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Zion UB church in Willshire, Ohio, held a celebration service on August 24 to formally conclude its ministry. Zion and the Willshire churches have merged, and are preparing to build a new worship facility in Willshire. The Zion building has sold and the new owners will take possession September 1.
Mark Beers has been named senior pastor of Decatur UB church (Decatur, Ind.). He had been pastor of Gaines UB in Caledonia, Mich. Mark is originally from Emmanuel UB in Fort Wayne, Ind. He will start at Decatur in mid-September.
Jim Sturgeon, the current pastor at Decatur, will officially retire on Sunday, August 31. Dr. Paul Fetters will serve as Minister of the Word for the Decatur church until Mark’s arrival.
Dirk Small, pastor of the Idaville UB church (Idaville, Pa.), and his wife Julie were in an accident August 13. Dirk wrote on August 19, “I am now home, but incapacitated. Julie is fully recovered, praise the Lord! On Wednesday, August 13, Julie and I were relaxing on our bike before prayer meeting, and I lost control on a newly paved road. We were traveling around 35 miles per hour and had no impact on anything.
“The slide did major damage to my body. I was taken to Hershey via Life Lion and there my spleen was removed. I have several broken ribs also. I’m on a heavy regiment of percacet, but the pain is still hard to manage. My incision, which runs from my chest to the groin, is healing nicely. I expect to be laid up for a couple of weeks yet. God does some wonderful things in your spirit when you become completely vulnerable to Him.”
Jana, Global Ministries staff in Macau, sent these notes on August 15.
David Meece will be in concert at Pleasant Valley United Brethren Church (Lake Odessa, Mich.) on Saturday evening September 20, starting at 6:30 pm. There are 200 reserved seats and 100 additional seats available on a first-come basis. Reserved seats can be requested by calling pastor Gary Taylor at 616-693-2366. A free will offering will be taken at the concert with proceeds going to the local pregnancy resource center. The church is located 10 miles west of Lake Odessa, Mich., on highway M-50.
The Eagle’s Wings church (Brice, Ohio) has disbanded. Central Conference is in the process of selling the property and dissolving the membership roll.
Ken Smith (right) and Titus Boggs.
Ken Smith, pastor of the Cedar Chapel UB church in Big Laurel, Kent., was involved in a serious car accident over a year ago. But after 17 surgeries (with more on the way), Ken has recently been released to drive. Due to his need for a wheelchair, he asked the Lord for a van with sliding doors on both sides. Titus Boggs, director of the Laurel Mission, took this request to the July meeting of Central Annual Conference.
The Monticello UB church, near Spencerville, Ohio, worked with Tom Ahl of Lima, Ohio, on purchasing a van that would allow Ken to pull his wheelchair into the van through the sliding door. Several other UB churches in the area played a part.
On July 26, Monticello group delivered a 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan to Laurel Mission. They had the privilege of seeing Ken drive to church on his own for the first time in over a year.
Kathy Bruce, chairperson of the Women's Ministry Leadership Team, addressing the conference.
The International Women’s Conference, July 25-27, brought about 140 United Brethren women to Huntington, Ind. They came from eight states: Indiana (40), Ohio (25), Michigan (29), Pennsylvania (16), plus others from Alabama, Illinois, Kansas, and Virginia. In addition, eight women came from Ontario.
The conference featured a variety of seminars and keynote addresses, complemented by drama by the group “All for One,” and music by the group “One Faith.”
The 2003 VBS on Taipa. Jennifer Blandin is seated on the front left.
Our director of the Macau English Language Program sent these notes on August 2.
“We gave an invitation to accept Jesus into their hearts to our children on Taipa during our last week of English classes and again this week at VBS. Six children responded. Praise the Lord for the work He’s doing in their hearts! Pray for wisdom as we think about how to follow-up on these children, since we don’t have Sunday school or a children’s fellowship here on Taipa yet.
“Jennifer Blandin and I really enjoyed our time in Hong Kong last weekend. The unity among the broader missionary community in Macau is an incredible blessing in our lives.
Dressed for the Taipa VBS.
“Last night Living Word Church had a BBQ at the reservoir. Several of the church members had invited family members or friends to come with them. Praise the Lord for the burden the church members are starting to feel for sharing the gospel.
“This Sunday night [August 3] is our closing VBS program on Taipa. Pray that many of the children and their parents will attend. We’ll be sharing the gospel there, as we want the parents to know what we’ve been teaching their children. These parents don’t send their children to our program because they want them to have Christian training, but because they want their children to practice English with foreigners. Pray that they’ll see the value of the Christian training, too!”
