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27 Sep

September 27, 2012 |

Bryan and Emily Gerlach

Bryan and Emily Gerlach have been approved as full support staff with Global Ministries. They will serve in northern Thailand sometime in the second half of 2013.

Bryan grew up in the Mt. Pleasant UB church in Chambersburg, Pa., and was a leader in the youth group. He graduated in 2010 from Houghton College (Houghton, NY) with a degree in Music Education. His short-term mission work includes trips to Mexico, eastern Europe, and the Ivory Coast.

Emily grew up in a military family, and lived a couple years at a time in Japan, the Azores, the Netherlands, and in six different states. She became a Christian during high school through a youth group. She attended three years of college at Spring Arbor (Spring Arbor, Mich.), and then transferred to Buffalo State College (Buffalo, NY), from which she graduated in 2011 with a degree in Art Education. She also participated in cross-cultural trips to Egypt and Belize.

Bryan and Emily were married in July 2010. In August 2011, they began a year as missionary teachers at All Nations Christian Academy in South Korea. While there, they attended a church that was very focused on human rights issues, including the plight of children and refugees who become exploited in human trafficking in Southeast Asia, especially northern Thailand.

They are currently living in Chambersburg, Pa. In preparation for service in Thailand, they are raising support and working in a Global Ministries internship in partnership with the King Street and Mount Pleasant UB churches in Chambersburg.

24 Sep

September 24, 2012 |

Donna Hollopeter, associate director of Global Ministries, with Dwight and Patti Kuntz and all the mums.

Lots of variety.

Dwight unloads mums from the trailer as Donna Hollopeter and (on right) Patti and Frank Y watch.

Union Chapel (Fort Wayne, Ind.) is planning a trip to Jamaica in January 2013. As a fundraiser, Dwight and Patti Kuntz grew and are selling some beautiful mums.

They came by the Healthy Ministry Resources office on Monday, September 24, with a trailer filled with planters of mums–all different colors. Huge, and gorgeous. They found a lot of buyers.

The trip will occur January 8-22, 2013. The team will work on building a new dining hall complex at Jamaica Bible College. The school outgrew the old hall, which seats just 75 persons, a while back. The new dining hall will seat 350. It will double as a place to hold graduation ceremonies.

Specifically, they will concentrate on the first floor. The footers are in, and they will begin laying block for the walls–carrying cement blocks and steel rod, shoveling sand and stone, etc.

If you’re interested in participating on the team, contact Dwight Kuntz by email.

24 Sep

September 24, 2012 |

A UB Mid-Sized Church Conference is being held September 24-27 in Daytona Beach, Fla. The conference is designed for pastors and spouses from United Brethren churches with an average attendance of 150-300. The theme is “Breaking Through Common Barriers.”

A group of 37 persons are attending. They include senior pastors from 22 of the 25 UB churches in this attendance range.

Lodging for Monday through Wednesday evenings at the Ocean Walk Resort is covered, as is one evening meal. Participants are paying for transportation and all other meals.

The basic schedule:

  • Monday, September 24. The event begins with a 6:30 dinner, after which Bishop Phil Whipple will speak to the group.
  • Tuesday. Workshops in the morning, with the rest of the day free (hit the beach go golfing, etc.).
  • Wednesday. Workshops in the morning, afternoon free, with an 8 pm closing session.
  • Thursday. A service project with First UB church in nearby Holly Hill, Fla.

Presenters will be UB pastors from the larger churches who have at least taken a church through the 400 barrier. Topics include: Space Utilization, Leading vs. Managing, Staffing, Developing Leaders Around You, and Impacting Your Community.

Persons attending from the national office are Bishop Phil Whipple, Jeff Bleijerveld (Director of Global Ministries), Dennis Miller (Cluster Coordinator), and Gary Gates (Director of Ministerial Licenses).

Getaway meetings for pastors, staff, and spouses from the largest UB churches (300+) have been held somewhat regularly for about eight years.

24 Sep

September 24, 2012 |

Sarah Bonner has joined the Global Ministries family as an endorsed staff. She grew up in the Emmanuel Community Church in Fort Wayne, Ind. Her sister, Jenaya, is part of the Global Ministries staff in Macau.

Sarah serves with Every Community for Christ, the church multiplication catalyst of One Mission Society (formerly OMS International). She works at the OMS World Headquarters in Greenwood, Ind., as the administrative assistant to the international director of Every Community for Christ.

Sarah assists with communication, organization, and event coordination. This involves many different tasks such as email and phone correspondence, providing up-to-date documents and information, creating organizational systems, and helping to plan training events at headquarters and around the world.

Sarah graduated from Huntington University in 2011 with a degree in sociology. She had the opportunity to complete two internships at OMS headquarters in 2011, and God has opened the doors for her to continue to serve in Greenwood. She is currently raising support to serve fulltime in this capacity.

24 Sep

September 24, 2012 |

Dan Paternoster

Dan Paternoster, who was struck by a car on August 28 while riding his bike, is making good progress. Here are recent excerpts posted to CarePages.com by Dan’s wife, Nancy. Dan, a veterinarian from the UB church in Fowlerville, Mich., is a member of denominational the Executive Leadership Team.

Thursday, Sept. 20. Wednesday was a busy and exhausting day. Dan was moved to rehab, which meant that we also moved with him. He is working with physical, occupational, and speech therapy twice each day, and this is wearing him out. Maybe he’ll start sleeping better at night now. (It’s so easy to get your days and nights mixed up in the hospital.) The current plan is for us to be here for 4-6 weeks, then possible further outpatient rehab in the Lansing area.

Friday, Sept. 21. Rehab is hard work, but we’re seeing progress! Yesterday and today were spent relearning how to walk. It’s not done for very long or without lots of assistance, but it IS happening. I’m sure it feels good to be moving again. Dan can still read well, but has a hard time recalling words. His speech therapist and his occupational therapist are both working on this. Dan can have visitors from 5:30-8 pm, but there’s no guarantee that he’ll be very awake then. His therapy sessions take up most of his day, every day, and are tiring him out.

Saturday, Sept. 22. Dan used a regular walker today! He still needed help, but walked much of his half hour therapy time. Today his trach tube was capped and he tolerated it well. Just a few more days of doing well this way and the trach will be removed. Dan was given ice chips to chew and swallow yesterday. Soon he’ll be tried on other foods to make sure that he won’t have trouble eating. If this goes well, the feeding tube will be removed.

22 Sep

September 22, 2012 |

On Sunday, September 16, Morocco UB church (Temperance, Mich.) held a Family Fun Fest after the morning worship service. Mark Smith reports:

“God blessed us with great weather, and many people came to have fun, eat, and fellowship all for free. We were not only able to have bouncin fun things for the children along with games, face painting, and crafts to do. We had great food, including a homemade ice cream-making contest. Out of the seven entries, Pastor Todd Greenman’s vanilla entry won and he went home with the Golden Scoop Award. We also were able to show off our improvements made to our santuary windows and other projects. God is blessing and using Morocco to reach many for his kindgom.”

21 Sep

September 21, 2012 |

Brian Magnus, bishop of the United Brethren Church in Canada, sent this note:

“We received some sad news this afternoon. My Mom, Lois Magnus, has been diagnosed with cancer and has been given three months to live.

“They have been removing up to three litres of fluid from her chest cavity each day this week, and cancer cells have been found in the fluid. She will be receiving palliative care only from this point.

“We really appreciate your prayers for her and Dad (Martin), and will keep you posted with any further news. Thanks for all of the cards that you have sent while Mom is in the hospital. Dad brings them from home to her each day.”

Cards can be sent to:

Rev. Martin and Lois Magnus
118 Ross Avenue
Kitchener, ON N2A 2A4
CANADA

20 Sep

September 20, 2012 |

Kilburn Avenue UB church (Rockford, Ill.) baptized five people on September 16, with 50+ people present. Pastor Barry Skinner reports, “Another four and possibly two more people want to be baptized next month, and another couple wants me to marry them in the church. New people are getting involved in ministry of the church.”

20 Sep

September 20, 2012 |

Charlie and Ruth Snider (seated) with family members on their 70th anniversary celebration on September 15.

Charlie and Ruth Snider, from Toronto, Ontario,  celebrated their 70th anniversary on August 15, 2012. They knew each other as children, and were married in 1942 just two weeks before he went off to serve in the military.

Ruth Snider is an ordained minister and former pastor in Ontario Conference, as well as a former member of the denominational board of missions and former director of Food for the Hungry Canada. Charlie has worked on numerous building projects throughout the world. Charlie turned 90 in 2009, and Ruth in 2010.

 

18 Sep

September 18, 2012 |

At the national office in Huntington, Ind., we’ve had a small public bookstore for 30 years. Most business involves shipping Sunday school materials to UB churches throughout the country. But for local people, and for visitors from out of town, we had the walk-in bookstore.

However, the public bookstore is closing within a couple months. There will no longer be a room in which people can browse for materials.

We will continue carrying and shipping Sunday school literature, and will continue ordering Bible study books upon request. We will also have available:

  • A variety of United Brethren items (certificates, booklets, etc.)
  • GROW materials.
  • VBS materials.
  • Bulletin and envelope services
  • Communion supplies

Jane Seely will continue as manager of the marketing operation. To place an order, you can reach Jane in these ways:

E-mail, jane@ub.org,
Phone, 260-356-2312 ext. 314,
Fax 260-356-4730

Or, stop in the building and ask for Jane Seely.

On October 1, we begin an inventory reduction sale to get rid of the materials in the bookstore. We’ll have 25% off of books, gifts, and other non-UB items.

Thank you for all your support in the past. We hope to continue to service you in the areas listed above.