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02 Dec

December 2, 2014 |


Members of the Huntington University baseball team are getting ready to spend part of January in Nicaragua, where they will conduct baseball clinics and play against local teams. This will be the third such trip; the others occurred in 2012 and 2014.

Two UB ministers will take part once again: Josh Kesler, pastor of The Well (Huntington, Ind.), and Jeff Dice, associate pastor of Brown Corners UB church (Clare, Mich.).

Do you have any used baseball equipment they could take with them? They’ll use it in the clinics with Nicaraguan kids. If so, contact Jeff Dice by email.

02 Dec

December 2, 2014 |

Global Ministries recently launched its own Facebook page. We post late-breaking news and other information there. Already, over 300 people “Like” our page. Go here.

Are you receiving the Global Ministries Prayer Guide? This monthly email provides regular updates on how to pray for our world, international partners, Global Ministries staff, and short-term volunteers. Currently, about 175 people receive it. Subscribe here.

02 Dec

December 2, 2014 |

Bishop Phil Whipple (right) presenting a retirement pin to Mike Arnold.

Bishop Phil Whipple (right) presenting a retirement pin to Mike Arnold.

On Sunday, November 30, Bishop Phil Whipple presented a retirement pin to Rev. Mike Arnold. It was his last Sunday as pastor of Crossroads UB church in Charlotte, Mich., the church Arnold has pastored since 1999.

Arnold come out of what is now New Hope Community UB church in Bryan, Ohio. He began pastoring in the United Brethren church in 1984, serving four years at the Sherwood-Delaware circuit and then five years at West Windsor UB church in Dimondale, Mich. In 1993, he started a UB church in DeWitt, Mich., serving there until 1999.

Arnold graduated from Huntington University in 1986 with a degree in Bible & Religion, and received the Master of Christian Ministry from HU in 1990. He was ordained in 1990.

01 Dec

December 1, 2014 |

Every year, Global Ministries sponsors trips to our international conferences. Here are the ones currently scheduled for 2015.

January 3-10. Construction trip to Malvern Camp in Jamaica. Cost: $750 per person plus airfare. Team leader: Dwight Kuntz.

February 7–14. Construction trip to Jamaica to work on the new dining hall at Regent College of the Caribbean. Cost: $750 plus airfare. Team leader: Dwight Kuntz.

March 7–14. Ministry trip to Guatemala to work with Global Ministries partnering agency CH Global. Cost: $750 plus airfare.

April 11-25. Construction trip to Sierra Leone to work on Harmonie House at Mattru Hospital. Cost: $2500 per person. (Contingent on the Ebola crisis.)

April. The big annual Women’s Institute in Bo, Sierra Leone. Leader: Donna Hollopeter. Cost: $2500. (Contingent on the Ebola crisis.)

June 19–27. Medical mission trip to Honduras. Team leaders: Robert and Fonda Cassidy. Cost: $750 per person plus airfare.

June 26—July 8. English camp for teens in Poland. Cost: $750 per person plus airfare. The team will work with missionaries Donna and Arek Delik, church planters in Kutno.

July 25—August 1. Construction team to work at the new conference center in Masaya, Nicaragua. Cost: $750 plus airfare.

October 10-24. Construction trip to Sierra Leone to continue remodeling Harmonie House in Mattru. Cost: $2500 per person. (Contingent on the Ebola crisis.)

October 10-17. Construction trip to Jamaica to work on the new dining hall at Regent College of the Caribbean. Cost: $750 plus airfare. Team leader: Dwight Kuntz.

November 11-21. Ministry/vision trip to Macau. Cost: $2500 per person. More information will be presented at the UB National Conference in Michigan in July 2015.

26 Nov

November 26, 2014 |

Bishop John Pessima (right) of Sierra Leone Conference reports that the Ebola crisis has crippled the economy and basic food prices have soared. Offerings have been taken locally, and rice has been purchased and distributed among UB churches. But their resources are limited.

Bishop Pessima has traveled regularly among churches to encourage and pray for pastors and members. He is particularly concerned about our nine churches in Liberia whom they have not been able to visit or help.

United Brethren churches and individuals have already generously provided thousands of dollars to help with the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone. However, the crisis is far from over, and may indeed become much worse.

Any continuing gifts you provide for Ebola relief will be passed on without any administrative fees being taken out. You can send donations to:

Global Ministries
302 Lake Street
Huntington, IN 46750

25 Nov

November 25, 2014 |

As you examine health insurance plans for your church staff, you might want to consider two plans offered through the United Brethren Association for Church Development, based at Rhodes Grove Camp in Chambersburg, Pa. This is our denomination’s voluntary insurance program. About 50 UB people, including the staff of the US national office in Indiana, are enrolled in the plan.

The UB Association offers two programs with Capital Blue Cross of Pennsylvania. The policies are effective December 1, 2014 through December 1, 2015.

25 Nov

November 25, 2014 |
A pallet of food being loaded onto a truck at Cochranton Community Church, for shipment to Sierra Leone.

A pallet of food being loaded onto a truck at Cochranton Community Church, for shipment to Sierra Leone.

Containers at a shipyard.

Containers at a shipyard.

United Brethren pastors Joe Abu (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Michael Mudge (Cumberland, Md.) worked with a cluster of UB churches in Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, and Pennsylvania to fill a 20-foot container with medical supplies and equipment. The churches secured donations, purchased items, and raised all but $2000 of the $8000 needed to send the shipment. The additional $2000 was provided from generous gifts sent to Global Ministries.

Another container with food items donated by UBs is now on its way to Sierra Leone through the organization Brother’s Brother, and we funded a second container filled with medical supplies for sierra Leone.

Global Ministries learned that the Brother’s Brother was sending a 40-foot container of medical and relief supplies to Sierra Leone (in 2010, Brother’s Brother provided 76 hospital beds to Mattru Hospital). They had room for one pallet of food items and offered it to us, but we had to get the pallet to Pittsburgh within two weeks.

Pastor Steve Clulow and his folks at Cochranton UB church (Cochranton, Pa.) offered to receive all donated food and prepare the pallet. With the help of Dave Staples, a church member who owns a shipping supplies company, they delivered the pallet in time.

A Baptist group paid the $11,000 needed to send that container; other containers were funded by other denominations. We agreed to underwrite the next container, and once again UB donors stepped forward. When Brother’s Brother told us they had the next container packed with nearly $400,000 of medical supplies, we were able to send a check for $11,000 that same day and commit to covering the clearing fees once the container arrived in Freetown.

25 Nov

November 25, 2014 |

John Pessima, bishop of Sierra Leone Conference, was contacted by Dr. Ladipoh, a Sierra Leonean who studied medicine in Germany. Dr. Ladipoh is board chairman of the UB church in Berlin, which includes many immigrants from Sierra Leone.

Dr. Ladipah is also vice chairman of Bintumani, an organization in Germany that has provided countless supplies to Mattru Hospital over the years.

He and members of the Berlin United Brethren church sent 14 cartons of Ebola equipment and supplies for the hospital. Everything arrived in early November.

25 Nov

November 25, 2014 |
L-r: Roger Overmyer, Bishop Phil Whipple, Amanda and Steve Henry, and Gary Small.

L-r: Roger Overmyer, Bishop Phil Whipple, Amanda and Steve Henry, and Gary Small.

Bishop Phil Whipple conducting the ordination service.

Bishop Phil Whipple conducting the ordination service.

Steve Henry, pastor of Victory Heights UB church (Franklin, Pa.), was ordained on Sunday, November 23. Bishop Phil Whipple conducted the ordination service, assisted by former pastor Roger Overmyer and Gary Small, pastor of the Atlantic Avenue UB church in Franklin.

Steve Henry has been pastor of Victory Heights since 2006.

25 Nov

November 25, 2014 |

Dr. Paul Michelson plans to retire from Huntington University in May 2015. He has been a history professor at HU since 1974. When he retires next year, it’ll be 41 years, one of the longest tenures of any professor in the school’s history.

“I’m going to be 70,” he said. “I think that’s probably a good time to call it a day. …. I’m still in reasonable condition. I need to get my book done before I turn completely senile.” He has written or co-edited six books. This will be his seventh.

In addition to his service at Huntington University, Dr. Michelson was a member of College Park UB church in Huntington and served 12 years on the denomination’s Executive Leadership Team, 1993-2005.

Michelson earned his Ph.D. from Indiana University, and considered positions at Taylor and LeTourneau universities before choosing HU.

“For one reason or another, this one to me looked more interesting,” he said. “I applied, they invited me up for an interview. I liked the people I met, who seemed serious but fun loving.”

He added, “For a very small school, Huntington had a lot of hard-working but first-class people – people who were here obviously for the teaching side of it and who were active in their fields.”

Michelson and Jack Barlow, the only other history professor at the time, formed a legendary team. Dr. Dwight Brautigam, who joined the team 27 years ago, said of Michelson, “He cares deeply about students and wants them to become the best Christian thinkers they can be, a pretty noble and significant goal if there ever was one. Of course, all of this comes in a package of sometimes bizarre humor.”

For more about Dr. Michelson, read this article published in the student newspaper, the Huntingtoninan.