(260) 356-2312

UB.orgUBGlobal.orgChurch Search

25 Jun

June 25, 2008 |

hirschy_paul.jpgPaul Hirschy, former bishop and now a Huntington University staffer, has been offering the Good Sense stewardship training to UB churches. He recently conducted this at Franklintown UB church (Franklintown, Pa.). What’s this about?

Paul explains, “Willow Creek developed the Good Sense materials because they found that people would not give the time required for the demanding Crown Ministry. It is practical, designed to be done in one day, with six one-hour sessions. However, people are expected to do some pre-session work in preparation for the training.

“The material emphasizes that:

  • God owns it all and we are to be good trustees of what God has entrusted to us.
  • Credit card debt is the most damaging kind of debt, and people need to be very wise in the use of credit cards.
  • People can get out of debt and find financial freedom.

Credit card debt is a huge issue for many people. Churches need to deal with it to be relevant to one of the major problems in people’s lives.

“I like Good Sense because it is easy for people to understand, it can be presented in one day, and the cost is reasonable ($15 per manual, which a couple can share).”

If you’re interested in possibly hosting a Good Sense seminar, contact Paul Hirschy at phirschy@huntington.edu or call toll-free 1-866-213-3710.

24 Jun

June 24, 2008 |

Macau is becoming what we called a “crossroads” city. While the population consists primarily of Chinese and Macanese (people of Portuguese descent), you increasingly find people from many other countries. New York, Paris, Berlin, Toronto–those are well-known crossroads cities, where you see the nations gathered. Now Macau is joining their ranks. 

On the high-speed ferry from Hong Kong, I met a Canadian coming to Macau on a six-month contract to work with Cirque du Soleil. You find Filipinos and East Indians everywhere, many coming on short-term contracts or seeking service-industry jobs. Unfortunately, Macau’s growth and international attraction is built on misfortune–gambling.

We have a missionary team in this crossroads city. What do we do about that? What might God be intending? Can we reach people who then go back to their homelands and have an impact beyond Macau? 

Living Stone UB church in Macau has already begun embracing this opportunity. Three Filipinos currently attend the church, and they are increasingly open to saying, “We’re going to reach internationals.” 

24 Jun

June 24, 2008 |

A medical team left for Honduras last Friday. Donna Hollopeter, associate director of Global Ministries, is a member of that team. She sent this brief email back to the Global Ministries office on Monday, June 24: “Just a note to let everyone know that we are just fine. It is quite nice here temperature wise. We have been incredibly busy. Two clinics and so far we have seen 709 people. Lots of need, definitely.”

23 Jun

June 23, 2008 |

leadteam_golf.jpg

L-r: Thurm Payton, Howard Matthews, Mike Caley, Mark Ralph, Scott Hergert, Darrel Bosworth, Gordon Kettel.

J. Michael Caley, Banner Church, Byron Center, Mich.
Banner Church is part of a LEAD team, the first one in Michigan. The initials stand for learn, encourage, achieve, dream. It’s a group of pastors getting together for the specific purpose of thinking and praying together about the most strategic places God might have us plant a new church.

The commitment of that team and church, by the pastor participating, is:

  • Identify a potential church planter.
  • Pool resources.
  • Set goals for how often to start a new church.
  • Do everything possible to support and encourage the planter.
kettels_gordonlori.jpg
Gordon and Lori Kettel

Our LEAD team gathers every 6-8 weeks to support the work of Gordon Kettel, who is planting a church in Grand Ledge, Mich. Our experience has been good. Gordon is so fun and entertaining; we have a great time together. In addition to me and Gordon, there are:

  • Howard Matthews (HomeFront UB, Grandville)
  • Scott Hergert (First UB, Lansing).
  • Thurm Payton (Lighthouse UB, Williamston)
  • Darrel Bosworth (Kilpatrick UB, Ashley).

We have committed for a period of 2-3 years to start a church and see it through. We serve as a sounding board for Gordon. He shares struggles and asks questions, and we agree to always laugh at his jokes.

In the 1980s, I became a church planter. I felt entirely alone, even though I received a regular paycheck from the conference treasurer and was told the conference backed us. God used that experience to teach us, as a family, some amazing things, and we learned how to share Christ without any real support. But the LEAD team concept excites me, because I feel it’ll lead to some real success stories.

22 Jun

June 22, 2008 |

In case you’re wondering:

  • UB.org is the official, flagship website of the US National Conference. Anything you want to know about the UB church you can probably find there. Use the search box on the homepage.
  • UBMissions.com is the official website for Global Ministries.
  • HealthyMinistryResources.com is the website for the national office only.

20 Jun

June 20, 2008 |

An email was sent out yesterday afternoon to the UB constituent list, which consists of 1070 addresses. It gives information about current work trips, our newest missionary, and other things.

How about forwarding it to your church’s email list, with a note inviting parishioners to subscribe on their own? The email includes a link they can use to subscribe. There might be other people in your church interested in receiving these emails.

20 Jun

June 20, 2008 |

Ajiax WoDuring my May trip to Asia, I spent a couple hours with Ajiax Wo (right), superintendent of Hong Kong Conference. David Kline, one of our Macau missionaries, was with me. We went out to eat with Ajiax and Mark Choi, their mission director. Then Ajiax took me on a quick tour around downtown Hong Kong.

We went through the stock exchange, and then down to the harbor. They keep filling in Victoria Harbor to reclaim more land from the sea. Skyscrapers now stand where the shoreline used to be.

Hong Kong built a huge new airport. The previous airport was located in the downtown area at the end of Victoria Harbor. People would go to the top of buildings, where it seemed like you could reach out and touch airplanes as they came in to land.

Ajiax is a really cool guy. He’s in his mid-30s, a really sharp guy. David Kline and I both scratched our heads, thinking, “It’s hard to believe some woman hasn’t grabbed this guy.”

19 Jun

June 19, 2008 |

This Sunday, June 22, Bishop Ramsey will speak at Jerusalem Chapel (Churchville, Va.), and help them dedicate their new facility. It’s been just over two years ago that a fire destroyed a large part of their facility.

18 Jun

June 18, 2008 |

On May 12, Global Ministries Director Jeff Bleijerveld (right) participated in the 25th anniversary of the Looking Unto Jesus churches in the Philippines. These churches, in 2005, affiliated with the United Brethren denomination to become a national conference. While we refer to them as the Philippine National Conference, they are known locally as Looking Unto Jesus.

Joining Jeff was Mike Brown, pastor of Franklin UB church in New Albany, Ohio. Mike’s connections with Superintendent Prudencio Lim and the Looking Unto Jesus churches led to them becoming part of our fellowship.

Jeff Bleijerveld put together a short video from the trip. You can watch the YouTube version above.

18 Jun

June 18, 2008 |

bunk_500.jpg

A team of 15 persons from College Park UB (Huntington, Ind.) left today to do a week of work in La Ceiba, Honduras. map_200.jpgThey’ll tackle a variety of projects, the main one being building bunks at the new conference camp outside of La Ceiba.

To fund the project, College Park promoted “Build a Bunk” for about six week. A sample of the bunk they would build was placed in the church. For $150, people could sponsor a bunk. That amount covered materials for the bunk itself, but also for other projects.