04 Aug November Sierra Leone Trip Cancelled
A construction team had been scheduled to travel to Sierra Leone November 7-22 to work at Mattru Hospital. Because of the Ebola outbreak, Global Ministries has cancelled this trip.
04 Aug Our Hispanic Church in Santa Fe, NM
Bishop Phil and Sandy Whipple (seated) with Pastor Jesus and Irma Lopez of the Centro Cristiano Shalom church in Santa Fe, New Mexico. (click to enlarge)
Rev. Denis Casco, bishop of Mexico Conference, speaking at Centro Cristiano Shalom. His networking brought the Santa Fe (and El Paso) churches into the United Brethren fold.
The Friday night service at Centro Cristiano Shalom.
The Lopez family. L-r: Berenice, Irma, an unknown couple, Jesus, and Jaaziel.
A Saturday night gathering at Centro Cristiano Shalom of Hispanic pastors and others from throughout Santa Fe.
Phil Whipple, Bishop
At the end of June, I visited the Hispanic United Brethren churches in El Paso, Texas. Joining me were my wife, Sandy, and Denis Casco, Bishop of Mexico Conference.
On June 27, after a few days in El Paso, we drove to Santa Fe, New Mexico, about five hours straight north. This was my first time in New Mexico. Santa Fe is up about 7000 feet, so it wasn’t as hot as the furnace of El Paso.
We met with Pastor Jesus Lopez and his wife, Irma. Pastor Lopez is very humble in spirit, the type of person you enjoy being around. He and his family originally came form Juarez, Mexico. Jesus has two children—Jaaziel, in his early 20s, and a daughter, Berenice, who is a sophomore in high school.
Centro Cristiano Shalom, their church, a service that night, a Friday night. The congregation was very young. I would guess that Pastor Lopez, who is in his mid to late 40s, is as old as anybody in the church. Both of his children were both part of the worship team, all of whom were probably under age 25. Everything was in Spanish, but a couple songs did use some English, which helped.
My translator was a young woman in her 20s who was attending college locally. She and her husband had just given birth to their first child. She was born in the United States and grew up speaking Spanish, but English is her first language. She did a good job interpreting for me. However, she had some trouble when I asked her to read Scripture from the Spanish Bible. She speaks Spanish well, but is not accustomed to reading Spanish.
They put together a slideshow of Santa Fe to give us a sense of the city. The area has a lot of Indian influences, some satanic worship, and a strong gay movement (a big Gay Pride parade occurred on Sunday).
On Saturday, they took us around the city. One stop was an old Catholic church, now a historical building, which features a spiral staircase with no visible nails. I saw only one joint. An unknown workman built the staircase, and they don’t know how he did it.
On Saturday night, Centro Cristiano Shalom hosted a conference with other pastors and church leaders from the Hispanic community–probably 45-50 people representing about eight different churches. Jesus seemed to be a leader among them. During July, their ministerial group was bringing in a Hispanic speaker for a joint evangelistic effort. They asked me to speak about unity and reconciliation, because there seemed to be some need for that among that group of ministers. It was a very nice night. Both Denis and I spoke, and found the pastors very receptive. Pastor Lopez’s son, who is studying to become a chef, served a nice meal after the service.
The church holds its regular Sunday service at 5 pm. I preached again. Each night’s service was followed by a meal. The people were warm and gracious, and encouraged us to come back. They gave me and Denis very nice long-sleeve shirts on which was printed the UB logo along with the words “Church of the United Brothers in Christ,” a more literal translation of “brethren.” The same wording, along with the UB logo, is used on the outside of the church building.
During the time of Bishop Ray Seilhamer in the late 1990s, a event was organized through Latin American Ministries to training Hispanic UB ministers in the United States. Pastor Lopez took that training. He showed me a certificate of completion hanging on his wall.
Jesus’ command of English is okay, but not great. His wife, Irma, doesn’t understand English at all. The son, in his early 20s, was born in Juarez but entered US schools during his junior high years, whereas the daughter, Bernice, has been in US schools all her life. Her English is very good. Sitting around the table after services, Bernice did the interpreting.
Sunday night, after the service, Pastor Lopez was comfortable enough to sit down and have a conversation with me in English. He could converse fine in English, but he’s uncomfortable doing so, feeling he might miss something. It’s a confidence issue. But the next time I visit, I know I’ll be able to conserve with Jesus without an interpreter.
Next: Back in El Paso with Rev. Robert Espinoza.
03 Aug With Our Hispanic Churches in El Paso
Bishop Phil Whipple (with microphone) closing the Wednesday night service at the El Sembrador church in El Paso. On his left is the church’s pastor, Rev. Robert Espinoza. (click to enlarge)
The worship team at El Sembrador.
L-r: Robert Espinoza, Carlos Chavez (a UB pastor in Juarez, Mexico), a layperson, Bishop Phil Whipple, Bishop Denis Casco.
The El Sembrador church in El Paso.
Phil Whipple, Bishop
During June, Sandy and I visited the United Brethren churches in Texas and New Mexico. We traveled with Denis Casco, Bishop of Mexico Conference. It was through Denis that these churches landed in our fellowship.
You may be surprised to know that we have churches in those states, but we do—four churches in El Paso, Texas, and one in Santa Fe, New Mexico. All are Hispanic churches.
These churches became part of us during the 1990s. At the time, Denis served as Director of Latin American Ministries, working to start Hispanic churches in the United States. Denis, who is excellent at networking, came in contact with these churches and they chose to affiliate with us.
El Paso is on the tip of the far western arm of Texas. Across the Rio Grande River is Juarez, Mexico, which ranks among the most violent cities in the world. We have several churches in Juarez, but they are part of Mexico Conference.
We arrived on a Wednesday and attended a service at the El Sembrador church in El Paso. The pastor there is Robert Espinoza. Among the UB churches in El Paso, he would be considered the leader.
El Sembrador has its own building, which probably seats around 100. It was a pretty full house that night. One of Robert’s daughters led the worship band, and she was excellent. They had guitars, drums, and several vocalists, all fairly young.
They had invited all of the other pastors in both El Paso and Juarez—8 or 9 pastors in all. Robert introduced the various pastors, all of whom came forward to give a testimony. It was a long service, but fun and enjoyable.
Robert has two other children involved in the church. A daughter and her husband will probably be the next pastoral couple among the El Paso churches.
Juarez, Mexico
The next day we crossed into Mexico, along with a lay couple, and toured the UB churches in Juarez. The first church we visited had a woman pastor, whom I had met the night before; she joined us. Robert Espinoza and his wife, Maria, were also there. They traveled with us, in their own vehicle, the rest of the day.
We visited five churches and a preaching point, all United Brethren churches spread out in different parts of Juarez. The church with the newest building is probably a quarter mile from the Rio Grande; you can see El Paso on the other side. That church had started in a small building, no larger than a garage. Now that building is used for storage, and they meet in a newer building, probably 2-3 years old. It’s a wood-frame building, similar to a machine shed with wood siding (most buildings in Mexico use cement blocks). They’re still finishing the inside.
This congregation does a lot of ministry in feeding the many homeless people in that area. Helping these folks gives them a certain sense of protection; they won’t let anything happen to this church, because they get food from there. It’s not the safest location, but the UB members feel safe and have been safe.
We kept picking up the pastors as we went. By the time we reached the final church, our numbers had swelled to at least 20 persons. This was intentional on Denis Casco’s part. Knowing that Juarez was a dangerous city, he thought there would be security in numbers. I wasn’t alarmed by anything I saw in Juarez. However, we visited during the daytime and then returned to El Paso before dark.
Back in El Paso
I spoke at a UB church in El Paso that night. This congregation, much smaller than the night before, met in a strip mall storefront; they had relocated since Bishop Casco’s last visit. There were probably 25-30 people; I doubt the building could have handled more than 40.
Everyone there spoke English…except for the couple who had spent the day driving us around Juarez. For their sake, my message was translated by a young woman named Christina. She is married with three kids, though it looked to me like she could be in high school. This was the first time Christina had ever translated a sermon. She struggled to get into the rhythm of it, but whenever she stumbled over a word, the congregation would help her out, since they all understood English.
It was a good experience for Christina, because it kept her engaged with the message. Some deep work happened in a number of people that night, including Christina, who was in tears by the end of the message. I don’t know her story, but God moved in her life that night.
The pastor there is the brother of Robert Espinoza. He is getting up in years and health issues prevent him from doing much. For that reason another man, a sharp fellow in his mid 40s or 50s, is taking on the role. Though that man wouldn’t call himself the pastor, he does most of the preaching. Christina is his daughter.
Reinforcing the UB Bond
The Hispanic church world seems to place more emphasis on churches starting other churches: “We’re excited about what’s happening here, but we want to plant a church somewhere else, too.” They don’t need a lot of resources, as is usually the case with starting churches among suburban Anglo populations. Give them a speaker and a location, and if people start congregating, they’ll have a church. It’s ingrained in their thinking, part of the DNA of Hispanic ministries.
When the El Paso churches first affiliated with us, some financial support came from the national office. But then a shift occurred—that we would support them from a relationship and training standpoint, but not with finances. They bought into that. I got no sense that they were looking for any kind of financial support. Their interest is in the relationship with other United Brethren churches in the United States. However, I think they would love for us to provide some training for their pastors. We can probably do that.
There’s a good relationship between the churches in Juarez and El Paso, but the border does separate them. The churches in Juarez see themselves as part of Mexico Conference, while the churches in El Paso clearly see themselves as United States churches. That distinction matters to them. However, they are fine with Denis Casco working on both sides of the river.
I appreciate the way Bishop Casco has engaged with these churches during his periodic visits, reinforcing the US United Brethren connection even though he is the bishop in a whole different country. Denis waves the United Brethren banner wherever he goes. To him, being part of the United Brethren Church is more important than which national conference you belong to.
I went to El Paso and Santa Fe wanting to connect these churches with the national church in the US. In all the turmoil following our major restructuring in 2005 and the creation of Mexico Conference, these churches somewhat slid off of our radar. But thanks at least in part to the work of Denis Casco, I founded that being connected to the United Brethren Church is very important to these churches. I look forward to nourishing this relationship in the years ahead.
Tomorrow: Visiting the UB church in Santa Fe
30 Jul Sept 20: HU Hosting New Conference for Youth Workers and Student Leaders
EQUIP2:6 is a new conference for youth workers and student leaders in northeast Indiana. It will occur on Saturday, September 20 on the campus of Huntington University. The cost is $15 per person.
The conference is the work of a team of local church youth pastors, parachurch youth workers, the Ministry Department of Huntington University, and others who share in a two-fold vision:
- To impact the young people of Northeast Indiana by helping equip area Christian youth workers and student leaders for faithful and effective ministry.”
- To see mutually edifying relationships built among the ministries in the targeted area.
The keynote speaker is Dr. Richard Ross, author of “Student Ministry and the Supremacy of Christ” (CrossBooks 2009). Ross is professor of Youth Ministry at Southwest Seminary (Texas), and founder and spokesperson for the international True Love Waits movement.
Sponsors include Huntington University, the UB National Office, Youth for Christ, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
Schedule
| 8am | Registration |
| 9-10:15am | Worship Gathering & Keynote Address I |
| 10:45-11:45am | Breakout Session #1 |
| Lunch | |
| 1:30-2:30pm | Breakout Session #2 |
| 3-4:15pm | Worship Gathering & Keynote Address II |
| 4:30-5:30pm | Optional Group Gatherings |
Between sessions, participants can go to the Merillat Centre for the Arts for refreshments and to see exhibitors.
30 Jul Pachecos: First UB Missionaries from Honduras
Since United Brethren ministry to Spanish-speakers began in 1951, Honduras National Conference has grown to include over 115 churches, an international school, a retreat center, and a theological institute. However, an unfulfilled ambition has been to send missionaries overseas.
Introducing Milton and Erika Pacheco. In April, Honduras approved them for missionary service in partnership with Global Ministries. The location is yet to be confirmed, but Thailand is a serious consideration.
Milton holds an undergraduate degree in business administration and a graduate degree from the conference seminary. He currently works for Habitat for Humanity, and he regularly ministers as a singer/songwriter in local churches. Erika works with Marilyn Reeck with the Summer Institute of Linguistics. Both Milton and Erika plan to spend about a year at Huntington University studying missions.
They will be the first United Brethren missionaries sent out from Honduras.
29 Jul Ebola: Resistance, Rumors, and Conspiracy Theories
About 1100 cases of Ebola have been reported in the neighboring West African countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia. Since this is the first Ebola outbreak in West Africa, people are unfamiliar with the disease and unequipped to deal with it. Plus, rumors and conspiracy theories make people suspicious of healthcare workers. It is very difficult to convince people of the truth about Ebola.
Ebola came to Sierra Leone in May 2014, brought by a woman who was infected by persons from Guinea. Family members ignored a local quarantine. She died, and since tradition only allowed other women to touch or wash her body, the next cases were also women. A local quarantine was ignored, and the disease spread.
Sierra Leone officials have since banned traditional funerals, and the bodies of Ebola victims must now be buried by health workers wearing protective clothing. Many Sierra Leoneans find this disrespectful. Tradition calls for the manual washing of dead bodies, but merely touching the body of an Ebola victim can transmit the disease. People resist having loved ones removed from a family’s care and their bodies buried in mass graves. Ebola victims are often hidden by family members, who resort to traditional treatments.
The epidemic is complicated by local opposition and conspiracy theories.
In Liberia:
- Doctors Without Borders abandoned a rural clinic after a mob attacked, claiming foreigners were spreading diseases. Something similar happened to the Red Cross.
- A mob tried to raid a morgue to recover the bodies of family members, wanting to give them a proper burial.
- In another area, armed men chased off government health workers.
In Guinea:
- There is widespread belief that foreign health workers are spreading the disease.
- Health workers have found their vehicles surrounded by hostile crowds armed with stones and machetes.
- Log barriers block access to some villages.
- At least 12 villages are inaccessible for security reasons, even though persons there probably have Ebola.
In Sierra Leone:
- On July 25, thousands of people gathered outside the country’s main Ebola hospital in Kenema, threatening to remove patients and burn the hospital down. A former nurse had spread charges that the Ebola scare was invented to conceal cannibalistic rituals at the hospital. Police fired tear gas into the crowd.
- Near Koindu, family members removed four victims from a community health center to prevent them from being taken to a government hospital.
- A man in Kenema left an isolation ward and traveled to Freetown, where he was treated in a private home for a week before medical officials located him and returned him to Kenema.
- An estimated 60 persons—suspected and confirmed Ebola cases—have escaped from hospitals and gone into hiding.
- One woman fled an ambulance sent to take her to the hospital, but emerged from hiding after the symptoms became unbearable. She recovered.
- In Freetown, family members forcibly removed a woman from a treatment center and took her to a traditional healer. A nationwide hunt ensued. She was found, but died in an ambulance en route to a hospital.
Ebola Awareness and Prevention Project
Sierra Leone Conference has devised an ambitious plan to educate people about Ebola. Most of the 78 UB churches in Sierra Leone are located in areas with confirmed cases of Ebola. Global Ministries is hoping to raise $15,000 to help underwrite the project. One UB church has already committed to sending $1000, plus additional funds as needed.
29 Jul Maria Pavon: First UB Missionary from Nicaragua
Maria Pavon would tell you God called her to be a missionary from a young age. Growing up in Nicaragua, the daughter of pastor and superintendent Rev. Juan Pavon, she had plenty of opportunities to be involved in ministry, but missions seemed a distant dream.
Then along came Jeff and April Dice, Global Ministries non-traditional staff who spend a few months each year in Nicaragua facilitating our partnership with the conference and coordinating the efforts of volunteer teams. They helped Maria nurture that vision and make her way to Huntington University to prepare for missions. She completed a degree in Elementary Education while taking as many mission and ministry courses as possible.
Maria graduated in May 2014 and is currently involved in an internship, which will have her student teaching in Michigan among other activities. While her specific assignment has yet to be determined, it will most likely involve teaching as a means to do ministry in Asia.
She will be the first United Brethren missionary sent out from Nicaragua.
28 Jul UBs in Sierra Leone Amidst Worst-Ever Ebola Outbreak
Steve Dennie, Communications Director
It’s the worst Ebola outbreak in history, and Sierra Leone is right in the middle of it. This is the first outbreak in West Africa, and the first outbreak to cross national borders. It started in Guinea in February, and spread to neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Sierra Leone, which is ill-equipped to deal with the disease, now has the most confirmed cases–454 as of July 25. Of those, 224 have died. Among the deaths was a United Brethren woman from our church in Kenema, the country’s third-largest city. In addition, three workers at our Mattru Hospital have been diagnosed with Ebola.
Doctors Without Borders, which has a team of 300 working in the three countries, says the disease is out of control. There have been over 1100 confirmed cases, of whom nearly 700 have died. The death toll as of July 25:
- Guinea: 319.
- Sierra Leone: 224.
- Liberia: 129.
Ebola victims have been identified in over 60 locations across those three countries. Persons boarding international flights from the three capitals–Freetown, Monrovia, and Conakry–are now being checked for signs of fever. In addition, Nigeria, the largest country in Africa, experienced its first Ebola death on July 22, when an American flew into the country after having been exposed to Ebola while in Liberia.
The virus commonly infects healthcare workers. Dr. Sheik Umar Khan, the main doctor leading the nation’s fight against Ebola, and who treated over 100 patients, contracted Ebola and died on July 29. Three nurses who worked with Dr. Khan had previously died.
In neighboring Liberia, two American missionaries have contracted Ebola. Both have worked at the same hospital on the outskirts of Monrovia since the fall of 2013. Both are in critical condition. Dr. Kent Brantly, 33, from Texas, was medical director for the Samaritan’s Purse Ebola care center. Nancy Writebol, from North Carolina, with SIM (Serving in Mission), worked as a hygienist who decontaminated persons entering or leaving the center. Both are married with children. On July 25, Samaritan’s Purse in Liberia saw 12 new cases, of whom eight were medical personnel.
Cases have been reported in the capital cities of all three countries. Crowded, urban centers can easily spread Ebola. In Sierra Leone, nearly all cases have occurred in the parts of the country where United Brethren churches exist. The Kailahun and Kenema regions, in the east, have been designed as “high risk” areas. Schools in the Kenema area are closed and travel restricted.
The government hospital in Kenema is one of the best-equipped hospitals in the country. However, there is just one nurse for every 550 patients.
What is Ebola?
Ebola typically kills 90% of the people infected, and there is no vaccination. However, early detection and treatment have reduced the death rate to 60%.
Ebola is is named after a river in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), where one of the first outbreaks occurred in 1976. In that outbreak, 280 of 318 infected people died.
Ebola takes 2-21 days to incubate. Once symptoms appear, many people die within 10 days. Ebola isn’t contagious until symptoms appear–fever, headache, fatigue, sore throat, muscle pain. Since those symptoms are common with various ordinary ailments, including malaria, Ebola is often not recognized right away. Symptoms progress to vomiting, diarrhea, kidney and liver problems, and ultimately, massive internal hemorrhaging and bleeding from the eyes, ears, and other orifices.
Ebola is highly contagious. It can spread through contact with blood, saliva, sweat, urine, as well as through contact with objects (like needles) which have come in contact with infected bodily fluids. It lingers in infected corpses and can infect people who handle corpses.
An International Scare
Patrick Sawyer, a Liberian who lives in Minnesota with his American wife and children, boarded a plane in Liberia, stopped in Ghana, changed planes in Togo, and arrived in Lagos, Nigeria, on July 22. He died five days later. He probably contracted Ebola from his sister in Liberia, who had recently died of Ebola.
Sawyer collapsed after leaving the plane and was immediately isolated. All other passengers on that last flight are being monitored, and efforts are being made to locate others he came in contact with during his journey.
Think of how many people he probably came in contact with. Think of sitting shoulder to shoulder with him in a cramped airplane seat, knowing that Ebola can be passed via sweat through clothing. In August, Sawyer was due to return to his family in Minnesota.
The Nigerian government shut down the private hospital in which Sawyer died and began a decontamination process, which was expected to take a week. Hospital staff, along with 59 of Sawyer’s fellow plane passengers, are being monitored closely. Nigeria’s largest airline has suspended flights to Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Ebola Awareness and Prevention Project
Global Ministries is sponsoring a project which would enable Mattru Hospital to focus resources on the Ebola epidemic.
26 Jul Obit: Death of Donna Hollopeter’s Mother
Donna Hollopeter, associate director of Global Ministries since 1993, is mourning the death of her mother, who passed away on Friday, July 25. The funeral will be held 11 am Wednesday, July 30, at Alan Funeral Home in Bloomsburg, Pa.
Condolences can be sent to Donna at this address:
Donna Hollopeter
38 Quayle Run
Huntington, IN 46750
22 Jul UB History Course: Sept 2014 in Chambersburg, Pa.
The United Brethren History Course is a requirement for ministerial licensing in the United Brethren denomination. However, people who just want to learn more about United Brethren history are free to take the course. The course is held periodically in regional settings.
During the past two years, 110 people have attended the course in 12 different locations.
The next edition will be held September 22-23, 2014, in Chambersburg, Pa.
Date: September 22-23, 2014 (Monday and Tuesday)
Time: 9 am – 4 pm each day
Location: Mount Pleasant UB Church.
Address: 2509 Black Gap Road, Chambersburg, PA 17202
Instructor
Daryl Elliott (right), senior pastor of Fountain UB church (Keyser, W. Va.).
Registration Cost
- $200, if you are seeking a ministerial license.
- $100 for everyone else.
- $20 for “Trials and Triumphs,” a history of the United Brethren church. ($14.95 for the book, $5.05 shipping for US, $12.95 international). The book will be sent from the national office.
Payment
Course payment must be sent one week prior to the class, unless other arrangements are made. Send to:
United Brethren in Christ
302 Lake Street
Huntington, Ind. 46750
Make checks payable to “United Brethren in Christ.”
Direct any questions to Cathy Reich, Administrative Assistant.