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A team of UBs from Michigan are heading to Nicaragua today. They’ll spend two weeks there doing a building project for a church in Masaya. The project is being spearheaded by Brown Corners UB in Clare, Mich. Eight of the members, however, come from Northland UB in Traverse City, Mich.
A team from Canada is currently in Haiti doing construction work and ministry. Unfortunately, Pastor Oliam Richard, who leads the churches in Haiti, suffered severe injuries in a fall on Monday. He attempted to jump down from a height of about six feet and ended up breaking his wrist in three places, and his hip, which they originally thought was dislocated, turns out to be badly broken. He will require a hip replacement operation.
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| Joan Sider (center) with Esther and Oliam Richard. |
The accident happened at what is called the “Hill Church.” Team members and some Haitian men had to carry Pastor Richard down to the bus. They spent two and a half hours looking for a doctor, with no success. The hospital in the town of Cayes couldn’t do anything for him. They tried to go to see some Cuban doctors Pastor Richard knows, but they were not at home. They went to the United Nations, who put them in touch with a nurse practioner. They visited a clinic, but there was no doctor at that time. They offered to keep Pastor Richard, but he declined. He was in considerable pain, but conscious and aware.
On Wednesday morning, the group planned to begin the six-hour bus journey to Port au Prince, the capital city. Upon arriving there Oliam’s wife, Esther, would begin investigating the possibility of taking her husband to France for medical treatment.
However, a wonderful opportunity arose on Tuesday night. The Mission clinic they were at suggested they try going to the Southern Baptist Mission Hospital, which is one of the best in the area. They hired an “ambulance,” which was little more than a van with a mattress on the floor and tires to lean up against.
Four times a year for one week, a team of doctors comes to this hospital from the United States. This happened to be one of those four weeks! Plus, one of the doctors is among the best Orthopaedic surgeons in North America! Definitely a God-thing.
After meeting with the doctors, they decided to have the surgery done there. A cast has already been put on Pastor Richard’s wrist. This injury is apparently the more difficult of the two problems, since three bones are broken quite badly.
Hopefully, on Thursday, Pastor Richard will have his hip operated on and they will have him up on his feet on Friday. Pastor Richard will remain in the hospital for ten days.
The cost for the operation will be about $5000 Haitian [$700 US]. There is no provision for food in the hospital. The Team will be going out to find a market to get food. Someone, likely Pastor Richard’s secretary, will need to cook the food at an outdoor fire.
Team Haiti will be going back to Cayes. They had already checked out of the hotel, but the hotel has rooms for them at a reasonable rate until Friday. From Saturday until their return to Toronto (as scheduled), they will stay in Port au Prince.
Ann Spores, who served with her husband Darrell as a UB missionary in Sierra Leone during the 1980s, passed away January 19. They served as business manager and hostess at the mission house in Freetown. Darrell’s address is:
Darrell Spores
1200 Miva Mar #602
Medford, OR 97504-8568
Richard Klopfenstein, former athletic director and chair of the Physical Education Department at Huntington University, passed away January 21 at Visiting Nurse and Hospice Home in Fort Wayne, Ind. He was 85. His wife, Mary, continues living in Huntington, Ind.
The funeral will be held Thursday, January 24, at D. O. McComb and sons Lakeside Park Funeral Home in Fort Wayne, Ind. at 11 a.m. Dr. Ray Seilhamer and Dr. Kent Maxwell wil officiate.
Klopfenstein is recognized as the “founding father” of the Mid-Central College Conference, the athletic conference in which the Foresters still compete. Klopfenstein helped start the MCC in 1959 and served as the organization’s first president.
Dick Kloopfenstein came to Huntington as a transfer student in 1942. He left to serve in the US Army during World War 2, earning a battle star and a combat infantryman’s badge. He then returned to Huntington, finishing his degree in 1948. After five years of teaching and coaching in Lafayette, Ind., he returned to HU in 1953 as the new athletic director.
During his years at Huntington University, Coach K coached a total of 80 seasons, including 33 years as golf coach, 15 years as men’s tennis coach, 13 years as men’s basket5ball coach, three years as baseball coach, and one year as women’t ennis coach. He was awarded professor emeritus status in 1987, but contiued to coach golf until 1992.
Read more about Coach K and his contributions to Huntington University.
For a long time I have tried to read a lot of good books. It must have been from my years in book publishing. Anyway, 2007 was no exception for me. Here are several book I read in 2007, and which I recommend. The links take you to the Amazon store entry for that book. However, you can order any of these from the UB bookstore by calling 888.622.3019 and asking for Marilyn.
George W. Bullard, Jr., Pursuing the Full Kingdom Potential of Your Congregation (Chalice Press, 2006; 226 pages). For congregations who thrive in the midst of great challenge; Vision Plus Intentionality.
Jim Collins, Good To Great and the Social Sectors: Why business Thinking Is Not The Answer (HarperCollins, 2005; 42 pages). A small booklet that describes how the principles of Good To Great can apply to organizations that are not profit-making businesses.
Thom S. Rainer & Eric Geiger, Simple Church: Returning to God’s Process for Making Disciples (B &H Publishing Group, 2006; 272 page). Describes how a church must organize to have effective spiritual transformation of its people.
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Tom Brodbeck, former Central Conference superintendent, alerted us to news about his son, Tom, a student at Huntington University. “My son is about to be famous! About a year ago, he had to fill in as the sports anchor for HTV (HU’s TV station). He hates being on camera, and was really nervous. His ‘friends’ kept his goof-ups and posted a blooper video on YouTube. Some website has picked it up and it is now nationally popular. He is being interviewed by a radio station in Alabama today. The video will be aired on Best D*** Sports Show (Fox Sports) next week. And another website has contacted him about doing a weekly sports video for them.”
The YouTube video has had about 40,000 hits since Christmas.
Here’s the direct link. There are other HTV news videos on YouTube, which you can find by putting “HTV News” in the search box.
Lester Smith (right), senior pastor of Hillsdale UB (Hillsdale, Mich.), sent this report about their January 6 service. “January 6, 2008, the Day of Epiphany, fell on a Sunday. Epiphany recalls the wise men following a great light to come to Christ. So the Hillsdale UB Church celebrated the 12th day of Christmas by lighting a candle for each of the 12 people who came to Christ in December through our church’s outreach ministries. The congregation at the HUB gave the Lord an ovation for all those born-again in 2007, which was double the number of the previous year.”
Fonda Cassidy of Mt. Olivet UB in Mt. Solon, Va., sent this report: “This past year was a great outreach for our church in missions. We shared in opportunities with local missions for building a complete house in our community. We cut and carried wood as was needed. We had a large group travel to Kentucky to work on projects directed by Titus Boggs. Other individuals traveled to Belize, Honduras, and Bolivia for medical and construction assistance. Five young people attend Rhodes Grove Camp, and two received Christ as Savior! Opportunities come and go, but it’s what we do with them that could count for Him.”
We received word that in early December, Gary Brooks was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Gary and his wife, Diane, served as missionaries in Honduras for many years, and later pastored UB churches in Michigan and Florida. Gary has continued his involvement in UB missions, frequently serving as an interpreter on trips to Spanish-speaking countries. Gary and Diane now live in Palmetto, Fla., at 2608 87th Court East, Palmett, FL 34221.
Jennie Bishop, a member of the praise team at Daytona UB church (Holly Hill, Fla.), sent this report about Christmas at First UB church:
“The Daytona UB church honored our Lord and Savior this Christmas season during each Sunday morning of Advent with a special song, a special music selection, and a narrative presentation. During the first three Sundays of Advent, our Praise Team sang a special song called ‘Messiah,’ and they also sang a special music selection. The song ‘Messiah’ was written by one of our church members who also wrote and coordinated the narrative readings. During the singing of ‘Messiah,’ four ladies wore robes of righteousness and walked down the main sanctuary aisle toward the front of the church where an adorned crown was placed at the manger in the nativity scene. After the singing, a narrative reading was done by several members of the Praise Team.
“Each Sunday during the singing of ‘Messiah,’ the congregation was instructed to write in a crown-shaped image on a piece of paper what they were willing to do for Christ this Advent season. The emphasis was on our willingness to serve Christ, and all written cards were kept anonymous as each church member placed their ‘Crown of Willingness’ on the alter. Prayer requests were also written on crown-shaped pieces of paper and placed on the altar. After each service, the willingness cards were collected and placed into the adorned crown that was laid at the manger.
“During the last Sunday of Advent, while singing ‘Messiah’ the cards of willingness were collected and placed into a crown of thorns which was placed before baby Jesus in the manger. Laying a crown of thorns signified that without the birth of Christ, there would be no salvation for mankind. In closing the service on that last Sunday of Advent, the congregation held lit candles while the Praise Team sang ‘There is Peace in the World Tonight,’ after which a flute and guitar duet played ‘Silent Night.’
Below is a music MP3 file for the song “Messiah” (Lyrics written by DJ Muller, performed by Edie Shadle, and recorded and produced by Matt McKeown of Sound Mind Productions).
