In October 2010, Global Ministries will send a series of work teams to help rebuild Haitian United Brethren churches that were flattened by the earthquake last January. These churches are crucial in our efforts to rehabilitate their communities.

We need you as part of a team.

We will send teams on these dates.

Team 1 – October 3-10
Team 2 – October 10-17
Team 3 – October 17-24
Team 4 – October 24-31

Honduras Conference has committed and raised the support to send one volunteer. More are needed.

Cost: $500 per person plus airfare to and from Port Au Prince.

Contact Donna Hollopeter for more information.

After 24 years as part of the Huntington University community, Steve and Twyla Lee have relocated to Colorado Springs. They are now professors in the Focus Leadership Institute. Their actual title is “Senior Fellows for Marriage and Family Life Studies.”

Steve chaired the HU Psychology Department for 24 years. Twyla, after 11 years as Director of Social Work Education at Taylor University, transferred to HU six years ago to develop a new program in Social Work. During those years, they served the UB denomination in various ways.

Huntington University appointed three new faculty members to teach in the Psychology and Social Work areas.

Tanner Babb, Instructor of Psychology (undergraduate and graduate levels). Babb spent three years as a child and adolescent case manager and as a marriage and family therapist with the Bowen Center in Huntington, Ind. After earning a Psychology degree from Huntington University, he went on to obtain a Master’s in Education, with a focus in marriage and family therapy, from Indiana University. He is currently finishing his dissertation for his PhD in counselor education and supervision at the University of Toledo. Babb is also a licensed Marriage and Family Therapy Associate.

Rev. Rick Leone, Assistant Professor of Social Work. Leone has worked in a variety of places, accumulating an interesting resume:

  • Taught in the Human Services and Sociology departments of Indiana colleges.
  • Worked at SouthernCare Hospice, providing pastoral care, social services, and bereavement services for clients and families.
  • Served at Crossroad Children’s Home as the director of pastoral care.
  • Worked as an outpatient therapist for TriCity Mental Health Care in East Chicago, Ind., where he also served in the Intensive Outpatient Program.
  • Worked as an inpatient therapist for Charter Hospital in Hobart, Ind.

Leone received his Bachelor and Master of Social Work degrees from Valparaiso University and Loyola University in Chicago, respectively. In addition, he holds a Master of Divinity from California’s Anglican Theological Seminary. He pastors Our Glorious King Anglican Church in Huntington, Ind., and the Anglican Fellowship of Fort Wayne, Ind.

Dr. Laura Gerig, part-time Instructor in Psychology. Gerig will teach half-time in the psychology department. She has previously taught psychology at Taylor University. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Taylor University, and a master’s degree and a PhD in school psychology from Ball State University. Her doctorate specialized in neuropsychology. Her areas of interest are child development and psychological assessment.

New school at the Delmas church in Haiti

New school at the Delmas church in Haiti

Construction of a new school at our Delmas United Brethren Church in Port Au Prince Haiti is nearing completion. It will accommodate up to 160 children who currently lack any access to education.

Of these children, 32 have sponsors through our partnership with CH Global. This sponsorship provides nutritional, emotional, social, educational, and spiritual opportunities for the children and their families. The school is operated by our United Brethren members in Haiti and has a tremendous impact for Christ on their surrounding community.

Allen “Rocky” Layne has been named senior pastor of West Pleasant Hill UB (Rockbridge, Ohio) effective August 1, 2010. He is also planting a United Brethren church called Eternal Water. He and a core group are personally funding the church plant, which began April 4, 2010.

US News & World Report ranks Huntington University 8th in its list of the Best Regional Colleges in the Midwest. This is the fourth consecutive year HU has made the Top Ten.

In-state rival Taylor University topped the list, and Bethel University in Mishawaka ranked 19th.

Huntington also ranked fifth in the “Best Values” ranking for the Midwest (right behind Taylor).

Highlights of the college rankings will be published in the September issue of U.S. News & World Report, available on newsstands Aug. 31. The 2011 Best Colleges guidebook will be on newsstands Aug. 24.

US News divided schools into these categories: National Universities (Harvard, Stanford), National Liberal Arts Colleges (Williams College, West Point), Regional Universities (Creighton, Butler), and Regional Colleges. Many of the schools in the “Best Colleges” list actually bear the “university” name, as does HU. And some schools in the “university” category bear a “college” name (like Emhurst College).

To rank schools, U.S. News first organizes colleges and universities by category and then ranks them within each group. Rankings are based on the following criteria: peer assessment (25 percent), graduation and retention rates (25 percent), faculty resources (20 percent), student selectivity (15 percent), financial resources (10 percent), and alumni giving (5 percent).

The 6th Annual Tom Ponsot Memorial Classic Golf Tournament will be held on September 11, 2010, at the Clear Creak Golf Course near Huntington, Ind. The proceed go to support Camp Cotubic in Bellefontaine, Ohio.

Many of us have fond memories of attending summer camp while we were growing up. Friendships were formed, knees were skinned, challenges were conquered, life-long lessons were learned, and most of all, many were introduced to Jesus. Now that we are older, we are glad such places still exist for our kids and grandkids.

Camp Cotubic is one such place, and it held a special place in the heart of Tom Ponsot, a member of our Zanesville, Ind., church who passed away in 2005. Tom saw the great potential of Camp Cotubic and volunteered his time and financial resources to preserve it as a place where his own grandkids and many other children could continue to have summer camp experiences. Tom served as the Chairman of the Board for several years and was passionate about the camp’s ministry.

You can help in two ways:

* Enter a Team. Find three other friends and enter a team. The cost is $50/person and includes greens fees, cart, and lunch. You can register by sending your name to [email protected].
* Be a Sponsor. Your business, church, affinity group or you can sponsor a hole for $100.

To enter, or for more information, Ponsot-Golf-2011.

Huntington University has been listed as one of America’s Best Colleges by Forbes.com.

Huntington University was ranked 289th overall and ninth in the state of Indiana. Huntington was ranked among other top Indiana schools, including Taylor University and Goshen College, and above some state schools, including Purdue University and Ball State University.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, there are more than 4000 college campuses in the United States. Forbes.com ranked only the top 15 percent of all undergraduate institutions.

The Center for College Affordability and Productivity, in conjunction with Forbes, compiled its college rankings using five general categories:

  1. Student satisfaction.
  2. Postgraduate success.
  3. Student debt.
  4. Four-year graduation rate.
  5. Competitive awards from outside data sources, including the U.S. Department of Education, RateMyProfessor.com and Payscale.com.

This is the third year for the Forbes.com rankings.

Getting started with the class.

Getting started with a session.

Lunch time.

The team tours Heidelberg.

Today (Friday, August 6) ends the first week of English Camp for the Germany Missions Team. They taught 34 kids during the first week.

Team co-leader Cathy Reich writes, “We have come to love these kids so much and cannot imagine saying goodbye. Many of the team will be going to new homes next week.”

On Thursday, for the “taste of America,” they had hot dogs and salad, and for dessert, Twinkies and oatmeal cream pies.

Some of the team visited Heidelberg, where they saw the lovely city and toured a very old castle. You can see a lot of photos on the team’s Facebook page.