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08 Sep

September 8, 2009 |

martinez_guillermo150.jpgWe received word that Rev. Guillermo Martinez, long-time leader of our work in Nicaragua, has been diagnosed with stomach cancer.

Several of our international fields started almost by accident, a result of taking advantage of political upheavals and unusual circumstances.

  • Our work in Sierra Leone ties into the fate of freed slaved who originally came to America on the slaveship Amistad. Slaves seized control of the ship, and after a trial in New England, were allowed to return to Sierra Leone. The mission established through those former slaves was later turned over to the United Brethren church.
  • Jimmy O’Sullivan was headed to the Bahamas to start a new mission for the United Brethren church. When a hurricane shipwrecked him near Jamaica, he started preaching there. He never made it to the Bahamas. Thus started our work in Jamaica.
  • When communists took over China in 1948, the UB workers in China fled to Hong Kong, which is now the center of our ministry in China.

Guillermo Martinez, a native of El Salvador, was a highly respected UB pastor in Honduras for many years. When the Soccer War broke out in 1969 between Honduras and El Salvador, he was imprisoned in Honduras along with hundreds of other Salvadoranians.

After the war, he couldn’t stay in Honduras, but neither could he return to El Salvador with his Honduran wife. So he agreed to go to Nicaragua, where a United Brethren work was in the beginning stages. He led the UB church there for many years, including through the Sandinista revolution. The full story is told in the book Tio Archie.

04 Sep

September 4, 2009 |

PatPam_215.jpgDuring this time of transition, Bishop Phil Whipple agreed to have Pat Jones stay on at Healthy Ministry Resources to assist for a short period of time. Pat will end his time at Healthy Ministry Resources September 30. Pat has served as Director of Healthy Church Ministries since August 2005.

On October 1, Pat will  assume a new role as senior pastor of Eastern Hills Wesleyan Church in Williamsville, NY, a suburb of Buffalo.

In early August, Pat preached one weekend at Eastern Hills and then was invited back for a formal interview. That was followed by a “call” weekend August 28-30, during which he held numerous question-and-answer sessions with different constituencies from the church–staff, men’s group, women’s group, youth, etc. He also preached, again, for their Saturday night and two Sunday morning services.

A congregational vote was taken September 1, and Pat and Pam received a call that night inviting them to Eastern Hills. Pat and Pam have accepted that call and will be moving to Buffalo to begin their duties October 1.

Eastern Hills is the fourth largest Wesleyan church, currently averaging around 2000. Pat will follow Dr. Karl Eastlack, who led the church over a 22-year period from averaging 19 people to almost 3000 at one time in its history. Dr. Eastlack has accepted the presidency of World Hope, a mission organization headquartered in Alexandria, Va.

Pat says, “Pam and I are so grateful for the 27-plus years of ministry, relationships, and heritage we have had among our United Brethren. Those will never change. The challenge of leaving everything and everyone you have known to follow the Lord’s leading is great. We ask an interest in your prayers for this transition and for the Lord to honor Himself in and through it.”

Please pray for Pat and Pam Jones as they prepare for this new venture. You could also pray for the sale of their house in Fort Wayne, Ind.

Pat can be contacted by email at pjones@easternhillschurch.org or patrickjones@me.com.

03 Sep

September 3, 2009 |

Dice200.jpgMy first few weeks of language school in August 1990 were particularly humiliating. I’ll never forget the three-year-old neighbor who asked his mother why the “gringos” didn’t know how to talk.

I can’t help but think that Jeff and April Dice and their four children are facing similar circumstances as they began Spanish language study this week in San Jose, Costa Rica. Their children–Camden, Mason, Karis and Ellie–are attending a transitional school that will move them from English to Spanish-only over a period of months.

Jeff and April Dice have been to Nicaragua numerous times as short-term team leaders. Jeff, a former missionary to Macau, is Associate Pastor of the Brown Corners UB church in Clare, Mich. Because of the partnership Brown Corners established with the Nicaragua Conference, the church is sending the Dices to Nicaragua for 3-4 months of the year to serve as the Global Ministries Central American Liaisons. In that role, they will oversee numerous projects and assist in leadership development and pastoral training throughout Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Costa Rica.

In addition, this partnership with Global Ministries allows others to come on board as part of the Dices’ support team. Although Brown Corners has been a major contributor, Global Ministries would like to expand the Dices’ support base as “non-traditional” staff so they can resource and assist others working with our Central American conferences.

01 Sep

September 1, 2009 |

2 Samuel 23:20-21 tells about an obscure man in the big picture of the scripture. But his peers woudn’t have considered him obscure. He was the kind of guy you would have looked at and wondered, “What is he thinking?” If you were going into battle, you would be very glad to be on his side. His name was Benaiah.

Mark Batterson, pastor of National City Church in Washington, D.C., wrote a book entitled “In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day.” Benaiah chased a lion into a pit on a snowy day, and then went into the pit and killed the lion.

I simply shake my head in amazement until I begin to apply this story.

I encourage you to consider the Christ who lives in you. “God did not give us the spirit of timidity but the spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7). He wants us to walk with courage and stand for what is right.

This is not a call to the church to simply get on our soapbox about the political issues that we care about, but rather to understand that many people around us need to see Christ’s love lived out in extreme ways. Do the people we rub shoulders with see that we love Christ and each other? They should.

My prayer is that God will fan into flames a burning desire in me to reach others for Him. Lord, let it spread through out your church. Is there anybody out there that is ready to chase a lion?

31 Aug

August 31, 2009 |

Huntington University has appointed six new faculty members for the fall of 2009.

bratt_jonathan.jpgDr. Jonathan Bratt accepted the position of assistant professor of physics. Bratt recently earned a Ph.D. in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He obtained Bachelor of Science degrees in physics and applied mathematics in 2003 from Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pa. Bratt has taught courses in experimental physics, quantum physics and electrodynamics. His doctoral research was focused on the study of nucleon structure using lattice quantum chromodynamics.

shah_shahbaaz.jpgShahbaaz Shah will work with the digital media arts program as a visiting professor. Shah is a character animator whose experience includes such films as “Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen,” “The Legend of the Santa Claus” and “Horton Hears a Who!” as well as video games based on the movies Disney’s “Bolt,” and “The Bourne Conspiracy.” He earned a Bachelor of Arts in media arts and animation from the Art Institute of Colorado in 2004 and a diploma in advanced studies in character animation from Animation Mentor in 2007.

alexander_david.jpgDr. David Alexander accepted the position of assistant professor of philosophy. Alexander earned his Ph.D. in philosophy and Master of Arts in philosophy from Baylor University in 2008 and 2005, respectively. He has served as an assistant professor of philosophy at Calvin College and an instructor in philosophy at Baylor University. His areas of specialization include ethics and metaphysics. He also has achieved competence in the philosophy of religion, epistemology, the history of modern philosophy and medieval philosophy.

eilers_kent.jpgThe Rev. Dr. Kent Eilers will step into the role of assistant professor of theology. Eilers was awarded a Ph.D. in systematic theology from the University of Aberdeen in Aberdeen, Scotland. He earned a Master of Divinity degree at Denver Seminary in 2004. Eilers has served as an adjunct faculty member at Denver Seminary and Colorado Christian University. He also served on the pastoral staff of Woodman Valley Chapel in Colorado Springs. Eilers is the co-author of the forthcoming book, “Looking Back, Moving Forward: Evangelical Theologies of Retrieval” (InterVarsity Press).

yan_yu.jpgDr. Yu Yan will serve as an assistant professor of mathematics. Yan holds a doctorate in mathematics from Stanford University and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Fudan University in Shanghai, China. She has served as an assistant professor at Houghton College and a postdoctoral lecturer at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Her research has been published in Mathematical Research Letters, Communications in Contemporary Mathematics and the Pacific Journal of Mathematics.

leone_rick.jpgFather Rick Leone has accepted the position of visiting instructor in psychology and sociology. Leone has taught at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne in the Human Services Department, at Ivy Tech in the Sociology Department and has worked at SouthernCare Hospice providing pastoral care, social services and bereavement services for clients and families. He also served at Crossroad Children’s Home as the director of pastoral care, as an outpatient therapist for TriCity Mental Health Care in East Chicago, Ind., as well as part of the Intensive Outpatient Program and 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 degree from California’s Anglican Theological Seminary. He pastors Our Glorious King Anglican Church in Huntington and the Anglican Fellowship of Fort Wayne.

27 Aug

August 27, 2009 |

Steve Dennie, Communications Director
Last Thursday I attended a Communications Roundtable in Indianapolis. It’s a bi-monthly group of people who do communications for large churches. The sponsor is Fishhook, a really wonderful Christian communications/branding firm in Indy.

The topic for this meeting was “Media Relations.” We had several speakers, including a religion reporter for the Indianapolis Star newspaper. Here are some of their comments and suggestions:

  • Newspapers are in a time of change. They are trying to do more (like adding websites) with fewer people.
  • If you want them to cover an event, give two weeks of lead time.
  • Be understanding if they can’t cover your church event. Newspaper people aren’t able to get out as much as in the past.
  • Newspapers are reducing the size of their printed papers, and writing shorter, more tightly-written stories.
  • Understand that editors and reporters get scores of phone calls, emails, and voice messages while working on strict deadlines. It’s easy for things to slip through the cracks.
  • Leave short voice messages, and identify yourself and your church clearly.
  • They like photo features.
  • They are always looking for digital material, such as video and photos, that they can use on the web.
  • They appreciate when you suggest stories and story angles.
  • They prefer stories about people, rather than about institutions.
  • Understand that their main responsibility is to their readers. They are looking for the angle that will make the story most interesting to the bulk of their readers.
  • Develop a relationship with reporters and editors. Don’t just pitch them information to get free publicity. Relationships will serve you much better in the long run.
  • Don’t bombard them with information about every little church event. We get excited about what’s happening in our church and want to throw it all out to the public. But before long, they’ll just begin ignoring your submissions. Be strategic in suggesting stories. Once a quarter is good.
  • A good story angle: how something your church does ties into trends, topics, and issues of interest to the entire community.
  • Help the reporter by providing people who can talk about the issue or event, and suggest visuals (like photos).
  • What reporters see as fair and objective may not seem that way to you. Trust their judgment. They’re not out to get you. They’re just ordinary people who probably attend a church near you.