08 Apr Funding Provided for Three Haitian Ministerial Students

Yesterday we published information about seven UB ministerial students in Haiti who needed funding to continue their seminary education. One of our churches has agreed to pay the support of three of them–Josue Hilliare, Jean Lois Marcef, and Marechal Frigains. Praise the Lord!

07 Apr Help Sponsor UB Ministerial Students in Haiti

Top row (l-r): Sauveur Jean Jabrun, Marie Mirlaine Fanfan, Jean Louis Chislaine, Jean Louis Marcef. Bottom row: Marechal Frigains, Josue Hiliare, and Brutus Ysnader.

Global Ministries is raising $650 per year for seven United Brethren ministerial students in Haiti. All are members of the Delmas UB church in the greater Port au Prince area; that’s our largest church in Haiti. All seven in their second year at Seminary Thelogie Evangelique Gamaliel in Port au Prince, and plan to serve as United Brethren pastors upon completing the Bachelor of Theology program.

These students paid entirely for their first year and are sponsored for 75% of the current year’s tuition, but do not have sponsors for the remaining two years. They have committed to raising 25% of their support, leaving $650 per year to be provided by a sponsor.

Your contributions will help raise up new ministers for the UB churches in Haiti, and will be a great source of blessing to these future ministers.

• Sauveur Jean Jabrun currently works as an electrician/plumber while completing his studies. (Project HT003)
• Marie Mirlaine Fanfan works as a customs inspector, earning $380 per month, while completing her studies. (Project HT004)
• FUNDED. Josue Hiliare works as a teacher, earning $160 per month. (Project HT005)
• FUNDED. Jean Louis Marcef works as an auto mechanic, earning $110 per month. (Project HT006)
• FUNDED. Marechal Frigains works as a teacher and animator, earning $120 per month. (Project HT007)
• Jean Louis Chislaine . (Project HT008)
• Brutus Ysnader works as an teacher, earning $150 per month. (Project HT009)

If you are interested in supporting any of these students, please send your check to:

Global Ministries
302 Lake Street
Huntington, IN 46750

On the memo line, include the project code given above with each student.

04 Apr Four Countries to Benefit from 2014 Easter Offering

During the Easter season, United Brethren churches are invited to raise funds for several Global Ministries projects. Most churches take an offering, which is then forwarded to Global Ministries. This year’s Easter Offering will support the following projects. Bulletin inserts have been sent to all UB churches with information about these projects.

HIV/AIDS Ministries in India: $20,000
We have three avenues for HIV/AIDS work in India. These may seem like medical-only projects, but the spiritual work is evident in the lives that are changed early in or near the end of people’s lives. Many have taken baptism and joined churches.

1. Project Compassion currently serves 54 children with HIV/AIDS. It provides medical treatment, drugs, education, spiritual counseling, food, clothing, vocational training, and caregivers’ salaries.
2. Home Based Care has 70 families who are HIV/AIDS positive. They live in their own villages, but come to the hospital once a month for provisions, medical care, and spiritual counseling. The Indian government provides drugs after we get them registered. During the month, workers visit the villages to check on the patients’ progress.
3. The Care and Counseling Center, with 20 beds, treats various ailments. It may involve surgery or treating any infections in the final stages of life. The ages range from 1-50 years. The Indian government withdrew funding for this project. In 2013 we started asking patients to pay, in full or in part, for the drugs they need. If they can’t pay, we provide them.

Leadership Development in Mexico: $15,000
The leaders of our 45 churches in Mexico have limited resources for training. Most pastors are bi-vocational, so training takes place through non-formal learning, periodic seminars, and the internet.

Denis Casco, our bishop in Mexico, is training these new United Brethren pastors but needs financial resources to accomplish the task. Your gifts will help buy materials, conduct training events, and cover some of Denis Casco’s expenses.

Conference Center in Nicaragua : $10,000
The new conference center in Masaya is nearly completed. It will provide classroom space, dining facilities, and lodging for 48 persons. In addition, it will be used by volunteers and outside groups to provide income for Nicaragua Conference.

Hospital Renovations in Sierra Leone: $15,000
The United Brethren Mattru Hospital is the only hospital for hundreds of miles. It offers medical care to hundreds of people each month while also sharing the Gospel with them.

In 2013, we repaired vehicles and began renovating a guesthouse and doctor’s quarters. We’d like to finish these projects and continue upgrading the facilities at Mattru Hospital.

We invite you to give toward these projects through your church, or by sending a check directly to Global Ministries:

Global Ministries
302 Lake Street
Huntington, IN 46750

02 Apr With Rick Tyler, Global Ministries Endorsed Staff, in Peru

Rick Tyler (left) on the field with Christian Missions Resource Centre.

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

Rick Tyler is an endorsed member of the Global Ministries staff from Parkwood Gardens UB church in Guelph, Ontario. He serves with the Christian Missions Resource Centre. Rick is currently in Peru on a missions trip. I asked him if he could share a little bit about what they’re doing. Rick sent the following.

Christian Missions Resource Centre serves indigenous ministries in Cuba, Peru, Guatemala and Jamaica spiritually, and with practical gifts of helps.

High in the Peruvian Andies, our short-term mission team in Urubamba, Peru, is ministering with Mision America Church and school (March 29- April 12). Pastor David and Duska Chavez have served their community for over 15 years. Their church has grown to include a TV channel that CMRC had the privilege of building a production studio for last fall. With a medical doctor and family therapist on this year’s team, our team will journey to remote villages offering medical clinics and distributing blankets.

The Mision America school includes all grades, with teaching in both Spanish and English. The school is recognized by local officials as a model educational institution, and enrollment is on the rise. We assist with construction projects and supplies as the school continues to grow.

I consider it a privilege to call these folks friends, and I marvel at their faith in God’s provision. Every trip has its God moments, and this trip is no exception.

The support and encouragement received from Parkwood Gardens church (my home church in Guelph, Ontario), the Ontario Conference, family and friends is greatly appreciated. My mission work truly is a team effort.

02 Apr 38 Years for the Cascos

Denis and Reina Casco.

Congratulations to Denis and Reina Casco, whose 38th anniversary is today. Denis is bishop of Mexico Conference, and Reina pastors a church in Glendale, Calif. Unfortunately, they won’t be celebrating the day together–Denis is currently traveling in El Salvador.

Denis and Reina are originally from Honduras. Denis is the son of the late Arturo Casco, a prominent UB minister and church planter for many years. Denis was trained as a lawyer and worked for World Vision International in Honduras.

They moved to the United States in 1988, at the request of Global Ministries, to launch Latin American Ministries. Denis started a number of Hispanic UB churches in southern California, and also developed relationships with other Hispanic churches in the Southwest.

Relationships in the California churches brought Denis into contact with a group of independent churches in central Mexico, and he began providing general oversight. When Latin American Ministries drew to an end in 2003, Denis maintained his work with the churches in Mexico and in the cities of Juarez and El Paso, which face each other across the Rio Grande. They became an official national conference in 2005, and chose Denis as their bishop.

We now have about 40 churches in Mexico, mostly in the central part of the country north of Mexico City. Denis and Reina continue living in the Los Angeles area, and Denis, often accompanied by his wife, is continuously traveling to visit the churches under his jurisdiction.