02 May Jeff Bleijerveld Heads to Asia

Jeff Bleijerveld, our new Global Ministries director, left today on his first overseas trip for the UB church. It started out a bit rocky, with weather delays in both Fort Wayne and Chicago, but he finally made it onto his plane in Chicago just as they were closing the doors.

Jeff will visit the Pearl River Delta part of China (which includes Hong Kong, Macau, and the surrounding province) until May 7, and then travel to the Philippines May 8-12 to take part in the 25th anniversary of the Looking Unto Jesus church, which is how our Philippines churches are known in their country.

02 May Jeff Bleijerveld Headed to Asia

Jeff Bleijerveld, director of Global Ministries, speaking to the 70-some persons who attended the “Hang with the Bishop” meeting on April 16 at East Washington UB church (Ashley, Mich.).

Jeff Bleijerveld, our new Global Ministries director, leaves today on his first overseas trip. He’ll be in the Pearl River Delta part of China (which includes Hong Kong, Macau, and the surrounding province) until May 7, and then travel to the Philippines May 8-12 to take part in the 25th anniversary of the Looking Unto Jesus church, which is how our Philippines churches are known in their country.

01 May Tidbits from Global Ministries

• Randy and Toni Fennig plan to depart for their first term of service in Sierra Leone this month. Pray that they will complete their support-raising efforts, and then for their transition to the field.
• The Looking Unto Jesus Church in the Philippines, one of our national conferences, will celebrate its 25th Anniversary on May 11 in the capital city of Manilla. Pastor Michael Brown (Franklin UB, New Albany, Ohio) and Jeff Bleijerveld (Director of Global Ministries) will participate.
• The US Center for World Mission created a 20-minute DVD titled “Global Purpose.” It combines dynamic special effects with biblical, historical, strategic, and cultural perspectives to give an overview of God’s movement throughout history. It’s an effective teaching resource for Bible studies or small groups. You can borrow the DVD from our Global Ministries Lending Library. Contact Darlene at [email protected].

14 Apr Death of Missionary Ruby Parent

Ruby Parent, who served a total of 11 years as a missionary in Sierra Leone, passed away on Sunday, April 13, at the Evergreen Nursing Home in Pioneer, Ohio. Here are the funeral details:

• Visitation: Thursday, April 17, 2-8 p.m. at the Thompson Funeral Home in Pioneer, Ohio.
• Memorial service: Friday, April 18, 11 a.m. at Lake View UB church in Camden, Mich. Rev. Stephen Smith will officiate.

Rubert Parent was born in Sherwood, Ohio, and graduated from Huntington University. She first went to Sierra Leone in 1958, where she served successively as teacher, principal, and matron at the Bonthe Girls’ School and Home in Bonthe. After six years in the States, she returned to Sierra Leone in 1971 for her final term of service.

Dr. George Fleming, in his history of the UB work in Sierra Leone, writes, “Being manager of a school of 400 girls staggers the imagination….Surely scores of the girls and young women under Ruby’s training will ‘rise up and call her blessed.’ When I ponder over the tremendous responsibility which rests upon the shoulders of this one young lady, and our many missionaries, how faithful we in the homeland should be in our backing of these ambassadors of the Lord through our prayers and by our gifts.”

06 Mar 22 Young Jamaican Men Accept Christ

The 22 young men who accepted Christ during the camp.

During the weekend of February 16-17, a camp for young men in Jamaica was held the weekend of February 16-17, with 22 young men attending. Male students from Jamaica Bible College served as mentors/counselors for the event. The speakers included Danville Colquhoun, (retired guidance counselor from the Ministry of Education), Angelo Laurence (Gleaner & PACE tv), Dr. Winston Morgan (lecturer at JBC), Darren Larmond (camp director), and Dr. Bryan Wallace (JBC lecturer).

Owen Gordon, President of Jamaica Bible College, writes:

“Sunday mid-day, was the first time we gave an invitation, and when we did, all 22 of the boys responded positively, without any coercion or long drawn-out appeal.They all wanted to embrace the Lord Jesus as their Savior. Yes, all 22 of the young men with one accord responded positively. Don’t get me wrong, because I am a little bit skeptical of mass responses. Sometimes I think that many of us are too quick to count raised hands as salvation.

“Later at the wrap-up session, we asked for those who benefited from the camp, and several said the greatest benefit was that they accepted Jesus Christ as Saviour. We then asked for those who would like others to know that they accepted the Lord and are committed to walk with him and are not afraid for others to know. We asked those persons to come for a photograph.” The photo above shows that group of new Christians.

“I came to campus this morning and I was greeting by a bunch of smiling, happy young men who are beaming with joy. They greeted me for the first time calling me Uncle Owen. The rest of the students and staff are remarking that they have noticed a change in behavior and attitude. (That is probably early, and time will tell!)

“Wow! We have a job cut out for follow up! Continue to pray for us. It’s not about church or denomination, it’s about Jesus Christ!”

He adds, “I am looking for persons who will pray personally for these young men. If you would like a name or two for your prayer group let me know and I will give you and a name and if you like a face too. Let us show the world that there is power in prayer and that Jesus does make a difference in ones life!”

06 Mar Report from Jamaica Annual Conference

The ordinations of Courtney Morgan (left, kneeling) and Addasa Morgan (far right). Bishop Ron Ramsey (second from left in the left-hand photo) participated in both ordinations.

Jamaica National Conference held its annual meeting over the past weekend. Bishop Ron Ramsay preached on Sunday morning, and over 75 persons responded to the call to offer themselves to evangelize. Former Jamaica superintendent Rev. Lloyd Spencer preached in the Sunday evening service, challenging people to give toward the support of church extension.

Other highlights of the conference included:

• Bishop Winston Smith was re-elected as Bishop for another four years.
• Pastor Barrington Johnson, a young pastor coming out of the Saint Johns Road church, was received into the conference.
• Two persons were ordained: Courtney Morgan and Addasa Morgan (no relationship). Courtney, a graduate of Jamaica Bible College, came out of the ministry of the Washington Gardens UB church. Addasa Morgan is the first female to be ordained in Jamaica Conference. She is from the York Town UB church.
• Rev. Isaac Nugent, Rev. Lebert Thompson, and Rev. Owen Gordon were elected as superintendents.
• Twenty-two pastors were stationed among the 29 churches and preaching points, with several laypersons commissioned as workers in church extension.

Rev. Owen Gordon, president of Jamaica Bible College, writes, “It was a great Conference with some 2000 people attending the Sunday worship.”

06 Mar Update from Roger and Marilyn Reeck

Roger and Marilyn Reeck, UB endorsed missionaries serving with Wycliffe in Honduras, sent an email report on February 25. It included these tidbits:

• In January a construction group from Minnesota arrived. They put roofs on houses for two pastors and helped their daughter, Chrysti, and her husband, Rigo, add a large porch to their house to be used for Bible studies.
• Marilyn and office helper Alina are finishing a video for a presentation that they will make at a conference in Bogota, Colombia, March 2-7. The main Garifuna leader, Bernardiino Amaya, will also attend. This conference is Wycliffe’s first Latin American Scripture Use Conference. “We feel honored to be attending,” they write. “We know that we will learn so much from all the talks and from others who doing the same job that we are doing.
• Roger and Marilyn have been invited to a missions conference at a church in Pennsylvania March 5-9. They will return to Honduras the end of March.
• They leave for Africa May 15–August 15.
• Roger will teach in Brazil during the month of October.

06 Mar Death of Anna Geivett’s Father

Anna Geivett, a UB endorsed missionary serving with Food for the Hungry in Peru, learned on Tuesday, March 4, that her father had passed away. She wrote on March 5:

“Yesterday I began my flight back to Lima, just to catch a return flight to Indiana that afternoon. In the midst of my travels, my sister called to let me know that my dad passed away yesterday morning. Today I will be traveling from Indiana to Michigan where we will have his funeral. All of this has come so suddenly and I feel less than prepared to handle this but then again, who is ever prepared for such an occurrence?

“Please be praying for my family and I as we make the arrangements and work through this painful time. I am so grateful to God for His perfect timing and for allowing me to be here with my family. I don’t know when I’ll be returning to Peru, but probably sometime next week.”

07 Feb Our Process in Finding a New Director

Yesterday we announced through the denominational email list the appointment of Jeff Bleijerveld (right, with his wife, Charlene) as the new Director of Global Ministries. Starting March 3, he’ll head up our missions work, joining a staff which already includes Donna Hollopeter and Darlene Burkett.

Jeff is currently Assistant Director of World Partners USA, the mission arm of the Missionary Church USA, with headquarters just up the road in Fort Wayne, Ind. He is an ordained minister in the Missionary Church, served eight years as a missionary in Spain, has served as a pastor at two churches, and has worked with World Partners USA since 2001. His responsibilities at World Partners include managing the daily operations and all human resource functions for the 130 staff (missionaries mostly) scattered around the world. He is fluent in Spanish, which will be a big plus for us, since we have so much work in Central America.

I feel confident that Jeff is the right person for the job, and believe God will use him to take our missions efforts to the next level. I’m excited that God provided someone of Jeff’s caliber.

The Director of Global Ministries is a staff position, and as bishop, I am responsible for appointing all staff. Until 2005 we elected the Director of Global Ministries; Gary Dilley, who served in that role until January of this year (when he became senior pastor of College Park UB church in Huntington, Ind.), was originally elected in 2001, but then appointed by me in 2005. So it was my responsibility to appoint a replacement for Gary.
Let me tell you a little about the process we used in filling the position.
(more…)