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February 2003 News Archive

February 26, 2003

Haiti. 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.

Illinois. Lawrence Shuman, a retired, ordained pastor in Rock River Conference, passed away February 24.

Death in the Missionary Family. 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.

Huntington, Ind. Good Shepherd UB 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.

Ethiopia. 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 willÉbut 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."

Macau. Jana Hoobler, director of the Macau Mission, is back in Macau after her furlough. She sent these notes on February 11.

  • The timing was perfect for me to arrive back in Macau at Chinese New Year. It gave me time to just enjoy time with friends before jumping into a busy teaching schedule. Praise the Lord for all those who helped keep things running smoothly while I was gone. Everything's in good order, and that's a nice situation to come back to!
  • The Women's Bible Study on Taipa has continued to grow into a tight-knit group during the past year. Praise the Lord for these women and their interest in the Bible.
  • We finally got permission to advertise our ELP classes at Living Word last Thursday. Pray that we'll have good enrollment at both Living Word and the Taipa Center.
  • Since we're down to only two of us who are fulltime now, we need to cut back again in what we're doing. Pray for wisdom as we consider what changes would be best for the churches and the Taipa Center. Pray that God's plan will be clear to us, and that we'll be unified among ourselves and with our Chinese co-workers in these decisions.

Then, this further update arrived on February 19.

  • Just last week we missionaries prayed that God would provide some future musicians for Living Word Church. On Friday, Pastor Connie Sung told me that Edwin, a new young believer in the church, told her he'd like to start studying piano. Pray that Edwin will be committed to practicing the piano and will become a future pianist for the church. This is a practical need in church planting!
  • Jen Blandin and I attended Hong Kong Conference's annual meeting last Sunday. Praise the Lord for their faithful support of the ministry in Macau over the past 15 years. We were encouraged by their concern for our churches in Macau.
  • Pray for two ELP students who seem to be open to talking about God. Jen and I are having lunch with them on Thursday. One of them has a daughter living with a Christian family in the States as an exchange student, and their care for her daughter has made a good impression on her.
  • We're in the middle of handling a lot of legal changes that the government is requiring. None of these changes limit our freedom to share the gospel, but they involve very tedious paperwork and a lot of time.

Greencastle, Pa. Pleasant Hill UB's junior church and Good News Club decided to support Child Evangelism Fellowship as their mission project for September through December. Each week the Good News children were encouraged to support the project through their offerings. The junior church and Sunday school children received donations for memorizing Bible verses.

The children turned in their money at the end of November. It came to $757. A check for that amount was presented, on Mission Sunday in December, to Lois Anderson of CEF.

Women's Ministry Team. The Women's Ministry Leadership Team has completed its first year. Kathy Bruce, who chairs the team, reports, "It was a busy year, as we got established and focused, and began meeting women's leaders in our UB churches. We hope to bring that focus and encouragement to the local women's leaders even more in 2003. Here are some of the things we have done:

  • "We identified our focus to be "Women Equipping Women."
  • "Representatives of the WMLT attended most attended annual conference meetings. We set up a resource table and began contacting women's leaders.
  • "We established our own website, ubwomen.org, for information, resources, and an email system for contacting individuals.
  • "We set up an internet bulletin board for swapping ideas, and have had a very successful response of women writing in with questions and ideas.
  • "We distributed our first Women's Ministry Newsletter to each church and to our email contact list. It is a resource for fresh ideas and encouragement.
  • "We have called or written each UB church, attempting to identify a women's contact in each of the UB churches nationwide.
  • "The WMLT members completed training in the Sonlife Strategy and Advanced 1 for Women's Ministry leaders. We plan to begin teaching this biblical approach at our July conference and then locally for women's groups.
  • "We established networks with women's ministry leaders in other denominations to share ideas and strategies
  • "We are now planning for the National Women's Conference, to be held July 25-27, 2003, at Huntington College in Huntington, Ind. The theme is, "Women Equipping Women: His Plan, His Way, His Glory."
  • "We have also started to plan for the International UB Conference in 2005.

"We do ask again for your financial support and prayer in that effort. We ask that UB women support the ministry by giving $20.03 in 2003. These funds will be used to provide training, sponsor future conferences, and increase our resources to be Women Equipping Women in the United Brethren Church, nationwide. Send to: WMLT, 302 Lake St., Huntington, Ind. 46750."

Stratford, Iowa. The Ladies Aid of McGuire Bend UB 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.

February 25, 2003

Etters, Pa. 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.

Flanders, New York. Familia de Dios, a Latino congregation in Flanders, 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.

Franklin, Pa. Atlantic Avenue UB 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.

The Philippines. 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."

Shippensburg, Pa. Every February, Prince Street UB holds a banquet as a money-raiser to help families in need. A Sunday school class pays the expenses--food, decorations, etc. This year's theme was "Under the Sea." The fellowship hall was adorned appropriately--lobster traps, fish shells, a giant whale, and a shipwrecked boat built by two members of the class.

Pastor Ed Calhoun provided the entertainment, performing a magic show through which he presented the gospel. This year's event, held February 1, raised $1,450, which was divided between two families.

Associate pastor Craig Mickey started a men's ministry. They held Wild Game Nights in January and February, with about 80 men each time. Each man was to prepare his favorite dish from the past hunting season. Non-hunters were encouraged to bring a dessert and help in other ways. In February, a state wildlife conservation officer brought updates on new laws affecting hunters.

Whenever school is canceled for a scheduled holiday, the church holds a Kids' Day Out. This event was started by Cherie Finkey, chairperson of the Christian Education Commission. Children sign up ahead of time. The church doors open at 7 a.m., with breakfast at 7:30. During the morning, games and activities are held in the fellowship hall. The afternoon usually features a field trip.

Children in kindergarten through fifth grade are invited. The event is a help to working parents, who know the children are enjoying supervised activities in a safe environment with caring people. The day usually ends at 4:30.

Lake Odessa, Mich. Pleasant Valley UB will host a concert by the Huntington College Choir on Sunday, April 27, at 6:00 pm. Come support the students and enjoy an evening of fine music. The church is located on highway M-50 eight miles west of Lake Odessa.

Kokomo, Ind. Greg Reed, pastor of Morning Star UB, has become a certified instructor with Walk Thru the Bible. He has been given permission to test a new plan for offering the Old Testament seminar in churches with an average Sunday worship attendance of less than 300. He explains:

"As a new WTB instructor, I can offer the same seminar and give special pricing and a much lower financial commitment for a local church. A variety of formats are available: Friday night and Saturday morning, all day Saturday, Sunday afternoon and evening, etc. "

About the seminar: "In just five action-packed hours, the world's most popular Bible-based seminar will help you understand, like never before, 4000 years of life-changing, godly wisdom. Using hand motions, catch phrases, and group review, you'll grasp the special messages and meanings of Old Testament characters, themes, places, and events. You will integrate your knowledge of all 39 books, 929 chapters, and 23,214 verses, trace major geographical movements on a giant map made up of the people attending the seminar, and rekindle your desire to read the Bible and pray daily."

Safford, Ariz. Pastor Ron Gonzales of Open Bible Fellowship writes, "We held a three-day City Conquest outreach that is part of a ministry we started this year called Master's Commission. We held five school assemblies for seven student bodies, with a total attendance of about 3000. Then on Wednesday evening, we moved our midweek service to our local junior college and held a rally for the students. The 305-seat auditorium was filled beyond capacity, and over 170 people came forward for the altar call. There were children, students, and even some Mormon families that came forward.

"This team went to Guaymas, Mexico, in November and 188 people were saved. The first two persons saved were prostitutes standing on a dark corner waiting for some business. We stopped, ministered to them for about a half hour, and they both prayed with us. They were crying when we left and hugged us, thanking us for stopping to love them, not use them. The local missionaries are following up with them."

The congregation anticipates moving into new property in April. It is two buildings with 15,000 square feet. The sanctuary will seat 400-450.

Among Ministers

  • Joe Leighton is serving as interim pastor of Salem Chapel, Junction City, Ohio.
  • James Fitz has been named senior pastor of Fountain Hills Community UB, Fountain Hills, Ariz.
  • Don Ross resigned as pastor of Morocco UB (Temperance, Mich.).

Saginaw, Mich. In January, 44 people from Calvary UB went on a ski trip in Cadillac. The trip was hosted by the church's Bible quiz team.

A new outreach ministry brings food and clothing to needy people in the Saginaw area. A local business let them use their parking lot every Saturday to hand out these items.

February 18, 2003

Dennis Hunt, a pastor in California Conference (and formerly in Arizona Conference), died February 15 after suffering a severe heart attack. Memorial services will be held Thursday, February 20, at the Lake Hills Community Church in Laguna Hills, Calif. The address is: 2331 Moulton Parkway.