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November 1999 News Archive

11/15/99

Associate Pastor Needed. South Mountain UB of Dillsburg, Pa., is looking for an associate pastor to work with the youth ministry and family life center. If interested, call Pastor Greg Helman at (717) 432-5662. Send resume to: Pastor Greg Helman, 1048 South Mountain Road in Dillsburg, PA 17019. Email: SMUUB@juno.com

11/13/99

Over 24 Days of Rain. We received this email from Roger Reeck in La Ceiba, Honduras: "Right now it is raining very hard and the bridges to the east are unusable. One foot bridge was washed out completely and the only other bridge, the big concrete one that goes to Palo de Agua and Tocoa, is not passable. The river is flooding the northeast side of La Ceiba and there is danger that it will come into the downtown area. Airports are closed, and the San Pedro Sula airport has too much water on the runway to be usable. The La Ceiba airport is closed because of the storm.

"This makes 24 days of rain. Thousands of people have had to leave their houses and seek shelter in higher places, including those who live in La Lima near the San Pedro airport. Please pray that the rain will stop soon and that the people will be drawn closer to the Lord through all of this."

Minister of Music/Associate Pastor Needed in Virginia. Jerusalem Chapel of Churchville, Va., is looking for a fulltime Minister of Music/Associate Pastor. This person's job would include overseeing the total music ministry (personal musical abilities a plus) partnered with visitation skills to assist the pastoral staff. Contact: Jerusalem Chapel UB church, 314 Chapel Road, Churchville, Va 24421. Email: jchapel@cfw.com

11/5/99

Jana Hoobler Named Director of ELP. The Missions Commission named Jana Hoobler (right) Director of the Macau English Language Program. She had been carrying the title "Acting Director." Jana has been on furlough this fall, but will return to Macau on December 9.

December 20 will be a big day in Macau. That's when China regains control of Macau, after a century under Portuguese supervision. Russ and Nellie Birdsall are scheduled to return to the States just before that date, while Heather Boyer, a Huntington College student who has been in Macau since June, will come back shortly after the turnover ceremonies.

The Missions department is recruiting missionaries for:

  • Macau. We need one couple and two single missionaries to serve fulltime, teaching in the English Language Program.
  • Myanmar. We need volunteers to teach English with our new work in Myanmar (formerly Burma), where we operate an English Language Program similar to the one in Macau.

If interested, contacted the Department of Missions.

A Change for Three Missionary Families. For about 30 years, the United Brethren church, the Primitive Methodist Church, and the Evangelical Congregational Church have jointly supported three "Federation" missionary families. The three denominations have provided one-third of the support for each family. Currently, those families areÑ

  • Aldean and Ellen Saufley, from the United Brethren church, serving in Haiti with OMS. Our share of their support: $8400.
  • Ron and Brenda Anderson, from the Primitive Methodist Church (serving in Spain). Our share of their support: $16,128.
  • Jonathan and Kathy Wilson, from the Evangelical Congregational Church (serving in Papua New Guinea). Our share of their support: $6,400.

In March 1998, the UB Missions Commission decided to end its involvement in this arrangement, and to give our full support to the Saufleys. The Wilsons and Andersons were notified, with nearly a two-year warning, that their UB funding would end as of January 2000.

The other two denominations will continue cooperating to support the Wilsons and Andersons. The EC Church will pay two-thirds of the Wilsons' support and one-third of the Andersons' support, and the PMs will pay two-thirds of the Andersons' support and one-third of the Wilsons' support. Meanwhile, we will pay the full support for the Saufleys. So nobody's support is being reduced.

All 23 La Uba Homes Complete. A year ago, we set out to build 23 homes in the village of La Uba for Hondurans who lost their homes in Hurricane Mitch. A number of work crews have labored on the project. And now, all 23 homes have been completed. A job well done. Next: building a church and school in this new community, on property already designated for those purposes.

Mid-Atlantic Conferences Takes in Jamaican and Sierra Leonean Churches. In August 1999, the Jamaican Church in the Bronx was accepted into Mid-Atlantic Conference, and Pastor Linton Thomas transferred his ministerial credentials from Jamaica Conference to Mid-Atlantic. The other Jamaican church in the New York area, the church in Mt. Vernon, remains under the supervision of the Missions Commission. Mid-Atlantic Conference also accepted a Sierra Leonean congregation in Boston, Mass.

Jean Bell reports from Brazil: "The great news is that the Oiampi New Testament in its two dialects has been checked by native speakers; now only a final consultant check on a few books remains to be done. Proofreadings and formatting are ahead. Soon another people group will have God's Word in their language." Wes and Jean Bell serve with Wycliffe Bible Translators.

Mission to the Americas, a 50-year-old organization with 300 personnel, is moving its offices from Wheaton, Ill., to Denver, Colo. Chrysti Reeck, a UB endorsed missionary, serves in Honduras with Mission to the Americas.

Campus Crusade for Christ opened a new international headquarters in Orlando, Fla., in October. Brian and Cathy Birdsall, in the Ukraine, are Campus Crusade missionaries serving under the CoMission umbrella.

Working on Their Constitutions. Jamaica, Honduras, and Nicaragua conferences are developing their own constitutions, to be presented for approval to the 2001 General Conference. Each "national conference"Ñall of the churches in a single countryÑneed to develop their own constitution. Sierra Leone and Hong Kong have already done so.

Two New Overseas Conferences Ahead? It is also hoped that two new conferences will be officially organized and join the United Brethren fold in 2001: India and Mexico.

Bethel UB Trip to New York. On October 2-3, seven members from Bethel UB drove a U-Haul trailer to Queens, New York, on a two-fold mission. First, they dropped off four drums of clothing and cooking wares to be shipped from New York to friends in Craighead, Jamaica. Before "camping out" at Pastor Linton Thomas' home, the group unloaded furniture and building materials donated by Bethel members to be shared with the people of the Jamaican UB church in the Bronx. Writes Dot Myers, "It was just like returning to Jamaica as we worshiped with them Sunday morning. It was great renewing acquaintances and making new friends!"

New Hispanic Church in Miami. The Missions Commission and Southeast Conference are cooperating to start a Hispanic church in the greater Miami area. In September, a pastor moved there from California.

Dave and Becky Spencer now live in Orlando, Fla., where Wycliffe recently moved its headquarters. He writes that their staff is about 30 persons short; that creates some problems. He and Becky want to maintain their residence visa for Brazil, where they served for many years, so they traveled back there in November. He adds: "Well over 2000 people groups have no access to the scripture because it is not in their languages. Pray that those the Lord is calling (maybe from your church) to be trained as translators will heed his call for the privilege of making God's Word available to a people group for the very first time."

Unifying Our Church Planting Efforts. Currently, our US church planting efforts are split between two departments. The Missions department oversees ethnic church planting (Hispanic, Haitian, Chinese, etc.), while the Church Services department handles the traditional "anglo" church planting. There is a proposal to combine these into a single Church Multiplication Commission for North America. This commission would be responsible to the General Board (our highest annual governing body). The 2001 General Conference would need to approve this change.

Hispanic Church Extension District. Last spring, the General Board approved creating a Hispanic Church Extension District, which would include the Hispanic churches of Latin American Ministries in California, Texas, Florida, Utah, and elsewhere (until or unless they become part of another annual conference). That will enable those churchesÑthe source of our greatest growth in North AmericanÑto be represented at the 2001 General Conference.

Jamaica Bible College. Owen Gordon, a former Jamaica Conference pastor and superintendent, is now president of Jamaica Bible College. He is also an endorsed UB missionary. Owen writes: "We have seen an increase of new students desiring to be trained for Christian work. Already about 15 new ones have been enrolled, bringing us closer to the goal of 30 by September 2000." Bishop Emeritus Wilber and Mossie Sites are spending the fall months in Jamaica teaching and assisting. "Pray for the over 80 business students, many of whom are not saved, that they will come to know Christ through our on-campus witness."

New Job, New Location Ahead. Ruth Ann Price is spending a couple months in South Asia, and will return to the States in mid-December, consulting with Wycliffe teams in management and teaming issues. Soon after returning, she'll experience two major changesÑlocation, and job duties. For the past seven years, she has worked in the International Management Training department doing training and consulting on management. organizational, and human resources issues. She writes, "In January of 2000, I will move to Orlando, Fla., where our US headquarters has moved. I will take the role of Vice President for Core Programs for Wycliffe Bible Translators USA. This involves five major areas: Church Relations, Prayer Ministries, Mobilization (recruitment and personnel processing), Member Care, and Communications for WBT USA."

11/1/99

Charlotte, Mich. Crossroads UB honored Bernadine Hoffman and other Sierra Leone missionaries August 28-29. The fruit of her work, 21 of her spiritual offspring, shared in the morning service. Rev. Billy Simbo preached and Rev. Joe Abu led worship with traditional African dress and song. The previous night featured African food and the sharing of memories from the field.

Elmore, Ohio. On October 2-3, seven members from Bethel UB drove a U-Haul trailer to Queens, New York, on a two-fold mission. First, they dropped off four drums of clothing and cooking wares to be shipped from New York to friends in Craighead, Jamaica. Before "camping out" at Pastor Linton Thomas' home, the group unloaded furniture and building materials donated by Bethel members to be shared with the people of the Jamaican UB church in the Bronx. Writes Dot Myers, "It was just like returning to Jamaica as we worshiped with them Sunday morning. It was great renewing acquaintances and making new friends! Some of us returned home that evening. Others spent the next two days soaking in the fall tree colors and sights of New England on a whirlwind tour on the way home."

A Role Change for Ruth Ann Price. Ruth Ann Price has served for the past seven years at the Wycliffe headquarters in Dallas, Texas. She sent this note:

I'm in South Asia right now or two months. I'm consulting with teams in management and teaming issues. I'm also working with the South Asia admininistration team on such processes. I do this October through mid-December. Then back to Dallas and an assignment change for me. I will have completed seven years in the International Management Training department doing training, consulting particularly on management and organizational and human resources issues.

In January of 2000, I will move to Orlando, Fla., where our US headquarters has moved. I will take the role of Vice President for Core Programs for Wycliffe Bible Translators USA. This involves five major areas: Church Relations, Prayer Ministries, Mobilization (recruitment and personnel processing), Member Care, and Communications for WBT USA.

Threats of Persecution in India. On October 18, our couple in India sent a letter to Bishop Ray Seilhamer asking for prayer for their work in India. Christians in India have been the targets of an increasing amount of violence in recent years, mostly at the hands of Hindus. Christians have been beaten and killed, churches burned. Following is the text of the letter:

We are sending this letter to generate prayers for India and the Lord's work in this country. The Hindu fundamentalists, with a coalition of other parties called the NDF (National Democratic Front), have won the election and formed the new ruling government. There are immediate disturbing signs.

The BJP Government in the State of Gujarath is planning to introduce a bill in their state parliament aimed against Christians. Where conversions are found, special courts will take action. The punishments will be 1-3 years imprisonment and/or a fine of 1000-3000 rupees. We fear that if this happens in one state, other states may introduce similar bills.

The government said many Christian organizations would be closely scrutinized. They would like to know if funds are used for evangelism, church planting, and other evangelistic ministries.

The Education minister wants to introduce prayer to the Hindu goddess of education, Sarawati Vandana, into the schools. A majority of schools are owned or funded by the government. Our Mission English Medium School is not funded by the government, but a Christian Telugu Medium School of 1400 students is funded by the government and would have to follow the government rules.

We need wisdom to know the Lord's will. Please pray that we will be faithful witnesses, even under trying circumstances and persecution.