27 Aug Mission Team Training Kicks Off

The first of five leadership training events took place August 22-23 at Salem United Brethren Church in Chambersburg, Pa. The sessions focused on developing effective short-term mission teams and covered the nuts and bolts of putting it all together like a pro.

Here are a few comments from those who attended:

• “Everyone, whether a team leader or not, needs to attend one of these training events. Anyone can benefit from the information and can use a lot of it in their home lives and on the mission field.”
• “The team building activities were fantastic and relevant to team preparation.”
• “The Seven-Step Process will help us bring the church along for the trip–something we have not been able to do.”
• “I understand Global Ministries better and see how helpful they’re willing to be in the process of planning, preparation, and supporting throughout.”

Additional training events will be held:

• September 12-13: Emmanuel Community Church (Fort Wayne, Ind.).
• October 3-4: Crossroads UB Church (Charlotte, Mich.)
• November 14-15: Lancaster UB Church (Lancaster, Ohio)

The cost for the two-day event is $60.

27 Aug Notes from the Olympics

One of our staff members in Macau writes:

Going to the Olympics was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me. I’m not actually that huge of a sports fan, but I’ve always thought it would be fun to experience the atmosphere of the Olympics…and it was!

I think the thing I enjoyed most was just the excitement and joy among all of the Chinese there.  They were so excited and proud to be hosting the Olympics. The volunteers were all very sincere, and knew enough English phrases to at least tell us to enjoy the games. Many of them were retirees, and I’m sure they had never imagined that China would have an opportunity like that.

This year will go down in history for China for so many reasons, and I’ll be glad I got a close-up glimpse of it.

22 Aug Mission Team Training

Jeff Bleijerveld and Donna Hollopeter are at the Salem UB church (Chambersburg, Pa.), conducting the first of four Mission Team Leadership Training events. The training will last through Saturday. The goal is to train persons who can lead mission trips.

Nine people pre-registered for the Pennsylvania edition. You can still register for the events in Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan. 

15 Aug The Venetian

The amount of construction occurring in Hong Kong and Macau is amazing. All you hear is pile drivers. It’s like walking around Manhattan…except better. 

I got a tour of the Venetian, the world’s largest casino. Located on the island of Taipa in Macau, it was built in just three years. The Venetian used to be part of the South China Sea. In those three years, they not only erected the buildings, but filled in the sea in order to create land for the casino.

The casino follows the Venice theme, with gondolas, canals, street actors and musicians, and opera singers serenading shoppers.

Our tour lasted three-and-a-half hours, and we never even went into the gaming area. It’s an enormous complex. Now they are working on Phase Two of the Venetian. And that’s only the first of many mega-casinos under construction in Macau on the Cotai Strip.

You can watch a time-lapse video showing the Venetian’s construction on YouTube.

08 Aug Headed to the Olympics

Jen Blandin, UB missionary in Macau, reports that she’s going to Beijing to watch the Olympics, “a sports dream of mine.” She adds, “While I’m looking forward to attending the games, I’m also excited to share this experience with a couple of friends. I would appreciate your prayers for safety, deepened friendships, and to ‘go with the flow’ as there will be LOTS of people to wade through in order to get to the various venue sites!” 

In her monthly newsletter, Jen also told this story from a recent Sunday: 

“Before the service started, some new faces walked in. One of the faces looked familiar to me, but I could not place how I knew her. After the service, I started up a conversation with the new people, and come to find out, the familiar face used to be a student of mine when I taught in a local high school in Macau several years ago!

“After she graduated from high school, she attended college in the States, where she began her relationship with Jesus! It was encouraging to be reminded that while I might need to let go of some relationships and things, God had not, and does not, let go!”

07 Aug Update from Jen Blandin

Jennifer Blandin, UB missionary in Macau, calls her monthly newsletter the “Macau Sports Report,” and always draws creative analogies between athletics and the work in Macau. In her July edition, she mentioned that she’ll be going to Beijing for the Olympics, which she describes as “a sports dream of mine.”
Follow the link to read portions of her July newsletter, which focus around the Olympics.

July was a month of several pre-Olympic activities, one of which was a four-team women’s volleyball tournament. It was fun to watch some quality play and to see how different countries adapt the game to their abilities. China was a strong and tall team. Brazil and Dominican Republic had a lot of excitement and energy. Japan was a team that would sacrifice their bodies to get to a ball and seemed light on their feet. All the teams could jump, and that made watching them spike the ball even more amazing.

Other international teams and athletes made Macau their pre-Olympic training home or pit stop. The most famous group of athletes to pass through has been the USA men’s basketball team. They easily handled their competition and seemed to be on track to hopefully win the gold medal. Other countries that have come through Macau include: England, Portugal, Mozambique, and Brazil. Sports action is definitely at an all-time high!

Work-Outs
What is one phrase that causes many people to cringe? That’s right “work-out.” For some reason this 7-letter phrase causes more fear, dread, panic, and several other not-so-pleasant adjectives than any other English phrase. (Maybe “Clean your room” might come in a close second.) It could be the sore muscles the day after, getting sweaty, or taking the time out of a day to go and do it. For whatever the reason, working out is not the most enjoyable thing humans do, but it can be quite beneficial.

During July, there were several opportunities for me to “work-out.” One such workout focused on my hands. The workout started out with cutting up food without cutting off my fingers! It then moved to testing the agility of my fingers while working on my “Guitar Hero” eye-hand skills. This workout was made possible by some friends who opened their home, patiently taught me how to cook some Chinese food, and then allowed for some friendly video game competition.

Another “work-out” included a combination of leg and brain training. Morning is usually the time I head out for my daily walk. Since I usually stick to the same walking path, there are a few people I regularly see and greet. One such person is a Chinese man who is retired and has children who live in England. Each year my friend and his wife go to England to visit them. He knows some English, but would like to know more. When our paths cross each morning, a five-minute English and Cantonese lesson takes place. This has been a big help in getting my brain some exercise, because mornings are not my peak times! Thankfully the lessons usually fall within my understanding of Cantonese, but every once in a while my brain needs to work a bit harder! This “work-out” has also been a neat way to see a friendship develop.

The final “work-out” I would like to share involves my “letting go” skills. Due to changes in my job responsibilities, I have needed to let go of some things. There were some responsibilities I have been happy to give up, but there have been some that have not been so easy to give up because I enjoyed doing them. Yet, in order to be at the top of my game for what I do now, letting go has been important.

While most of July was spent in hard workouts in this area, it was also a month of receiving some neat encouragement. One such case took place the Sunday I preached. Before the service started, some new faces walked in. One of the faces looked familiar to me, but I could not place how I knew her. After the service, I started up a conversation with the new people, and come to find out, the familiar face used to be a student of mine when I taught in a local high school in Macau several years ago! After she graduated from high school, she attended college in the States, where she began her relationship with Jesus! It was encouraging to be reminded that while I might need to let go of some relationships and things, God had not, and does not, let go!

03 Aug New UB Publication: Global Kids

Global Ministries has published “Global Kids,” which is designed to teach children about missions, and particularly the world of United Brethren missions. It’s available now for $25, and you can order online. A number of churches have already ordered copies.

30 Jul 2008 Jamaica Bible College Graduation

Owen Gordon, president of Jamaica Bible College, sent this note on July 16:
Two weeks ago we brought down the curtain on another challenging, but successful year. We were blessed with a very beautiful graduation service. Our special guest speaker was Rev Dr Stephen Clark, son of Mr Ernest Clark, one of the three founding fathers of the College in 1945. Dr Clark gave a very inspiring and challenge address to the hundreds of persons in attendance.

There  were a number of firsts at this graduation:

• We had the first group of 5 students graduating with a B.A in Theology with minor in Business.
• Several students graduated with an Assoc Degree in Business. (There were other students with the Diploma in Theology)
• Several students graduated with the Certificate in Business, & General studies.
• Some students completed their Seconday level education under the ROSE II/ Ministry of Education program.

In all there were 59 students.

Rejoice and pray with us for the following:

• Lenique Powell, a Secondary level student who committed his life to the Lord in the Week-end Camp in February, has expressed a desire to return to study Theology. We are putting things in place to offer him a tuition Scholarship.
• Duane Harris, another student who just completed his Assoc degree in Business, wants to do the BA in Theology. Pray for Scholarship support.

We will introduce several new programs in September 2008:

• BA in Theology, minor in couseling.
• BA in Psychology emphasis on counseling.
• Assoc degree in Finance.
• Early Childhood Certificate through the HEART NCTVET.

Our desire is to lift the standard of the College and increase and improve the offerings.
Pray with us for a good group of incoming students for September 2008, the necessary committed teaching/Administrative staff, and the necessary funding.

Two major challenges are ahead of us:

1. Security.
2. The challenge to change the name of the Institution to reflect the original vision and purpose, and broaden its appeal for funding, and student enrollment.

30 Jul New Hope Team in Honduras

A group of 35 people from New Hope Community Church (Bryan, Ohio) are finishing up a short-term trip in Honduras.

24 Jul A Different View of “Pure”

I’m in China participating in the English camp for Chinese teachers. We had the teachers participate in a values survey.

• The number one value among our teachers: “Respect and honor your parents and grandparents.”
• Least important: “Keeping oneself disinterested and pure.”

This requires some explanation. What they mean by this is that they want to remain connected with people, in touch, not aloof. “Pure” in this context is seen as negative. It implies that you are unwilling to be “dirtied” by others. I like that.