06 May Jeff Bleijerveld Concludes 12 Years as UB Global Director

Jeff Bleijerveld has submitted his resignation as executive director of UB Global, effective May 31, 2020. He has served in that role for 12 years. He submitted his resignation to the UB Global board on April 28, and on April 30 informed our missionaries and international partners of his decision. He remarked that, though coming from outside of United Brethren circles, “From the very start, I was made to feel a part of the United Brethren in Christ.” However, he and his wife, Charlene, have recently sensed God moving them in a new direction.

UB Global is the joint missions agency of the UB churches in the United States and Canada. Mark Wallace, chairperson of the UB Global board, wrote, “Jeff has served UB Global well for the past 12 years, and we wish to honor and celebrate the work that has been accomplished.”

On March 3, 2008, Jeff was appointed director of what was then called Global Ministries. At that point, he had been an ordained minister in the Missionary Church for 23 years, had pastored two churches in Ontario, had served eight years as a missionary in Spain, and since 2001 had been assistant director of World Partners USA, the Missionary Church’s international arm.

Under Jeff’s leadership, UB Global continued to expand its worldwide ministry. They walked alongside Sierra Leone Conference during the Ebola epidemic, and then launched a major initiative to put Mattru Hospital on solid footing. UB Global worked with Hong Kong Conference to assemble an international team to begin work in Thailand among largely unreached ethnic Thai Buddhists.

We added two mission districts–in Liberia (2011), and France (2018)—and the Haiti and Liberia mission districts are in the process of becoming national conferences. We launched partnerships in Turkey and Lebanon. And many new missionaries have joined the UB Global family, including persons now serving in South Africa, Ecuador, Jamaica, Togo, Kenya, Russia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Spain, Honduras, and elsewhere.

Jeff came to UB Global with a strong philosophical foundation regarding mission work. This came through in various policies and practices–regarding missionary recruitment and support, fundraising, our relationships with international UB countries, UB Global board operations, and other areas.

He has had help. Jeff grew a talented, experienced team at the United Brethren National Office: associate director Frank Y (2011), administrative assistant Jana Gass (2013), associate director David Kline (2014), and associate director Michelle Harris (2016).

Bishop Todd Fetters wrote, “Naturally, we are saddened by Jeff’s decision. He has always been a valiant champion for global missions. And to us at the UB National Office, he has been far more than a colleague–he is our friend and true brother in Christ.”

Please pray for Jeff and Charlene as they undergo this transition in their lives, and for Jeff as he considers new opportunities. And pray for the UB Global board, as they seek God’s will during this transition.

14 Apr Dr. Richard & Cathy Toupin Serving in Central Park

On Good Friday, UB Global missionaries Dr. Richard and Cathy Toupin (right) left for New York City to work with Samaritan’s Purse in treating COVID-19 patients. Last September, they attended an SP conference in Florida, during which they signed up to be part of a Disaster Assistance Response Team. After Palm Sunday, they received a call: you’re needed in New York. They have committed to work there for three weeks, until May 1, and could opt to extend it another two weeks.

They were told it would be 12-hour shifts, 7 days a week. So their prayer request from the United Brethren family is for physical and emotional strength.

The Toupins started the year serving a couple months at Mattru Hospital in Sierra Leone. With the country closing its borders, they left a little sooner than planned, and returned to their home in Auburn, Ind. They completed a 14-day quarantine last Sunday, April 5. On their blog, they wrote about their decision to work with Samaritan’s Purse.

14 Apr News from United Brethren in Costa Rica

Erik and Iris Rojas (right) lead the one United Brethren church in Costa Rica. Pastor Rojas sent a message on April 9. He said they’ve had about 500 cases of Covid-19 since the first case was confirmed on March 6 (an American tourist from New York), and there have been two deaths. But thanks to tough restrictions from the government, they appear to have the curve under control. He then sent the following information about his church in San Jose.

“During this Easter, by order of the government, everything is closed except for hospitals, pharmacies, and places where they sell food. There is a very strict vehicle restriction. The beaches, the parks, the hotels, etc., are totally closed. All people are asked to leave home only if absolutely necessary. Thank God, we have no knowledge of anyone in our congregation who is ill. We all try to help each other with food and finances, because we know that many have lost their jobs and others have reduced their working hours and, therefore, their wages have also been reduced.

“On Sundays and Wednesdays, my wife and I are sending videos with words of encouragement, Bible reflections, and preaching for the entire congregation using Facebook and WhatsApp. At home we work as a family so as not to lose communion with God. We all have devotional times together. In addition, we try to be in constant communication with the members of the congregation to know their needs and requests.”

03 Apr Macau: in the Words of Jennifer Blandin and Jenaya Bonner

Jennifer Blandin (left) and Jenaya Bonner.

On Wednesday evening, April 1, UB missionaries Jennifer Blandin and Jenaya Bonner spoke about their experiences in Macau relating to the pandemic. About 20 people participated in the Zoom meeting.

Macau’s first case of COVID-19 came on January 22. The local government took quick and aggressive action. There were only a few cases, and Macau actually went 40 days being corona-free. More recently, they let in some people from outside, and there are now about 40 cases in Macau, but they’ve not yet had a death from COVID-19. For the world’s most densely-populated city and a major tourism center, that’s very commendable. Here is what Jennifer and Jenaya had to say.

Jenaya: In Macau, this has been going since the end of January. The Chinese New Year celebrations [January 25 – February 8] were cancelled. My family was here at that time, but they were able to head back to the States before things got crazy. My mom had to be quarantined from work.

Jennifer: I returned to Macau right before the Chinese New Year, which is the equivalent of Thanksgiving and Christmas in America. We met February 2, but then didn’t meet for the rest of February. In March, as other businesses reopened, we began to offer the option to worship at church. Now, if people feel comfortable coming to church, they can.

Jenaya: Early on, everybody was afraid. But the government shut things down quickly, and we didn’t have a lot of coronavirus patients early on.

Jennifer: My hands are raw from washing them so much. About 99% of people wear face masks in public; if you don’t wear a mask, people look at you weird. There was also a sense of fear of people who looked different from everyone else. I encountered that a few times —“Oh, you’re a foreigner.” Because Macau is so densely populated and we live so close together, it’s difficult to distance yourself from everyone else—and practically impossible to do that when you go outside.

Jenaya: A lot of businesses reopened after three weeks or so, but some are still closed. Theaters and other public places haven’t reopened. Kids have been able to go outside with their parents, with caution. We went 40 days without a local case of coronavirus, and then it was an outside case coming in.

Jennifer: I am grateful I only have one person in my home. Some families may have 3-7 people living in a very small space. During the city wide locked down, public parks were also closed, so there was no place for kids to run off energy. I’ve appreciated at least being able to go outside. As of now, we’re looking at schools reopening in May. I did see that universities are allowing year four students to come back on April 20 to finish out their year, but students in years 1-3 are finishing online this year.

During March, more things were starting back up, but since we got more cases, some things took a step back. Last week I was supposed to go out and have a walk with a couple people, and I was excited about that. But after new cases arose, the walk was cancelled. In terms of ministry, I’m using my phone a lot more. I have met with some people, with caution. But others don’t feel comfortable meeting.

Now, anyone who comes into Macau must be quarantined for 14 days. They’ve chosen different hotels for that, but they aren’t locking us down like they did earlier. As of now, most people returning to Macau are students who were studying overseas, along with some foreign workers.

Jenaya: In my English center, we’ve been back to doing English classes for about five weeks on a limited basis . We have about half the number of students we had before. There are many restrictions. We use hand sanitizer as they come and leave, we sanitize everything they use, their temperature is taken, we wear masks, everyone stays a meter apart. Since our classrooms are small, we’re trying to reduce by half the number of students in a class. With the new cases recently, some parents have gone through a second wave of fear. It’s been up and down in terms of who shows up.

Jennifer: In February, the casinos were shut down for two weeks. They are open now, but the borders are still closed. The casinos are like ghost towns, because only local people are there—no visitors like we had before. Streets are busy with local people are going back and forth to work, but tourists areas are like a different country.

Jenaya: Some days it feels like you’re in the middle of nowhere, because you haven’t seen a single person.

Jennifer: This is more of a marathon than a sprint. Probably 3 or 4 weeks in, people were complaining about wanting things to go back to normal. I remembered how the Israelites wanted out of Egypt, but when they got to the desert, they were bellyaching about going back to Egypt.

Jenaya: I don’t want the time to be wasted. I want to sit and listen to what God is saying. To continue to listen to what God is doing.

Jennifer: One thing is becoming a prayer of mine: whatever God is doing through this, whatever he is trying to shake free, I pray that we will embrace it. A couple weeks ago, when I realized Easter wasn’t going to happen, I began asking God, “What do you want us to learn from this? What do you want us to change?”

25 Mar Update from Roger and Marilyn Reeck

Roger and Marilyn Reeck (right) are UB Global endorsed missionaries serving with Wycliffe Bible Translators. They are based in La Ceiba, Honduras, but a lot of their work involves consulting and training in other countries. They sent this update:

“Over the last several years the Lord has taken us to several countries, and we have had the privilege of meeting and knowing so many of His chosen people. Now, we feel a very strong burden for them.

“Honduras. There are many cases of coronavirus, and the country is under complete shutdown. They do have good hospitals and hospital staff, but medical resources are limited. We pray for God’s children in these countries.

“Guinea Bissau (in West Africa). There are very few hospitals, they are not well staffed, and they have few medicines, masks,etc.

“Venezuela. The hospitals are lacking even the smallest supplies. That includes not even having gloves or soap. The people are already malnourished and have no built-up immunity. All we can do is to call out for God’s mercies.

“We know that His love extends to all and is revealed to others through His children. May God help them to be that Light.

“We were in Honduras from November to the middle of February. During that time Roger travelled to Brazil and checked the translation of the Yaminahua language. His time was very profitable. In January he was to spend three weeks in Colombia leading a Joshua Translation Workshop, but that was cancelled. Another event to take place the end of March was cancelled also.”

Two of their daughters work in the medical field. Christy Andino and her husband, Rigo, are UB Global missionaries with Commission to Every Nation. Christy is a nurse with a mission hospital in La Ceiba, Honduras. Marilyn writes, “At the moment, many decisions have to be made about the care of coronavirus patients.”

Amanda is a doctor of Internal Medicine at the University Hospital in San Antonio. They already have many coronavirus patients.

Roger and Marilyn have been in the states for several weeks visiting churches in Maryland and Pennsylvania, and attending a conference in Dallas. They have decided not to return to Honduras right away. They are spending this time with their daughters in San Antonio. They write, “The great thing is that we can do our work from anywhere there is internet.”

21 Mar Update on Sierra Leone and COVID-19

Sierra Leone is one of the few countries that hasn’t yet confirmed a case of COVID-19. But they are bracing for it. President Julius Maada Bio said on Thursday, “It is no longer a question of whether the coronavirus will come to Sierra Leone, it is a question of when. We cannot afford to wait for a positive case.” The country lost nearly 4000 people during the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak.

Sierra Leone has banned all public gatherings of more than 100 people, banned all sporting events, suspended overseas travel by government officials, and deployed soldiers at the airport and land borders. All passengers coming from countries with over 200 cases must undergo a quarantine.

Airlines were given 72-hours notice to stop all flights to Sierra Leone effective March 21. Learning of this, Dr. Richard and Cathy Toupin, UB Global staff at Mattru Hospital, made a hurried trip to Freetown. The last we heard, they secured passage on a plane leaving the country–perhaps the last one for a long while–and have begun their journey back to Indiana.

During the Ebola crisis, the Chinese built a high-containment Biosafe Level 3 (BSL-3) lab in Sierra Leone (the highest level being 4). This, according to the country’s health minister, made them one of only two countries in Africa with the facilities to test for the virus before it even arose. He said they have established three sites that can do 40 tests per day. (The US has 13 BSL-4 labs and hundreds of BSL-3 labs. There are BSL-4 labs in South Africa and Gabon, and BLS-3 labs in 3 or 4 African countries.)

The Chinese government announced that they were donating to Sierra Leone 1000 test kits, 1000 surgical masks, 1000 medical gloves, 500 respirators, 500 sets of protective gowns, and 200 medical goggles.

On March 18, a Kenya Airlines flight landed in Freetown with a suspected COVID-19 case. There were four Japanese passengers, and one of them had been coughing. Sierra Leone officials were given advance notice when the plane landed in Liberia prior to departing for Freetown.

Sierra Leone health officials required that all disembarking passengers be quarantined for 14 days. All four Japanese passengers stayed aboard, as did a number of other passengers who were not Sierra Leonean; they were probably returned to the country where they had boarded. The rest, all of them Sierra Leonean, were taken to one of the quarantine facilities already set up.

05 Nov Christian Horizons Recognizes UB Churches

L-r: Randy Magnus, Mark Wallace, Matthew Robertshaw, Brian Magnus, Neil Cudney, Jeff Bleijerveld.

Christian Horizons presented Excellence in Action Awards to the United Brethren of Canada and the United States. It recognizes their sponsorship of children in Haiti and participation in ministry to special needs children and adults. The awards were presented by Mark Wallace and Neil Cudney, both leaders of Christian Horizons and United Brethren ministers

05 Nov 2019 UB Global Thank Offering

The US Thanksgiving is just around the corner. By now, all UB churches should have received bulletin inserts and any additional materials requested in advance of this year’s missions offering.

The focus this year is on raising funds to help our international partners join us for General Conference. The meeting will be held March 14-18, 2020, in Jamaica. Each country does all it can to raise as much, if not all, of what’s needed to pay their way. Your gifts will serve to supplement what may be lacking.

This conference becomes increasingly strategic as more of our fellow United Brethren engage in mission ministry beyond their borders and in some cases beyond their continent.

Use this link to download a short video that describes the project. It can be used in the weeks prior to and including Thanksgiving Sunday.

25 Sep Meet Abdul Mustapha, Administrator of Mattru Hospital

Abdul Mustapha

by Michelle Harris, Associate Director of UB Global

Abdul Karim Mustapha is the Administrator of UB Mattru Hospital and of UBC Hospital Enterprises. He talked recently about his story with Michelle Harris, associate director of UB Global.

Sierra Leone United Brethren in Christ

Abdul grew up in a Muslim family and began studies at Bumpe UB school in 1980. There he became friends with many believing students and started following them to church. One year at the church’s New Year’s Celebration, his friend James Barnett stood, and instead of giving his own testimony, presented Abdul as his gift, calling him up to the altar. Initially, Abdul didn’t know if he was joking, but he went to the altar, where John Jusu (current dean of Education and Social Sciences at African International University) prayed and Abdul gave his life to Jesus.

UB missionaries June Brown and Shirley Fritz served at Bumpe during those years. Abdul attended weekly evening Bible classes with them and worked through monthly Bible correspondence classes.

Currently, Abdul serves in leadership in the Sierra Leone Conference as an Executive Member of the UB Masters International Conference and is a member of Kissy UB Church in Freetown.

Family

Abdul met Hawanatu Mary when she was doing an internship in the company he worked for. They married and have two children: Gloria, who is fifteen years old, and Natacha, who is 12. Both are doing well in school.

Abdul’s family has stayed in Freetown as he works in Mattru. Abdul takes long weekends in Freetown, and Hawanatu comes for longer stays in Mattru.

The Work in Mattru

Abdul was working at another job when he heard of the urgent need for a business manager for the solar and water project. His previous experience in logistics and administration led to his applying and being hired by the conference.

As business manager, he has brought order and clear direction to the projects. The solar and water projects not only provide electricity and clean water, but are a source of regular income to support hospital salaries. Thanks to a gift from the Huntington Rotary (Huntington, Ind.), 60 customers are now metered. The next steps of care and expansion for the system will involve a back-up generator to produce cash flow and dependable electricity during the rainy season, and additional meters for larger customers.

In May of 2019, Pamela McKee, who served as hospital administrator, needed to leave earlier than expected to receive medical attention in the US. Abdul stepped in to help, much as he did in 2018 when the need for a business manager was urgent. Pamela recuperated and traveled to Mattru in August to pass the baton, pack up, and celebrate with hospital staff her time there before returning to a new position in Ohio. God has been faithful in opening a door for her to travel twice a year to the hospital to continue her work of training and encouraging staff.

Abdul is taking his time to understand the hospital staff and learn the situation of the hospital. He likes the job. He says, “Let us all work together. We need prayers for all who are working, that we will be as one. When we have a problem, in good faith, that we will find a solution together.”

Abdul asks for prayers for unity for the staff.

We are thankful for Abdul and the many others who serve at Mattru Hospital.

08 Aug Flooding in Sierra Leone Leaves 5000+ Displaced

Flooding in Sierra Leone.

Major floods have been impacting much of Sierra Leone in recent days. As of August 5, five persons were reported dead, 41 communities affected, and in Freetown alone, 459 homes flooded and 5318 people displaced. In Sulima, where the UB Sierra Leone Conference has been working among the Muslim majority Vai people, Rev. Tucker’s home was flooded, forcing him to seek shelter elsewhere. Please be lifting them up in prayer.