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Rev. Carus Campbell, 91, passed away January 3, 2015, at a medical center in Clarksburg, W. Va. He served in the European theater during World War 2, and went on to become a pastor, serving churches in West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Visitation: 5-7 pm Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Funeral: 10am Wednesday, January 7, 2015.
Visitation and funeral location: Tomblyn-Whitescarver Funeral Chapel, Buckhannon, WV 26201.
Virginia Kopp, wife of former bishop Clarence A. Kopp, Jr., passed away Friday, January 2, 2015. She is the mother of Dan Kopp, pastor of NorthPointe UB church (Lewis Center, Ohio), and of three other children–Debra, Denise, and Dale. Bishop Kopp passed away in 2007. She has been living in Columbus, Ohio.
Viewing time: 6-8 pm Friday evening, January 9; and 10 am to noon on Saturday, January 10.
Funeral time: 12:00 noon on Saturday, January 10, 2015.
Both the viewing and funeral will be held at:
O.R. Woodyard Funeral Home & Chapel (South Chapel)
1346 South High Street
Columbus, 43207.
A meal will follow at approximately 1:30 at the nearby Living Word United Brethren Church, 145 Obetz Road, Columbus, Ohio. Clarence and Ginny were pastoring this church (then called Redeemer UB) when he was elected bishop in 1981.
Notes can be sent to Rev. Dan Kopp at this address:
Dan Kopp
7509 Storrington Place
Lewis Center, OH 43035
Email: [email protected]
Justin Marva, conference administrator for Sierra Leone Conference (Jan. 3, 2015)
The Ebola outbreak has dropped drastically in Bo, Mattru, Kenema, Kailahun, Moyamba, and Pujehun in the southeast part of the country. Most of these districts are now reporting zero cases for the past week. But for Freetown and the North, the cases are still high.
At the moment, all business activities close down on every Saturday at 12 pm. Sunday is observed as a quiet day except for the usual church services, but no business activity is allowed for the rest of the day. This rule is working well at the moment, and it has discouraged people from gathering in public places on Saturday and Sundays.
Sierra Leoneans are very hopeful at the moment that the Ebola outbreak will soon be a thing of the past. The president has declared a seven-day period of prayer and fasting for God to help in this sad situation in our country.
Please continue to pray for us.
Virginia Kopp, wife of former bishop Clarence A. Kopp, Jr., passed away Friday, January 2, 2015. She is the mother of Dan Kopp, pastor of NorthPointe UB church (Lewis Center, Ohio), and of three other children–Debra, Denise, and Dale. Bishop Kopp passed away in 2007. She has been living in Columbus, Ohio.
Funeral details will be posted when available.
Wayne Watkins, Prince Street UB church (Shippensburg, Pa.)
Christmas time is always a busy time at Prince Street, from decorating the sanctuary to our Christmas Eve services on December 24.
We do Angel Tree Ministry, which helps the children who have parents who are serving prison sentences and cannot be home with their families at Christmas time. It is an excellent opportunity to share the Christmas story with the children and present the children with a gift that is from their parent. It is wonderful to see a child’s face who realizes that their dad or mom remembered them on this special holiday.
This year our mission commission decided to help our local families. We have community meals every month reaching out to people who are lonely and need an encouraging word and support. During Christmas, one of our meals is a Christmas dinner with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and corn. We also purchased gifts for the children.
Christmas Caroling is always an exciting time. We divide into groups and go caroling to our people who are home-bound or residing in nursing homes.
Our choir presented us with a beautiful musical program on the real meaning of Christmas, and we even had a cookie contest where we had an opportunity to eat and fellowship with one another.
Children from Atlantic Avenue UB with shoeboxes for Samaritan’s Purse.
Loading shoeboxes at Atlantic Avenue.
Atlantic Avenue UB church (Franklin, Pa.) participated in Operation Christmas Child. They collected and sent 130 shoeboxes to Samaritan’s Purse.
Sunfield UB church (Sunfield, Mich.) is taking a team to Jamaica in March to work on the roof at the Yorktown UB church. They need three more people to be part of the team.
Dates: March 2-9, 2015
Cost: $500 plus airfare (per person).
Books 2 and 4 of the “Grow in His Word” materials are now available.
The Grow In His Word materials, used in discipleship by over 50 United Brethren churches, have been completely revised. Grow is written by Dennis Miller, pastor of Emmanuel UB church in Fort Wayne, Ind. Grow is used in over 50 United Brethren churches, and over the years has been used to systematically take thousands of people through the entire Bible.
There are four books, each of which has its own leader’s guide and accompanying teaching slides.
The Grow Ministries plan is a 52-week study which takes students through the Old and New Testaments in an orderly manner. Students grasp not only what happened, but in what order, with hooks and memory tools to help them remember what they learn. As believers learn about God’s Word, they gain confidence in their understanding and use of the Bible.
A student book, leader’s guide, PowerPoint and Keynote files, and audio files are all available.
Following is an email John Pessima (right), bishop of Sierra Leone Conference, sent to Global Ministries director Jeff Bleijerveld on Monday, December 8. Jeff had already authorized sending $1000. He told Bishop Pessima, “Please don’t hesitate to make us aware of needs during this time of crisis. Our people have been very responsive and we would like to help.”
I am very grateful to the Lord for what he has been doing through you and your team for Sierra Leone since the Ebola crisis began. To be very honest with you, sometimes I become very shy and find it difficult to continuously make appeals for Sierra Leone. But I am also compelled because things are becoming more difficult by the day. We are suffering as a nation from isolation, quarantine, stigma, threats, hunger, etc., all because of this dreadful disease. Some of our members have lost their jobs because their institutions have closed down.
We have been doing our best to make sure that the hospital and staff at Mattru are secured. Justin Marva and I were there on Tuesday [Dec. 2] to investigate a case at the hospital when we had the first Ebola case. The patient traveled from Gbangbatoke to Moriba Town in Rutile, to Mokabba, and to Luawa Jong. From Luawa she was admitted at the hospital before she passed away on Tuesday. After her result proved positive on Thursday [Dec. 4], part of the hospital and some staff members were quarantined–some at the hospital and others at their homes. The total number of staff quarantined is 14. Five are at the hospital quarters and the rest are at their homes quarantined with their families.
This has worried us so much because there is not much food and other supplies from the government for quarantined homes. Individuals and organizations out here fight it out very hard to get food and other items to their families and staff. This is what we want to do for the staff and the villages involved. Apart from the hospital staff, two of our pastors and their families are quarantined also because they had connection and contact with the deceased. They are Rev. J. S. Savalie and Rev. W. O. Solomon.
I appreciate your immediate response to this call…. What you have sent is just for an emergency responce to Mattru hospital. We are also thinking of helping the churches in Kenema and Moyamba which are still quarantined and isolated. I have also been making appeals for our brethren in Liberia, because since they appealed to us for help, we have not reached them with anything.
We appreciate all what God is doing through you and our donors in North America and Canada.
If you would like to help with the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone, contributions can be sent to:
Global Ministries
302 Lake Street
Huntington, IN 46750
Our Mattru Hospital in Sierra Leone has had its first Ebola death. Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries, learned of the situation through an email with Bishop John Pessima and a phone conversation with Dr. Richard Toupin.
The patient came from a village two miles away. It’s not known how that person contracted Ebola, and that is a matter of high concern. The village is now under quarantine.
Also under quarantine are 13 staff at Mattru Hospital. They include one doctor and nine nurses; the rest are administrative or support staff. One of those nurses is the wife of Rev. Bondo, who pastors the Fleming Memorial United Brethren church next to the hospital.
The Bonthe District, where the hospital is located, has been kept largely free from Ebola.
Bishop Pessima will be notifying Jeff Bleijerveld of the hospital’s needs, which will include relief supplies for the persons being quarantined. Jeff says that, thanks to generous donations already made, Global Ministries will be able to respond immediately. Today, December 8, we are sending $1000 to help with the situation.
