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A work group from Prince Street UB (Shippensburg, Pa.) spent October 8-12 at the Laurel Mission in Kentucky. They worked with mission director Titus Boggs in constructing a handicapped ramp for a lady who is a member of his church. The lady found it very difficult to enter her home due to so many steps. The members of the team were: Wayne Hawkins, Anita Brenize, Jack Diehl, Robert Vaughn, Joseph Hawkins,Tanner Hamman, and Patricia Hawkins.
Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries
Billy Simbo has returned to Sierra Leone after an extended stay in the States. He had been attending a month-long training event in South Dakota which focused on multiplying disciples in a missions context. About 32 other leaders from around the world were there, too. The organization conducting the conference covered all of the costs.
I met with Billy and his wife, Mamei, for a few days in Philadelphia. Mamei is dealing with a blood disorder which limits her ability to live in Sierra Leone. She plans to go for a number of months beginning in January.
Billy has been doing a great job of mentoring young leaders and preparing for real solid transition two years from now. He set up five regions for Sierra Leone Conference and is developing a new leadership structure as well.
The Global Ministries website has been updated to incorporate the new logo throughout the site. Take a look.
Rhodes Grove Camp (Chambersburg, Pa.) has designated November 19 as a Day of Prayer. Mark Story, director, explains:
“Collectively our board, staff, key constituents, and hopefully you will unite with us in spirit as we prayerfully seek direction and wisdom from the Lord. The format for the day will be simple, yet specific. This is not an event that we are asking you to come to Rhodes Grove to attend. Rather, I am asking that you intentionally plan to set aside a specific amount of time on that day to pray for us, wherever you may be.
“On that day, at Rhodes Grove, I will lead our staff and available board members in a time that will include:
“In recent conversation with Bob Kobielush, the president of the national Christian Camp and Conference Association, he shared with me that these are the most difficult days for leaders of the nation’s Christian camps that he has ever seen. These are unprecedented times of unbelievable challenge but also incredible opportunity.
“We are under budget in income. We are over budget in expenses. We are experiencing the ill effects of what is perceived to be a horrid economy. We are feeling the painful pinch of trying to figure out how to make ends meet–just like many other nonprofits, and like many of you.
“We are also seeing kids come to Christ, relationships strengthened, and biblical truth declared as a result of our ministry and mission.
“We are also asking for churches that claim a relationship with us to embrace this Day of Prayer by praying for us on November 16 corporately during the Sunday morning worship time and by encouraging individuals to set aside some time on the Wednesday to follow to pray for Rhodes Grove.”
Ron Ramsey, Bishop
Last Sunday at our Imagine This church in Grand Ledge, Mich., I was privileged to watch as 12 people were baptized.
Pastor Gordon Kettel baptized three people in the morning service, all from one family (a couple and a child). They were reached through a VBS which Imagine This took to a mobile home park. They set up grills, grilled hotdogs, and fed kids every night for five nights. During the evening service (the larger of the two services), they baptized another nine people.
They used a blow-up pool with maybe 18 inches of water. The water wasn’t heated. The persons being baptized sat down in the pool, and he bent them back. Gordon baptized two persons by pouring water from a pitcher over their heads.
A lot of the people who have become Christians through Imagine This had no church background. For them, tithing is a foreign concept. But in both services, Gordon explained what tithing means. That impressed me. Many times, that’s the last thing you want to talk about in a church plant, but he’s bold about it.
Ron Ramsey, Bishop
I spent last Sunday with the Imagine This LLC congregation in Grand Ledge, Mich. Over the next few days, I want to share some of my thoughts and observations about this new United Brethren church.
Grand Ledge is a small bedroom community just east of Lansing. The church started a little over a year ago, on October 21, 2007. The pastor is Gordon Kettel (right, with his wife Lori).
They hold two services–at 10:00 Sunday morning and at 6 p.m. When they started a year ago, sharing a building with three other church groups, the only time available was Sunday night. The evening service attracted a number of people, so when they moved into their own building a few months ago, they decided to keep the evening service.
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Marilyn Reeck, UB endorsed missionary serving in Honduras, sent this report about the recent flooding:
“Ten days ago, extremely heavy rains began ravaging the Honduran coastline. One area heavily hit was the area around Balfate where our daughter Chrysti (right, with her husband and children) lives. Their house is above town and was not damaged. As the Balfate river became swollen, the waters flooded sections of the town and people had to be rescued from their houses.
“There are two rivers, which must be crossed, to get to Balfate. Sections of the two bridges gave way. At least five people from that area drowned.
“One of the ladies was in a canoe as her family tried to get to safety and fell overboard. Her body was found three days later. Our son-in-law, Rigo, was part of a group of men who walked through the two rivers and many miles down to the beach and then carried the body back the same way.
“The raging rivers swept away many houses near the river’s edge and these families lost everything.
“Chrysti and Rigo have been and still are involved in the relief efforts. Up until now that has meant carrying supplies across the rivers. The bridges are now being worked on and hopefully will be ready to use soon. The rains still continue but not with the same intensity.”
Abby Waterbury, a UB endorsed missionary in Honduras, has a blog. You can keep up on what she’s doing at Ebenezer Academy.
Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of Global Ministries
We have some exciting news for Mattru Hospital in Sierra Leone!
We’ve been studying how to make Mattru Hospital in Sierra Leone stable, healthy, and financially viable. One great need is equipment.
We put together a list of 150 items for the hospital to accommodate medical teams and do surgery, plus some real basic hospital supplies. One item was more beds. Ron Baker told that the beds at Mattru have never had mattresses. Part of it was more of a wish list. We began circulating this list to various organizations, including International Aid, Medical World Mission (the medical side of Samaritan’s Purse), and Brother’s Brother.
The first to respond was Brother’s Brother. A hospital had just given them 400 crank-type beds which were only three years old. They said we could have 53 of them, which would fill one shipping container. We would get the beds nicely packed in a shipping container, ready to go. We just had to get the container to Sierra Leone. That’s expensive–up to $13,000 for one container.
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Huntington University is hosting a one-day workshop on “Strategic Planning for the Local Church.” It’s limited to 30 persons–the first 30 to register.
Date: Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Time: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Location: Habecker Dining Commons at Huntington University.
Cost: $89 (or $69 each if 3 or more persons come from the same church). Includes lunch.
CEU Credit: .5 CEU
The class will focus on:
As part of the workshop, you’ll work on ideas for your own congregation.
To register, contact Rick Upchurch at:
Phone: 740-412-3808
Email: rlupchurch@gmail.com
You can download a PDF flyer with all the information you need.
