” He said he washes his hands 50 times a day.

On Saturday, August 9, an angry crowed on Liberia’s busiest highway protested against the government’s slowness in collecting bodies of Ebola victims. Riot police were called out.

Nigeria: 13 confirmed cases, 2 deaths

Nigeria declared a national state of emergency on Friday, August 8.

An American of Liberian descent caught Ebola in Liberia. He traveled on to Nigeria, where he died. A nurse who helped treat him in Nigeria has also died, and five other persons have been isolated with symptoms of Ebola.

The hospital where the people died was evacuated so it could be thoroughly decontaminated.

Other Countries

A Saudi man in his 40s died on August 6. He was hospitalized on August 4 after returning from a business trip to Sierra Leone. However, he tested negative for Ebola. Saudi Arabia announced that it will not issue visas to Muslims from Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone wanting to make the pilgrimage to Mecca.

A 72-year-old woman died at London’s Gatwick airport after arriving from Sierra Leone. She had been vomiting and sweating heavily. The plane and its 128 passengers were quarantined. However, test showed that she didn’t have Ebola.

South Korea withdrew its invitation to three Nigerian students to attend the World Congress of Global Partnership for Young Women, to be held in Seoul August 4-15. A total of 28 African students will still attend; some will be required to undergo health inspections. Many people called for cancelling the event altogether, and some students who had signed up to volunteer backed out.

In Ghana, a man from Burkina Faso died with symptoms of Ebola; blood samples are being tested.

In Benin, authorities have tested a couple patients who are suspected of having Ebola.

An Ontario hospital was testing a man with symptoms similar to Ebola. He had recently traveled to Africa.

The Peace Corps removed its 340 volunteers from West Africa (130 of them from Sierra Leone).

British Airways and other airlines have cancelled flights to the affected countries.

In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued its highest emergency alert, a Level 1—“all hands on deck”–response. As of Wednesday, August 6, 240 CDC staffers were working on Ebola, and 30 had been sent to West Africa, with more on the way.

A Level 1 emergency has been called only two other times—In 2005 for Hurricane Katrina, and in 2009 for the H1N1 influenza outbreak.

John Pessima (right), Bishop, Sierra Leone Conference

The following is excerpted from an August 6 email from Bishop Pessima to Donna Hollopeter, associate director of Global Ministries.

A United Brethren pastor’s wife, Mrs. Mbaindu Laggar, died from Ebola on Sunday at the treatment center in Kenema. She was a nurse.

We appreciate all UB churches and members in the US who are praying for our country and for us your partners. By the grace of God this Ebola epidemic will be over very soon.

We have all joined hands together with the government to fight this deadly epidemic. A national religious leaders task force on Ebola has been formed. I happen to be a member of that 11 man committee of both Christian and Muslim leaders in the country. We always come together to fight a national cause.

During the war, this group went into the bush and talked to the rebels to seek reasons for peace, and it worked. After this past election, this group again brought the President and the opposition leader together in the name of peace. We have again come together to fight this epidemic which, by the grace of God, will be over soon.

We are happy for what Jeff Bleijerveld is doing, promoting our cause on this epidemic. We are eagerly waiting for funds to go to our people in Mattru, Bumpe, Rutile and even Freetown for sensitization, as other denominations are currently doing.

Since United Brethren ministry to Spanish-speakers began in 1951, Honduras National Conference has grown to include over 115 churches, an international school, a retreat center, and a theological institute. However, an unfulfilled ambition has been to send missionaries overseas.

Introducing Milton and Erika Pacheco. In April, Honduras approved them for missionary service in partnership with Global Ministries. The location is yet to be confirmed, but Thailand is a serious consideration.

Milton holds an undergraduate degree in business administration and a graduate degree from the conference seminary. He currently works for Habitat for Humanity, and he regularly ministers as a singer/songwriter in local churches. Erika works with Marilyn Reeck with the Summer Institute of Linguistics. Both Milton and Erika plan to spend about a year at Huntington University studying missions.

They will be the first United Brethren missionaries sent out from Honduras.

About 1100 cases of Ebola have been reported in the neighboring West African countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia. Since this is the first Ebola outbreak in West Africa, people are unfamiliar with the disease and unequipped to deal with it. Plus, rumors and conspiracy theories make people suspicious of healthcare workers. It is very difficult to convince people of the truth about Ebola.

Ebola came to Sierra Leone in May 2014, brought by a woman who was infected by persons from Guinea. Family members ignored a local quarantine. She died, and since tradition only allowed other women to touch or wash her body, the next cases were also women. A local quarantine was ignored, and the disease spread.

Sierra Leone officials have since banned traditional funerals, and the bodies of Ebola victims must now be buried by health workers wearing protective clothing. Many Sierra Leoneans find this disrespectful. Tradition calls for the manual washing of dead bodies, but merely touching the body of an Ebola victim can transmit the disease. People resist having loved ones removed from a family’s care and their bodies buried in mass graves. Ebola victims are often hidden by family members, who resort to traditional treatments.

The epidemic is complicated by local opposition and conspiracy theories.

In Liberia:

  • Doctors Without Borders abandoned a rural clinic after a mob attacked, claiming foreigners were spreading diseases. Something similar happened to the Red Cross.
  • A mob tried to raid a morgue to recover the bodies of family members, wanting to give them a proper burial.
  • In another area, armed men chased off government health workers.

In Guinea:

  • There is widespread belief that foreign health workers are spreading the disease.
  • Health workers have found their vehicles surrounded by hostile crowds armed with stones and machetes.
  • Log barriers block access to some villages.
  • At least 12 villages are inaccessible for security reasons, even though persons there probably have Ebola.

In Sierra Leone:

  • On July 25, thousands of people gathered outside the country’s main Ebola hospital in Kenema, threatening to remove patients and burn the hospital down. A former nurse had spread charges that the Ebola scare was invented to conceal cannibalistic rituals at the hospital. Police fired tear gas into the crowd.
  • Near Koindu, family members removed four victims from a community health center to prevent them from being taken to a government hospital.
  • A man in Kenema left an isolation ward and traveled to Freetown, where he was treated in a private home for a week before medical officials located him and returned him to Kenema.
  • An estimated 60 persons—suspected and confirmed Ebola cases—have escaped from hospitals and gone into hiding.
  • One woman fled an ambulance sent to take her to the hospital, but emerged from hiding after the symptoms became unbearable. She recovered.
  • In Freetown, family members forcibly removed a woman from a treatment center and took her to a traditional healer. A nationwide hunt ensued. She was found, but died in an ambulance en route to a hospital.

Ebola Awareness and Prevention Project

Sierra Leone Conference has devised an ambitious plan to educate people about Ebola. Most of the 78 UB churches in Sierra Leone are located in areas with confirmed cases of Ebola. Global Ministries is hoping to raise $15,000 to help underwrite the project. One UB church has already committed to sending $1000, plus additional funds as needed.

Maria Pavon would tell you God called her to be a missionary from a young age. Growing up in Nicaragua, the daughter of pastor and superintendent Rev. Juan Pavon, she had plenty of opportunities to be involved in ministry, but missions seemed a distant dream.

Then along came Jeff and April Dice, Global Ministries non-traditional staff who spend a few months each year in Nicaragua facilitating our partnership with the conference and coordinating the efforts of volunteer teams. They helped Maria nurture that vision and make her way to Huntington University to prepare for missions. She completed a degree in Elementary Education while taking as many mission and ministry courses as possible.

Maria graduated in May 2014 and is currently involved in an internship, which will have her student teaching in Michigan among other activities. While her specific assignment has yet to be determined, it will most likely involve teaching as a means to do ministry in Asia.

She will be the first United Brethren missionary sent out from Nicaragua.