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Dean Hoobler, a longtime member of Kilburne Avenue UB (Rockford, Ill.), has a collection of about 750 nativity sets collected over the past 30 years. This year, as in some past years, the church hosted a public display of the nativity sets.
Wednesday night attenders at Findlay First UB Church
Polly Dunten (left) with her class.
Last week, Findlay First UB Church (Findlay, Ohio) had the largest Wednesday night attendance in 12 years, with 57 participants. The elementary class had 27 children, and the adult prayer meeting is running out of room.
Pastor Darwin Dunten (right) writes, “Adults from our church are picking up these children and bringing them to church in their personal cars. Some cars are stuffed with children sitting on laps. Most of these children do not come from Christian homes. One girl stated, ‘What’s a Bible verse? Then she said, What’s a sanctuary? Another girl wanted us to pray for her mother and her boyfriend who are fighting, and for her father and his girlfriend who are not getting along. It breaks your heart, but what an opportunity.”
Hillsdale UB church (Hillsdale, Mich.) hosted a poverty simulation on November 18 to help people better understand what it’s like to live in poverty. The workshop was conducted by the Poverty Reduction Initiative, a Kalamazoo-based group that runs these workshops across the state of Michigan.
The simulation mainly drew members of Hillsdale County service organizations. Some attendees were assigned to family roles (schoolchildren, parents, teens, senior citizens), while others were given non-family roles (mortgage lender, business owner, etc.). Then the various persons interacted.
Through the simulation, participants were made more aware of specific problems poor people face, such as transportation, time constraints, quality of family life, difficulties in dealing with social agencies, the stigma of asking for help, and the importance of education in landing a job. They saw how parents, putting all their energy into just struggling to survive, had little left for family time. Sometimes children who ended up in juvenile centers were left there, because parents knew they would have food, shelter, and safety.
The purpose of the event was to help people think of ways to work together to help persons in need.
Adoniram Judson
This week,Hillary Clinton became the first US Secretary of State to visit Burma–now called Myanmar–in 50 years. This gives occasion to recall another historical event regarding Burma.
On February 6, 2012, the 200th anniversary of the first North American missionaries sent by a mission agency from North America will be remembered in Salem, Mass. The program itself will take place at Park Street Church in Boston at 7:30 pm.
And who were those first missionaries? Adoniram Judson, Jr. and his first wife, Ann Hasseltine.
As an American Baptist missionary, Judson served in Burma for almost 40 years. At age 25, he became the first Protestant missionary sent from North America to preach in Burma (present day Myanmar). His mission and work led to the formation of the first Baptist association in America, inspired many Americans to become or support missionaries, translated the Bible into Burmese, and established a number of Baptist churches in Burma.
All three of his wives died either at sea of from tropical diseases, as did a number of his children. Judson himself died at sea in the Bay of Bengal on April 12, 1850, at 61 years of age.
You can read more about the Judsons on Wikipedia.
First UB Church (Van Wert, Ohio)
Number of Shoeboxes: 18
Sue Miller of Van Wert UB writes, “The Operation Christmas Child shoebox ministry is a group effort at our church. Our children from the AWANA program collected items for eight boxes. Our youth group brought in supplies to pack four more. Several families in our church filled the other 6, and many people helped to sponsor them. We brought all the boxes to the altar and asked a child or youth to stand next to each box as we prayed for the children and families that would receive these gifts. We have participated in Operation Christmas Child as a church for about ten years.”
Criders UB Church (Chambersburg, Pa.)
Number of Shoeboxes: 71
Chip Stottlemyer of Criders UB writes, “We had a shoebox packing party and the Kids Club, Youth Group, and many adults joined in wrapping and packing for our shoeboxes. A team of youth and some adult leaders delivered them and some extra items to the regional collection point and assisted there along with about 100 other people sorting and packing more boxes. What a blessing to be part of this ministry.”
Participants in the Leadership Challenge Conference (click to enlarge)
Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries
Rev. Bob Bruce ( far right) and I had the privilege of sharing three days with 30 pastors and church planters in South Central Asia. The participants ranged in experience and education, but most were from among tribal groups that work primarily in agriculture.
During our time, we walked through 1 John and an adapted version of the five practices of the “Leadership Challenge.”
Using biblical models of leaders, we found that sharing stories, humor, and abundant opportunities for them to interact with one another resulted in some great applications they felt were worth taking home and using. We were also able to send each participant home with an Old and New Testament Bible Commentary in their regional language thanks to your gifts toward our Thanksgiving Offering.
“Praying the Hours” tells the story of a man in the midst of his death who is reflecting on eternity. The film is told in eight segments, and is based on the ancient practice of fixed-hour prayer observed by the Abrahamic faith traditions.
The final segment of this independent film will be shot at various locations on the Huntington University campus during January Term. Assisting will be 10 hand-selected digital media arts students, who will be used during preparation and production of the film including camera operation, location scouting, and problem solving such as the development of “trick shots.” This segment, about a college professor, is set at a liberal arts college in the Midwest.
“Praying the Hours” will continue shooting the other seven segments at various locations in the country through 2012 with a hopeful release date in 2013.
Lake View Church (Camden, Mich.)
Number of Shoeboxes: 110
Ben Gladhill (right), associate pastor of Lake View, writes: “This is Lake View Church’s 9th year doing Operation Christmas Child. Each year we do a pretty good job at collecting items for our shoeboxes and filled shoeboxes. This year we collected 110 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. However this year we threw in a twist.
“As Associate Pastor at Lake View and AWANA commander, I challenged our Awana Clubbers to get in on the action. So I told them for every 20 shoeboxes they filled by November 2, I would take a pie to the face. Our Awana clubbers and leaders jumped on board and filled 40 shoeboxes from Awana alone this year. So I kept good on my end of the deal and took 2 whipped cream pies in the face. It was a lot of fun, as you can see from the video above.”
Sunfield UB Church (Sunfield, Mich.)
Number of Shoeboxes: 65+
Annie Emmons (right) of Sunfield writes: “I provide the people with the ready-made shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. Last year I challenged each adult class to make a box. Our Sunday school class, JOY (Just Older Youth), couldn’t decide if they wanted to do one for a boy or girl, so they did one for each this year. So many articles were brought in that we ended up with 4 from our elderly class! And all the money for the boxes was provided too! I was so proud of them all!
“We all enjoy doing the boxes, and can only imagine the happiness of the boys and girls that receive them. We look forward to doing this each year! Some grandparents have their grandchildren go shopping for items to put into the boxes, and then fill the boxes. Everyone enjoys this project! Last year our church did 62 or 63, and I was afraid with the economy as it is, it would be less this year. But God provided and we topped that number! Praise His name!
Atlantic Avenue UB Church (Franklin, Pa.)
Number of Shoeboxes: 150
East Washington UB Church (Ashley, Mich.)
Number of Shoeboxes: 10,000
You read that right: 10,000 shoeboxes!!!
Kathy Stahl of East Washington writes, “We were really blessed by being able to send off over 10,000 shoeboxes. Ted and Michelle Beck were the people with the dream and led us to the goal. Last year we sent over 5000 shoeboxes, so Ted’s dream doubled and our community was blessed by his vision.”
Little Jacob Sheets helped pack these shoeboxes at Shepherd of the Valley UB.
Shepherd of the Valley UB Church (Logan, Ohio)
Number of Shoeboxes: 187
Veronica Sheets of Shepherd of the Valley writes, “As a church family we collected different items throughout the year. Then we as a whole church held a shoebox-packing day. We ate lunch, and then we got to work. In a matter of just a couple of hours, we packed 187 shoeboxes. Then they were loaded up on our pastor’s truck and taken to our drop-off location. In the photo is a little guy who helped pack the boxes, His name is Jacob Sheets.
Claudia Blanche Myers-Glover, 88, passed away Sunday, November 27, 2011, in Carlisle, Pa., surrounded by her loved ones.
A greatly beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and great-great-grandmother, she cherished the 50 years she served as a Sunday school teacher and 40 years as a United Brethren minister’s wife at various UB churches in the former Mid-Atlantic Conference. She and her husband, the late Rev. H. Dorsey Glover, served the Bowleys Lane UB church in Baltimore, Md., along with these churches in Pennsylvania: Trinity, Heidlersburg, Idaville, Strinestown, Cold Springs, Fayetteville, and Macedonia.
Visitation Date: 9:30 am Wednesday, November 30, 2011.
Funeral: 10:30 am Wednesday, November 30. Burial will follow at Druid Ridge Cemetery in Pikesville, Md.
Location: Vaughn C. Greene Funeral Services, 8728 Liberty Road, Randallstown, Md.
A memorial service will be held at 10 am on December 10 at Idaville United Brethren Church, 3590 Carlisle Road, Gardners, Pa.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent in support of Sarah Glover (missionary to Papua New Guinea) to Sturgis Baptist Church, P.O. Box 844, Sturgis, MI; or to Idaville United Brethren Church, 3590 Carlisle Road, Gardners, Pa. 17324.
Hoffman-Roth Funeral Home & Crematory of Carlisle, Pa., is in charge of the funeral arrangements and has information about Claudia and a guestbook.
