11 Feb No Longer Meeting Under a Tree

A building for the Buen Samaritano church in Honduras is well underway, thanks to the 2009 Thank Offering.

A year ago, the Buen Samaritano (Good Samaritan) church in Honduras was meeting under a tree on the property they had purchased. They were able to take the next step using funds from the 2009 Self-Denial Offering.

Today, Buen Samaritano has constructed a building consisting of walls and a roof. Although work remains, the congregation is encouraged and moving forward using their own resources. Pastor Mariano Mondragon told me that the most exciting thing has been seeing people continue to come to Christ over the past year.

08 Feb First UB Mission Trip to Germany This Summer

J. R. and Cathy Reich

This summer, Global Ministries will sponsor the first UB mission trip to Germany. The team leaders will be J. R. and Cathy Reich, from The Well UB church in Huntington, Ind. Cathy is administrative assistant to Bishop Phil Whipple.

The team will participate in two five-day English Camps at a school in an area south of the Black Forest. They will use conversational English to build relationships and share their faith.

Date: July 31–August 14.
Cost: $1800 per person.

While in Germany, team members will live with German families from the school where Galen and Maritta Fiedler teach. The Fiedlers are the Global Ministries missionary family with whom the team will work and who will host the team.

The $1800 cost includes airfare, in-country transportation, food, travel insurance, and ministry materials.

There are still a few positions available for this trip. If you are interested in joining this team, it is important to mail your completed application form by mid-March. You can download the application in two formats: PDF, or a fillable MS Word form.

For more information, you can contact either of these persons by email:

Cathy Reich, Administrative Assistant to Bishop Phil Whipple.
Donna Hollopeter in the Global Ministries office.

08 Feb Photos from UB Churches in Haiti

The City Soleil UB church, which was destroyed. A work crew from Canada was coming to work on the roof, but the earthquake forced the cancellation of that trip. The pastor is Rev. Baptistin.

Another UB church in City Soleil, this one led by Pastor Supreme. The building is believed to be unusable.

The church yard of our newest church, in Delmas, still under construction.

A church in the Delmas area. Part of this gate wall was destroyed. A large number of Haitians came here for refuge.

The Delmas church. This is the future main church and convention center. It was not destroyed. The team from Canada would have been working on this, too.

05 Feb Mission Trip to Spain – July 26-Aug 4 2010

Lane and Shane Smith

NOTE (March 29, 2010): This trip has been canceled.

Lane and Shane Smith, from Shoreline UB (Oak Harbor, Ohio), will lead a group of 8 people, from teens through age 30, on a ministry experience to Spain. The group will work with missionaries Troy and Julie Hendricks.

Dates: July 26–August 6.
Cost: $2500 per person.
Persons Needed: 8.

Trip members will be involved in a five-day English Camp built around recreational sports. This will be a wonderful opportunity to build relationships with Spanish youth while playing basketball or Frisbee golf or other special activities. The Spanish youth are interested in developing conversational English skills.

While in Spain, the team will learn about Spanish culture, the language, and learn more about the work with which Troy and Julie are involved.

Openings are still available. The $2500 cost includes air travel, in-country travel, lodging, food, travel insurance, and other miscellaneous expenses. It is important to submit completed applications by mid-March so Troy and Julie can begin preparing to host the team.

You can download the application. If you have questions, please contact either of these by email:

Shane and Lane Smith.
Donna Hollopeter at the Global Ministries office.

04 Feb Physical Therapists Needed in Haiti

I spoke with Samaritan’s Purse and the World Medical Mission in Boone, N.C., this morning about a number of areas in which we might be able to connect some dots between them and our United Brethren churches in Haiti. I’ll be communicating with our Canadian United Brethren, who oversee the work in Haiti, to see if we can coordinate something.

However, an immediate need is for physical therapists. Haitians are having amputations and other types of surgery, but have no one available to provide the help needed after surgery. If anyone is interested, call our office (toll-free: 888-622-3019) and we’ll arrange to get them there as soon as possible. If assistance is needed with flight expenses, Global Ministries may be able to provide help.

03 Feb Honduras Medical Trip – June 2010

Once again this summer, Global Ministries will sponsor a medical mission trip to Honduras.

Date: June 11-19, 2010.
Cost: $1600 per person

This trip is filling rapidly. We still have a few spaces available. The special needs are: doctors, nurses, EMTs, and physical therapists. If you are interested, contact team leaders Robert and Fonda Cassidy (right) for more information.

02 Feb Haiti: Cite Soleil, Where 2 UB Churches Collapsed

In Haiti, two United Brethren churches located in Cité Soleil collapsed during the earthquake. Here is an update from Samaritan’s Purse about their work in that part of Port-au-Prince.

Few populations are more vulnerable than the thousands of Haitians living in Cité Soleil, one of the largest slums in the capital. The sprawling shantytown has long been notorious for its filthy conditions and dangerous gang wars. The earthquake only deepened the misery, sending thousands into packed tent cities in the baking heat with few resources. Pigs wallow in a nearby riverbed overflowing with rotting trash, and children splash through open sewage.

On a hot afternoon, Jean Claude, an elder at Eglise Chretienne Des Cities, a local church of 1600, says people are coming to the church’s collapsed gate daily, begging for help. The church has little to give and tells people to wait. He says aid groups come only sporadically.

But within 24 hours, Samaritan’s Purse was formulating a plan to care for the residents in a tent city a few hundred yards from the church. The team will organize sanitation, clean water, food, and hygiene kits, and point residents to the nearby church for spiritual care, while also providing clean water and other relief in more remote areas outside the capital.

29 Jan UBs Raise Over $67,000 for Haiti Relief

Relief supplies that have reached UB people in Haiti through CH Global.

To date, UB churches in the United States have sent $67,233 to Global Ministries for Haiti relief. Here is the latest update from Jose Nunez of CH Global, an organization with which we are partnering in Haiti.

It has been quite busy these last two days. Here are some of the developments.

1. Have met with a significant number of the children who had been enrolled into sponsorship. This morning we traveled to Delmas and were able to meet 12 of the children. More will be coming this afternoon. I hope I can get to meet with them all.

2. We have been blessed! Our supplies arrived from Disaster Relief yesterday. Pastor Oliam Richard and I, along with the other pastors, are working on the best method of distribution for the sponsored children.

3. Elsa (CH Global program director for Haiti) will be coming to take over shortly after my departure. She will be here next week after meeting me in Florida.

4. Pastor Richard and I have been working on establishing the daycare/education/counseling program. I will conclude and share all the details after meeting with Elsa in the States.