07 May Introducing Neshannock UB Church
Highland Heights UB in New Castle has changed its name to Neshannock Community Church. Rev. Ron Lambright is the senior pastor there.
(260) 356-2312
07 May Death of Ernie Burk
Ernie Burk, a retired minister in Michigan Conference, passed away in April. He was 85. A memorial service was held April 19 at the Mt. Hope UB church in Carson City, Mich. Rev. Burk attended Huntington College and was ordained in 1949. He and his wife, Dorothy, served various churches in Michigan: Harrison, Brown Corners, Ashley, Alma, Jackson St. (now Countryside), Harrison, Caledonia, Eden, and Ithaca. They retired to a home on the Carson City Campground in 1982. Their oldest son, Roger, is the pastor at Mt. Hope. Three of their five children are still living.
07 May Five Days of Revival in Dayton
Park Layne UB (Dayton, Ohio) held a five-day revival which resulted in three conversions and some rededications. An average of 30-40 people attended each night. Associate Pastor George Rhodifer was the speaker.
The Easter Services on Sunday was well, attended. There were 25 for the Sunrise Service and about 35 for the Breakfast that followed. Pastor Roland Albert brought the Worship Morning message. His theme was “He is Risen, He is Alive, What About You?” This rebuilding church set a new attendance mark of 51.
07 May Easter in Haiti
Luanne Brooks, missionary to Haiti, writes about Easter activities she was part of.
“n Good Friday we visited the pool of St. Jacque. This is a voodoo holy place. My heart broke as I watched a couple of men and women worshiping Satan. I cried as I watched a woman dip a cup into that filthy slimy pool and drink from it as an act of worship.
“On Saturday we went to a village and passed out Bibles and radios that are fixed-tuned to the Christian radio station. I spoke to a young man who thought he was too young to be converted to Christianity. He believed he still had time to have fun. I read to him from John 3:16 in Creole. I asked him if he were to die today, would he not want to spend eternity with God. He said he didn’t believe there was life after this one. There are hundreds of thousands just like this young man. People who have been tricked by the witch doctors into believing that they should live only for today, that there is no tomorrow.
“Many of the local missionaries gathered on Sunday morning for a beautiful sunrise service on the lawn of the radio station. Afterwards we fellowshiped together with a carry-in breakfast.”
07 May Knocking on Doors Before Easter
Two weeks prior to Easter, Living Water UB (Clarksburg, W. Va.) began the process of knocking on every door in the city–all 7000 of them. Pastor Chris Mullett writes, “We began with the 415 homes closest to the church. Twenty-four adults and ten youth members participated in the visitation. We bought a packet of flower seeds for each of the homes to be visited and attached an invitation to our Easter service.
“Our Easter service was our largest attendance in our 28-month existence. We had 140, many of them visiting for the first time. Our next neighborhood outreach, in May, will target getting people to church for Memorial Day. This summer we will target a neighborhood with an invitation for children to attend a Bible school in a local park.”
07 May New Castle Group Goes to Kentucky
Barb Clingensmith writes, “Eight ladies and two teens from the First UB in New Castle, Pa., traveled to Laurel Mission in Kentucky the last weekend in March to assist and encourage Titus and Debbie Boggs. It is phenomenal to see the dedication of this couple to the mission work God has called them to.
“We were able to do some work in the yard and on the driveway, plus some cleaning in the kitchen/dorm areas. We had collected clothing and household items and were able to boost the clothing store’s inventory with what we brought. Also, learning about their Campbell Soup label project and that a van could be obtained with the labels, we were able to assist in getting labels ready to submit. Deciding this was a project we could share in, we began collecting labels. Seeing firsthand the work at the elementary school run by the Boggs family and the young lives they are touching, we have also pledged monthly support to this great effort. This was a rewarding trip.”
06 May Boom Times in Safford, Ariz.
Ron Gonzales, pastor of Open Bible Fellowship (Safford, Ariz.), reports on the exciting things happening as this booming Hispanic church.
“We had our first services in our newly remodeled 15,000 square-foot facility during the Easter weekend. We didn’t receive our certificate of occupancy for the property until Friday at 4:30. Without that we couldn’t have had our Easter services there. The work on the property was done over a period of 20 months by volunteers from the church.
“We had a 7:00 Saturday evening service and, on Easter Sunday, a 10:40 morning service. We did a drama production called ‘Victory Symphony.’ The combined attendance hit 650, with 29 conversions. Now we are making plans for our dedication service.”
06 May Mt. Victory’s New Sign
Mt. Victory UB officially lit a new church sign on April 16 during a church picnic and hotdog roast. The new sign is the latest in a series of property improvements. Within the past four years, the church has installed new siding, replaced the roof of the sanctuary, put up a new steeple, and completely remodeled the church basement into three classrooms and two utility rooms. The next step will be mounting the church bell on a stand near the front doors of the church. The bell had been in the original church steeple for over 100 years. Ed Gebert is the pastor.
06 May Easter in Brazil
Wes and Jean Bell write about Easter in Brazil. “Here in Brazil, Good Friday is considered a Catholic holiday and is not celebrated in many Protestant circles. Traditional Easter hymns are not sung unless there is strong missionary influence. Some churches are adopting the early morning breakfast, but not a sunrise service. The church we attend did a play along with choreography of two modern music pieces. Chocolate eggs are highly commercialized, but the general atmosphere does not seem nearly as festive as at New Year’s.”
06 May Palm Sunday at Idaville
Idaville UB (Idaville, Pa.) presented the musical drama “Fish Tales” on Palm Sunday. The program was performed by the “Praise Kids,” 13 children in grades 1-6….On Easter Sunday, Pastor Dirk Small was pleased to have 203 people attending. Several persons made decisions to accept Christ….April 27 was Rally Day. The group “The Praisin Puppets” presented a program to the children’s department.