June 2007

The Grace Brethren church in Powell, Ohio (Rick Nuzum, pastor), is a key player in the annual all-community event held in the city. Today’s Columbus Dispatch carries a story about it–part is excerpted here. To read the entire story, click on http://www.columbusdispatch.com:80/dispatch/content/weekender/stories/2007/06/21/9A_KID21_–_FAMILY_FUN.ART_ART_06-21-07_T31_R6724KU.html The Rev. Sean Spoelstra, pastor of family ministry at Grace Church (the former […]

Dr. David Plaster, pastor of the Grace Brethren Church of Columbus, Ohio, gets acquainted with participants at DRIVEN07.

DRIVEN07, the young adult conference that is being held this week at Kenyon College, Jessica Livigni from the Grace Church, a Grace Brethren church in Akron, Ohio, welcomes participants to the conference at last night’s opening session.

As our time in CAR drew to a close, one evening we took the missionary staff to dinner at the “Grand Cafe” in Bangui. Here (from left) were Heidi Sisson, Ginger Hock, and Tina Walker. Also with us were Tim Hock and Janet Varner–these missionaries treated us exceptionally well, were very patient with us, and

By living on the missionary compound for a week, we got some good insight into the daily work the missionaries do. Here Tim Hock works to seal a leak around the windshield of an SUV that is transportation for Mboi Andre, the president of the union of Grace Brethren churches in the CAR.

On one of our last days we visited the orphan’s ministry facility, now under construction in one of the suburbs of Bangui. The two-story facility is about 80 percent complete, and will include school classrooms, offices for administrators, and other facilities when completed. Orphans will not live in it (they are hosted in homes of

“Doctor” Paul Dibona, who cares for the medical needs of the orphan ministry and also assists in True Love Waits seminars, shows that there are Ohio State fans all around the world. Dibona’s engaging smile and gregarious personality endear him to all–his work is a tremendous addition, particularly for the orphan ministry.

Martine Yougouda found her new BMH tote bag to be quite helpful in carrying seminar materials. Pray for the Yougoudas, as they are returning to Boguila, a very treacherous and unsafe area at the present. Martine’s husband, Pierre, is working on proofing and final corrections of a book manuscript he has written on the history

When the week’s teaching was completed, we had a “graduation ceremony” on Thursday afternoon, complete with the awarding of certificates of completion, the giving of gifts, and the making of speeches. Here Greg awards the certificate to Gama, one of the bright young leaders for the future in the literature ministry. Gama, 28, has a

Following the “graduation exercises,” we all retired to the courtyard, formed a large circle with our chairs, and enjoyed sweet fellowship around French bread, peanuts, and Coca-Cola.