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26 Feb

February 26, 2003 |

Marshalee Brown, a UB from Jamaica Conference, has arrived in Ethiopia to begin her missionary service there. An eight-hour flight to London, where she stayed for a few days, then a ten-hour flight to Addis Abada, Ethiopia (which a stop-over in Alexandria, Greece). She arrived at 1 am on a Tuesday morning.

“On the aircraft to Ethiopia, it finally hit me hard that I was going away for a long time to a foreign country. That was when the tears started to pour. I had to command my eyes to stop their raining and my heart to be glad in expectancy of what God has for me in my new home. I repeated some of the many promises God has made to me–that he will be with me, and his joy will be my strength. I arrived in Ethiopia 1am Tuesday morning. I cried myself to sleep because I felt so lonely. This time it was very difficult to command my eyes and heart to do anything, I just gave them free reign to do as they will…but eventually I slept and it was a sweet sleep, I did not get up until 10:30 the next morning!”

Marshalee will spend six months attending language school in Addis. She also spend a week and a half visiting Mekele, which is where she will be working.” I was able to reconnect with some Ethiopian friends from my last visit and I was able to find my way around a bit, so I do not feel totally foreign and out of sorts.”

She adds, “From my window I can hear reggae music blasting round the corner. I have been to three different places today and they were all playing Bob Marley music. So in a way, not everything is strange. Actually, if I do not speak the language, I pass as an Ethiopian.”

26 Feb

February 26, 2003 |

Good Shepherd UB (Huntington, Ind.) has a new missions team under the direction of Matt and Eva Webb. All seven of them attended the Perspectives class held at Huntington College this winter, and they have developed a great vision for getting the church more missions-oriented. A team will to go Haiti this spring, and another will go to our Laurel Mission in Kentucky in July. The new team includes one college student and two high school students.

One of Good Shepherd’s worship teams will hold a praise and worship concert the evening of March 2. A photo and poster were put up all over the community, inviting people to come. Proceeds will help with building improvements.

The church renovated the stage and sound booth areas of the sanctuary. One parishioner, who was laid off from his construction work this winter, did the work. The congregation gave his family a “pounding” in appreciation, and bought him a nailgun as a thank-you for his month of hard work.

26 Feb

February 26, 2003 |

Emma Hyer, R.N., the first UB missionary nurse in Sierra Leone, passed away February 26. She served at the clinic/dispensary at Danville from 1936-1942, and 1952-1955. Miss Hyer came from the UB church in Coleta, Ill. The first UB missionary doctor, Leslie Huntley, had been serving at Danville since 1934 without trained help, so her arrival was a welcome relief.

26 Feb

February 26, 2003 |

Luanne Brooks will leave for Haiti on March 27 to begin her missionary service with OMS International. She is a fulltime UB missionary on loan to OMS. Luanne’s funding is not yet at the 100 percent level, but OMS felt it was close enough to go ahead and send her.

25 Feb

February 25, 2003 |

Paul Coy, former missionary in Macau, has begun his second semester at Asia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary. He writes, “I am taking classes in Church History, Evangelism, Cultural Anthropology, Church Administration, Pastoral Care and Counseling, Character Formation, and Interpersonal Communication. I enjoy my classes, and thank God for the opportunity to study. This semester will finish April 3rd.

April, May, and June are our summer classes. I will not take summer classes, but will do two internships. The first one will be at my home church, First Church of the Nazarene, in Huntington, Ind. I will be in the States, April 7–May 21. My second internship will be in Bangkok, Thailand, May 23–June 30. I will teach English at the Thai Pattana Language school and help with a new church plant that began this year.

I believe God will stretch me and teach me in incredible ways through both internships. By doing my two internships this summer, I will be able to graduate a semester earlier than I had originally planned. I will get my Master of Divinity degree in two-and-a-half years, finishing at the end of October 2004. I do not yet know my plans after graduation, but will let you know as God guides and directs me.”

25 Feb

February 25, 2003 |

Atlantic Avenue UB (Franklin, Pa.) holds a breakfast every Sunday between services, with people actually cooking three out of the four Sundays per months. Nancy Robison writes, “We started cooking for 60 people and now we cook for over 200! That’s a lot of eggs! We have guys who set up tables and make toast and even help with the clean up. A Sunday school class cleans up the kitchen so the cooks can attend the second service.

The breakfasts are free. The menu includes eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, bagels, donuts, juices, and chocolate milk. “This has become an evangelistic tool. Some children have told us that our breakfast is the only good one they get all week! Nothing is better than getting a hug from a child and see them eat a good breakfast, and having them get powdered sugar all over you! A couple of times we have gone to service with our aprons on, but I don’t think God cares!”

Pastor Brad Riddle conducts evangelism classes twice a week for anyone interested. Members of the new Evangelism Team must attend the class. The team has washed all of the windows on both sides of Liberty Street in the town of Franklin. Pastor Riddle was teaching fifth grade in Franklin when God called him into the ministry less than two years ago. He is also taking courses at Huntington College.

Atlantic Avenue’s Christmas dinner theater was full all three nights. It was free to the public. The church performed the play “What Would You Do?”, written by their own Carole Rugh. The first night, the coat rack bent in half from the weight of all the coats.

25 Feb

February 25, 2003 |

Familia de Dios, a Latino congregation in Flanders, New York, signed a “partnering agreement” with Mid-Atlantic Conference in January. They are the first congregation to enter into this informal, relationship-building arrangement. Should that relationship be formalized, they will become the first Hispanic congregation in Mid-Atlantic Conference. The conference already includes West African, Jamaican, and Haitian congregations.

25 Feb

February 25, 2003 |

GraceNow! Ministries, a church plant of Mid-Atlantic Conference, has united with two non-UB churches for joint worship experiences. Each group will maintain its own identity and ministry focus, but they will worship and work together for strategic ministry in the greater Harrisburg area. GraceNow! has been following the house church model. Both the joint worship service and GraceNow!’s weekly cell meeting take place in Middletown, Pa.

25 Feb

February 25, 2003 |

The Ladies Aid of McGuire Bend UB (Dayton, Iowa) reorganized and is meeting monthly. Most have reread the New Testament since January or plan to complete it by March, at three chapters a day. The pastor at McGuire Bend is Kent Kasler, a United Methodist minister who also served four Methodist churches.