Greg Helman (right), pastor of the UB church in Dillsburg, Pa., sent this report about his daughter: "My daughter Greta Helman was diagnosed on Thursday (April 27) with a benign tumor in the lining of her brain. It is about the size of a 50-cent piece and is pressing on her brain causing pain. We will have a consultation with a neurosurgeon at Hershey Medical Center on Wednesday, May 3rd at 9:00 am. There is a very good probability of the need for plastic surgery because of the tumor's location. So, please pray for Greta's physical, emotional, spiritual and financial well-being. Greta works part-time at our church as a Worship Leader and just gave her notice on Monday of resigning from being an assistant manager at Bruster's in Camp Hill. Her new job as the director of a day-care in Harrisburg will give her benefits after three months. But, neither the church nor Bruster's offer her benefits. Therefore, she could only afford a personal insurance plan that pays 80% of her bills. Thank you very much ahead of time for your consideration of this prayer need."

The 2006 UB Youth Summit is finishing up in Florida. Matt Mckeown, youth pastor at the Daytona Church, produced "podcasts" of various session. These are Quicktime files which you can listen to online. All of the sessions available are listed at this address. You can listen to them online.

On Thursday, April 27, Bishop Ron Ramsey spoke about needed changes in the UB church. You can listen to his message online or you can download the message in Quicktime format (.mov). To download that file, you'll probably need to do a right-click on the link (or hold down the option key while clicking on a Mac).

Laurel Mission in Kentucky has a new website . Kudos to Burt Hay, now on staff at Laurel Mission, for putting it together.

Wes and Jean Bell are UB endorsed missionaries doing educational work with Wycliffe Bible Translators in Brazil. The following report came on April 28 from Jean Bell:

"We can hardly believe it’s May--only four weeks of school left and less than 2 months before we leave here for a six- furlough in the U.S.

As some of you know, my mother went to be with the Lord on March 26. I was able to be there with my family for 5 days. The grieving we did together was healing. For your gifts, cards, notes of sympathy and compassion, I thank you. Often over the past months as my mother’s health deteriorated, I said, 'Thank God for heaven!' I still say it but with more enthusiasm than ever, knowing my mother is there now too. Thank you again for your encouragement."

On Saturday morning, an 18-year-old young man was found dead at Camp Cobutic, the camp in Bellefontaine, Ohio. He was with a non-UB church group that was using the camp. Bishop Ron Ramsey asks that you, as churches and individuals, remember in prayer the family of the young man who died, and Camp Director Dave Stephens as he deals with the aftermath of this tragedy.

Rick Pride, senior pastor of Eagle Quest UB church in Columbia City, Ind., sent this report: "As always Easter was an exciting time at Eagle Quest. On Thursday night we held a 'Love Feast and Foot Washing' with over 70 in attendance. The Love Feast started out the evening with a very simple meal of beef, lamb, broth, bread, cheese, grapes, and juice. After the meal our drama team presented a reenactment of the last supper. As Christ led the disciples to 'eat and drink,' the dinner guests were instructed to do likewise, as we all shared communion together.

"Following the dinner and presentation, the men went to a different room and the women stayed in the sanctuary to participate in the foot washing.This was a very moving and emotional experience for all who took part.

"On Easter Sunday morning, I shared a message from Acts 17, where Paul preached in Athens. The message centered around the reality and truth of the resurrection and our duty to share the love of Christ with a lost and spiritually confused world. The standing room only crowd was challenged to become Christ followers and then to be like Paul and share Christ where ever we go."

Jenny Willard from Fowlerville UB (Fowlerville, Mich.) reports on their Easter events: "We had 5 services this year! One will be on the Thursday after Easter, for all of our spring-breakers who might've missed Easter Sunday.

"We continued our series on Romans, and on Easter Pastor Tim Flickinger (right) addressed 'A Fork in the Road...Which Road do you Choose?' We had a special women's choir, a men's trio, and a video drama about a couple driving down Graceless Blvd, Easy Street, and Faith Road."

A postcard was sent to people to announce the Easter services.

Lester Smith (right), senior pastor of Hillsdale UB church in Hillsdale, Mich., tells about Easter events at his church. “The Hillsdale UB Church presented the musical drama ‘More Than Just A Man’ in two of the three Easter weekend worship services. Total attendance was 825, which set an all-time record for Hillsdale UB. There was also a Sonrise Breakfast in between services sponsored by the teens, with donations going toward the expenses for their mission trip this summer.

"After breakfast, many from the congregation signed up at tables to participate in one of the small groups being held during the 40 Days of Purpose Campaign that begins April 30. Radio and newspaper ads are now being run to announce to the community the offer of a free copy of Rick Warren's best-seller, if they sign up for one of over 40 home groups being hosted by HUB members."

Pastor Tim Hallman of Anchor Community Church (Fort Wayne, Ind.) sent this report about the church's Easter service: "We have been holding two services since September 2005, but for Easter Sunday went to one service. We had a full house and a lot of fun celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. For Resurrection Sunday we focused on the Empty Tomb. Some members of our music team built a huge tomb on the front stage. It was a great looking piece of art. Inside we placed the communion table, covering it with a white sheet, along with some folded linens, marking where Jesus had laid dead. We ended the service with communion. One by one a family would walk into the empty tomb to receive the elements. It was very cool."

Steve Smith (right), pastor of Lake View UB in Camden, Mich., writes: "Lake View Church enjoyed hosting the Community Good Friday Service for the Pioneer Area Ministerial Association. What a blessing to see about 200 people from this rural area gather for worship and communion. We are blessed to live in a community that has a strong evangelical influence. Our new ensemble named 'Uniquely His' presented the special music for this service, and our worship team led the praise and worship singing. Other area pastors were involved in the greeting, serving of communion, prayers and readings. Praise the Lord for a great service.

"Easter Sunday was a record-setting day for Lake View Church. We started the day with our Sunrise service and breakfast fellowship, and then continued with our regular services that include 8:30 and 11:00 a.m. Worship Celebration. Our focus in worship was on the empty tomb and all that it offers to us. We praise the Lord for the privilege of seeing three adults accept Christ as their personal Savior in the morning worship. In addition, we rejoice in the record attendance of 345! The entire day was a wonderful time of worship and celebration."

Sally Harrison reports on Holy Week observances at the West Windsor UB church in Dimondale, Mich.:

"We gave a the drama of 'Living Last Supper,' a one-act play in which the 12 disciples each speak their minds about Jesus' words, 'One of you will betray me.' It is based on the Da Vinci Painting of the Last Supper. We had performances on Thursday and Friday nights. About 80 people came on Thursday, and the 140 people who came on Friday maxxed out our sanctuary, which usually holds just 110.

"We had a afterglow (party with snacks) after the performance on Friday, and most everyone stayed. Some were family and friends, but some were new people from the community that we want to invite to our church as future friends. Pastor Paul Wall (right) was the driving force in this production and Mrs. Deb Fish was the director.

"On Easter Sunday at 7 a.m., we held a sunrise service at the cemetery CRYPT in Dimondale. We sang songs and prayed, and Pastor Paul gave a short sermon. We then went back to the church for breakfast at 8:00 and at 11:00 we held our regular church service, with many new people joining us."

Greg Voight has been assigned as senior pastor of the Lancaster UB church in Lancaster, Ohio. He had been serving on staff at Oak Harbor UB church in Oak Harbor, Ohio. The assignment is effective May 6.

Mark Rutledge has been named senior pastor of PraisePoint UB church in Willshire, Ohio. The assignment takes place immediately. Rev. Rutledge has been serving there as interim pastor.

Jamaica Annual Conference was held March 15-19, using the theme "Healthy Churches--God's Plan for Growth." The meetings were held at the Malvern Campground, with the large final service held at a Missionary Church camp outside of Mandeville.

Rev. Winston Smith was re-elected as the leader of Jamaica National Conference, a position he has held since 2002. However, the title has changed. Instead of "General Superintendent," he will now hold the title of "Bishop." The national conferences in Canada, the US, and Mexico also give the title "bishop" to their highest elected leader.

Pat Jones, the US Director of Healthy Church Ministries, attended the meetings and presented seminars on issues related to church health. He submitted the following report:

"My wife, Pam, and I had the privilege of attending the 55th annual session of the Jamaican Conference. We were asked to come and teach them healthy church principles. It was a time of renewing some old friendships and establishing some new ones. Their energy and desire to learn were refreshing. Some of the key issues they discussed and acted on were:

• "Continue to take responsibility for funding their building and church planting projects. They believe they can do much more than they have. Just as in the United States, if their folks were tithing and sacrificially giving, they could do much more.
• "Change some of their procedures to free people from so many meetings so they can do the things they do well and allow others to share the load.
• "Shift from talking about and voting to do things to truly implementing them.
• "To engage the next generation in significant decision-making.

"We found that the challenges facing the church are the same around the world. I commend our Jamaican brothers and sisters for seeking to hear about principles that would help them change. They recognize that the issue is not knowledge alone, but being willing to pay the price to move from the comfort zone of what they have always done. There is an expressed desire to do so, but will there be a willful desire? Time will tell.

"Unity among them as they move ahead was a major theme throughout the conference. We pray that we may follow their example. We must joyfully and in unity do whatever it takes to effectively take the Gospel to this generation.

"We are looking forward to seeing all that the Lord is going to do in and through them in the days ahead. We believe that they are going to make a huge impact in their community for Jesus Christ."

Follow the link below to view a number of pictures from the meeting.

Continue reading "Report from Jamaica's National Conference Meeting" »

A dedication service for the new Living Stone church in Macau was held during the afternoonon February 26. This photo shows the people who attended. Most of the guests were from Hong Kong, and from the other two UB churches in Macau, Living Water and Living Word. Click on the photo for a much larger view.

A few persons should be pointed out. Front row, from the left: Jana Hoobler, Karis Vong (pastor of the Living Water church), Michael Chan (Chinese coworker in the English Language Program), missionaries Naomi and Carlson Becker, Mark Choi (Hong Kong Missions Director), and Ajiax Wo (Superintendent of Hong Kong National Conference). Sitting behind Jana Hoobler on the left are missionaries David and Melissa Kline.

Jana Hoobler praying during the service.

Missionary Jana Hoobler reports, "Living Stone Church is off to a good start. Besides our staff, a few local people are attending regularly. A lot of our friends have also come to a service or two to sort of 'check it out.' The average attendance has been around 15 (seven of us are on staff). I'm loving being really involved in a church again, instead of just 'attending worship,' as I'd been doing the past few years at Living Water. I get excited every time someone walks through that door on Sunday morning!

"The people who've been attending worship services at Living Stone are a variety of mature Christians, new Christians, and non-Christians. Pray for our staff and especially for Pastor Carlson and Michael (our local co-worker) as we seek to meet their broad spiritual needs." (The photo on the left shows Jana translating for Carlson Becker.)

"I'm teaching fewer adult classes and more children's classes right now. Several parents have shared struggles they're facing in their families with me. I'm thankful for this deepening of our relationships. Pray that I'll know how to point them to God as the ultimate Healer for their families.
 
"I'm in the middle of more paperwork with the government to get my official permanent residency in Macau. Please pray that it will all go smoothly."

Click on the thumbnail on the left for a larger view of the Taipa building, where English classes are held and where the church meets.

A previous report on the opening of Living Stone Church, by Carlson and Naomi Becker, was already published here.

You are invited to join our UB churches in Canada as they celebrate 150 years of ministry. The Celebration will occur on June 10, 2006, at the Hartman Farm north of Guelph, Ontario. The celebration will occur from 2-8 p.m., with an optional historical bus tour from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.

The afternoon is truly planned as a celebration, with many activities for all ages, much like a fair. Highlights of the day will include:

• historical displays from each of the UB churches in Canada.
• square-dancing in the barn with instruction for beginners.
• a tea room/tent.
• games, contests, and recreational activities.
• old-fashioned lemonade stand, popcorn and candy floss.
• a wandering minstrel playing the banjo and singing.
• historical costumes and picture taking.
• pony rides.
• a prayer walk trail.
• a youth tent featuring four different bands.
• and a catered supper meal, BBQ-picnic style.

The evening will feature an old-fashioned revival meeting under the big-top tent. The historical bus tour costs $10. However, everything else is without charge, though a freewill offering will be taken.

Please submit your registration form by April 30, 2006. You can register online at this address.

The historical bus tour will depart from the Parkwood gardens Church in Guelph and go to Doon Heritage Crossroads Village, a pioneer village in Kitchener which houses one of the oldest United Brethren Church buildings in Canada. It has been fully and accurately restored to early 1900s decor and architecture. After a time at Doon Village, the tour will proceed to Sheffield (just south of Cambridge), the location of the first United Brethren church in Canada. A light lunch will be served there. After lunch, the tour will return to Guelph and take vehicles to the Hartman Farm, location of the 150th Anniversary Celebration. Bishop Brian Magnus will be on the bus as the tour guide.