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L-r: Sharon Frank, Bishop John Pessima, and Judy Hoath.
John Pessima, bishop of Sierra Leone Conference, is currently in the US visiting a number of United Brethren churches. A few days ago he was at the UB church in Hillsdale, Mich., where he encountered two former missionaries, both of them nurses at Mattru Hospital. Sharon Frank served in Sierra Leone 1965-1983. Judy Hoath served several terms before completing her service in 1986.
Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries
Global Ministries is partnering with Samaritan’s Purse in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, which devastated the Philippines last week. All funds we receive–100%–will be forwarded to Samaritan’s Purse.
United Brethren people are compassionate and generous. So when disaster strikes a country, they want to help. People often contact Global Ministries to ask if we are doing anything to help in a specific situation.
Our practice is to partner with organizations which specialize in disaster relief. When the earthquake hit Haiti in January 2011, we channeled relief contributions to Samaritan’s Purse and CH Global. Within weeks of the earthquake, UBs had sent nearly $70,000 for disaster relief. Likewise, in 2012 UBs gave over $11,000 after a tsunami hit Japan. All of it was channeled to Samaritan’s Purse.
Typhoon Haiyan requires the expertise of a major relief ministry. Global Ministries is again working with Samaritan’s Purse.
Donors can direct funds to the organization themselves. Or, we will gladly forward your gift—100% of it—to Samaritan’s Purse. Some prefer the latter to avoid being placed on a mailing list.
If you want to channel relief money through Global Ministries, you can send a check to:
Global Ministries
302 Lake Street
Huntington, IN 46750
Include a memo note on the check designating the gift for “Philippines relief.” Your entire donation will go toward relief efforts.
Pastor Oliam Richard (right), our superintendent in Haiti, underwent surgery on Wednesday in France (where he and his wife have lived for many years). Joan Sider, from the UB church in Toronto, sent this note:
“I just got off the phone from talking to Pastor Richard. He sounds great. His surgery on Wednesday was successful. He will remain in the hospital until Monday or Tuesday. The expectation then is to remain in Paris for another three weeks before returning to Haiti.”
A team from Canada will visit Haiti January 31 – February 9, 2014.
New communities are being developed on the outskirts of Port Au Prince to reestablish those left homeless by the earthquake in 2010. This video features the community of Jerusalem and the efforts of one small United Brethren congregation to raise up a church to serve their new community.
A group of nearly 20 persons left for Turkey on Monday, November 4, to begin a ten-day tour of Turkey. They arrived on Tuesday, November 5.
Global Ministries is pursuing ministry opportunities in Turkey–the first predominantly Muslim nation into which the United Brethren church has ventured. We are working in Turkey with IN Network.
The UBs involved in this trip include:
Also participating is LaDoyt Rodeaver, president and CEO of IN Network.
The three North Americans with the Nicaraguans who participated in five days of small business training.
Nicaraguan participants in the training.
Victor Mojica leading a training session in Nicaragua.
Jeff Bleijerveld (right), Director of Global Ministries
Exponential growth of the Church is occurring in many non-Western countries. Three factors seem to be consistently present:
Many look at the use of small business as a way for pastors and church planters to simply support themselves. But there are many other advantages.
Acts 18:1-4 gives the example of Paul and coworkers Aquila and Priscilla, who supported themselves as tentmakers. In this way, they gained access to people in the Corinthian marketplace among whom they could evangelize and make disciples. Their example and integrity earned the respect of outsiders and believers.
Global Ministries has been providing training for pastors and church planters who want to use small business to transform their communities for Christ.
Last week, three of us from the United States spent five days in Nicaragua. I was joined by Jeff Dice (non-traditional Global Ministries staff member) and Victor Mojica, a Hispanic pastor who leads the Clearview UB church in Goshen, Ind.
We conducted five days of small business training with 11 pastors and church planters in Nicaragua. The small business training provided everything they would need to know to effectively start and manage a small business, but also focused on how to use the business to expand their ministry. It’s what is known as the dual bottom line – successful business and successful ministry.
The training this past week was the second such effort. The first was conducted in Sierra Leone. Global Ministries hopes to continue offering similar training events in Central America, Africa, India, and Asia.
If you’re a small business owner and would be interested in knowing more about serving as a trainer, contact Jeff Bleijerveld in Global Ministries.
Gary Brooks (right)
Gary Brooks, a former United Brethren pastor and missionary in Honduras, recently returned from Mexico, where he helped Bishop Denis Casco conduct a leadership training seminar for members of our churches in Mexico. Gary, who currently lives in Florida, has participated in a number of training events for Mexico Conference. Here is Gary’s report about last week’s event.
Twenty adults participated in the seminar that was held in Dr. Mora, Guanajuato. This is a rural area about an hour or so out of Queretaro. I taught about the dangers of carnal leadership. The focus of this mini-series of lessons was King Saul. Our study included most of 1 Samuel. Bishop Denis Casco taught a series of lessons from Nehemiah.
While I taught about the hazards of being a carnal leader, Denis focused on the characteristics of a spiritual leader. Among these are found:
We closed out the seminar by setting aside a brother for the gospel ministry.
The following day, we drove to Celaya to visit an elderly man and his daughter. Denis shared the Gospel with them, and they both readily made professions of faith.
Saturday evening, we boarded a bus and returned to Mexico City. Sunday was a day of relaxation. As is our custom, we strolled along the Paseo de La Reforma. We saw a colorful parade, line dancing, and a “professional” Mexican wrestling match, and even got a free hug that I’ll never be able to explain to my loving wife.
These seminars are valuable opportunities to provide continuing education for lay church workers and pastors in the churches of the United Brethren in Christ scattered throughout this beautiful country south of our border.
This is just one of three outreaches led by Bishop Denis Casco in Mexico. Another is the Vacation Bible School that reaches out to children. The third is the moral and spiritual support our Mexican brethren receive from periodic visits made by Brother Denis.
If people would like to contribute to the leadership development needs of Mexico Conference, they can do so by sending a gift marked specifically for Mexican Leadership Development.
The Global Ministries Leadership Team begins its fall meeting tonight, Oct 2, and will continue until Friday, Oct. 4. They’re meeting at Gull Lake Ministries, a Christian conference center in Hickory Corners, Mich.
Two recent additions to the team are:
Bryan and Emily Gerlach arrived in Thailand in mid-September. The Gerlach represent an expansion of our work in Thailand. Although our Thai churches are located in the northern mountains, we are shifting our focus to the city of Chiang Rai.
Many young people who migrate from the mountains in search of jobs and education find themselves being lured into the drug and prostitution industries. Bryan and Emily will be part of a multi-national team providing housing, discipleship training, education, and job skills training to vulnerable young people.
But first, the Gerlachs need to learn the Thai language. For that, they will spend a year in the city of Chiang Mai, in central Thailand. They start classes today, October 2.
A week after arriving in Chiang Mai, the Gerlachs wrote:
We are finally getting adjusted to the time difference and feeling rested in the morning when we wake up. Our flights were incredibly smooth thanks to prayers from all over, and we have been blessed to stay in an amazing guest house about 15 minutes south of the city center. It has been a productive week taking care of a lot of ‘living life’ type details and getting to know some awesome missionaries and Thais too.
Right now our biggest goal is to find an apartment near our language school in the city. Global Ministries has asked us to live downtown, close to school, in order to really get into the Thai culture and life. (Where we are staying right now is pretty much missionary central.) We are both really excited about being close to the action and relying on Thais for friendship and support, but it comes with challenges too.
We don’t have many good connections downtown—yet–and the cost of living is just always higher in the city, so we will have a small place (studio or one bedroom) that isn’t as cheap as we were hoping. We know that the Lord will provide for us, though, and he has already. There is a missionary here starting a “Business As Missions” business which helps foreigners find a place to live, so we’ve already been blessed by his services tremendously.
Language school starts for us on October 2. We’ll be joining a class of three other students who have already begun their studies. We were tested for our own level and assured that we will fit in well with where the other students currently are. Undoubtedly there will be gaps in our knowledge, and other things that we already know that they don’t, so it will be interesting to see how that all works out.
Our first week was not an easy one adjusting to life here, but we’re confident that it is where God wants us.
Chiang Mai is a modern city with a population of about one million, including a lot of Westerners and numerous tourists . Chiang Rai, with about 200,000 people, is somewhat less modern.
Global Ministries is looking for additional people to go to Thailand—youth workers, people with business skills, persons with skills in the trades, and church planters.
The Gerlachs need additional financial support. They raised enough of their needed support to get the green light to go to the field, but could still use more supporters. If you’re interested in supporting the Gerlachs, please contact Global Ministries at gm@ub.org.
Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries
During the recent Pastors’ Tour of Haiti September 9-16, the team was able to visit with 80 United Brethren members receiving training in small business development. Training of this nature is one of the best solutions to poverty as people are provided an opportunity, not a hand out.
The training was provided through a generous grant to our partners CH Global. The instructor, Eric Musee a Kenyan national, is the director of Go Ye Africa. Eric trains and coaches church planters throughout Africa, many of whom support themselves through small business. However, he had never been invited to Haiti before. The students were surprised at the similarities in their circumstances and responded well to receiving this training from an African brother in Christ.
