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Jamaica Conference held its annual Youth Rally on February 13 at the York Town UB church. Deon McLennon writes, “It was a blessed day of youth fellowship and competition. Youth representatives from all of the districts competed in song, drama, elocution, group song, junior and senior quiz, youth preaching, choral speaking, and dub poetry. The top church was the Greater Portmore UB Church.”
In my opinion, “When Helping Hurts” is the single best book I’ve read on the topic of working with the poor. Not only should every Christian worker read it; every Christian ought to read it whether or not they work directly with the poor.
The authors of the book, Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, are community development specialists with the Chalmers Center for Economic Development and professors at Covenant College. Striking to me were the misperceptions we often have regarding the true needs of the poor. Summarizing the results of a polls, they comment:
Poor people typically talk in terms of shame, inferiority, powerlessness, humiliation, fear, hopelessness, depression, social isolation, and voicelessness. North American audiences (or the wealthy) tend to emphasize a lack of material things such as food, money, clean water, medicine, housing, etc.
The result of such misconceptions is that we seek only to bring relief or aid, when what is ultimately needed is rehabilitation and restoration in relationship with God and others. They write that there are three reasons we do this:
Key to their approach to relief and development is assessing local assets. Too often we ask, “What do they need?” and fail to ask the even more important question, “What do they have?” They point attention to Colossians 1:16-17, where we’re told the Christ is holding all things together and that he does not allow the effects of sin to completely destroy the inherent goodness of the assets he has created. In Christ, God is reconciling to himself all things–natural resources, individuals, neighborhood associations, schools, businesses, governments, etc. All are being liberated from their “bondage to decay” (Romans 8:12).
The process of assessment involves appreciating, envisioning, co-constructing and sustaining, and can only be done together. We need to move from “doing for” to “doing with” so that eventually they will be able to do it for themselves and even assist others in the same way they have been helped.
Finally, they wrap up the book with a chapter entitled, “Doing Short-term Missions Without Doing Long-Term Harm.” This is a Must Read for anyone going on a short-term trip. The key here is quite simple: don’t do for people what they can, or should, do for themselves. The goal is for the work to be done primarily by the community members with the team in a helping role. Stay away from the “go-help-and save-them” and maintain a “go-as-a-learner” attitude.
The two-day Mission Team Leader Training is underway at Mainstreet Church in Walbridge, Ohio. Jeff Bleijerveld and Donna Hollopeter are teaching 12 people, who have come to learn how to effectively lead a short-term mission team. Three other persons from the east were signed up, but had to cancel out because of the blizzard.
Camp Cotubic in Bellefontaine, Ohio, has announced its summer camp schedule.
June 13-18: Teen Camp (grades 7-12). Cost: $260
June 27 – July 2: Discover Camp (grades 5-6). Cost: $260.
July 18-22: Voyager Camp (grades 2-4). Cost: $240.
You can register online.
Camp Cotubic began in the 1970s as a year-round camp operated by Central Conference, which included UB churches in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. Though Camp Cotubic is no longer operated by the United Brethren church, it continues serving the United Brethren constituency.
A building for the Buen Samaritano church in Honduras is well underway, thanks to the 2009 Thank Offering.
A year ago, the Buen Samaritano (Good Samaritan) church in Honduras was meeting under a tree on the property they had purchased. They were able to take the next step using funds from the 2009 Self-Denial Offering.
Today, Buen Samaritano has constructed a building consisting of walls and a roof. Although work remains, the congregation is encouraged and moving forward using their own resources. Pastor Mariano Mondragon told me that the most exciting thing has been seeing people continue to come to Christ over the past year.
Extensive water damage at Victory Heights UB
Steve Henry, Pastor, Victory Heights Church (Franklin, Pa.)
On Monday morning, February 1, I received a call from my Head Trustee saying that I needed to go to the church ASAP because a water line had broken. Actually one line broke (froze) and a water input line came off a humidifier, so it was two water leaks at the same time.
Over 700 gallons of water saturated the foyer, restrooms, nursery, pastor’s office, kitchen, boiler room, much ceiling, and a Sunday school room. Water was flowing out of the air conditioning vents, lights, outlets, and light switches! Minimal damage occured to the fellowship hall and the sanctuary.
We moved our services to a vacant store at our local mall, and we had a great service on Sunday, February 7. We believe God is teaching us that a building is nice, but the church isn’t dependant on a building to be a church. We are a body because of the bond of Christ no matter where we meet.
It will be 4-6 weeks until we can get back into the church, so please pray that this missions opportunity to worship in the mall will be fruitful for the Kingdom of God.
Phil Whipple, Bishop
I’d like to give a little plug for Feedburner. I’ve been using this service to deliver UBCentral straight to my email each day. Anything posted during the previous 24 hours is sent to my inbox.
This works well for people who check email every day, but who don’t necessarily check the same websites every day. It comes to you; you don’t have to do anything except check your email. You can then scan it quickly to see what’s happening in the United Brethren world.
For people who may feel disconnected, Feedburner is a good tool to help them stay informed. I find it very convenient. It’s a free service from Google. About 50 UB people are currently using Feedburner.
It’s easy to signup. You submit your email address, and that’s it. Each email includes a link for removing yourself from the list.
L-r: Isaac Nugent (Jamaica), Denis Casco (Mexico), and Ajiax Wo (Hong Kong).
Some of the United Brethren churches in Mexico are in El Paso, Texas, and Juarez, Mexico, two cities which face each other across the Texas border. Denis Casco, Bishop of Mexico Conference, says this work is much different from the work done in central Mexico, because of the drug problems.
“In this area, 30-40 people die every day, including some people from our churches,” he told the General Conference delegates in January. “It’s a very dangerous area.”
He mentioned three difficult situations:
Denis says, “To protect myself, I usually take a taxi from El Paso to the border and walk across. I do the same on my way back. I want to protect my life and reputation, but I cannot abandon this area.”
J. R. and Cathy Reich
This summer, Global Ministries will sponsor the first UB mission trip to Germany. The team leaders will be J. R. and Cathy Reich, from The Well UB church in Huntington, Ind. Cathy is administrative assistant to Bishop Phil Whipple.
The team will participate in two five-day English Camps at a school in an area south of the Black Forest. They will use conversational English to build relationships and share their faith.
Date: July 31–August 14.
Cost: $1800 per person.
While in Germany, team members will live with German families from the school where Galen and Maritta Fiedler teach. The Fiedlers are the Global Ministries missionary family with whom the team will work and who will host the team.
The $1800 cost includes airfare, in-country transportation, food, travel insurance, and ministry materials.
There are still a few positions available for this trip. If you are interested in joining this team, it is important to mail your completed application form by mid-March. You can download the application in two formats: PDF, or a fillable MS Word form.
For more information, you can contact either of these persons by email:
Cathy Reich, Administrative Assistant to Bishop Phil Whipple.
Donna Hollopeter in the Global Ministries office.
The City Soleil UB church, which was destroyed. A work crew from Canada was coming to work on the roof, but the earthquake forced the cancellation of that trip. The pastor is Rev. Baptistin.
Another UB church in City Soleil, this one led by Pastor Supreme. The building is believed to be unusable.
The church yard of our newest church, in Delmas, still under construction.
A church in the Delmas area. Part of this gate wall was destroyed. A large number of Haitians came here for refuge.
The Delmas church. This is the future main church and convention center. It was not destroyed. The team from Canada would have been working on this, too.
