29 Aug Preparing for This Year’s Thank Offering

This year’s Thank Offering bulletin insert

Jeff Bleijerveld, Director of UB Global

We are preparing for this year’s Thanksgiving Missions Offering, which we are hoping will provide the $50,000 needed to complete the Community Center we are constructing in Chiang Rai, Thailand.

Already, our multi-national team has been working to develop friendships in the community by gathering children, youth, and adults into their homes to participant in painting, practice music, and take classes in English and Mandarin. Their ultimate goal is to build rapport and trust so that they can share the gospel and invite them to become followers of Christ.

There is no set procedure for gathering an offering. A missions speaker could be invited, a harvest dinner held, or a program presented. We will be sending bulletin inserts free of charge that can be used to announce the offering the week prior to Thanksgiving. A short video will highlight the project.

We are mailing you an order form for optional Thank Offering envelopes should you wish to include them in your bulletin along with the insert. Please complete the order form and return it to us no later than September 12 for our Canadian churches, and October 16 for those in the United States. You may also email us at jana@ub.org or call toll free at 888-622-3019.

Let us know if there is anything we can do to make this Thanksgiving a meaningful time of celebrating what God is doing to grow His kingdom.

28 Aug Update on the Dave Datema Family

The Datema family (l-r): Callie, Julie, Jill, Culyer, Cathie, and Dave.

Dave and Cathie Datema are endorsed UB missionaries serving with Frontier Ventures in Pasadena, Calif. Dave’s role has changed a couple of time during the past two years. Here is an explanation from their most recent newsletter.

“Dave has been assigned to serve as Facilitator for a newly-appointed Missiology Task Force. This role will extend through April 2019, and Dave will be working with six other people within Frontier Ventures. The purpose of the group is to evaluate the missiological ‘voice’ of Frontier Ventures and make recommendations to leadership about moving it forward.

“‘Missiology’ is just a fancy word for the study of missions. Every mission organization prioritizes certain aspects of missions above others, and we are no different. The landscape of missions is constantly changing, and ideas come and go. This task force was created to analyze and evaluate how we think about missions and how that may need to change. It is also interested in ensuring that our voice as an organization, represented by our various programs and publications, is integrated and aligned. Our organization has been known for being a thought leader in missions, so this task force is an essential part of what we do.”

Other News from the Datema Family

• Dave recently completed a sabbatical, and has begun a PhD program.
• Callie, the oldest of the three daughters (19), is building a support team as she prepares for service with ACTS (Antioch Center for Training and Sending). She will spend eight months in Bible training in Colorado Springs, and then be deployed for two years to South Asia, where she will work in an area in the Himalayas that has 266 unreached people groups.
• Jill (16) recently spent two weeks with a team of youth from her church in a nation in Southeast Asia. She joined local believers in visiting a hospital to pray for the sick, and played with children whose mothers are involved in the sex industry.

21 Aug Honduras Conference Struggling with Serious Debts

For several years, Honduras Conference has been struggling with serious financial issues focused around the Bethel Institute in La Ceiba, a school begun during the 1970s. The school faces a $1.4 million debt.

Last weekend, the conference board voted to proceed with selling the school. On Monday, Superintendent Gonzalo Alas (right) traveled to San Pedro Sula to meet with potential buyers. The buyers will meet with the conference board on August 31.

In addition, the bank had threatened to start foreclosure proceedings last Saturday. However, just in time, the conference secured funds to cover part of the interest on the loan, and the bank backed off from starting foreclosure. However, funds will be needed for upcoming payments. They need about $13,000 to bring payments up to date.

Completing the sale of the Bethel school will take a few months, but the sale will only cover an estimated 70% of the total debt, which includes unpaid salaries, delinquent pension payments, and loans.

Please keep Honduras Conference in your prayers as they wrestle with these daunting issues. Pray especially for our national leader, Rev. Gonzalo Alas, who is seeking to guide the conference out of this situation while continuing to encourage pastors and churches in their local ministries. These financial issues distract from his passion of church planting, and also affects the conference’s ability to support their missionaries, Milton and Erika Pacheco, who are serving in Chiang Rai, Thailand.

07 Aug Hannah Barrett Joins UB Global Staff in Thailand

Hannah Barrett (right) is a new member of the UB Global staff. In less than two weeks, she leaves for Thailand, where she will teach students from many nationalities (including Thai) in an international school in Chiang Rai. Hannah graduated in May 2018 from Huntington University, with a degree in Elementary Education with a TESOL certification.

Chiang Rai International Christian School (CRICS) keeps its tuition very affordable so that locals and missionary children can attend. All teachers raise their support to be there. Hannah has already been to CRICS twice—once on a January Term trip and another for student teaching.

Hannah will serve in Thailand for one year as part of UB Global’s Jump Start program. Jump Start is designed to provide a streamlined process for recent graduates to serve on a United Brethren field for a shorter period (1-2 years) and discern God’s longer-term calling.

We already have an international team of ten persons serving in Chiang Rai. If you are interested in learning more about Hannah’s ministry, getting on her update list, or supporting her, contact us at info@ub.org.