26 May The Story of Jill Van Deusen

Jill Van Deusen

Jill Van Deusen, 70, a former missionary in Sierra Leone, passed away on Thursday, May 23, 2013, at the University of Toledo Medical Center.

Jill, a native of Hillsdale, Mich., served as a teacher in Sierra Leone for nine years. After returning from Sierra Leone, Jill worked two years in Washington DC with Angel Tree Prison Fellowship, and then moved to Archbold, Ohio, where she taught school at Four County Career Center, near Archbold, and also worked at the Archbold Library. She was a member of the Archbold Evangelical Church.

Jill Van Deusen almost died in Africa, back in August 1979. Here is that story. 

Steve Dennie, Communications Director

On Tuesday afternoon, August 21, 1979, Jill Van Deusen told Dr. Ron Baker that she had experienced weakness in her right hand since that morning. The next morning, Jill couldn’t get out of bed; she was almost completely paralyzed.

The quick paralysis shocked Dr. Baker, and he wondered what they could do in a minimally equipped bush hospital. How would they keep her breathing if her respiratory muscles became paralyzed? If they tried to evacuate her from the country, could she survive the trip? He consulted, by radio, doctors in Freetown and at the Wesleyan hospital at Kamakwie, and a doctor from the Catholic hospital in Serabu came to Mattru. They all agreed that Jill probably had Guillain-Barre Syndrom, a rare disease of the spinal cord, and that she needed to leave for Freetown right away.

All the missionaries pitched in. Judy Hoath ran the outpatient clinic. Sharon Frank took the Catholic doctor back to Serabu. Sharon Birdsall gathered the necessary drugs and medical equipment. Dennis Burkholder and Scott Taylor ran lab tests on Jill. Tina Wilkins helped care for Jill. Phil Fiedler made last-minute mechanical repairs on the hospital van for the trip. Cathy Jordan packed Jill’s things, and Jane Baker packed for Ron. Throughout the day, many Africans came to show their concern.

They removed the middle seat from the hospital van to accommodate a stretcher. Then, after a prayer time, Dr. Baker and Sharon Birdsall, along with an African driver, began the long journey to Freetown. Cathy Jordan and another African, Joseph Jaiah, followed behind in a Suzuki jeep. The bumpy dirt road jostled the stretcher, so they stopped several times to readjust it.

After two-and-a-half hours, they arrived in Bumpe, where Jerry Datema and June Brown were waiting. June Brown brought another blanket, Jerry Datema offered a prayer, and they continued the remaining 150 miles to Freetown. They arrived at Connaught Government Hospital in Freetown at 1:30 Thursday morning. Jill was doing well, but was glad the trip was over.

The paralysis didn’t spread much that night. “As always, Jill was courageous and calm, a quality that gave strength to all of us,” Dr. Baker later wrote in the November 1979 United Brethren magazine. “Her attitude in the face of near death and almost total paralysis revealed an underlying faith that we will never forget.” (more…)

25 May 25 Years Later: Remembering Patti Stone

Steve Dennie, Communications Director

On September 2, 1981, Bishop Clarence Kopp, Jr., had a unique encounter at a restaurant in Huntington, Ind. He met a man he had nudged toward the Lord 20 years before, when he was pastoring Prescott Avenue UB church in Dayton, Ohio.

It was a home visit during a conference evangelism workshop. As Kopp explained the Four Spiritual Laws to this man, fellow minister Rev. Howard Anderson held the man’s baby daughter in his lap. The man didn’t want to accept Christ then, so Kopp left him a piece of paper on which he had written out the Four Spiritual Laws. The man kept the paper and reread it almost daily. Finally, he did become a Christian.

What was he doing in Huntington, 20 years later? He was bringing his daughter to Huntington University.

The girl’s name was Patti Stone.

Patti started her college education at Huntington University and then transferred to Marion College (now Indiana Wesleyan) in Marion, Ind., to study nursing.

Wendy Feusse, who worked at Huntington University, joined a small work crew from the college which traveled to Sierra Leone in January 1985. They were joined by Michelle Becker and Patti Stone, two former Huntington students who were now intern nurses from Marion College.

In Freetown, the group went to the beach with some Peace Corps workers. A huge wave hit the raft Wendy was using, and she found herself floating facedown, paralyzed, unable to move. Patti saved her life that day. But that was only the beginning of what Patti did for Wendy.

“From the time I painfully entered the van until the following day,” Wendy recalled, “she served as my personal nurse. She held my hand, talked to me about my fears, helped me laugh, reassured me, prayed with me, loved me. We hardly knew each other. But somehow, she understood what I was going through, as I lay on my bed feeling lonelier than ever and enduring the most pain I have ever experienced. I will never forget that special time of healing.”

At Mattru, Wendy says, “I was amazed by Patti as I watched her in action. She walked around the hospital like she had grown up there. Many Sierra Leoneans already knew Patti; they were drawn to her. She related almost naturally to the people and the environment. You could tell she loved being there. It radiated from her.” (more…)

23 May The Story of Two Teachers in Haiti

Rosemond

Rosemond with students

Pauline

Pauline and some of her students

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries

Meet Rosemond and Pauline, two examples of dedicated teachers pouring their lives into the next generation in Port-au-Prince, Haiti:

Rosemond has been teaching for 10 years and currently teaches grade 6 at the school in Delmas 33, one of the United Brethren churches in Haiti. He wanted to be a teacher from a young age. He loves the children and especially enjoys teaching them history.

Rosemond and his family lived in a rural village when he was a child. He was able to attend elementary school at an unaccredited church school because it was supported by the church and those outside the community. As a result of being given this chance and exceling in school, his family moved in to the city of Port-au-Prince so he could attend high school. He then went on to get his teaching qualifications so that he could give an even better standard of teaching than the one he had received.

“Haiti needs schools,” Rosemond says. He likes to “bring my contribution to the children’s lives” so that they can “bring their contribution to Haiti as adults.” He is very glad to bring education and God’s love to children, since it meant so much to him at that age. He is grateful that school gave him a chance at a better life.

Pauline teaches grade 2 and loves teaching the children math and social studies. She loves the children. She says, “If you want to fight against vicious cycles and change culture, education is important.” She says she views her job as important because “any child could be the citizen that changes Haiti’s future.”

Pauline also enjoyed school growing up and went on to become a qualified teacher. As a child, she attended a quality private school because of the support she received through a child sponsorship program. She is so thankful for the sponsor who gave her that opportunity.

Education is investing in the next generation. Both Rosemond and Pauline were given roads to a better future through the educational opportunities they were given.

The Delmas 33 school is the result of a partnership between the United Brethren in Christ Church in Haiti and Christian Horizons Global. Together we are able to provide the opportunity for children to learn in an environment where they are also shown God’s love through teachers that love them. One way or another, children are Haiti’s future. It is our hope that they grow secure in God’s love and with the skills they need to make that future bright.

We have four United Brethren schools in Haiti. Currently, 194 children are sponsored and another 151 children are on a waiting list (128 children have never been sponsored, and 23 have lost their sponsor and are waiting to be re-sponsored).

There are two ways you can support the education of children in Haiti:

1. Support an individual child for just $36 per month
2. Provide a special gift to help fund the United Brethren school the children attend.

To learn more or to make a donation, visit our partners CH Global at CHGlobal.org/give/haiti/