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19 Mar

March 19, 2009 |

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Church planting team in Esquintla, Guatemala, looks over a new site.

Next January when the international General Conference meets, we hope to welcome Guatemala as our newest national conference–our tenth. I visited Guatemala earlier this year. Let me tell you about our pastors and churches there.

Eight million people live in Guatemala City. Five volcanoes, two of them quite active, surround the city. The landscape is flat with huge gullies produced by lava flows. The roads curve around through the lava flows. It takes a long time to drive anywhere in Guatemala City.However, Guatemala is probably more developed than the other countries where we operate in Central America–Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, El Salvador. There are a lot of shopping malls. But because Guatemala City has eight million people, you do see a lot of poverty in that mix.

We have 12 churches in Guatemala, and a number of new church plants. They are basically divided into two geographical locations–around Guatemala City, and in the coastal area of Esquintla. I visited a number of the churches. Some are what I describe as “picnic shelters.”

I was so impressed with the pastors, especially their level of dedication. They work with very few resources. Most have committed themselves fulltime to the work, even if they have no income. They live by faith. Nobody owns a vehicle. One project for Self Denial is to purchase a vehicle for the conference.

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A United Brethren church in Esquintla, Guatemala.

The pastors live very simply. Most of them have a humble, one-bedroom home. Everybody sleeps in the same room. All resources go into the ministry.

Our leader in Guatemala is Francisco Najera. He is a wonderful,  humble, committed leader. You can see leadership oozing out of this guy in the way he develops a sense of teamwork among his fellow pastors. I’m excited about how God is using him.

18 Mar

March 18, 2009 |

Phil Burkett called earlier this morning to let us know about Darlene’s surgery yesterday. He spoke to Jeff Bleijerveld, and Jeff passed along this information: “Darlene came through just fine and all went as planned. The operation was four and a half hours long and they installed 2 rods, 2 wedges and 10 screws. She’ll be in Lutheran Hospital on the third floor of the musculoskeletal wing for the next three to four days.” Jeff adds, “We expect she will be out of the office for at least a month.” 

17 Mar

March 17, 2009 |

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Huntington University freshman Ben Swartz is selling necklaces to raise money for orphanages overseas.

“I have known since I was 16 that God was calling me to care for the orphans,” said Swartz, a freshman nursing major from Botkins, Ohio.

Swartz said he had been praying for some time for a way to raise money for this cause. Then one day someone showed him how to make the necklaces he currently sells. He started wearing them, and when others expressed interest in the necklaces, he decided to sell them as a way to raise money for orphanages.

necklaces.jpegThe funds raised from approximately 200 necklaces was given to CKS Ministries, an organization building an orphanage in Kenya, Africa, and started by C. Kevin and Cheri Singer, a couple who attend Swartz’s church.

“I’ve been able to converse, meet, and befriend so many awesome people who are feeding and caring for orphans and the least of society,” Swartz said. “I know that the money that we have given to the orphanage being built in Kenya will affect kids’ lives that we may never meet, and it is hard to grasp the affect that the money will have.

“I know that this has affected my life so much. Just to see the amount of people who believe in the dream that God has placed in my heart is incredible. Our next step is to create a non-profit, and it is cool to see how God provides now even before we are a non-profit.”

17 Mar

March 17, 2009 |

Last Saturday night, March 14, fire completely destroyed the home of Ed and Jean Harvey, who pastor Lighthouse Community UB church in Dayton, Ohio.

They had been trying to trace a slight smell of smoke for much of the day, and a circuit breaker kept tripping. A friend looked in the attic and spotted heavy smoke, at which point the fire department was contacted. They fought the fire from inside until the ceiling began caving inside, at which point they retreated to outside. It took several hours to extinguish the fire.

17 Mar

March 17, 2009 |

The deadline for all annual reports, covenants, and lay delegate notifications was March 15. As of today, here is what Bishop Ron Ramsey has received:

  • 166 local church annual reports (out of about 200 churches).
  • 140 referenda results.
  • 144 national conference covenants.
  • 119 notifications of local church delegates.

The number of registrations for the US National Conference increased about 20 over the weekend. Here are the latest figures:

  • 379 people registered.
  • 70 registered for the UB Historical Society Banquet (which promises to be very well attended).
  • 32 signed up for the Golf Outing.
  • 65 are children and teens.

16 Mar

March 16, 2009 |

PhilDarleneBurkett_150.jpgGlobal Ministries is bracing for the absence of Darlene Burkett, their hard-working, multi-tasking, highly organized administrative assistant. Tomorrow, March 17, she undergoes serious back surgery at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne, Ind.

The operation is scheduled for 1 p.m., and might last up to four hours. Darlene will then be out of the office for at least several weeks. There may be some conflict between when she wants to come back (sooner) and when doctors say she can come back (later). We’ll see.

Darlene has endured back pain for several years. Please remember Darlene in your prayers–that the surgery will be successful, and the pain will come to an end.

On a positive note: a big congratulations to Phil Burkett, Darlene’s husband, who is Minister of Worship at College Park Church in Huntington, Ind. This weekend, Phil was notified that he can add the title “Dr.” to his name (the Dr. Phil jokes began a long time ago). He received his Doctorate of Worship Studies from the Institute of Worship Studies in Jacksonville, Fla. (founded by Robert Webber). In the coming weeks, Doctor Burkett will spend a lot of time taking care of his convalescing wife.

13 Mar

March 13, 2009 |

Every Monday and Thursday, we tally up the registrations and reports that have come in, and let you know. We post XLR8 registrations and report totals here, and post the XLR8 numbers on the US National Conference website.

As of yesterday, the end of the day, the XLR8 registrations looked like this:

  • 360 people registered.
  • 70 registered for the UB Historical Society Banquet (which promises to be very well attended).
  • 31 signed up for the Golf Outing.
  • 63 are children and teens.

The deadline for all reports is March 15, just a few days away. Here are the new totals:

  • 138 local church annual reports (out of about 200 churches). Any church not submitting the church report by March 15 will not be allowed representation at National Conference. Looks like we’ll have a few of those, unfortunately.
  • 121 referenda results.
  • 120 national conference covenants.
  • 115 notifications of local church delegates (just send Bishop Ramsey a note using the Contact link on the right).

All of these numbers were sent to the denominational email list yesterday afternoon. If you’re not on that list, you can join.

12 Mar

March 12, 2009 |

Camp Adeline is a small summer camp currently operated by several UB churches from the former Rock River Conference. The camp is located at the edge of Adeline, Ill. (a little west of Rockford, which is west of Chicago).

The Camp Adeline board is requesting help with two projects. They are looking for short-term work crews to come and help with the following:

  1. Remove the top floor from an existing two-story building and convert the remaining structure into a maintenance garage.
  2. Replace the windows around the top perimeter of the tabernacle. This is quite high and will involve some roofing.

Teams will have lodging provided at the camp and will have access to a kitchen to prepare their own meals while there. Material costs will be covered by the camp.

For more details, interested groups should call Don Hubbard, President of the Camp Adeline Board at 815-225-7638.

This is an excellent opportunity for mission service within the United States!

12 Mar

March 12, 2009 |

On the right side, just below the XLR8 logo, you’ll see a new heading: “Recent Comments.” People sometimes comment on articles that have been posted for a while. The most recent comments appear at the top, regardless of how old the original article is.

Only ten comments are listed on the side, but there is a link to show all comments posted to this blog since we redesigned it last May.