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01 Apr

April 1, 2011 |

Global Ministries is sponsoring three summer trips. We’ve already publicized them. One is completely filled up, but spots remain open for the other two.

Spain (July 12-19, 2011)

We need four persons for this trip. Participants will work with UB missionaries Ron and Brenda Anderson in a Family English Camp on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The cost is $500 plus airfare.

Poland (June 24 – July 5, 2011)
We have 9 people for this trip, but could use up to 7 more. This trip is open to high-school aged students through adults. Participants will work with Polish teens in a camp atmosphere to improve their conversational English skills. There will also be time for informal teaching of basic sports skills. The trip is being led by Roger andf Sharon McDonald of Auburn, Ind. Cost: $700 plus the cost of airfare.

Honduras (June 17-25, 2011)

This summer’s medical trip is all filled up (once again).

If you’re interested in participating on any of these trips, please contact Donna Hollopeter in Global Ministries.

31 Mar

March 31, 2011 |

Jenaya with some students

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

One of our team’s strategies in Macau is to engage students through conversational English. Three of our staff work directly in the local school system as English teachers and look for ways to engage students both in the classroom and outside. In addition to her class time, Jenaya invites students to her home to make cookies and socialize. Bridger plays soccer and hangs out at “noodle” houses. David and Melissa Kline have a revolving door at their home as students come and go throughout the day and evening.

The constant challenge is in engaging students for Christ. There’s an acute sense of apathy among young people in Macau who have little direction for the future in a city-state dominated by the world largest gambling industry. Just days after leaving Macau last month, I was informed by David Kline that one of his students was found floating near the ferry boat pier in what appears to have been a suicide.

Pray for the work in Macau and neighboring regions and for spiritual breakthroughs in the lives of students and adults.

21 Mar

March 21, 2011 |

Amanda Reeck with her certificate of acceptance.

Roger and Marilyn Reeck, UB endorsed missionaries serving with Wycliffe in Honduras, sent this update on March 17:

Exciting news: Yesterday, in a formal ceremony our third daughter, Amanda, was handed the announcement that she has been accepted to the internal medicine residency program at Southwestern University Hospital in Dallas (that was her first choice.) Her sisters Teresa and Elisa were able to be with her. She graduates from med school on May 24. We praise the Lord for making all of this a reality!

We have now survived (and thoroughly enjoyed) three of the many workshops that we will be involved in this year and we are very happy with the outcome of each.

In February, Marilyn taught a “Learning that Lasts” (how to teach adults so that they retain the information) workshop. Twelve Garifuna pastors and leaders attended. It was quite exhausting for her, but she was thrilled with how well the group understood the methods, which were successfully displayed during their practice teaching.

Next, Marilyn set out for Guatemala along with three Garifuna leaders to attend a Scripture Meets Culture workshop. The men learned how to identify their cultural rituals, search for what the Word says about these practices, and then make a decision as to accept, reject, or change them. The three men readily embraced the teaching and came up with a very detailed plan of how to share this with all of the Garifuna Christians.

Immediately after arriving back, a One Story workshop was held here in Honduras. Thirteen stories form the book of Acts were learned and discussed, and church planting principles were drawn from each of these.

Now, Roger is on his way to Suriname to hold two One Story workshops. The first one will be held in a Lokono language village and the second in the capital city, Paramaribo, with 5 different language groups. Doing this all by himself will be a rather awesome task. He has spent the last several weeks relearning the Sranan Tongo language which he will use to teach the classes. He still experiences much pain in both legs and especially while travelling.

Marilyn stays back here in Honduras finishing off many different projects and preparing materials for several teaching opportunities. It is so wonderful to have our daughter Chrysti and her family just an hour away.

We will celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary in June!

20 Mar

March 20, 2011 |

Bishop Denis Casco (right) of the Mexico National Conference sent this report on Saturday, March 19.

This is a report from Mexico, where God is powerfully acting through a campaign of evangelization that Bishop Denis Casco launched with the help of pastors, leaders, and members of the United Brethren in Christ churches Mexico.

Today, March 19, more than 400 United Brethren members from ten churches met in one of its church buildings in the state of Queretaro to celebrate The Regional Conference of the Cluster 3, located two hours from Mexico City.

Highlights of this conference:

  • Over 400 people attended the event.
  • Bishop Denis Casco anointed the leaders with oil in an inspirational ceremony in which there was prophecy, anointing of the Holly Spirit, and Word of exhortation.
  • All who met in this conference committed themselves to take the spiritual leadership of cities, villages, indigenous groups, youth, the family, and the children to reach them for Jesus Christ.
  • After a beautiful worship service in which people were moved by the power of the Holly Spirit, we ate a delicious meal together food, sharing with the families and other friends that were invited to the celebration.
  • Finally, we are so thankful to God because the building of the UBC Evangelical Center Church of Begoña was finished and their doors are open to receive to all people who are needy and heartbroken.

17 Mar

March 17, 2011 |

Jeff Bleijerveld with the Macau team. L-r: Jenaya Bonner, Mia Kline, Jeff, Brandt Kline, David Kline, Melissa Kline, and Bridger Fetters.

Jenaya Bonner meeting with some students in Macau.

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

Throughout the world youth show signs of apathy, but perhaps not more so than they do in Macau. Surrounded by Mainland China, with a rather confused national identity and a future of simply serving as Asia’s gambling capital, jobs and money come easily to the youth of Macau, but the future seems rather bleak.

Our team of Jenaya Bonner, Bridger Fetters, and David and Melissa Kline work in local schools as English language teachers and conversationalists. This lends legitimacy to their presence in Macau, but also provides opportunity for them to get close to students, hear their pain, and share the gospel with them in meaningful ways.

Working alongside the Living Water and Living Stone United Brethren churches, they network with church members so other Macanese believers can be brought into the circle of friends they form. This ensures that the gospel message is not simply dismissed as a Western cultural phenomenon, but is relevant for Asian culture as well.

Just after I left Macau on March 7, I received a disturbing message from David Kline. The body of one of his students was found floating near the ferry piers. While nothing was said to indicate it had been suicide, and would not in this culture, neither was there indication that a criminal investigation had been launched.

Both David and Bridger teach at the same school and ask for prayer as numerous significant conversations are taking place with students trying to deal with the tragic loss of a classmate. Pray that out of this tremendous loss, many will find hope in Christ.

15 Mar

March 15, 2011 |

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

Global Ministries is partnering with Samaritan’s Purse in the aftermath of Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami.

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 partnered with Samaritan’s Purse and CH Global and channeled relief contributions to them. Within weeks of the earthquake, UBs had sent nearly $70,000 for disaster relief.

Likewise, the tsunami in Japan 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.

What is Samaritan’s Purse doing?

At the request of Japanese Christians, Samaritan’s Purse has deployed a team to provide emergency relief aid to people affected by the earthquake and massive tsunami that hit the northeastern coast on March 11. Giant waves engulfed coastal towns and swept away houses, cars, boats, and trains.

The twin disasters devastated hundreds of towns and villages in northeast Japan. Hundreds of thousands of survivors have been left without adequate food, water, shelter, or heat as overnight temperatures dip near freezing. There is no electricity in many regions; the nights are cold; and the suffering is great. Evacuations over nuclear power concerns have
 only compounded the problems.

Samaritan’s Purse is planning to distribute food, water, medicine, blankets, hygiene supplies, and other essential items to people who have lost virtually everything. Their Japanese church partners have secured five trucks and begun purchasing supplies, and have secured permission to enter the disaster zone. Local believers are being mobilized as volunteers.

Samaritan’s Purse President Franklin Graham has, in the past, conducted evangelistic Festivals in the Japanese cities of Osaka and Okinawa, and they have hundreds of church partners in the country.

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 “Japan relief.” Your entire donation will go toward relief efforts.

13 Mar

March 13, 2011 |

Jeff Bleijerveld (left) preaching at a UB church in Thailand. Beside him, translating from English to Mandarin, is Mark Choi, the Hong Kong missions director. On the left is a Thai worker translating from Mandarin to Thai. (click photo to enlarge)

One of the pulpits (click to enlarge)

A view from behind one of the pulpits. (click photo to enlarge)

Jeff preaching in a Thai church. Most of the people sit in plastic chairs, while the children sit up front on the floor. (click photo to enlarge)

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

Our two churches in Thailand feature the largest and most impressive pulpits in the denomination.

Rev. H. M. Lee, who heads up our work in northern Thailand, made pulpits from the trunks of two large teak trees. The stumps sit upside-down.

I’ve wondered how Rev. Lee brought the stumps to the churches. Teak is a very heavy wood.

I had the chance to preach from these pulpits. The large size came in handy, since we needed several translators. I spoke in English, another person translated from English to Mandarin, and then another person translated from Mandarin to Thai.

09 Mar

March 9, 2011 |

Peggy Sell (left) and Darlene Burkett.

We want to welcome Peggy Sell to the Global Ministries staff. She’s actually been here a couple weeks now, most of that time being trained by Darlene Burkett, her predecessor as administrative assistant. But now she’s on her own.

Peggy is originally from Huntington and has lived here (or in nearby Fort Wayne) all her life. She has participated in a UB work trip to Jamaica, and for many years served as president of the Women’s Missionary Association at Good Shepherd UB church in Huntington. For a while she owned Harris Guest House, a bed & breakfast and reception center.

Peggy and her husband, Mark, a chiropractor, live in Huntington, Ind., and attend College Park UB church. They have six children, and over the weekend welcomed their sixth grandchild.

Meanwhile, Phil and Darlene Burkett are getting settled into their new home in Cass City, Mich. Phil is now senior pastor of the Missionary Church congregation in Cass City. They loaded up the moving van last Thursday (March 3) and headed to Michigan the next day. We wish them well in this new venture.

08 Mar

March 8, 2011 |

Arek and Donna Delik (right), UB missionaries in Poland working with Operation Mobilization, sent an update on their building project. Last fall, their church bought a building which they plan to use not only for church services and other meetings, but as a rehabilitation center for helping people with addictions (especially alcohol) and as a teen center.

We originally reported on the new building on December 3. Here, Donna gives an update.

Since the beginning of January, Arek and our guys have worked very hard on our new building. We had finished most of the demolition work and decided to take a break as freezing weather hit Poland again.

God has amazed us and blessed us many times since this project launched. We have received a donation just in time to cover the expense for those five weeks of work. Our church members have worked very hard at the building site, and we have received great support from friends, who lent us tools for the work. One person cleared up the rubble with his truck for the cost of petrol only. All these helped to cut down the cost enormously. We know that we still have a long way to go, but so far we are very encouraged.

The next phase is waiting for the roof. After considering different options, we finally decided to build a new roof, since the old one is beyond repairing. We have met with the engineer as well as some other people who have given us very valuable opinions. We are aiming to return to working on the building during the second half of March to finish everything before building the new roof. We are hoping to do this by the end of April if funding is available.

We have received a lot of encouraging email from friends since sending out our building project news, and we feel really blessed as so many brothers and sisters are standing with us in prayer for this project. Without such prayer support, we will be unable to take up this enormous task. So we will appreciate your unceasing prayer to lift us up during this whole process.