Victor Kubik's place....

Youtube clip of LifeNets Ft. Worth Boot Scoot and Barbecue - Fun

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:40:25 GMT

You can also see the entire story on the LIfeNets Website at http://lifenets.org/bootscoot/index2010.htm

View of surfer at Bathsheba Beach in Barbados last Sunday afternoon

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:18:06 GMT

Jeremy Lallier Hand Carries LifeNets Wheelchair to Kenya as Part of UCG Youth Corps Project

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:20:53 GMT

by Jeremy Lallier December 20, 2009 This wheelchair is part of the Youth Corp project. I will be helping out at the summer camp that we run in Kenya, and then spending the following week visiting people. I will be leaving for Kenya Sunday December 13, 2009 and returning December 31. The wheelchair will be coming with me on the flight, and then Mr. Antonio Ndungu (who alerted us to the need) will take us to present the chair to the boy. Below is what Mr. Ndungu wrote to me about him: "Thank you very much for this good news. I cannot explain how exited I am for the assistance of a Wheel to this needy young boy. His names are Edwin Ng’ethe Ndung’u and now 10 years old. He was born with a spine problem “[Spina] Bifida” and therefore has no nerve feelings on his lower part of the body. He has been in that condition since childhood. This no doubt means that he cannot stand on his own and has to be lifted to be placed on the Wheel Chair. The boys Parents are in our village but do not attend with United. The wheel chair he is now using is in bad condition and they parents could not afford another one for replacement as they are not finacialy in a position to do so. They have been looking for someone to assist them get another one for over 12 months now and when recently I learned of their plight I was so touched. He attends a school nearby in Class 1 and now will be in position to attend classes on the wheelchair." God's hand has already been so involved with the planning of this trip, but I think being able to provide a wheelchair to someone in need has thus far been the icing on the cake.

Jeremy Lallier Hand Carries LifeNets Wheelchair to Kenya as Part of UCG Youth Corps Project

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:16:13 GMT

Jeremy Lallier Hand Carries LifeNets Wheelchair to Kenya as Part of UCG Youth Corps Project

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:13:50 GMT

A Most Memorable Evening With Heroes of Faith

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:57:16 GMT

by Karen Allwine ShareThis

To the Estonia Home Page

This was our sixth time that we chose to attend the Feast of Tabernacles in Estonia.

While we missed a couple of Estonians that we love dearly, the old friends we saw and the new friends we made caused this to be a most memorable week.

There were more people attending this year than ever before. In most years, our numbers have been around fifty. This year, we had almost ninety attending. The majority, of course, was from the United States but people from many other countries were in attendance. I would like to spotlight some of those people. We spent an unforgettable evening on October 4, 2009 listening to some of the stories these people had to share and I would like to include you in their wonderful and inspiring stories. Each person mentioned below was asked to share his or her story. The Estonians are first.

Vello Saar now lives in Cincinnati with his wife Linda. Vello was born in Estonia on the island of Saaraama in 1939 and lived there until he was four years old. As the Germans left this area, they took many of the locals to “protect” them from the Russians. The Estonians were taken to Poland, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech and Slovak Republics), and Austria. As the war ended, in 1946, Vello and his family were sent to a displaced person’s camp. At this time, his family was given a choice of several locations where they could move. One of these countries was Argentina and that was where Vello’s father chose to move. Vello came to the United States in 1963 and came in to the Church because of his wife. He was baptized, in Saaraama two years ago at the Feast – wanting to be baptized on the island on which he was born.

Artur Alexandrov is nineteen years old and came into contact with the Church through the Internet. This was his first Feast. Artur finished high school last spring and has begun college. There was a possibility of a scholarship offering free tuition but only five people would be given this money. Artur really needed this money to be able to attend college. There were five people ahead of Artur who were the recipients but, interestingly enough, all five “disappeared” and Artur was given the scholarship and his way was paid. The other remarkable fact about his story is that many exams, required for graduation from high school, were on the Sabbath. He had been told that he would have to take them on that day or not graduate. Interestingly, the dates were changed for some reason and he was able to take and pass all of his exams on another day.

Rainier and Margit Barth are from Dresden, Germany – formerly in Eastern Germany. His family heard about the Church through Radio Luxembourg who broadcasted the World Tomorrow Program for many years. Rainier’s father ordered the Correspondence Course and the Plain Truth magazine. The government officials confiscated much of their literature. Rainier met a family in the Church by the name of Pistorius and, in 1981, Rainier went to a Church meeting.

The Barth’s attended the Feast in BRNO, Czechoslovakia for ten years. The Feast in BRNO was a very interesting Feast site. Our family attended the Feast there in 1981 and 1984. Rainier related the following information which we also observed while there.

The Feast in BRNO was the only place where the East German brethren could attend the Feast. They had to live in another hotel – not the one where the westerners stayed. We could have NO contact with them in our hotel nor could we acknowledge that we knew them. We could go to the lobby of their hotel to visit but we could not visit them after services in our hotel. It seemed very awkward but any closer contact than that could have gotten them into serious trouble. The Feasts in BRNO were two of the most memorable we have had.

The Church split in 1995 hit the German brethren hard as it did all of us. Before 1995, there were about 50 people in the Church where the Barths live – now there are only five.

Dr. Barth helped organize our opening night service which composed of scripture readings by 3 youth – name from Latvia, name from Ireland, and Artur from Estonia – music by a Latvian trio and the Estonia Feast Ensemble, and – of course – a message by the Feast Coordinator, Victor Kubik.

Mandy Heathcote lives in New Zealand but was born in Zimbabwe (Rhodesia). Mandy’s father moved from South Africa to Rhodesia to work in the mines. When the civil war broke out, he had to learn to shoot. Her dad sold their farm and went to Ambassador College, then went back to Zimbabwe. The first white farm was taken in 2000. At this point, the Heathcotes realized that they would be safer in the emigrated so they moved to New Zealand on a work permit. It took three years for them to earn New Zealand citizenship. Now, their whole family is there including a brother.

There are still brethren in Zimbabwe who need our prayers. There are about 30 members there but only a couple of whites – the rest are African.

Margaret Doh and her husband Klogay have an equally interesting story. They are members of the Karen (Car-in) tribe from Burma (Myanmar). Theirs has been a tough life. There has been a civil war in Burma since World War II. Since 1956, the Karen have had to hide in the jungle. Mrs. Doh has had to run since she was 7-8 years old. She had one set of clothes and no food. They were moved to the Thai border then placed in a refugee camp for several years. In 1984, there were 5,000 people in their refugee camp. Mrs. Doh learned English in the camp. They were forbidden by the Thai government to go anywhere. The Dohs found out about the Church from Leon Sexton and the Doh family was baptized in 2006.

The Dohs and others of the Karen tribe appealed to the United Nations for help. Eventually, many of them were accepted by other nations as refugees. Mr. and Mrs. Doh were accepted by the Finnish government. They have 2 sons in Canada and one in Norway. There are five Karen in Norway and many (number) in North Carolina. The last group was featured in the Feast film.

When the Dohs learn Finnish (a difficult language for them to learn), they can obtain Finnish citizenship. Their hope is that one of their children in Canada can sponsor them and that they can move to Canada. Please pray for Mr. and Mrs. Doh.

The last, but certainly not least, group is the Latvians. The Latvians made up about one-fourth of our attendees at the Feast in Estonia this year. Two people will be featured here: one is Robert Schultz and the other is Antra Kikute.

To begin their story, I am including some of the notes from a message given by Robert, during the Feast, which chronicles his involvement with the Church. Robert is the pastor of the Smeltine Baptist Church which is over 100 years old. It is a typical Baptist Church.

Robert learned about the meaning of Christmas about 15-years ago and, as a group, his church decided not to keep Christmas. Midsummer is a big event in the Baltics and the Schultz family quit celebrating that about 10-years ago.

From his message, he asked, “How did I get to know about the Church? His wife, Elita, found an advertisement for a FREE booklet – The Middle East in Prophecy. This (something free) was VERY unusual so she ordered it, of course. The Good News Magazine also arrived.

Receiving the Good News was not enough. He ordered booklets as well. He read a lot of information on Internet. As he learned certain things, he taught his church too. He learned about the Sabbath and they kept it. When I taught the Church these truths – that was a shock, of course. The first booklet they used for Bible Study – about the Sabbath. There were arguments in his church. Finally, they all agreed to keep the Sabbath but about ½ left.

The next subject they studied was – What happens after death?. The Shultz’s youngest son (Ruben Paul) got cancer, healed, and is healthy now – but when he was very ill, they wondered what would happen to him if he died. Next, was clean and unclean. He had a talk with his Latvian Baptist Church Bishop and asked him, “Do we believe in the 10 Commandments?” The answer was yes then Robert asked about the 4^th – the Sabbath. “Oh,” his bishop said. “We would lose too many people.” So, there was a split in his church.
Robert, Elita, and their four children Jacob, Esther, Shulamite and Ruben Paul came to Estonia two years ago and kept the Holy Days with us. This year, there were 19 Latvians who came to Estonia to observe the entire Feast of Tabernacles. We met Robert and his family two years ago and we were so very happy to have many more come this year.
Antra thought Robert was crazy at first. She mentioned that their church had many arguments about what Robert was learning and teaching. She stated that though their church is Christian, they just didn’t SEE what was clearly taught in the Bible. Eventually, Antra came to understand and we were so happy to meet her.
The stories of these people that we were so fortunate to meet at this year’s Feast of Tabernacles were so fascinating that I felt they had to be shared in some way with the whole United Church of God. I hope that you will keep all these people in mind as well as the many scattered brethren throughout the world.

United News writes complimentary article about LifeNets work

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:12:31 GMT

Report and pix on Feast of Tabernacles in Estonia

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:51:59 GMT

CLICK HERE FOR THE REST OF THE STORY

The 2009 Feast of Tabernacles in Estonia

Report and Photos by Victor Kubik
Part 1

From October 2-10, 2009 a record 89 people from Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Sweden, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Canada and the United States came together to observe the Feast of Tabernacles. We started on Saaremaa, the largest island in the Baltic Sea where we met at the Georg Ots Spa Hotel. This was particularly enjoyable for our 20 children who enjoyed all the various pools.

MORE:

From Latvia we had 20 come from a church that now keeps the Sabbath and Holy Days. A few of them spoke English. Their pastor Robert Schultz spoke to us about they came to understand the some of the Fundamental Beliefs of the United Church of God through the Internet. The 2006 Israel Lebanon war motivated them to find the booklet Middle East in Prophecy. That led to the Good News and the United Church of God.

Our Festival Theme this year was "Christ-Centered Servant Leadership in the World Tomorrow." Sermons and sermonettes touched on the rebuilding and rehabilitation of the earth that will take place in the beginning of the Millennium. We were blessed to have elders Johnnie Lambert, Randy Schreiber, Phil Sandilands and Roland Clark along with other layman provide a good variety and depth in sermons and sermonettes.

A highlight event was an evening gathering where some of our remote brethren told their stories. Klogay and Margaret Doh, Karen refugees from Thailand who have been resettled to Finland, told about their life in refugee camps and their new life in Finland. Margaret's sister in North Carolina was featured in the Festival video as one of the refugees resettled in the United States. Other stories were told by Mandy Heathcote formerly from Zimbabwe and now in New Zealand, Artur Aleksandrov, Russian Estonian living in Tallinn, Rainer and Margit Barth formerly from East Germany, Vello Saar, UCG member in Cincinnati who was born on Saaremaa and more Latvian stories.

For the second half of the Feast we travelled to 1000 year-old city of Tartu.

Second YouTube Video of FOT in Estonia--Latvian singing featured

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:47:36 GMT

Our Feast of Tabernacles in Estonia

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:34:51 GMT

Take 4 minute YouTube tour of Bev and me (May 18, 2009)

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 18:03:01 GMT

LifeNets and Beauty Salon for Lilongwe, Malawi

Sat, 05 Sep 2009 07:39:19 GMT

LifeNets Livelihood Development Grant for Beauty Salon
in Lilongwe, Malawi

Posted September 5, 2009 ShareThis

Last year LifeNets awarded Loveness Luwanja a grant for beauty equipment, supplies as well finances to build a small shop in a busy commercial section of Lilongwe. The shop has since been built. She is married to James who is a plumber. They have a small son Harrison. Victor and Beverly Kubik were able to visit with them in October 2008 when the shop was first being built. It now has a steady stream of customers. Loveness is very good at what she does and people like coming to get their hair done at Lovely Looks Hair Dressing Salon. It was named by Christina Davis when she did her internship with Seattle University in connection with LifeNets earlier in 2009.

It's not been easy even with the finished building. Electricity has not yet been brought through and they rely on a generator for electric power. There has been connected to water either and have to bring it in. Read their letter below the photos.

Loveness and some of her new equipment

Customer!

Last October 2008 when the shop was going up

Shop nearing completion

Loveness, James and little Harrison

Letter from Mr. and Mrs. James and Loveness Luwanja

We are very appreciative for the project that LifeNets funded for our family. Now the Salon side for Loveness has started operating and the community has already starting benefiting. We have employed one lady who has two fatherless children both of them girls.

We are not yet connected with water. We are being supplied with water which we buy at a nearby kiosk.

The community is thanking us for building a smart and well designed shop which is offering good services of Loveness’s hair styling skills at an affordable price. While we have no electricity, people have nothing to worry because we use a generator which provide power all day and we are also thankful for that.

Because of the site where the building has been located we have decided to hold on to opening the plumbing shop but decided to open another shop which can attract customers for Loveness and help to open up the place that more customers can be coming for different items for ladies. Another woman who is a widow will be coming in to help. She is also going to paint the shop. Proceeds from this adjoining shop will go towards paying for more equipment and furniture for Loveness' side

This has been the first high class salon in the area ever since and we are ready to work hard as an appreciation to LifeNets who has spent a lot of funds freely for the benefit of our family, extended families and the surrounding community. The salon has been named by Christina Davis who came to Malawi to do research on LifeNets projects. She called it Lovely Looks Hair Dressing Salon.

We thank God for answering our prayer through LifeNets and ask the same God to bless all those who are working for LifeNets voluntarily to help the needy. May the Good Lord add more days for your life and give you all good health so that the needy prayers are answered the whole world. We are ready to support LifeNets wherever we can can and when we are needed.

-- James and Loveness Luwanja

New LifeNets Grocery Store in Malawi

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:07:23 GMT

LifeNets Livelihood Development in Malawi

Posted September 4, 2009

We would like to feature this story and pictorial by Wordsworth Rashid, now the proprietor of a mini shop in a densely populated neighborhood of Lilongwe, Malawi. The store has been an instant success. It's not just because of the startup funding provided by LifeNets. It's also because of the discipline, accountability, record-keeping and hard work put in by Wordsworth and his family. We are happy to share this report with you as it represents successful outcomes of LifeNets mission.

A REPORT ABOUT THE GROCERY STORE BUSINESS by Wordsworth Rashid

LIPASI Mini Shop is in Area 25 to the north of Lilongwe the capital city of Malawi this is one of the most populated areas in Lilongwe District since it’s close to Kanengo Industrial site.

LIPASI Mini Shop with proprietor Wordsworth Rashid on left

The shop is just close to LifeNets office where I stay. This is one of the best places for business since it holds people of different classes; high, middle and even low. LIPASI which stands for Linda, Paul and Simeon (my children) as a Min shop was started on December 30 with a small capital of MK22,409.00 from my living expenses. On January 13, 2009, LifeNets boosted the shop by assisting me with a grant of MK40,000.00 to make the capital come to MK62,409.00. LifeNets has also assisted me with a deep freezer and I am able to keep cold drinks, milk margarine and many more.

September 2009 issue of Virtual Christian Magazine

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 10:56:23 GMT

I’d like to mention this month’s issue of UCG’s Virtual Christian Magazine. You can link to the magazine and to the individual articles below

September Issue of Virtual Christian Magazine

Spank the Book—Heal the Heart by John Fox
Your Responsibility in Healing by Ed Dowd
Confronting Loneliness by Becky Sweat
10 Questions to Ask About Evolution,
Part 3 by Dr. Allen Stout
Overcoming Apathy by Jeremy Lallier
Letters to the Editor

I’d like commend Managing Editor Lorelei Nettles from Phoenix and Webmaster Chris Rowland from our congregation in Lafayette along with a team of volunteer writers, editors and proofreaders produce ten issues a year of this electronic-only publication. The cost to the Church is negligible.

This publication was started 12 years ago with the vision of becoming a “Guideposts”-like publication with practical, short articles focused on Christian living.

If you have not done son, please check the magazine out and refer it to others. The main Web address to is

www.vcmagazine.org

Why we need a maize sheller in Zambia

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:53:01 GMT

LifeNets Provides Water Chlorinator for Chizeni Clinic in Balaka

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:48:34 GMT

In 2002 we learned about New Life International in Underwood, Indiana (http://waterfortheworld.com). It is an organization that has provided an ingenious simple chlorination system that requires only their device, salt and a car battery to produce chlorine gas and provide chlorination capacity for large volumes of water in remote poor areas.

The Chlorinator is finally installed at the Chizeni Clinic in Balaka, Malawi on June 8, 2006

LifeNets needed something like this at the new clinic we were building in Balaka, Malawi. On April 14, 2002 my wife Beverly, my good friend Bill Jahns and I went down to Underwood to look at the device. Bill was about to move to South Africa and I asked him if he would install it when he got to Malawi. He has an engineering background and is good with this kind of thing.

We were shipping a 20 ton container to Malawi in June 2002 and this chlorinator went on it. But, it would be four years until it was actually installed as a cistern and building for storage area had to be built..

In the images below you Bill Jahns and us in Underwood, Indiana and you can finally see him at the Chizeni Clinic in June 2006 installing the device.

During the rainy season rain water from the sheet metal roof goes into the 10 foot by 10 foot by 10 foot cube cistern. From there it is pumped up into a tank. After the tank it flows into a drum inside the clinic. The water purification system is between the tank and drum. The last time we visited this site was on October 8, 2008. I blogged our journey on TravelPod at http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/victorkubik/7/1223480220/tpod.html

www.lifenets.org

History of the Project:

April 14, 2002 visit to New Life Life International in Underwood, Indiana. Bill Jahns and Victor Kubik

Duvon McGuire and Bill Jahns

Duvon McGuire (left) showing Bill Jahns and Beverly Kubik how the chlorinator works

On location in Malawi

20 ton 40 foot container that carried the purifier and lots of other items to Malawi for us. June 21, 2002
Ambassador Bible Center students helped us load the container all day long

Blue barrel for collecting the purified water ready for drinking

The water is stored in cistern which is an underground cube 10 feet by 10 feet by 10 feet

Dr. Chilopora in October 2006 by the chlorinator when Victor and Beverly Kubik visited

During the rainy season rain water is collected from sheet metal roof on clinic

Building where the chlorinator is housed.

The information below is from New Life International's Web site that explains how the process works.

YouTube video from New Life International

Where we are in Malawi

During the rainy season rain water from the sheet metal roof goes into the 10 foot by 10 foot by 10 foot cube cistern. From there it is pumped up into a tank. After the tank it flows into a drum inside the clinic. The water purification system is between the tank and drum.

LifeNets Goat project in Zimbabwe

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 10:05:21 GMT

My name is Stephen Tshabalala and I live in Bulawayo Zimbabwe.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude on behalf of those living in Chember, Gokwe, Zimbabwe for the money that I received from LifeNets through South Africa LifeNets Director Mr. Andre van Belkum to buy goats so as to help the 11 people to start a goat keeping project. We were able to purchase six goats, one he-goat and five she-goats.

Four of the goats will be having kids sometime in November 2009. We are planning to visit Gokwe again and take pictures of the goats and members and send them to you.

Once again, thank you and may God bless you for the wonderful work you are doing .

Yours faithfully,

Stephen Tshabalala.

(We hope to add more information and photos to this report soon)

Interview by Estonian Tartu Postimees newspaper this morning

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:37:50 GMT

Today I was interviewed by a reporter for the Tartu Postimees, the main newspaper of the second largest city in Estonia. They had found me through my Travel Blogs (http://www.ucg.org/resources/blog.htm). The woman reporter Helena Nõmmik told me that they were interested in several things that we did in Estonia: visiting prisoners, repeated visits to their country, the Feast of Tabernacles and more. She first called yesterday asked for a one hour interview which she did today.

Helena was very articulate and spoke excellent English. We used Skype for the interview. I had given them a number of other links to read before the interview which included our keeping the Feasts of Tabernacles, the Church Office maintained by Johnnie Lambert, outreach projects through LifeNets and more.

The interview was very thorough, positive and respectful. I was amazed as to how much they had researched the Church. Helena had lots of questions about our visiting Valdur Vesingi at the prison (www.kubik.org/prison/vesingi.htm). They were impressed by the fact that he translated articles and booklets for the United Church of God and how this was good for both us and him.

They asked about the Feast of Tabernacles and about the big crowd of nearly 100 coming this fall. She asked about the biblical authority for the Feast and what it was all about. She wanted to know the difference between our faith and the Lutheran Church which is the largest denomination in Estonia. In particular she was quite specific about what we actually believed about Christ’s second coming and how it differed from the Lutherans.

She asked me what kept me coming back to this country. I told her it was my being able to communicate with most of the population in Russian and my desire to do the Mission of our Church. She then asked me about my background in Ukrainian and Russian. She herself is fluent in that language and talked some about the issues they have between the Russians and Estonians.

She asked about our church office in Tartu and what we did. I told her that we used it to mail literature including magazines, booklets and a Bible Study Course to Estonia and the former USSR republics.

They had done enough research to know of UCG’s roots in the Worldwide Church of God. She wanted to know how and why the UCG came to be. She asked about our main beliefs which I explained a number of the Fundamental Beliefs.

She then asked about the outreach work that LifeNets did in Estonia from our Web site at www.lifenets.org/ok. Over the years we have helped the School for the Blind in Tartu, but in recent years have sponsored the OK movement which is a national program for underage alcohol abuse and for FAS (Fetal Alcohol Syndrome). She wanted to know where we got our money and how we related to the United Church of God. We told her about our interacting with Lauri Beekman, a Seventh Day Adventist who runs these programs. He has helped us with translation. He has a national daily afternoon radio program from Tallinn that’s info and call-in.

We talked about connection with the Rotary Clubs in Tartu and our acquaintance with the former Tartu mayor Andrus Ansip and now Prime Minister. I told her that this was through our Rotary connection.

I invited her to come to our Feast Services in Tartu in October. She said she might come. In any event, she did want to meet our people in person.

All this started by a search for TARTU in the TravelPod Travel Blog that led to other links—one leading to another. Some of posted information was 13 years old, but still of great interest to show our Church’s history and commitment in this area. I’ll be very interested in how the story will look in the Tartu newspaper.

Council Hosts a Picnic for the Home Office Staff

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 23:01:34 GMT

by Janet Treadway

Posted August 14, 2009 ShareThis

Read Council reports from August meetings

After a busy day of meetings, Monday, August 10, the Council of Elders, along with their wives, headed off to Doris and Floyd Phelps home to host a picnic for the staff.

When I arrived for the evening’s activity, all I could hear was lots of chattering and laughing.. Mrs. Monica Kiefer, wife of Councilman Mr. Paul Kiefer, knew exactly how to get a hungry crowds attention from all the chatter. Monica lifted high in the air, two large spoons and banged them together. It brought immediate dead silence. Chairman Mr. Roy Holladay, decided to take full advantage of the opportunity of silence. He asked everyone to gather around while he asked God to bless the food and the evening’s activities.

Norma Holladay with Emma Kennebeck

Chef Darris McNeely

Then it was time to chow down on some awesome burgers and hot dogs, grilled by Glenn Creech and Mr. Darris McNeely. There was plenty of wonderful fixing to choose from, and let’s not overlook the desserts! Because we didn’t! The Council and staff sat around and fellowshipped, and ate, and not necessarily in that order.

Even the rain did not dampen peoples’ spirits, as it helped to cool down the 90 degree temperatures especially for those who hate the heat. We were all protected under a very nice, covered shed from the rain. Dorothy Shoemaker, in Mail Processing, pointed out “she loved the rain hitting on the tin roof.”

Rainbow

President Clyde Kilough looks at Rainbow

There were many positive feedbacks from the activity. Chris Stewart of the IT department, said, “It was nice to be offsite, unplugged, in a very relaxing environment, with fellow co-workers and council members. It really helped with solidifying relationships.” Emma Kennebeck, in the data processing department, said, “While enjoying a perfect evening of food and fellowship, a beautiful, double, rainbow appeared across the sky, which really added to what was already a perfect evening.”

Thanks go to all the council members, and their wives, for hosting this wonderful activity for the staff. Thanks also go to Doris and Floyd Phelps for opening up their home. And especially thanks to God, for He did honor Mr. Holladay’s request, and blessed the entire evening. God also added on His final, finishing, touches, to a wonderful evening, by displaying a spectacular, beautiful, double rainbow. I hope we have many more of these special occasions.

LifeNets Shipment Arrives in Blantyre, Malawi

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 21:25:39 GMT

Posted July 30, 2009 ShareThis

In September 2008 we had a visit from our friends in Malawi. She is well-known Rotarian and he is a member of Parliament and a noted business leader.

Children in Blantyre, Malawi receiving toys from America

Their daughter attends De Pauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. We have been their house guests at different times on our journeys to Malawi.

They were shipping a Hummer back to Malawi via container and told us that we could fill it full of humanitarian goods. There would be no cost to us to ship them. We shipped many many items that we have been collecting in our basement that have come from you: eyeglasses, toys and blankets. This was a wonderful opportunity to have these get to to people in need.

I'll let Lewis Salawila, one of our LifeNets Malawi board members tell the story about their arrival and distribution:

Malawians Blessed with different items donated by Americans

by Lewis Salawila

On Tuesday, May 12, 2009 we n in Malawi were blessed upon receiving various types of items, eye glasses, blankets, and toys from America. Thank you.

Children who received white shirts and blouses on the shipment

This came as a surprise, and yet a timely thing considering that it was cold season, the problem of eyes among them, especially elderly people and that most parents can not afford to buy toys for their children.

Most people in Malawi live day to day life with the problem of eyes hiding somewhere unnoticed, and yet thousands are suffering.

A lot of people with eyes problems cannot afford to buy glasses from the private and even government hospitals simply because they are very expensive. One eye glass can cost MK15,000.00 (USD 107.00).

A total of about 20 people in Blantyre received eye glasses and 40 were sent to Lilongwe. Dr. Chilopora, who also is running a LifeNets funded Clinic in Balaka district advised recipients to know the status of their eyes before putting them into use by going for testing. Other eyeglasses are being kept for future use in case of damage.

When the time came for the children to receive their items, smiles were everywhere. They received white shirts, white blouses and also toys. In Malawi where most people live by less than a dollar a day it is difficult to buy clothes and for a toy it’s a thing that they can not afford.

Remember "to give is the greatest of all". And this is a perfect example.

Wonder where eyeglasses you donate to LifeNets go?

Blankets received for families

Another real winner for LifeNets Orphans!

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 22:51:36 GMT

Dr. Barbara Walls and Beverly Kubik

ShareThis

Once again, a beautiful Charity Tea was held in Piscataway, New Jersey on an ideally beautiful day. The chief organizer was Dr. Barbara Walls again put forth a phenomenal effort to raise attention and money for disadvantaged children in Balaka, Malawi where LifeNets operates the LifeNets Orphan Care Centre. See a description of last year's Charity Tea for information about what makes Dr. Barbara Walls go through so much to help these children.

More than $4000 was raised for this coming year's efforts. Two thousand dollars, however, was given to provide goats for the community. Goats are very important for milk and meat. Orphan children under age five come to the Balaka Chizeni Clinic from two communities within walking distance where children are given a medical assessment, food and instruction for their guardians and caregivers. LifeNets has operated this Centre now for six years at a cost of about $5000 a year. This essentially provides for the food and medicine.

We want to share the spirit of the Tea with photos, the program and a video clip. Beverly and I thank Barbara Walls and all her supporters to make this a memorable event. Christian Davis, who was LifeNets representative in Malawi from January to March 2009 visited Balaka clinic and obtained some personal stories. Here story is also in the May UCG United News.

MUCH MORE!

Ride the 300 km/hr ICE in Germany with me

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 07:46:50 GMT

LifeNets Wheelchair Story of Note from Salima, Malawi

Sat, 25 Jul 2009 04:18:22 GMT

Mobility After Four Years in Malawi...

July 24, 2009 ShareThis

Merekina Filipo back in the saddle on July 21, 2009

Four years ago disabled Merekina Filipo was pushing her hand-operated wheelchair in Salima, Malawi. A moving vehicle pushed her and the driver ran away leaving her in painful wounds. This woman has two children and two granddaughters.

Her wheel chair was broken, but no one even the government helped her. Her wheel chair was a nice one because she could cycle it using her hands. She approached Wordsworth Rashid, one of our LifeNets representatives in Malawi, if we assist her with the repair of her wheel chair. This was in February 2009.

We were glad to help and provided the funding to repair the chair that she had been without for FOUR years. The repairs are done and Merekina Filipo is able to be mobile again. We are so happy to help this lady completely change her life!

Miss Melekina Filipi is proud of the wheel chair that LifeNets has helped to bring it back to functional use. She said her appreciations is to God the Merciful Eternal One. Orientation and mobility will now be easy for her. She is able to go to many places within a single day. She thanks LifeNets so much.

What did this cost? Only $129!! This included enlarging the door to her house so she could bring in in inside. What a difference it's made!! We want to thank all our LifeNets supporters to who bring happiness through the simplest means.

Here's what the chair was reduced to four years before LifeNets repaired it

Final tweaking

Look at her GO!

Here's how Merekina got by for four years before the chair was repaired.

For Lafayette UCG people: See some people you know!

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:27:57 GMT

CHILDREN HELPING CHILDREN

CHANGE FOR CHANGE

For Lifenets Vinogradov, Ukraine Street Children Program

Posted June 25, 2009

In January the Seattle congregation of the United Church of God started a program to encourage its children to support LifeNets’ Street Children program in Vinogradov, Ukraine. For $25, the soup kitchen provides clothing, food and personal items each month for a child. Many of these children come from abusive and alcoholic situations. The Street Children program cares for about 30 children. In addition to physical needs, the children are given love, care and training.

LifeNets Puget Sound member Larry Hardison decorated a large jar, which is set out every week for congregation members and their children to donate their spare change. The goal was to raise at least $25 a month. Every time $25 is reached, another marker goes up. So far, donations have been collected to help a total of seven children – beyond the goal of collecting enough to help at least one child a month. Members are able to teach their children about giving and showing compassion for other children who may not have the opportunities or care they have.

-- Catherine Brumbaugh

Hunter Williams with sister Gloria helping collect change for children in Vinogradov

Fellow minister's daughter in serious car accident in Illinois

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:17:59 GMT

Lauren Graham

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UPDATED June 16, 2009 5:00 PM

What Happened:

About 2:30 pm Central time Friday, June 12th, Lauren was involved in a very serious car accident. She was hit in the passenger's side of the car by a semi going around 55-60mph. She has not been conscious since. Her primary concern is that she has experienced major head trauma. She has a severe concussion. She does have two broken bones in her left foot, which they can't do anything about until the neurosurgeon releases her for surgery. The bone on the top of her foot going to her large toe has multiple bone fragments and will require a pin.

An eyewitness account relates: "I had a chance to visit with Lauren today and the Grahams. She is really looking good - good color and healing well. So relieved to see this. Just anxious to see the foot taken care of and the breathing tube removed."

Cards can be sent to the hospital address at:

           BroMenn Regional Medical Center
           1304 Franklin Ave.
           Normal, IL 61761

From the Graham's:

When we got here this morning, the doctor had already removed the ventricular catheter from Lauren's head (this catheter gave a pressure release valve and was pressure sensitive to the cranial cavity). This is great news, because the neuro surgeon had emphasized to me that he would not remove this until he was certain that nothing dangerous or harmful was going to occur in her head. In other words no more worries about further damage from pressure or bleeding!
They also had her on a much lower dose of sedative, and she was extremely active, moving and shifting around in her sleep, trying to yawn, trying to turn over. The activity is a very good sign. However, they've had to give her a little more sedative, because at this level she will occasionally try to pull off some of her tubes, and try to pull the breathing tube out. She doesn't like all that stuff on her.
Following tomorrow mornings CT-scan they hope to release her to the orthopedic surgeon to do the foot surgery. At that point they can begin weening her off of the respirator and sedation. This is when we will find out how much of our "original" Lauren we will be getting back. We have been warned of possible memory loss and personality shifts. We have faith that God will answer everyone's prayers and bring back Lauren as we know her.

One final thank you again for your love and prayers.

Warm Regards,
Ken and Susan