(260) 356-2312
Abby Waterbury (right) served four years, beginning in the fall of 2007, in Honduras with World Gospel Outreach, teaching elementary children. She has returned to the States, and will be teaching at Lenawee Christian School in Adrian, Mich.
Children singing at one of our churches in Thailand.
Rev. Mark Choi, mission director for Hong Kong Conference, provided this information about the three churches and the student center in northern Thailand. Hong Kong provides the primary oversight of our ministries in Thailand.
Litao Village Church. Rev. Li began this church in 1992, and it now has 300 members. Most of them are tea workers, earning about $200 (US) per month. Some of them work in Bangkok or Taiwan as laborers or servants. Rev. Li intend to rebuild the church with two levels–a ground floor with 3 classrooms for Sunday school, and an upper floor for worship services.
Roman Village Church. This church began in 2006. Rev. Li had tried for a long time to plant a church here, working hard to reach the people of this village. Now, Mr. Ah Tu is the assistant pastor to Rev. Li. The church has 60 members.
New Church at Laozuo Village. We intend to plant a new Chinese church at Laozuo village, either on land provided by Rev. Li or in cooperation with Zhongxing Middle School. It does depend on the financial situation. Rev. Li has land to offer for further development, but the size seems too small for any long-term strategy. The site of Zhongxing Middle School is more flexible. If it becomes a Christian school, we can have our own church with bilingual language worship there. In addition, it can serve as a training center or social service center.
Student Center. The Student Center opened in 2000, and serves 26 children from ages 6-16. Most of them are orphans or from single-parent families. Due to the high inflation, the monthly expense for each child is about $70 (US).
We hope that we can help the Thailand field become more independent financially in the future, and that the living standard of the villagers can be improved. They could share the love of Christ with other tribes.
Jeff with two of three children they support at Croix des Bouquets. The building was closed in using reliefs funds sent following the earthquake.
The Delmas 33 United Brethren school which was built with relief funds and now offers eight grades of schooling.
Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries
I was in Haiti last week with four persons from the UB Church in Canada–Paul Plato, Joan Sider, Matt Robertshaw, and Audrey Fiederlein. We were able to discuss progress in Port Au Prince with Jackson Hiliare, former police commissioner for the capitol and husband of Elsa Hiliare, country coordinator for our partners CH Global.
Jackson and Elsa Hiliare
Murder, he told us, is at epidemic levels, along with rape and theft. However, aside from the issues of peace and order, the greatest priority is education. Tens of thousands of children were without education before the earthquake, but the attention the earthquake brought has allowed for many to begin attending school for the first time.
With the help of CH Global, we have opened three schools and have 180 children matched to sponsors in the US and Canada. However, another 76 who qualify for sponsorship are still not in school. We would like to expand our program to open schools at two more of our United Brethren churches in the near future.
For just $36 per month, a child with exceptional needs or a child at risk will receive care from early intervention through to young adulthood. CH Global will send you a photo with detailed information about your sponsored child, and an annual update on your child’s welfare and achievements.
You can read more about this child sponsorship program, along with ways to respond, on the UBGlobal.org website.
The Delmas 33 Church (click to enlarge)
The Delmas 33 church
Joan Sider, UB Church in Canada
In December 2006, just 4.5 short years ago, Delmas 33 church was birthed. A team from the United Brethren Church in Canada witnessed this event–a weekend of services with around 100 converts.
Since that time, this congregation has forged ahead, even though there have been several obstacles to overcome. A strong wind blew down their first hangar structure. An earthquake, while not destroying any part of the built church at that point, caused grief to every church member who lost loved ones or friends. Praise God, no members of the congregation were killed. Along with these, were the exorbitant prices for building materials.
August 5-7 saw this Delmas 33 church hosting the first-ever convention of all of our UB churches in Haiti. About 20 churches now come under the United Brethren in Christ banner. Attendance ranged from 450 to nearly 600 in the 7 services. Times of worship, outstanding music from several of the churches, excellent speakers (including Jeff Bleijerveld, the Director of Global Ministries), and good fellowship made for a very worthwhile time. The Canadian delegation felt privileged to be a part of this very special occasion.
Pastor Oliam Richard’s vision for a conference center has been realized. A school is on the property now thanks to our partnership with CH Global. About 180 children are sponsored, with about 75 waiting to become sponsored. Pastor Richard’s next goal is to see our own seminary using the center.
In December 2011, the 5th anniversary of the church will occur. God is good!
Continue to pray for our Haiti work and for Pastor Oliam Richard, who provides excellent leadership.
The Hydraid filter.
Gail Welch, a former nurse at Mattru Hospital, spent four weeks in Sierra Leone this summer with a team installing HydrAid BioSand water filters (www.hydraid.org) in various villages and training installers for the future. They worked closely with the United Brethren church in Sierra Leone (Bishop John Pessima, Rev. Justin Marva, and close friend Rev. Thomas Beckley) installing more than 30 filters in the Bo and Mattru area, including three filters at Mattru Hospital.
Another 30 filters remain to be installed. If they are accepted and people want to see more, the Welches would like to send more filters. This shipment of 60 filters got a free ride from the US Navy to the Port of Freetown.
The filters are simple. They have a plastic casing and tubes, are filled with different layers of sand, and grow a “biological layer” that attacks bacteria and viruses. There is no real maintenance except to keep it wet, wash the tube and tray monthly, and if running too slowly, stir the biological layer with your hand (perhaps 2 or 3 times a year). 
No electricity, no in-line chlorinators or iodine, no charcoal, no paper filters, no replacement parts.
Gail and Brian Welch (left) live in Fremont, Mich. Gail served as a nurse the the Mattru Hospital and Brian taught at Centennial School until 1994, when the civil war forced their evacuation.
The Hong Kong team. (Click to enlarge)
The Hong Kong team recognized four Thai students for academic achievement. Mark Choi is on the right, and Rev. Li is on the left.
At a Thai school. (Click to enlarge)
Two Hong Kong members eating with a Thai boy.
During July, 25 persons from Hong Kong Conference took part in a mission trip to Thailand, and brought along 400 kilgrams of donated materials (mostly clothing and stationery). Hong Kong oversees the UB ministries in the mountains of northern Thailand.
Mark Choi, Hong Kong’s mission director, sent a report about the trip.
1. Summer English lesson. We provided 4 English classes for 90 students in Zhongxing Middle School, which is located on a hilltop within 100 meters of our Student Center. That is a private school.
2. A Carnival. We held a carnival at the town hall for about 200 children.
3. Scholarship Ceremony. They provided prizes (worth about $13) to three students to recognize academic achievement, and another prize to recognize a student’s academic improvement. They held the ceremony at Zhonxing Middle School.
4. Worship & Preaching. They participated in a service at one of our churches
Dave Datema, a UB endorsed missionary, was named General Director of Frontier Mission Fellowship in May 2009. He succeeded Dr. Ralph Winter, who founded the organization and its various subsidiaries. Here is a paragraph from Dave’s August newsletter:
Trying to evaluate and organize 35 years of Ralph Winter’s activism has been a challenge. Nevertheless, the onion is getting peeled layer by layer and new clarity is emerging. Please keep me and our leaders in your prayers as hard decisions are made and complex issues understood. I’m excited about what God is doing in our midst. We have a great opportunity in these days to re-engineer and re-invent ourselves with old values and new vision.
The August 7 Sunday morning service at the Delmas church, concluding a three-day conference for our Haitian churches.
Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries
Hard to believe that just four short years ago a gathering of 30 or so held an evangelistic service on the land that now occupies the 800-seat church and conference center in Delmas, Haiti.
Although this is just an iPhone snapshot from Sunday morning’s worship, it gives a sense of the celebratory atmosphere as our 30 churches gathered for three days and nights of fellowship, teaching, and worship (as only Haitians can do).
Attending the service this morning was the mayor of Port Au Prince, the President of Haiti, and delegations from UB churches in Canada and a partner congregation from Paris, France.
The church in Haiti is alive and well. The theme for the three days was from Matthew 14:27, “Don’t be afraid; take courage; I am here.”
Tomorrow we plan to visit schools and micro-economic projects our Haitian UBs are operating with the help of Global Ministries’ partner, CH Global.
Missions Catalyst is a free, weekly electronic missions digest designed to inspire and equip Christians worldwide for global ministry. It includes missions news, practical ministry ideas, and helpful resources readers can share with others. Editors use information from dozens of missions-oriented news sources. You can subscribe here.
Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries
Global Ministries has received a letter of resignation from Randy and Toni Fennig. The decision was not made suddenly, but as a result of numerous conversations, and dialogue between the Fennigs, Global Ministries and the Sierra Leone National Conference.
Global Ministries acknowledges the ministry and investment Randy and Toni have made during their time in Sierra Leone. Since their appointment four years ago, they have worked on a number of experimental farming approaches, taught students at the Evangelical College of Theology and mentored a number of young adults and emerging leaders.
The Fennigs will be returning to the United States during the month of August and will remain on support for a period of transition. During this time, they will be making contact with donors. As we have more information about this time of transition, we will keep you informed.
