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16 Jul

July 16, 2009 |

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L-r: Bridger Fetters, Jenaya Bonner, and Jessica Hollopeter.

In recent months we approved a number of new staff members for service around the world.

Bridger Fetters is a member of College Park UB in Huntington, Ind. He has participated in a number of short-term projects in China and Macau, and partly grew up in Macau when his parents, Luke and Audrey Fetters, served there. Bridger will focus his efforts on evangelism and discipleship, and will also work with the English Language Institute as a means to develop relationships with students and adults.

Jenaya Bonner, a member of Emmanuel Community Church in Fort Wayne, Ind., has been to China and Macau twice as a short-termer. In Macau, she will focus on evangelism and discipleship, and will also work with the English Language Institute as a means to develop relationships with students and adults.

Jessica Hollopeter will serve as a mission journalist. She will live in Greenwood, Ind., and share her time between OMS and Global Ministries. She will be an employee of Global Ministries serving with a partner agency. Jessica, the daughter of Jason and Donna Hollopeter, is a member of Corunna UB church in Corunna, Ind.

galenmaritta500.jpgGalen and Maritta Fiedler (above) are “tentmakers” in southern Germany, where Galen teaches at a local Christian school that is passionate about reaching their community for Christ. Among the varied efforts to reach people for Christ, the Fiedlers also use English as a means to build relationships and establish rapport. They will host volunteers and students who come to help them with short-term ministries.

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Ryan and Laura Fennell (right) have been approved as endorsed staff with New Tribes Mission. They are members of the Morningstar UB Church in Kokomo, Ind. Both have been trained at the New Tribes Bible Institute and have earned degrees from other universities. They will go to Missouri this fall for pre-field training. Their long-term goal is to serve in Papua New Guinea on the New Tribes base in the city of Goroka. The base, known as Lapilo, is the headquarters for New Tribes in the country and is the location of the main staff children’s school, Numinohi Christian Academy.

Jeff and April Dice will live in Central America for 3-4 months each year. During these times they will serve as our Central American liaisons, overseeing volunteer ministries, developing national leaders, and assisting in the development of micro-business opportunities. Jeff, a former UB missionary in Macau, is associate pastor of Brown Corners UB church in Clare, Mich.

16 Jul

July 16, 2009 |

About 30 people representing Huntington University are conducting teacher training in the city of Zhuhai, China. Half went last week, and the others will leave this weekend.

The China Team has a blog which already has a number of entries (plus many photos) about what they’re doing.

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries, leaves for China tomorrow morning (July 17) to take part in the second stage of the teacher training program. His college-age son, Jason, is going with him.

Donna Hollopeter originally planned to go with the first group, but a diagnosis of bronchitis killed that idea. However, she’s feeling much better. She left today for Detroit, where she will catch a plane for China tomorrow.

16 Jul

July 16, 2009 |

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The photo above shows what we anticipate may be the last of five shipments of to Mattru Hospital in Sierra Leone. These supplies and furnishings were sent in our effort to rehabilitate the hospital following the devastation that occurred during the Civil War. Included with this shipment is a full-sized x-ray machine.

That’s a lot of equipment to fit in a container, don’t you think?

We are currently soliciting funds to pay the $15,000 it will cost to ship and clear this container. Previous shipments included:

  • Over 100 hospital beds and mattresses.
  • A complete operating suite.
  • Literally tons of vital equipment, medications and materials.

During this same period of time, we have been able to assist the national conference by:

  • Digging a well.
  • Purchasing a new generator for electricity.
  • Sending four teams of physicians.

15 Jul

July 15, 2009 |

Over the past few years I have been very interested in what research, organizations, consultants, and pastors report as the characteristics of healthy churches. As you might well imagine, they report a wide range. I would like to share with you the top 6-10 that I have discovered, but before I do that, I thought that maybe you have a list. It could be:

  • something you read (if so please give me the source).
  • just something you believe through experience or intuition.

Either way I’d be very interested in seeing your list. So tell me–what are the characteristics of healthy churches?I will leave office in one month, so don’t wait too long!

14 Jul

July 14, 2009 |

I have a hard time asking prayer for personal things, but our house situation is something that we need prayer about. We have been searching for awhile. We thought we had it settled: two months ago, we found a lot in Roanoke, Ind., on which to build a home, which was to be completed in October. But that fell through last week, and now we’re back to looking for a home.

As you think about it, I would appreciate you shooting off a prayer on our behalf  as we continue our search. We don’t want to buy something just because we feel pressured, but we are feeling some pressure. I have also asked the Lord whether or not we are missing something, but really haven’t felt led to anything other than pursuing something around here.

Anyway, EJ and I would appreciate your prayers on our behalf.

13 Jul

July 13, 2009 |

The  Bible says in Ecclesiastes that of the writing of books there is no end. I’ve worked in publishing and love books. It was very natural for me to want to resource people with books, and we were pretty selective about the books we gave out. “Hit the Bullseye,” by Paul Borden, got my juices flowing after I became bishop. I’m guessing that we gave away a couple hundred copies of that book.

We took the pastors of our largest churches to the Drive Conference in Atlanta, Ga., where Andy Stanley is the pastor. We thought they could benefit from that. But we didn’t forget the pastors of medium and smaller churches. We resourced people to get to Brad Powell’s conference in Michigan, and to Hit the Bullseye conferences. We resourced our cluster leaders with some of that training. That was something Pat and I did very intentionally–resourcing ministers and laypersons with particular things that reinforced what we said, and getting people to seminars and conferences.

Of course, it’s one thing to read the books and attend the seminars. It’s another thing to put it into practice. For a lot of people, there’s a disconnect. They get inspired by the book or conference, but it’s hard to put it into practice. I think a lot of our pastors struggle with some very sinful attitudes and mindsets in a lot of churches. And so they get excited, but come back to their churches and face open sin, and that discourages them.

We’ve been pretty liberal in providing resources–CDs, tapes, DVDs, conferences, books. I think it’s important to invest in our guys, our leaders, our sharpest and most talented guys.

10 Jul

July 10, 2009 |

We run into people who think effective change is about methodologies, about us giving you a program to use. Our message has been, “It’s not about a prepackaged method, but about finding the most effective way to accomplish your mission in your locality.” How that happens in southern Ohio is different than southern Michigan. The key is what you’re trying to accomplish, not how. Bishop Ramsey and I have been consistent on that.

Most of our churches think in terms of program, not process. The mission is to make maturing disciples who reach other people, but most churches haven’t thought through a clear process for taking a totally heathen person who doesn’t know Jesus and leading them to a relationship with Jesus Christ, then to becoming dependent on Christ and sharing the gospel with others. There aren’t clear processes.

Instead, churches too often are just doing church. They know what programs they want, what music they like. But they aren’t thinking missionally about their role in the body of Christ and how to walk people through the maturing process. People don’t think in those terms, only in doing church and being cared for.

09 Jul

July 9, 2009 |

We previously mentioned that the former UB camp in Hillsdale, Mich., the Michindoh Camp and Conference Center, has been gifted to Spring Arbor University in Michigan. It is dated June 1, so it’s somewhat old news at this point, but you may be interested.
Follow the link below for the text of the press release.
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