19 Sep Update from the Deliks in Poland

In the end of June, we held an English camp with the help of a United Brethren mission team from the USA and 2 young men from Poland. This team of 9 adults and 6 teenagers gave themselves 100% for the Polish teenagers, and we were truly blessed by them.

Fifty-five teens attended. Many of our first time participants were invited by friends who attended tow years ago. We had a wonderful time with the teens, and we were very grateful to have the opportunity to share our faith with them during the camp. Many of the teens are keeping in touch with their new American friends. After the camp, I started to meet with 3 girls to help them with their English. So far we have been meeting twice a week regularly.

At the end of August, we shared the love of Jesus with children in the housing estates in Mickiewicza. The children’s program was supposed to start at 10 am, but when we arrived at 9:00 to prepare the place, we were surprised to see that the children had been there waiting for us already. About 40 children turned up. Strangely, we didn’t see any teens around. After asking around, we realized that those teens were working in the field to earn money to pay for the new school year.

Mickiewicza is the poorest area of the town and is neglected by the society. Most of the children are from broken families, and most of the people here have severe drinking problems. We know that many may follow the steps of their parents if no one stretches out their arms to them. When we looked at the children, our hearts really went out for them; and we wondered what Jesus would do if he was here. There are several areas like this in the town. Please pray that God will give us the compassion and open doors to reach out to them.

We are facing several setbacks in the building project. Lack of manpower (volunteers), a blocked drainage system, and the unexpected high cost of materials and labor (due to the massive construction projects as the government has stepped up preparations for the Euro 2012 Championship). All these have caused much delay to our schedule.

Most of our church people have used up their “holiday” already, and 2 of our brothers who worked hard before have developed serious health problem and the doctor has forbidden them to work physically.

While we were doing the foundation work, we discovered that underground drainage was blocked after being neglected for so many years. We dug deep to get to the pipes, opened them up, and cleaned them with a high pressure water cannon.

19 Sep Weber Summer Assignment

Doug Weber, whose family serves with HCJB Radio in Ecuador, and who are endorsed staff with Global Ministries, updated his blog with photos and information about their summer home ministry assignment.

13 Sep Joe Abu Takes Liaison Role in Missions

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

Sierra Leone has appointed Rev. Joe Abu (right) to serve as a liaison to United Brethren churches in Canada and the United States. Joe, a native of Sierra Leone, is senior pastor of Mount Zion United African Church in Philadelphia, Pa.

Earlier this year, an agreement was signed by the Sierra Leone Conference, Global Ministries, and Rev. Abu, to ensure that communications and projects have been approved first by the Sierra Leone National Conference and then by Global Ministries. Any funds for ministries in Sierra Leone will be handled by Global Ministries.

12 Sep Jen Blandin Earns Graduate Degree

Jen Blandin, a member of the Global Ministries Staff in Macau for the past 14 years, has been on educational leave from the field for most of this year. This summer, she was among the 19 students who graduated from Winebrenner Theological Seminary in Findlay, Ohio. She writes:

Nine years after starting the race towards a Master’s degree, I finally crossed the finish line and graduated on August 6! It has been a journey that God has definitely used to shape my life. One word of advice, do not…unless absolutely necessary…do not try to complete 26 credits in two semesters! Should you choose to do so, be sure to buy stock in your favorite coffee provider!

12 Sep Macau Team Attending Conference in Indonesia

Our Global Ministries team in Macau is currently attending a week-long conference on evangelism in Asia hosted by the Chinese Coordination Center on World Evangelism. More than 2000 participants from all over Asia are attending these meetings in Indonesia.

When the team returns to Macau, they will relaunch the Taipa English Language Program (ELP). Classes will be offered on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. The center has had a good history of connecting with the community of locals and expatriates, and the team is praying it will continue to have a positive impact and lead to evangelistic opportunities.

08 Sep Wes and Jean Bell Take Stateside Role

After 34 years in Brazil, UB endorsed missionaries Wes and Jean Bell have accepted a Stateside role with Wycliffe Bible Translators. Wes will serve as an Application and Placement Specialist and Jean as Care and Recruitment Specialist. Before beginning those roles, they will work on raising their support level back up to 100%.

They write:

As we left Brazil, saying good-bye to our friends was difficult. Initially, we went to Brazil in 1972 with the Peace Corps. Then we returned to Brazil on August 3, 1977, to begin our missionary service there.

Oh, what a hospitable culture Brazil has. We made many friends in all the cities where we lived–Cuiaba in Central West Brazil, Belem at the mouth of the Amazon, and Vianopolis, not far from Brasilia, the federal capital. In each place we found a church where we made many friends and learned the locations of places where we could buy what we needed.

Upon our return to the US, the Lord helped us find a 2007 Ford Focus with low mileage and a fifth wheel trailer, both at remarkably low prices.

Knowing we were returning to work with Wycliffe Stateside, family and friends have been helping us get set up for living in the U.S. Both of Jean’s sisters had collected linens, kitchen items, and some furniture for us. When our daughter Sarah heard we’d sold our glassware in Brazil, she bought a set of glasses and a crystal pitcher and some other items to help replace some of the items. Others are helping with furniture too.

For more than 20 years, Tom and Carole Knowlton have stored things we have left behind as we journeyed to Brazil in their pole barn’s second floor loft. It has been such a blessing not to worry about where to leave these things.

Blessings during our last days in Brazil:

• Enjoying a farewell party of a barbecue from our church.
• Receiving memoirs from Brazilian friends who sacrificed to give us gifts.
• Being presented a special book with “thanks” from students and parents, both past and present.
• Being recognized for our service in Brazil by our mission colleagues.

06 Sep 40 Years for Roger and Marilyn Reeck

Roger and Marilyn Reeck (right), UB endorsed missionaries, this summer celebrated 40 years of marriage, and 40 years with Wycliffe Bible Translators.

Three of their four daughters were on hand in Honduras to celebrate with them–Teresa and Elisa, who came from Texas for two weeks; and Chrysti Andino, who is also a missionary in Honduras. The fourth daughter, Amanda, was in the midst of an internal medicine residency program in Dallas, but had visited in May.

The Reecks are now in Guinea Bissasu, a small country just up the coast from Sierra Leone in West Africa (Guinea is directly north of Sierra Leone, and Guinea Bissau is on its north side). They will be there until October 8. Roger is checking the translation of the book of Mark for two langauge groups, and they will lead a two-week One Story workshop for four different language groups. Participants learn stories from the book of Acts in the national language, Kriol, from which they glean church planting principles.

26 Aug New Missionaries: Marion and Candy Hall

Marion and Candace Hall

Marion and Candy Hall have been accepted as endorsed missionaries with Global Ministries. They are serving with Word of Life Fellowship, based in Schroon Lake, New York. Marion has taken a position as Dean of Men at the Word of Life Bible Hungary Institute in Toalmas, Hungary.

The Halls are from the Harrison UB church in Harrison, Mich. They have two adult children, Michelle and Duane.

You can learn more about Word of Life Hungary Bible Institute on their website.

25 Aug Ideas for Remembering 9/11

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

The 10th Anniversary of 9/11 is just around the corner. Perhaps you haven’t given it much thought in your worship planning, but here are some practical ideas from Shane Bennett of Missions Catalyst to focus your church on the opportunities to share Christ’s love and not just the tragedy.

24 Aug Honduras Missions Conference

Scenes from the Honduras Mission Conference. The woman in the red jacket in many of the photos is Juanita Chavez, superintendent of Honduras Conference.

Juanita Chavez, Honduras Conference Superintendent

The Women’s Leadership Team of Honduras, District No. 3 (La Ceiba) and two congregations from District No. 4, celebrated their first missionary conference. Each country where the worldwide United Brethren Church works was represented with typical food, costumes, and other items related to that country.

We had with us Rev. Edgardo Lainez of Church of the Nations, who also works with COMIBAN (Latin American Missions Consortium) of Honduras. He provided us with a comprehensive briefing on missions and missionaries from Honduras who are serving in different countries.