10 Dec Sierra Leone Conference Underway

Sierra Leone conference is going well. We convened yesterday and began greetings from representatives from the Wesleyan, Assemblies of God, Baptist, United Methodist, and other denominations and organizations, including the Evangelical Association of Sierra Leone.

The theme this year is “Sowing Seeds for a Bountiful Harvest,” using Matthew 13:23. Visitors from afar include Rev. Joe Abu, pastor of Mt. Zion United African Church in Philadelphia, Rev. Peter Mansaray of the UB church in Berlin, and Rev. Dr. John Jusu of the African International University in Nairobi.

This is a historic conference in which the Sierra Leone conference is becoming fully nationalized after 155 years as a missions conference. Rev John Pessima was elected yesterday as the new bishop and will assume his duties in January.

Conference continues until December 12, when we will hold an all-conference worship service at the Moriba Town Bo United Brethren Church, which is pastored by Rev. Emmanuel Farma.

Presently, the conference has 73 churches and 15 preaching points. It also has 54 schools with a total enrollment of just over 10,000 students and 376 teachers. There is one theological college and one hospital.

Rev. Pessima currently serves the Kissy United Brethren Church in Freetown, where an induction service will be held in early January. The bishop, his wife Nancy, and four children will be moving to Bo where the denominational offices are located.

09 Dec Blue Dots, and the Missing Chinese

The opening of the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization

I was among the 4000 people who attended Cape Town 2010, the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization, held in October in South Africa. It opened on Sunday, October 17, and closed a week later. This was my first trip to South Africa.

I’ve attended many missions gatherings. But I’ve never attended a missions conference where, as you walk through the convention center, the vast majority of people are not North American. Usually it’s predominantly a bunch of North Americans getting together to talk about missions, with a few internationals who are part of the discussions. But this time, 90 percent were from beyond North America. That was fascinating.

We all wore name tags, with our name and country. But a lot of people had a blue dot on their nametag, with only their first name and no country. The blue dot meant, “Don’t take a photo of this person.” These persons came from security-sensitive countries, and didn’t want their photo splashed on websites, because it could be harmful to them. There were a lot of blue dots.

We couldn’t avoid noticing the absence of 200 house church Chinese pastors. The Lausanne Congress had invited 200 Chinese people, but the Chinese government didn’t let them go. In fact, the government confiscated their passports and even put some under house arrest so that they couldn’t leave for the conference.

The Lausanne organizers explained some of this the first night of the conference, and we had a chance to pray for the “empty chairs.” All of the delegates were divided into groups of six persons; we had an empty chair at our table, which meant it was intended for someone from a house church in China.

That was disappointing. They could have benefits from the encouragement and insight of others from around the world.

In the end, the Lausanne Congress offered an apology to the Chinese government for not consulting with them first before offering the invitation to their people. The Chinese government basically said, “If you wanted to invite 200 of our people, you should have checked with our government first.” They said that’s the reason they weren’t allowed to go.

08 Dec The Plight of Iraqi Christians

Iraqi Christian refugees holding a service in Turkey.

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

While visiting recently in Turkey, we had the opportunity to meet, on two occasions, with Iraqi Christians who are now refugees. These Iraqis have fled their homeland since the fall of Saddam Hussein, an event which many believed would bring hope to Iraq. But wars bring unintended consequences. The resulting lack of control unleashed religious violence against the Christian community, including the recent bombing of St. George’s Cathedral in the heart of Baghdad.

Strangely enough, the Assyrian Orthodox, who make up the largest number of Christians in Iraq, were provided a certain degree of freedom and protection under Saddam. In fact, Saddam’s foreign minister, Tariq Aziz, is a Chaldean Christian. Under Saddam, Christians had rights. Saddam saw them as having a historic right to be present in the country.

But no more. Now that the dictator is no longer defending them, it has become very dangerous to be a Christian in Iraq. Today these Christians are fleeing their homeland in search of asylum in neighboring Syria, Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon. However, asylum is temporary, and many are working to gain refugee status in Europe and North America.

04 Dec New Global Ministries Staff: Stephanie Hamil

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

We’re glad to welcome Stephanie Hamil to the Global Ministries family. Stephanie, a member of Emmanuel Community Church (Fort Wayne, Ind.), will serve in South Africa with a college campus ministry.

Stephanie has a very winning, confident personality. She feels very comfortable communicating. Her whole college experience involved engaging people for Christ, and she is very passionate about doing it in the future.

Stephanie Hamil graduated in 2010 from the University of Southern Indiana with a degree in Spanish Education. Upon becoming a Christian during her freshman year in college, she received personal discipleship through Campus Outreach. Through her discipleship and World Vision seminars, Stephanie began to learn and understand the importance of missions to unreached people groups.

Stephanie is preparing to spend five years with an organization called Campus Outreach. She will work at the University of Pretoria in Pretoria, South Africa. Her prayer is that God would use her to evangelize, equip, and establish students on the university campus, with the goal of successfully sending them out into their spheres of influence.

Interestingly, in Pretoria she will live just a few blocks away from Joe and Natalie Reed, fellow Global Ministries staff who serve with Nieu Communities. The Reeds are currently in the States on furlough living in the Meyers Mission House in Huntington. They and Stephanie were able to get acquainted.

Stephanie hopes to leave in December 2010, and is currently raising her support.

03 Dec Building Project in Kutno, Poland

Church people outside their newly-acquired building in Kutno, Poland.

The new building in Kutno, Poland.

Donna and Arek Delik (below, right) are endorsed staff with Global Ministries. Members of our Hong Kong Conference, the Deliks have been serving in Poland since 1999, starting a church and doing other ministry. They recently purchased a building which will become their worship center and be used as a rehabilitation center in their ministry to alcoholics, and as a teen center. Global Ministries has spotlighted the building as a project churches and individuals may want to contribute toward. Here is an update on the building from Donna Delik.

Donna Delik, Poland

We feel overwhelmed by the swift development of the building project! The whole bidding process was a nerve-wracking experience. We were in a tug of war with a businessman who was very determined, and so were we. In the end we won the auction with 430,000 zloty ($150,000 US), 20% higher than the basic price, but we believed that it was still a very reasonable price for this property.

When we went to see the building once again, we were convicted that it was the right property for our ministries, and we were overjoyed for this great gift from God.

We were supposed to pay the rest of the money, 400,000 zloty ($53,000 US), by December 3. That was absolutely impossible for us. So the next day we went to the owner and explained that we actually didn’t have all the money in hand and needed more time. PRAISE THE LORD–without a second thought he agreed to extend the deadline of payment to December 27, which gives us more time to find the money we need! Once again God assured us that He was on our side.

Within a very short time, we have already gathered about one-third of the money. For the rest we must look for loans from individuals and churches. We are very thankful that our home church in Hong Kong agreed to grant us a big loan, and we are very close to the target now.

There is some bad news about the building: the roof is leaking and there is water in the basement. Our architect and engineer friends have recommended that these  urgent things need to be fixed for the winter; then we can work out a detailed plan for the whole renovation project when spring comes.

Please pray with us that the rest of the money will come before the deadline or even earlier, so that we could work on the roof before it causes more damage.

Thank you very much for those who have already responded to this financial need. Every penny counts, and your donation for this project is a great encouragement and blessing for our church.

02 Dec Steve Saint’s Flying Car

The 2006 movie “The End of the Spear” told the story of five American missionaries who were killed in 1956 by Huaorani Indians in Ecuador. One of those men was Nate Saint, whose son Steve later returned to live among the Huaorani. This video shows what Steve has been doing lately–a fascinating invention intended primarily as a missions tool. While it’s not a Global Ministries thing, we thought you might be interested in knowing about it.

02 Dec Bishop Simbo Returns to Sierra Leone

After spending four months in the United States caring for his wife, Mamei, who was hospitalized for much of that time, Bishop Billy Simbo has returned to Sierra Leone. He arrived on November 24.

He reports, “I had a debriefing meeting with Rev. John Pessima, the Bishop-Designate, and I am very happy to report that he took care of things during my absence.

“I am adjusting to the heat, and the sweet (LOUD!) sounds of Freetown, and I know the next two months are going to be busy.

“One of the many things I enjoyed doing whilst I was in the US was attending the Abington at Edge Hill Rotary Club meetings for breakfast every Thursday morning. Tomorrow I get to go to my home Rotary Club, The Freetown Rotary Club after 4 months of absence. I am looking forward to it.

On Saturday, November 27, he and John Pessima headed up-country 200 miles for a church dedication the next day.

22 Nov Fighting Cholera in Haiti

Fonda Cassidy with a Haitian boy

Fonda Cassidy

Fonda Cassidy, a nurse, is from Mt. Olivet UB church in Mt. Solon, Va. She has led or participated on UB medical trips to Honduras and Sierra Leone. Here, she writes about going to Haiti in October with Samaritan’s Purse.

In October 2010 I left for Haiti to work with Samaritan’s Purse. I did not realize until I arrived that there was an outbreak of cholera. This is a bacteria that spreads by contact or contaminated water. None of the 5 doctors nor myself had worked anywhere where we have witnessed this. Once you see it, you truly do not forget.

They came with fear frozen in their eyes, drawn up and over with incredible abdominal pain, with profuse emesis and diarrhea. What you soon realize is that the little ones and the older generation will soon die if not cared for properly. They need oral hydrating salts and/or IV solutions to replace their fluids, and an antibiotic.

So we ran cholera camps where we were treating only cholera. If they did not get treatment within 12 hours, they usually died. It is so hard to see death where you are working. Sometimes we would start treating someone, but it would be too late. They would have to be taken out right away and buried. At each clinic we did a lot of teaching and had a pastor to pray with the people.

I worked in 4 different locations in Haiti. One clinic took us about 2 hours to reach. Others were closer. We were able to share Christ with our patients. Personally, I was blessed to lead about 4 of my patients to the Lord. There would be follow-up by a Haitian pastor.

I was able to visit 4 orphanages that were run by Samaritan’s Purse. I taught in about 4 different classrooms about cholera–how it spreads and how to prevent it from happening. I will gladly return to Haiti to help in any capacity that God would want me to.

We have 22 United Brethren churches in Haiti. I was able to meet with the leader, Pastor Oliam Richard. He was a very precious man. He took me to two sites in Cite Soleil where there had been two churches. They now are rubble. Both toppled in the earthquake. There are plans to rebuild.

Safety and security is very important in Haiti. Each time we left the secured compound we had to radio a safety code, and when we arrived at location we also had to radio that we were at our destination.

I witnessed people dying and I witnessed a person being killed by rocks as he tried to steal–the police stoned him to death. Haiti is very rough, but there are thousands of people living in that country that God loves and cares for. He has asked us to be his hands and feet in ministry. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve.

22 Nov Milestones in Mamei Simbo’s Recovery

Billy Simbo, bishop of Sierra Leone Conference, will return to Sierra Leone Monday night, November 22. On Saturday, November 20, he sent this positive report on his wife, Mamei, and her continued recovery after spending three months in the hospital.

Mamei has gone from just making progress to actually recovering from all of the things that have happened to her over the past three months. This week, she reached several key.

The first milestone came on Thursday when the speech therapist cleared Mamei to take liquids by mouth and eating solid food for the first time in over two months. Mamei must have anticipated this by faith, because last Saturday when her cousin, Julie (Beah) Williams was visiting, she told her she wanted Julie to prepare a special kind of rice for her. She told her what sauce to cook with the rice and then Julie was to add some green leaves to the rice to make it slippery. Anyway, today Julie came with the rice and Mamei ate a small portion! The first time she had eaten rice in three months. Now those of you who know us Sierra Leoneans, especially a Mende person, you know that is a long time of suffering.

Her spirits are up, and her speech and thought patterns are much clearer than they were a week ago. She still gets a little confused sometimes, but she can put thoughts together and actively participate in conversations and discussions.

But the biggest milestone came this afternoon. As I sat next to Mamei, she suddenly started to clap.

(more…)

18 Nov Poland Project: Worship and Rehab Center

Donna and Arek Delik are endorsed staff with Global Ministries. Members of our Hong Kong Conference, the Deliks have been serving in Poland since 1999. We have sent a number of short-term teams to assist the Deliks in their ministry. The following is a description of a current project from Arek and Donna.

Those who have visited us may remember the 2 rooms we rented in a commercial building. In the last 8 years we have been using them for church ministry as well as “New Life Foundation” ministry among alcoholics. With the expanding ministries, this place no longer met our needs.

In the last 3 years we have stepped up our effort of property hunting. However, most of the properties we found were either too expensive or not suitable for our purposes. Recently, Arek spotted a building that had been owned by the government that seemed perfect.

We were able to purchase it at auction for $150,000 USA. We are very thankful for those individuals and churches who  have promised to lend us money for this purpose. Payments will begin in December 2010. Nevertheless, we still need at least about $53,000 USD toward the purchase price, and need to fix part of the roof (which is leaking) before the cold winter hits us with a lot of snow.

The building will be used for more ministries which will benefit the local community. We dream of someday providing a safe haven for children and teens to hang out, instead of causing trouble in the street. “New Life Foundation” also wants to extend its work to helping people with drug addictions, in addition to alcoholics.

With a better place, we could even have a real “Coffee House” to serve hot tea and coffee to those who have nowhere to go. With a proper kitchen we can run the weekend outreach for alcoholics more often. And we want to do much more than that.

Thank you for praying for our building project. We experienced the peace of God during the auction. It was a very tough bidding. A businessman was very determined, and so were we; the biding went to and for. Finally we won the auction with 430,000 zloty (about USD 150,000). It was almost 20% higher than the basic price, but we believe that it’s still a very reasonable price for this property. The building itself is 360 square meters with 22 rooms on 2600 square meters of land.

Praise God that we have crossed the river Jordon safely, but we still need to fight to claim the promised land in Canaan. We will be grateful for your support for this project and appreciate if you could join us once again in prayer for this urgent need. We trust our Father in Heaven who could meet our need.

If you’re interested in supporting this project, please go to the project page on the UBGlobal site for more information.