Chick Fil-A is chipping in to help with a unique fundraiser for Camp Cotubic in Bellefontaine, Ohio.

On Tuesday, October 26, the Chick Fil-A at the Jefferson Pointe mall in Fort Wayne, Ind., will donate to the camp 15% of all sales made 5-7 pm. Friends of the camp will be on hand to clean tables, greet friends, and answer questions about the camp. So if you live in the Fort Wayne area, head on over to Jefferson Pointe.

Members from Zanesville UB church (Zanesville, Ind.) arranged this event. Note: the Jefferson Point Chick Fil-A is the only location participating in this promotion for the camp.

In fall 2008, Munster, Ind., and other northwest Indiana communities were greatly affected by a flood that damaged more than 18,000 homes and businesses. Some were lucky, regaining their homes within a matter of weeks. Others were not.

A group of eight Huntington University students and one staff adviser will be traveling to Munster from October 15-19 during fall break to rebuild and tear down houses that were greatly affected by the flooding. The team will work with LARRI (Lakeshore Area Regional Recovery of Indiana), a local relief organization, as well as ArcBridges to do some site maintenance to its building and to a few other residential buildings.

“We are going on this trip because it is important to serve God and serve others through service,” said Zach Keller, a junior math and math education double major from Portland, Ind. “The Munster area is still in need of clean up, and we are very excited to be able to help with that.”

The trip is sponsored by Huntington University’s Joe Mertz Center for Volunteer Service.

Paul Hirschy, who served as bishop 2001-2005, dealt with lymphoma cancer during his years as bishop and and before. Now his cancer has returned. He will begin chemo treatments on Thursday, October 21, and it will continue over a period of months.

You can send cards to:

Paul Hirschy
5493 North Goshen Rd
Huntington, IN  46750

Dr. Lloyd and Carol Spencer

On October 10, Faith United Brethren Church in Christ Church in Jamaica held a service in honor and appreciation of Dr. Lloyd and Carol Spencer. Clergymen from within and outside the denomination, family, friends, and members of various local churches came from the entire island, and some from as far as Canada, to show their appreciation for the Spencers.

The service was filled with tributes, each one capturing some aspect of their over 50 years in ministry. They were presented with a citation and various gifts, after which they responded and Rev. Donald Dacres prayed for them.

After the service, a reception was held during which many individuals gave their open tributes.

Billy Simbo sent this update o his wife, Mamei, on Saturday, October 9.

“Mamei has gradually woken up from the anesthesia and is now opening her eyes and responding to our presence. More importantly yesterday afternoon (Friday) I received a call and report from the Cardiac Surgeon who performed the operation. He said he was pleased with the progress Mamei was making with her recovery Post-Op, and all the vital signs had positive indications. He told me we would still not rule out a stroke until she is fully awake and follows commands and tests.

As I write this she is still on the ventilator and is receiving dialysis. They hope to wean her off the machines gradually. Ahead for her is a long road of recovery and physical therapy.

As you have prayed before, we now ask you to focus your prayers on the following:

  1. That Mamei would get off the ventilator and breathe on her own.
  2. That she would gain the strength and the determination to begin doing those physical therapy exercises that are so vital for her recovery. Movement they say is very crucial right away or she will run the risk of developing pneumonia.
  3. Pray for timely recovery from the intensive care unit to the next phase of her treatment. The original plan was 3-4 days.
  4. Continue to pray for strength and endurance for the rest of the family. I have really appreciated all of you who have mentioned this in your cards, emails and phone calls. The rest of us need to be well, so we can attend to Mamei’s needs.

Joan Sider has made many trips to Haiti with her fellow Canadians. Now she’s there again, this time with a team of 12 persons from Canada, plus one from Honduras. They are working on the Delmas church in Port au Prince.

As reported earlier, Mamei Simbo underwent heart valve replacement surgery at 8 am Wednesday, October 6. Billy Simbo sent this report later in the day.

Mamei was brought back to the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit a little before 3:30 pm. The surgeon reported that the surgery went well. He replaced the defective heart valve. Mamei was still on the ventilator when we were allowed to see her around 4:40.

Mamei is in good hands with two nurses guarding her over the next 12 hours and one nurse with her 24 hours while she is in the Intensive care unit.

Here are three ways you can pray:

  1. That she makes the necessary progress over the next few hours.
  2. That her body won’t reject the new valve.
  3. That she will have the strength to do the exercises that are so critical for her recovery.

Prior to Mamei being wheeled from her room of 4 weeks, Rev. Joe Abu came and together we read the 23rd Psalm and prayed and sang songs of assurance. We are truly grateful for the Scriptures and the assurance given to us by so many of you.

The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization is approaching. It will be held in Cape Town, South Africa, October 16-25, 2010. Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries, has been invited to take part, and will do so, joining 4500 Christian leaders from around the world.

Doug Birdsall (right), who grew up in a United Brethren pastor’s home and is now executive chair of the Lausanne Movement, sent these three prayer requests.

1. China Participants. Around 200 participants and volunteers from Mainland China have already purchased their tickets and reserved hotel rooms in Cape Town. In addition to raising their own support, the Mainland Chinese participants also raised support so 100 participants from neighboring countries can attend.

However, there is a possibility that the Chinese participants will not be able to attend. Please intercede on behalf of the Church in China, that God would move the hearts of those who hold the power to change the situation. The prayer of the  Chinese participants is that they would be a blessing to their nation and to the global church, that together we might be an expression of unity in Christ.

2. Francophone Africa. A number of African countries were colonized by France and Belgium, and French remains widely spoken (though mostly as a second language). An estimated 115 million Africans speak French, more than in Europe. These countries, shown in purple on the map to the right, are known as Francophone Africa.

It is anticipated that at Cape Town 2010, there will be more Francophone Africa evangelical leaders gathered together than ever before in history. However, obtaining visas has been delayed to nearly the last minute in this region. Please pray that the visa process will be expedited for these brothers and sisters.

3. Final Phase of Funding. An additional $1.5 million is needed to fund the Congress. Please pray that this money will come in before the Congress. Doug Birdsall writes, “When I visited Billy Graham two weeks ago, he asked about the fund-raising progress. When I told him we had passed the 90% mark, he raised his hands and said, ‘Hallelujah, that’s wonderful! Please let me know when you get to 100% – and I hope it’s real soon!’  Let’s pray and work and give so that we can send Billy Graham that good news very soon.”

We’re beginning work on a redesign of the UB.org website, the official website of the United Brethren in Christ Church, USA. The current design has been in place for over 5 years. Time for an upgrade.

We want your suggestions as we begin developing a new flagship site.

  • What would you like to see in a revamped UB.org?
  • What is missing in the current site?
  • What frustrates you about the current site?
  • What bells and whistles would you like to see?
  • What types of information would be most valuable?
  • What information needs to be most accessible?

Please send your suggestions to Steve Dennie, the Communications director.

Anything is fair game. So fire away!

UB.org will complement these two new sites:

  • UBCentral.org, a centralized place for all types of UB news, with hooks into Facebook and Twitter. Created in October 2009.
  • UBGlobal.org, a new site for everything related to Global Ministries. Unveiled in September 2010.

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries, is currently Turkey. He is traveling with Kurt Uhen, a member of the Global Ministries Leadership Team who is from Emmanuel UB in Fort Wayne, Ind.

We’re on the road headed for Mardin. Our route follows the path of the Tigris river headed south and is flanked by cotton fields, flocks of sheep, and herds of cattle. Stork nest on telephone poles and the roofs of homes.

The headwaters of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers are located in Turkey. It is here that the Garden of Eden is believed to have been located. We spoke with Turks who have traveled that region extensively, but none have encountered any angels with flaming swords.

We’ve had some great conversations with the very few pastors and church planters in the area. All are eager to make disciples and plant more churches. We’ve also discussed some “business as mission” opportunities that would help this take place.

Mardin overlooks the northern plains of Syria and has a mix of Kurds, Turks, Assyrians, Syriacs, Arabs, and a few Armenians. Tonight we’ll stay at a 5th century Assyrian Orthodox monastery. Originally a sun temple, it became a Christian church when believers from Antioch moved north and the region was won to Christ.

Thanks for your prayers. God is at work in Turkey. We’re praying earnestly for discernment as we consider whether the United Brethren have a part to play.