wfn.org | Common Board appoints 15 to overseas

["Disciples Off. of Communication"<wshuffit@oc.disciples.org>]

positions
Date: April 23, 1999
Disciples News Service
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Contact: Clifford L. Willis
Email: CWillis@oc.disciples.org
on the Web: http://www.disciples.org

99c-27

	INDIANAPOLIS (DNS) -- Six new appointees are 
among 15 persons receiving missionary 
appointments to serve in East Asia and the 
Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe 
and Africa. 

	Their appointments were endorsed by the Common 
Global Ministries Board of the Christian Church 
(Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of 
Christ, meeting here April 14-18. The Common 
Board coordinates mission work for the Disciples 
Division of Overseas Ministries and the United 
Church Board for World Ministries.

	Receiving new appointments were Deborah M. Ball, 
Honolulu, Hawaii; Helen A. Burgess, Marshfield, 
Mass.;  Scott E. Couper and the Rev. Susan M. 
Valiquette, Battle Creek, Mich.; Jennifer N. 
Garland, San Antonio, Texas; and H. Irene Osuga, 
Arvada, Colo.

	Ball will volunteer for one year at the 
Institute of Religion and Culture in Cebu City, 
Philippines. She is currently a Peace Corp 
interviewer and a student at Union Theological 
Seminary, New York City. The Connecticut native 
is a member of Church of the Crossroads (UCC), 
Honolulu.  

	Burgess will serve a three-year term as a 
technical assistant in health programs with the 
Christian Commission for Development, 
Tegucigalpa, Honduras. She is currently a nurse 
midwife at St. Elizabeth's Hospital, Boston, 
Mass. The Salem, Mass., native and veteran 
nursing professional belongs to First 
Congregational Church, Marshfield, Mass.  

	Couper and Valiquette were appointed to 
three-year terms in Durban, South Africa. Scott 
will be pastor of a congregation and Susan will 
be chaplain of Inanda Seminary. He is currently a 
crisis/intake specialist with Haven of Rest 
Ministries in Battle Creek. She is associate 
minister at First Congregational Church in the 
city, where the couple also are members.

	Garland will volunteer for one year with the 
Evangelical and Reformed Church of Honduras. She 
will coordinate volunteer work teams helping to 
rebuild homes destroyed by Hurricane Mitch. The 
San Antonio, Texas, native is currently an 
adjunct professor at Palo Alto College in the 
city.  She is a member of Central Christian 
Church, San Antonio.

	Osuga will work for three years with the Council 
on Cooperative Mission, teaching English at Kobe 
College, Nishinomiya, Japan. She has taught 
nearly 35 years with the Denver Public Schools. 
She is a member of Simpson United Methodist 
Church, Arvada, Colo.

	Reappointed to overseas positions were Elena 
Huegel, Chile; Veronica and the Rev. William 
Kyle, Jamaica; Jeffrey Mensendiek, Japan; Lillian 
Moir, Namibia; and Steve and the Rev. Lisa Smith, 
Germany.

	Huegel will serve another three-year term with 
the Pentecostal Church of Chile, serving as an 
environmental and Christian education specialist. 
The Houston, Texas, native just finished an 
assignment as a youth worker and partnership 
enabler with the Chilean church body.

	The Kyles received three-year terms with the 
United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman islands. 
Veronica will work with outreach and scholarship 
programs coordinated by the United Church and 
serve as a women's group chaplain and youth 
minister in a congregation. William will serve as 
pastor of a congregation. The couple recently 
finished a three-year term doing pastoral 
ministry and coordinating social service programs 
there.

	Mensendiek was given a four-year term with the 
Council on Cooperative Mission. He will resume 
his role as director of  the Gakusei (student) 
Center in Sendai, Japan, where he worked from 
1993-1998.

	Moir returns to the Council of Churches in 
Namibia for four years, having completed a 
four-year stint there. She will continue working 
as communications officer for the ecumenical 
body. She is a former news director with the 
Disciples Office of Communication and was 
director of interpretation with the Division of 
Overseas Ministries.

	The Smiths received three-year terms with the 
Evangelical Church of the Union (EKU). Steve and 
Lisa will continue as parish assistant and 
assistant pastor, respectively, and as ecumenical 
facilitators. The couple recently completed a 
three-year term with the EKU.  

	Another couple, the Rev. Felix and Maria Ortiz 
were appointed to three-year terms with the NCC 
Church World Service and Witness Unit. They will 
serve as pastoral and technical representatives 
for projects in the Caribbean and will be based 
in San Juan, Puerto Rico. They recently completed 
a three-year term with the National Spiritual 
Council of Churches of Haiti.

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