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Dave and Cathie Datema are the parents of a new baby girl–their third daughter and fourth child. Julie Violet Datema arrived on November 9. She entered the world with breathing problems, and spent eight days in the hospital before coming home on November 17. The Datemas are endorsed UB missionaries serving with the US Center for World Mission in Pasadena, Calif.
The US National Conference is transitioning to a structure based on clusters–an average of seven churches whose pastors meet together regularly for accountability, encouragement, and training. Many of the clusters have already been formed, and Bishop Ramsey will be appointing the cluster leaders in the weeks ahead. A meeting of cluster leaders is scheduled for early in 2006.
The UB website contains a list of the clusters which have formed thus far. Most are organizing on a geographic location basis and staying with churches in their own conference (though a few have crossed conference lines).
Bishop Emeritus Clarence Kopp underwent surgery on Monday, December 5, to remove a fist-sized mass on his liver. However, they began with a scope, since it was suspected that the tumor might be hiding additional diseased tissue. That turned out to be the case. The surgeon felt that the tumor was either positioned much differently than expected or that it now had grown to the point where three-fourths of the liver would need to be removed. As a result, no surgery was performed. Bishop Kopp will now begin six months of chemotherapy treatments to shrink the tumor. He was expected to be released from the hospital today.
Global Ministries Director Gary Dilley left for Sierra Leone on Wednesday, November 30, and will return on December 10. Joining him is Joe Abu, a Sierra Leonean who now pastors a UB church in the Philadelphia area. They are doing some leadership development work with people from Sierra Leone National Conference. Global Ministries is seeking to finish the transitional steps needed to move Sierra Leone from “mission field” to independent “national conference,” a process that was interrupted by the civil war in the 1990s. This has become exceedingly important as the Middle East floods Sierra Leone with funds to help spread the Islamic faith.
On Monday, November 28, Elsie Ramsey, wife of Bishop Ron Ramsey, underwent some tests for what they feared could be cancer. They are thankful that that wasn’t the case. However, later in the day they learned that E. J. has a disorder called temporal artoritis, a condition of inflamed blood vessels in the head. It was affecting the optic nerve in E. J.’s right eye, and if left untreated, could lead to total blindness. E. J. is on a heavy regimen of steroids right now, and the treatments are going well. The doctor feels they got it in time and Elsie may not need to be on the steroids very long. It’s not life-threatening, and there is no pain, but as mentioned, it can lead to blindness. E. J. is also diabetic, and steroids can adversely affect diabetes. But thus far, she has experienced no adverse side effects. As churches, please remember E. J. and Ron in your prayers.
A Women’s Conference will be held September 22-24, 2006. It is being sponsored by the UB Women’s Ministry Team. The conference will be held at the Farmstead Inn in Shipshewanna, Ind. Women who attend will be challenged by seminars on women’s issues, will learn leadership strategies, will share creative ideas, and will learn ways to start or improve women’s ministries in their own local churches. More information will be coming in the months ahead.
Join a UB short-term team to the Philippines for an outreach crusade and medical service March 29–April 8. There will be diverse opportunities for ministry. For more details, see the Global Ministries website at ubglobal.org or call the Global Ministries office.
Brown Corners UB (Clare, MI) will send their second construction team of the year to Nicaragua on June 8-20 to assist a church plant in building a house of worship. They currently have six spots still available on the team, and would like to invite churches and/or individuals who would like to partner with them in this ministry experience. For details, contact the Global Ministries office.
Also, check the website for details on two 2006 denominational mission trips:
1. Medical team to Honduras in March (deadline is December 15).
2. Polish English camp in June
The United Brethren Discipline for 2005-2007 has now been posted online. You can view the individual chapters, or download a PDF of the whole document.
Pastor Tim Hallman of Anchor Community Church (front, right) prays for Tabatha Lamb as she prepares to head for Vietnam.
On June 26, Anchor Community Church commissioned Tabatha Lamb as a missionary to serve in Vietnam with the English Language Institute/China. She arrived there in August, and is now involved in teaching English as a second language. Tabatha is a 2005 graduate of Taylor University-Fort Wayne.
Anchor has a strong relationship with Taylor University’s Fort Wayne campus. A number of students attend Anchor, and some have served in the tutoring, mentoring, and concert ministries, as well as in VBS and other church ministries.
Amanda Heinsch, a current student, received support from Anchor to spend two months this summer in Turkey with the Caleb Project. On September 25, she gave a presentation about her work in Turkey.
Another former Taylor student who attended Anchor has been serving since around 1999 in Azerbaijian. She is involved in Christian literature work. She has received annual support from Anchor’s missions fund.
On September 18, Anchor started a second Sunday morning worship service. The two services now meet at 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., with Sunday school during the second hour.
During this year’s Homecoming activities, Huntington University gave out its annual outstanding alumnus awards.
