April 2000 News Archive

4/27/00

Groundbreaking for New Science Building. On April 28, at 4:30 p.m., Huntington College will break ground for a state-of-the-art science hall. It will be the centerpiece of a $37 million capital campaign. The 91,000 square feet learning center will be the largest building on campus. The public is invited to attend.

Honoring Dr. J. Edward Roush. A special convocation at 11 a.m. on April 28 will honor Dr. J. Edward Roush for his 50 years on the Huntington College Board of Trustees. The guest speaker will be Congressman Lee Hamilton, a longtime colleague of Roush when he served in the US Congress.

Update on Al DeCristoforo. On Saturday, April 22, Al was taken to the hospital to receive plasma and platelets. After his last chemo treatment, he became very sick. He wasn't able to have guests for 3 days.

Findlay, Ohio. From Amy Mead, the church secretary at Faith UB: "We had a wonderful service on Easter Sunday and wanted to share the good news. Several weeks ago, we challenged our congregation to a goal of $14,000 on Easter, which we called Miracle Sunday. This amount would enable us to completely pay for the land on which we hope to eventually build our own church. We took the Miracle Offering on Easter Sunday, and over $14,000 came in! Over 200 people attended the special service, and 120 attended our Easter Sonrise Breakfast. The church is growing by leaps and bounds, and we are so excited to see what the Lord has in store for Faith Community Church.

Easter in Daytona, Fla. For the tenth year, Daytona UB presented a drama depicting the Passion Week. Over 1500 people attended six performances this year (the vast majority having never attending before). Another 100 people from the church worked each night to make it a success. Dozens of people accepted Jesus as their Savior, and many recommitted their lives to Christ. Hundreds of Polaroid pictures were taken of people (mostly children) with the two men who portrayed Jesus as a way to remember the event. Pastor Chuck McKeown remarks, "Too many pictures are taken at the local mall of children with the Easter bunny!"

Port Elgin, Ontario. Pastor Bob Cotie reports, "At the end of March, Shiloh UB held a Community Intercession night to pray for unity and for the breaking of strongholds in the area. Over 75 people from many local churches, including seven pastors, attended, and a sense of 'chains falling off'' was expressed."

Shiloh fed about 130 people at its annual Good Friday breakfast, which was followed by a musical service of worship. That night, they held a community worship service, again supported by many local churches, with over 140 attending. The service included a joint praise team and excellent drama.

On May 7, the church will sponsor a community showing of the newly released Billy Graham film, "Something to Sing About," in the local cinema. The event will be combined with a food drive for the Salvation Army Food Bank.

Walker, Mich. Fresh Breeze UB disbanded on March 26, 2000. The church celebrated it's three-and-a-half years of ministry with a service filled with memories and music.

Fresh Breeze was launched in September, 1996, as an outreach mission of Michigan Conference. The hallmarks for the new ministry were vibrant worship, servant evangelism, and small group discipleship. Church members were known in the community for their servant hearts, and were called on when tragedy struck Northwest Grand Rapids.

In raw terms, the leadership of Fresh Breeze counted over 20 families that were still intact because of intervention by the Breeze and its people. Those years were marked by more two dozen conversions, over 150 worship services, 40 service projects, and an impact that will be felt in Walker for many years to come.

Ultimately, the congregation faced a maintenance ministry without the financial or personnel abilities to continue to achieve their aggressive mission. It was decided that it would be better to disband than to survive on a 3-Bs ministry: bodies, buildings, and bucks.

The people of Fresh Breeze are now searching for new churches to attend. There is no United Brethren church convenient to the Breeze. Pastor Dan Maas has taken a position as a sales representative for a pharmaceutical firm.

Huntington, Ind. Chris Moore, formerly an intern at Emmanuel UB of Fort Wayne, Ind., has begun his ministry as Pastor of Congregational Ministry at Good Shepherd UB in Huntington, Ind.

Greenfield, Ohio. Jim Blaine is the new pastor of Good Shepherd UB in Greenfield, Ohio. He is the son of former longtime pastor Robert Blaine. He started on Palm Sunday. Jim formerly served with John Hagee Ministries in San Antonio, Texas, as an Associate Pastor. A farewell dinner for Interim Pastor Frank Crump was held April 9.

News from India. Miriam Prabhakar sent the following information:

Richard is chairman of a convention being held April 26-30. We hope to have 10,000—15,000 people per night. This convention, held every 5-6 years, covers the villages in East and West Godavari District. We will have laymen and pastors from all of these villages, and plan to feed about 2000 people a day, for lunch and dinner, at a subsidized rate. The UB Missions Commission is covering part of the expense, on our request; that will be very helpful.

We have Bible studies in the morning, two speakers in the afternoon, and an evening meeting. Please pray for the three speakers, choir, the prayer cells, and all the physical arrangements. The three guests will stay in our home. Pray that the Holy Spirit will prepare the hearts of those that come and hear, and that there will be a real revival among the churches.

The Prabhakars had planned to come to the States in June, but because of Richard's need for medical attention, they will leave India on May 9 and arrive in Huntington, Ind., on May 11. Miriam writes, "We ask for prayer for our safety as we travel, and that the work we leave behind will continue smoothly in our absence."

The Mission English Medium School is getting ready for the new year, which starts on June 12. Miriam says, "The new principal is a very capable person, and he needs much prayer as he shoulders this responsibility. Pray for the right staff for the new year and for a good strength of students."

Camden, Mich. MaryAnn Hancock, Mission chairman at New Hope , writes, "Last fall, we gave the children acorn banks in which to save money for missions. After talking with the Missions Department, we decided to give the money to the El Carill project. On Palm Sunday, Pastor Bill Case talked about Jesus being the greatest missionary, and the children broke their banks at the end of the morning service. We had goggles for safety and a hammer for them to use to break these little plastic banks. After all was counted, we had a total of $369 for the El Carill project."

Return from Romania. David Shisler, a retired Mid-Atlantic Conference minister, has visited Romania many times during the past decade, carrying out various types of ministry. He recently returned from yet another trip to Romania, and reports, "I found the country enjoying an upsurge of private businesses, so the 'free market' system has definitely invaded. My seminars were well attended and well received, especially the ones on Marriage Enrichment and Gifts of the Spirit. I did Teacher Training seminars for two other small groups. I also visited some orphanages and found the ratio of children to staff greatly improved. I was told that because of the influence of Christian organizations coming in and starting private, well-staffed orphanages, the state, not wanting to be shown up by these groups, has added many new staff. The children seem to be much better adjusted, and I saw no neglected children in any of the orphanages. PTL!"

Ellwood City, Pa. The Ellport UB church held an Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 15. Children of the local community were invited, and they were divided into various age groups. The children began by listening to the Easter story. Then they hunted for the various eggs. Candy and additional prizes were awarded. A picnic style lunch was served, and games played. It was a lot of fun. Carolette DeVinney, wife of pastor Tim DeVinney, coordinated the event.

A new teenage group got started, and they chose the name "Lean On Me," with the popular song "Lean on Me" as their theme song. Everett Bleakney writes, "They believe they can be of help to the church and community. They are a great group. They are becoming self-supporting financially, with their own fundraisers. The group meets Sunday evenings. Presently, they are planning an outing to an area theme park. One of their church programs is to conduct the entire morning worship service once a quarter, including music, prayers, preaching, etc. It's quite a challenge we think, but they are ready."

Bleakney continues, "Another group of young people have been named the Abiders. They took their name from John 14:16, in that they may abide in Him forever. This is the younger group of children, and they currently meet only on Sunday morning. We are enthused about this group also.

"This is the first time that the young people have outnumbered the adults in our church. It is challenging, and exciting."

Walbridge, Ohio. Main Street UB is in the middle of a major capital campaign called Because He Reigns Lives are Changed. They are attempting to raise $1.2 million in three years as a small start toward building a larger facility in a new location. They bought the land earlier this year.

Williamston, Mich. In January, Lighthouse Community UB hired John Carpenter as fulltime associate pastor. He will primarily work with youth….In January, the church baptized 12 people, most of whom are new believers within the past year or so. On Easter Sunday, the church started an evangelistic series entitled "Evidence for Christianity." They ran an ad on the most popular secular radio station in the area to generate some interest among unchurched people. The topics include The Resurrection, The Reliability of the Bible, the Messiahship of Jesus, Christ's uniqueness among world religions, and Jesus as the only way to heaven. Pastor Tom Blaylock says, "If other churches are interested in tapes or transcripts for a similar series, we would be happy to give them away." His email address is: tomatlcc@aol.com.

Bluffton, Ind. Park UB's Friend Day, on April 9, was a huge success. The goal was to double their attendance. To that point, Park had been running in the 70s. Their Friend Day brought great excitement, as 192 people crammed into the sanctuary.

This was the church's first major event since Larry Taylor became their pastor in December. Larry had previously served as pastor of Good Shepherd UB in Huntington, Ind. Pastor Taylor writes, "The church is now in the vision mode, looking at building their youth and music ministry. Easter will be a good Sunday to continue the theme 'Everyday Sunday is Friend Day.'"

From the Millers in Swaziland. According to Joe and Edna Miller, TransWorld Radio is partnering with Faith Comes by Hearing (FCBH), whose program emphasizes the simple reading of Scripture, with appropriate sound effects to enhance the message. "We are translating it into several languages. In Ghana, FCBH turned out to be the most popular program in the country, and because of its popularity, the secular station which aired it continued to run it free after the sponsorship stopped. Pray for Faith Comes By Hearing (FCBH) as we finish translating it into the local siSwati language and begin recording it in Lomwe for northern Mozambique."

4/18/00

Evangelistic Crusade on Taipa. On Sunday afternoon, April 16, the Macau staff cooperated with other groups in Macau to hold an evangelistic crusade in a park on the island of Taipa. It was organized by Macau Bible Institute and Larry and Sarah Ballew, missionaries with the Southern Baptist Convention. Jana Hoobler, Jennifer Blandin, and Paul Coy went out to help wherever they needed help and to show that the UB team is willing to cooperate and work together. Jen and Paul passed out Christian literature with a copy of Proverbs.

There were activities for children, a music program, and a survey used to find peoples' interest in God. Paul estimates that around 400 people attended the event, including many families with their children. Jana writes, "The evangelistic crusade went very well. I was encouraged by the cooperation among many churches. I was touched again by the need for the gospel on Taipa as I talked to person after person who told me they have no religion. Thank the Lord for Gigi, an Operation Mobilization missionary who invited our team to her apartment to pray with us after the event. Pray for those doing follow-up on people who attended the event. At one booth, pictures were taken of people, and these photos will be personally delivered to people during the next few weeks.

Ruth Snider Suffers a Stroke. Joan Sider, a layperson from the Toronto, Ontario, church, sent this note about Ontario Conference minister Ruth Snider: "Ruth has had a stroke, which has shown itself in her speech. She was in Vancouver when it happened; however, there were some signs before she left, apparently. She is flying home to Toronto today [Monday] and her husband, Charlie, expects that she will be admitted to hospital upon her arrival for tests. He is asking that we be much in prayer for her. It sounds from what he told me this morning that she had an injection that delays/stops the stroke from continuing (much like what happened to June Brown a year or so ago)."

Update on Alan DeCristoforo. Marlene DeCristoforo sent this note on April 12: "Another week of chemo is finished. This one was a little harder on Alan. He has been sick to his stomach but is not vomiting, He is trying to move his right legs; it is very little, but some is better then none at all. He has returned to Hill View Manner Nursing home in New Castle, where he receives care and therapy please continue to pray for him this week as he comes home; he is very sick and needs prayer for strength.

4/10/00

Death of Elwin Gee. Rev. Elwin Gee, a longtime pastor and superintendent in Sandusky Conference, died unexpectedly around 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 8. The viewing hours are 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. at the Cunningham Funeral Home, located on State Route 18 on the north part of New Castle, Pa. The funeral is 11:00 Wednesday morning at First UB of New Castle, located at the intersection of I-68 and Moffat Road. Rev. Gee is survived by his wife, Virginia, and four children: Dwight, Debbie, Diane, and Duane Supt.

Looking for Youth and Children's Minister. Trenton Hills UB of Adrian, Mich., is seeking a fulltime Youth and Children's Pastor. The candidate must be able to plan and implement activities with junior and senior high youth, provide for spiritual growth for young people, and oversee and administrate the church's children's ministry programming. This new position will also have the benefit of the existing Trenton Hill's "Extreme Reality" Gen-X outreach service that targets youth and college age adults. The salary package and benefits are dependent upon experience and potential.

York, Pa. Mt. Washington's Youth Group will join with Christian Endeavor for a week-long work camp in Grifton, NC . They will be there July 9-15, 2000. They are now busy raising money to pay for travel expenses. Youth groups from all over the country will join them in Grifton to help repair damage by recent flooding.

Update on Alan. Marlene DeCristoforo sent this note on April 6: "Alan is doing pretty good, he is still in a nursing home here in New Castle. On Monday he goes to West Penn hospital for a chemo treatment. After this, it's just three more treatments. He is working hard each day trying to get his strength back. Each day they put him in a wheelchair for about a hour, then back in bed; that seems like enough for right now. He still is not moving his legs, but I am not giving up hope that some day he will move them. It's just a matter of time.

"Alan is up to lifting 20 pounds with his arms, and just a few week ago he could hardly lift five. The kids love having Dad close to home. I take them just about everyday--depends on if he has lots of company or not. Thanks to everyone who has sent cards and gifts of money and all the prayers that many have sent. We appreciate them all. Pray that he doesn't get sick from the chemo. So far, he has not."

New Dundee, Ontario. On Sunday March 26, the New Dundee church again invited their community to an evening hymn-sing. The crowd of 48 enjoyed an hour of worship singing favorite hymns and familiar gospel songs. Featured guests for the evening were organist Elaine Shark and clarinetist Don Jacobi. A total of $298 was collected in an offering taken for relief work in Mozambique. Two other evenings of music are being planned for the remainder of the year.

Toronto, Ontario. On Sunday, March 5, Pastor Isaac Hor and 13 members of the Toronto Chinese UB church traveled 90 minutes west to join in morning worship with the New Dundee congregation. Both congregations were able to minister to one another; Pastor Isaac gave a brief update on the Chinese work in Toronto, and his group sang two selections, with one of their members playing the entire service music on the piano.

The New Dundee congregation gave Pastor Isaac an arrangement of potted spring flowers, and provided a lasagna and salad luncheon, followed by an afternoon excursion to the farm of Chris and Sandra Wilke. The Chinese group spent a couple of hours with horses, goats and chickens, learning about rural life and its uniqueness. Both congregations thoroughly enjoyed their time together with fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Blissfield, Mich. From January 3 to March 19, First UB ran a community basketball program for boys and girls in grades 1-6. Of the 127 children who participated in "Upward Basketball," 91 were from outside the church. During their weekly practice, teams held devotions and studied memory verses. At the Saturday games, stars were given to players for the best offense, best defense, and most Christ-like attitude. The program concluded March 19 with an Awards Banquet attended by over 400 people. Robyn Rodgers, who is known throughout the nation for her ability to spin and dribble basketballs, entertained the crowd and shared her testimony. Forty-eight children and seven adults received salvation that night. Praise the Lord!

4/6/00

Rumor Control. The famous Madalyn Murray O'Haire rumor, which says Petition RM 2493 is heading toward federal law, is once again circulating among UB churches. It's been repackaged and connected somehow to TV's Touched By An Angel. It says RM 2493 (the same number in the original 1974 rumor) will prohibit all religious radio and TV broadcasts. IT'S NOT TRUE. If you're spreading this rumor, STOP IT. (Besides, the lady's DEAD.)