Faithful Adventists Leave Lasting Legacy

Printed: September 2021 - Page 1 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Paciﬁc Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. Handmade Apache camp dress worn by Grace Pimentel.

If there is one common ground that almost everyone can enjoy, it is gathering together for a wonderful meal. Until 2020, the Mentone church had a long-standing tradition of hosting a weekly fellowship dinner as well as many additional events that would bring the congregation together. This year, as COVID restrictions started to ease, the church sought to rebuild that community feeling by planning a celebration of the diverse cultures and ethnic backgrounds within their congregation. On April 25, the church welcomed over 200 members and guests to the International Food Festival.

“We hosted the ﬁrst International Food Festival three years ago,” said Pastor John Anderson. “After having to take a break for 2020, we were blessed with a huge attendance this year, and we hope to make this an annual tradition.”

Printed: September 2021 - Page 2 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Paciﬁc Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. Adelina Kittle mans the Romanian booth.

To ensure safety and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) compliance, food items at the festival were individually wrapped and ready to serve. Over 30 countries were represented by the international flavors, which included Colombian arepas, Lebanese hummus and tabouli, Indian gulab jamun, Bolivian alfahores, Korean veggie yachaejeon, German sauerkraut, Nigerian jollof rice, Guatemalan nance, Brazilian desserts, Romanian polenta, and Filipino palabok. As a finishing dessert, a church member brought cupcakes sporting national flags from around the world.

After a year of physical distancing from church family, those who attended were overjoyed. “As a newly transferred member to the Mentone church, I wanted to attend all the events they had,” said Karen Laﬀerty. “The International Food Festival was a wonderful opportunity for the church members to come together and socialize. And no one went away hungry!”

Printed: September 2021 - Page 3 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Paciﬁc Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. Belize national information and individually wrapped treats.

Many of those who attended wore the colorful indigenous attire of a variety of nations. Grace Pimentel, a Mentone church youth member, wore a beautifully handmade Apache camp dress while she enjoyed the festival. “It’s hard for me to say which of the costumes or dishes would’ve been my favorite,” Pimentel said. “They were all so unique, delicious, and beautiful.”

Visitors from the neighborhood surrounding the church were invited, and many came to enjoy an environment of fellowship and friendship. Sherry Yap, the event coordinator, was pleased with the ﬁnal result of the weeks of preparation. “By celebrating our diverse cultures and backgrounds, the International Food Festival was a way to fulﬁll our church’s mission statement,” said Yap. “We aim to educate and empower members to take the three angels’ messages to all the world.” ______By Suzette Catalon Peterson and Tricia Murdoch Zmaj

The Southeastern California Conference recently lost Connie Perez, a Pathfinder pioneer who organized and promoted Spanish Pathfinder Club Ministries for over 40 years. Perez was a lifelong Adventist who dedicated her boundless energy and exceptional artistic talent to youth ministries. She will be greatly missed by all whose lives were enriched by her influence.

“Connie Perez was an unstoppable force,” said Pastor Rudy Carrillo. “I began working with her in 1982 when she was the Orange County Pathﬁnder coordinator, and she was always someone you could depend on.”

Perez was introduced to Pathfindering in the early 1950s as a boarding student at Sandia View Academy in New Mexico. She found that the Pathfinder experience strengthened her faith and taught her important lessons in leadership and resilience. After she and her husband, David, had their three children, Roger, Ken, and Karen, she started the first Spanish Pathfinder club at the Shelton Street church in Santa Ana.

Her son Ken remembers her dedication to promoting Pathfinder clubs in surrounding churches. “She would dress in her Master Guide uniform and visit churches throughout Orange County and Riverside to help them organize and grow their Pathfinder clubs,” he said. “Her uniform had two sashes completely full of Pathfinder honors. If she didn’t know how to do something, she would teach herself so she could pass that information on to others.”

Printed: September 2021 - Page 5 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. Perez’s dedication to Pathfinders influenced her family members. Her sisters, Eva Vasquez and Rose Martinez, went on to become directors of Pathfinder clubs, her son Roger is Pathfinder coordinator for North San Diego County, and several nieces have served in Pathfinder leadership roles.

Her niece, Martha Sanchez, joined Perez as assistant coordinator for the Orange County Pathfinder clubs in 2001. “As long as I knew her, Connie loved Pathfindering with all of her heart,” said Sanchez. “When I was a Pathfinder in Santa Ana, she arranged for the drill and bugle corps to march in the city parade and made sure that we all had the right white gloves and socks. She taught glass painting or leathercraft honors. She was always on the go.” When Perez retired in 2011, Sanchez became the Pathfinder coordinator for Orange County, but Perez held the title of honorary coordinator for the rest of her life as a tribute to her 25 years of service.

Throughout her life, Perez painted banners and murals for churches, the SECC office, and for camporees. Perez’s sister, Eva Vasquez, said that Perez’s artistry was always an asset to the Pathfinder clubs that she led. “On camping trips, Connie would tell the Pathfinders to collect stones, and then she would teach a rock painting class,” said Vasquez. “She designed a logo for the Pathfinder coordinator jackets. She was always creative.” Her longtime friend Frances Raycups also remembers Perez’s talent. “I have seen Connie create beautiful paintings on any surface—recycled plastic, a piece of wood, even a tortilla!”

“Connie insisted that I complete the Master Guide program and then she insisted that I become the director of a Pathﬁnder club,” said Raycups. “Connie was a mentor to so many and was always raising the leadership bar.” Raycups now serves as the SECC coordinator for Pathﬁnder Club Master Guides.

Though Connie experienced poor health in her ﬁnal years, those who knew her are looking forward to seeing her at the resurrection, when her formidable strength will be restored to her. “The Lord has promised that we will see Connie again,” said Raycups, “and I know that He keeps His promises.” ______By Tricia Murdoch Zmaj

“Putting aside the horror of a contagious disease,” said Christopher Stanley, youth pastor at Loma Linda University church, “the pandemic had some uniquely positive features.” While it may seem a bit “Pollyanna-ish” to ﬁnd a silver lining in the global pandemic, as a youth pastor, Stanley saw real beneﬁts to life moving online.

“In modern society, kids have very little time to reﬂect and process their own internal voices,” Stanley explained. “Technology has become ever more pervasive, and their schedules both in and out of school are packed, leaving no time for them to be awed and reﬂective.”

Printed: September 2021 - Page 7 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Paciﬁc Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. Campus Hill young adults coordinated a community art therapy night.

During the pandemic, however, this changed. Thirty youth regularly logged on to Stanley’s virtual Sabbath School on Instagram—and stayed fully engaged the entire time. In the live feed comments section, they shared things and became vulnerable in ways Stanley says they would never have done in person.

“These young people let me in more during our time in quarantine than they ever did before we went online,” he said.

Stanley built an interactive program from the very beginning. Each week, they chose a diﬀerent Bible story and examined it in detail, using their imaginations to ﬁll in the gaps. For example, when they read about Jesus celebrating at Simon’s house following the resurrection of Lazarus, the group concocted a party theme and menu for the celebration.

Printed: September 2021 - Page 8 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Paciﬁc Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. Campus Hill young adults enjoyed an outdoor banquet.

“They remember in detail every single story we studied during the pandemic,” Stanley said. “We have a collection of inside jokes and awesome stories because it was interactive and imaginative. We came close to each other and close to the Word, letting the text speak to us and making the Bible a living thing.”

They also made time to be in nature together. Masked and socially distanced, the group met at Joshua Tree National Park to spend time with God.

Fallbrook church youth put together food and

Printed: September 2021 - Page 9 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Paciﬁc Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. gift baskets for a local community full of kids.

“Creation speaks to us in a unique way,” Stanley pointed out. “We are created to be in and a part of nature, and seeing these kids have transcendental moments watching the sun set over the desert was beautiful. They were blown away by the space, the beauty, and the experience. Being forced to take Sabbath School outside was healthy for us, and it’s something I’m grateful to the pandemic for reminding us.”

According to Ivan Ostrovsky, associate pastor at Fallbrook Church, creating a tight-knit and God-connected group is exactly the way to start preparing young people for a life of service.

“If you want to make a diﬀerence in the community, you have to start with your own house,” Ostrovsky said. “As a youth pastor, I absolutely want the youth involved in any outreach we do, but before we go into the community, I want to make sure our own church is a healthy environment.”

Fallbrook church youth put together food and gift baskets for a local community full of kids.

To this end, Ostrovsky has spent much of his three years at Fallbrook building a sense of community within the

Printed: September 2021 - Page 10 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Paciﬁc Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. youth group. When one of their members had a birthday but couldn’t come to church, he coordinated a caravan of cars to drive by the house to sing and drop oﬀ a cake.

They didn’t falter because of COVID-19; throughout the pandemic, the youth made videos of themselves oﬀering inspirational and encouraging messages, which Ostrovsky shared on Instagram several times a week. He also gave them weekly challenges, such as doing jumping jacks, spending time reading their Bibles, or gazing at the stars.

“It’s not just about learning,” Ostrovsky emphasized. “It’s about living life together. It’s not a duty or a responsibility; it’s a family getting together.”

And as a family, they can more eﬀectively make an impact on their community. During the holidays, Fallbrook youth put together food and gift baskets for a local community full of kids. Pre-pandemic they went regularly to sing and visit with residents of a local nursing home and put together care packages for college students in their church.

“Community is deﬁnitely a crucial precursor to outreach,” agreed Jessie López Abdul-Karim, associate pastor for Azure Hills church in Grand Terrace.

Azure Hills church youth join a monthly online group cooking event.

Printed: September 2021 - Page 11 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Paciﬁc Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. When the young adults of Azure Hills were looking for a way to connect socially, they asked López Abdul-Karim if there was something they could do together. “They didn’t want anything formal—they just wanted to relax and have fun together,” she recalled.

So they started a Sabbath birthday brunch at the church once a month. And it didn’t stop once the pandemic started; instead, it morphed into Collective Eats—a monthly online group cooking event on Fridays that generated much conversation and laughter. For several weeks, one member bought and delivered ingredients for everyone who wanted to participate. Then they gathered on Zoom and cooked in their own homes together. “While we cook, we talk about life,” López Abdul-Karim explained. “It’s an interactive hangout we all ﬁnd incredibly meaningful.”

Azure Hills church youth join a monthly online group cooking event.

She also pointed out with a laugh that it is not a health ministry. Over the last several months they’ve made strawberry shortcake, tofu spring rolls, French toast crunch, lava cakes, pad see ew, egg tarts, and breakfast quesadillas, among other treats. It is, however, a ministry that follows in the footsteps of Jesus’ ministry.

“A lot of young adults ﬁnd it diﬃcult to enter a church just because they’re invited,” López Abdul-Karim said. “Collective Eats is an outreach designed to allow us to not only connect with each other but also to meet new people and bring them into our conversations, which we hope will eventually turn into seeing them attend our Sabbath School discussions and church.”

Printed: September 2021 - Page 12 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Paciﬁc Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. Creating opportunities to meet people and eat together is exactly what Jesus did, López Abdul-Karim pointed out. “The early church broke bread together,” she said. “Jesus had a food ministry. He fed the 5,000, He shared a meal at a meaningful time with His disciples—He understands people’s need for and love of food.”

Understanding all the needs of a community—spiritual, emotional, and physical—is what makes an outreach project eﬀective. Crave, the young adult Sabbath School at Campus Hill church, has made it a point to do exactly that, starting from within.

“Crave is a deeply caring, creative, and multicultural hub for young adults,” explained Shiphrah Fepulea’i, associate pastor. “We are very intentional about making our group a safe space for everyone—regardless of language or music preference, background, life stage, or any other factor.”

Two of Crave’s core values are to reﬂect our Creator and to authentically reﬂect who He created us to be. Even during the stress of COVID-19, the young adults found safe ways to spend time together to beat the isolation, such as hiking, biking, and lake trips.

As California began to emerge from the pandemic, Campus Hill young adults recognized the need for a healing event to commemorate the one-year anniversary of their community going into lockdown. So the idea of an art therapy night was born.

“Though some had been vaccinated, we kept the event outside because we wanted this night to be possible for all,” Fepulea’i said. “It was an event for those who needed healing, and we all needed to feel safe.”

The group provided easels, canvases, paintbrushes, and paint, and invited the community to attend. They capped the event at 25 in order to be able to maintain social distance, but the interest was much higher.

“The majority of participants weren’t regular, intimately plugged-in members of our church,” Fepulea’i shared. “It was really special to see who the Lord brought in.” Every single participant asked them to do another art therapy night, and one is in the works for later this summer.

“My favorite thing about this young adult group is that it is a place where we can pour out our hearts and ﬁnd healing for our souls through honesty, transparency, vulnerability, and respect for the pace and journey of each person,” Fepulea’i said.

Ultimately, this is the type of authentic Christian every youth group leader dreams of helping shape.

Printed: September 2021 - Page 13 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. “The most desirable outcome of youth ministry is to create young people who are compassionate, thoughtful, careful citizens of this world who find purpose and direction through the life and teachings of Christ,” Stanley concluded. “The pandemic gave us a special opportunity to explore different effective paths to that outcome, because Christ and the Word became a greater focus in our ministry to each other and to our communities. And that’s truly all that matters.” ______By Becky St. Clair

Akira Chang In the 1990s, Akira Chang was not yet a pastor, but he was starting to get to know God. He was living in San Francisco, regularly studying the Bible with an older gentleman, when his mother came to visit from Taiwan. She shared that she, too, had been studying the Bible, with the wife of a Seventh-day Adventist pastor.

Printed: September 2021 - Page 15 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Paciﬁc Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. Later, Chang shared this with the elder with whom he was studying, and the man got a very odd look on his face and admitted that he, too, was an Adventist. Chang was ﬂoored.

“I asked him how his religion could be so stubborn as to hold onto old traditions like going to church on Saturday,” Chang recalled. “He simply asked me when, in our six months of studying the Bible together, we had ever come across the word Sunday. I searched the Bible from beginning to end and couldn’t ﬁnd it anywhere.”

In 1998, after attending seminary, Chang became a Seventh-day Adventist pastor. For the past three years, Chang has been a pastor in the SECC, and in February 2021 he was ordained at the Loma Linda Chinese Church.

Chang leads his congregation with his family alongside him—his wife, Huiling, and his children, Andrew (19) and Anna (15). His vision for LLCC is that it will become a church that is focused on community outreach.

“I want us to truly internalize that we are not just here for ourselves or immigrants coming to study at Loma Linda Medical School, but we are here for our community,” he said. “We may be a church established by the ﬁrst generation of Chinese Adventists in the area, but we have a purpose far beyond that.”

Kayla Malit “I was trying to do everything else to ﬁnd purpose and satisfaction,” said Pastor Kayla Malit, who was ordained at Bonita Valley church in January 2021, “and the only time anything totally clicked and felt right was when I admitted to myself that ministry was something I wanted to be part of for life, not just as an extracurricular.”

Malit finds joy in being someone with whom others feel comfortable being vulnerable. It’s the relationship-building she finds so fulfilling in her ministry.

“When people decide they’re going to let someone in, it’s a journey,” she explained. “I’m so honored and I get so energized when someone decides to journey with me.”

Printed: September 2021 - Page 16 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Paciﬁc Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. As her ﬁrst full-time church, the Bonita Valley church made a collective investment in her, as she did in them, and Malit said their relationship is endearing and supportive.

“They have allowed me to come into my own in my ministry,” she explained. “They let me be who I am, and they are the epitome of what it means to be a true community of faith.”

This was demonstrated beautifully during Malit’s ordination, which, since it took place during the pandemic, she and the conference jokingly called her “coronation”—a coronavirus ordination.

“It was of course in jest, but it demonstrated that my administrators saw and aﬃrmed me, and I truly appreciated that,” Malit said. “It sent the message that our call can be lived out in so many diﬀerent ways.”

As Malit’s was the ﬁrst ordination ever taking place at the Bonita Valley church, she felt it was an ordination of not only herself but also the community that built her.

“It wasn’t because I as a pastor have achieved a thing,” she said, “but it was an incredible moment in which we were able to publicly declare that God has done something divine and sacred in His people.”

Moises Estrada Pastor Moises Estrada leads a two-church district in Corona, and he started in early 2020. He was introduced to his new churches and had two weeks at each one before the entire country shut down due to COVID.

“The only preparation you have for something like that is blind faith,” he said with a laugh. Over the years, he has seen many times how things make more sense when he follows God’s lead, even when he can’t see where they’re going.

“The thing about following Jesus is that it’s a mystery,” Estrada said. “It’s a thrill, that journey of unknowns; I never know what’s next, but in the aftermath I see what He was doing, and that’s exciting to me. A lot of times it’s when I try to follow my own agenda or plan that things don’t seem to work out.”

Printed: September 2021 - Page 17 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Paciﬁc Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. During his ordination in April 2021 at the Corona Main Spanish Church, the speaker talked about the call to God being very closely tied to solidarity with the poor. This struck Estrada.

“I don’t think that means just the poor ﬁnancially but also those who are marginalized—outsiders and outcasts,” he explained. “That really shook me and left me contemplating what my ministry ought to look like.”

Estrada serves the Lord with his wife, Sylvia, and their children, Levi (4) and Izel (8 months).

“I regularly re-learn the lesson outlined in Proverbs 3:5-6,” Estrada added. “I must trust the Lord with all my heart and not rely on my own understanding. He makes my paths straight and shows me the way, and I’m ready, wherever that path takes me.” ______By Becky St. Clair

The Seventh-day Adventist church is blessed with members whose long lives are dedicated to service and sharing Biblical truths with their community. Two members of the Southeastern California Conference illustrate the positive impact that each life can have when committed to Christ.

Helen Kirkpatrick moved to Los Angeles from Texas when she was 15 years old. Her lifelong friend Mildred Sweeney Bradley introduced her to Don Franklin, and Helen and Don married just days before he left to serve in Europe at the height of World War II.

Printed: September 2021 - Page 18 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Paciﬁc Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. Upon returning from the war, Don worked on the construction team for the Los Angeles Union Seventh-day Adventist School in El Segundo. “A coworker invited them to attend a George Vandeman Seminar in Lynwood,” their daughter Vicky said. “They were immediately drawn to the health message.” In 1949, they were baptized at the First African American church in Los Angeles.

The Franklins built a life of service to others. Don built the Kansas Avenue and Mt. Rubidoux churches, and Don and Helen became charter members of the new congregations. In 2014, they were honored to have the gymnasium and conference room at the Mt. Rubidoux church named in their honor.

In addition to full-time work and raising six children, Helen was active in the Dorcas Society. “She had an open door for whoever needed help,” said her daughter Stephanie. “She would invite single mothers to stay in our home and later fostered many children.”

Helen celebrated her 95th birthday on October 22, 2020, at the Linda Valley Assisted Living Facility with family and friends across the country joining in on Zoom. Local news channels reported on her remarkable life. “My mother has always been committed to church and family,” said her daughter Donna. “All her life, she dedicated her energy to helping others.”

Ernesto Vergara was born and raised in Mexico before emigrating to the United States with his future wife Eriberta in 1976. Ernesto began a job in manufacturing and was invited by a coworker to attend a Seventh-day Adventist church service. Ernesto and Eriberta felt that Adventism answered many of the questions that they had about their Catholic faith, and they began Bible studies. On October 25, 1983, they committed their lives to the Lord and committed to a life with each other as they were baptized and married on the same day at the Paramount church.

Ernesto and Eriberta had two boys each from previous marriages, and they added another boy and girl to their family. Ernesto’s parents and siblings in Mexico cut oﬀ contact when he became an Adventist. With his conversion, he lost the family that he was born into, but he gained a large spiritual family that grew every year as he gave Bible studies, led Sabbath School programs, and distributed editions of Steps to Christ with his phone number inside.

Despite having to drop out of formal education in the fourth grade, Ernesto was a keen student and teacher of the

Printed: September 2021 - Page 19 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Paciﬁc Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. Bible throughout his adult life. “As a child, he had a stutter,” said his daughter Priscilla, “but God unleashed his tongue when he began to speak at church, and he was able to give Bible studies every night of the week.”

“Each time he would meet someone new,” Priscilla said, “he would tell them ‘God had a purpose for us to meet.’” This would include the doctors and health care professionals he met toward the end of his life. With every interaction, he continued to share his faith in the goodness of the Lord.

When he passed away in August of 2020, his family read his favorite Bible verse, Job 19:25-27, at the memorial. “This was my father’s favorite text,” said Priscilla. “At the end of his life he was blind, but he knew that at the resurrection he would see his Savior.” ______By Tricia Murdoch Zmaj

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“Last year when the pandemic hit and my daughter began online school from home, I began to notice things that concerned me.”

Dino Cantarini’s daughter, Allie, was in a local charter school for grades three to ﬁve, and there had never been a problem. Her teachers said she was doing well, and her report card corroborated their praise. However, when Allie began remote learning in 2020, she didn’t seem to be doing as well as Dino had believed. For example, though Allie had learned her multiplication tables in second grade, she was now unable to complete simple equations without a calculator.

“I began questioning whether she was really in the best school for her,” Dino recalled.

So he began looking for other options. Through a mutual friend, the Cantarinis got an interview with Luis Ortiz, principal at Murrieta Springs Adventist Christian Academy (MSACA).

As non-denominational Christians, the Cantarinis had only a basic understanding of the beliefs of Seventh-day Adventists, so they did their homework. Dino called some close pastor friends and asked what they knew.

“They told me, ‘The Adventists are good people; you’re on the right track,’” he said. “So we got her enrolled for sixth grade.”

Though Allie struggled to catch up in math, Dino said the teacher wasn’t worried and worked with Allie and her parents to get her settled and conﬁdent. Her grades came up with each progress report until, a few months into the year, Allie had an A in math again.

“I’m extremely pleased,” Dino said warmly. “With such a small class size, the teachers can do individual tutoring with the kids. Allie has friends in all grade levels, and she’s really enjoying it.”

In particular, Allie appreciates her teacher, Mrs. Palitang, and the opportunity to take an art class.

“I’ve always loved painting and drawing,” she said, adding that she ﬁnds MSACA to be a very friendly school, too. “If I had to describe my school in two words, I’d say ‘friendly learning.’”

Printed: September 2021 - Page 22 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Paciﬁc Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. Allie’s experience is exactly what MSACA strives for with every student who walks through their doors.

“We want each student here to sense that they are loved and valued, and that God loves them and has a plan for them,” Ortiz said. “I’m delighted that Allie has been thriving at our school, and I know there are other students out there who would truly be blessed to have that same experience.”

Dino admits they are seriously considering Adventist education for Allie’s high school years, as well. Though the nearest school is a fair distance from their home, he says he would make the eﬀort to drive her there for the value it would bring to her education.

“I’m so happy Allie is at MSACA,” he reiterated. “I know it is the best place for her to be.” ______By Becky St. Clair

Printed: September 2021 - Page 23 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Paciﬁc Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. Ten years ago, Pastor Namyong Kim befriended the pastor of a Sunday church. They discussed many biblical ideas, and over time the Sunday pastor came to accept the Adventist doctrines and was converted to Adventism.

“Every month in the Korean newspaper, he began announcing that Sunday worship is not biblical,” Kim recalled. “And because he had been one of them, other Sunday pastors and church members began to listen and discuss. I began to hear from many of them, seeking the Bible truth, and I told them about it.”

Kim is now senior pastor at the Garden Grove Korean church, and his passion for outreach has not waned. Today, he and his church members consider it their calling to reach out to their community and beyond, and they have organized several ministries with this in mind.

“There are more than 50 Sunday pastors and their wives with whom I have been studying the Bible,” Kim shared. “We get on Zoom at all hours of the day and night because we are in several diﬀerent time zones, and we read Scripture, discuss The Great Controversy, and pray.”

Surprisingly, the pandemic has actually beneﬁted the church’s eﬀorts; whereas, prior to the lockdown, many Korean Sunday church pastors were actively keeping their members from engaging with the Adventist church, once churches closed, many members of Sunday churches found their way to Kim’s Zoom meetings.

Kim added, “Even some pastors have joined, their names changed and videos oﬀ, curious to learn more.”

As he got to know these pastors and their wives, Kim found that many of them were struggling with health issues such as chronic illness or cancer. In response, the church created New Start, a healthy cooking program. Meals are provided along with demonstrations and instruction, and every attendee goes home with food. This approach often leads to feeding more than stomachs.

“I met three Sunday pastors’ wives at our church kitchen who were there to learn about the health program, and then I invited them to my Bible classroom to talk more,” Kim oﬀered as an example. “We were there for three hours as I answered their questions, and by the time they’d left, we had agreed to meet once a week for a health message and Bible study.”

Printed: September 2021 - Page 24 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Paciﬁc Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. Food is an important way to demonstrate the character of Christ, and the Garden Grove church doesn’t just wait for people to come to them; since the start of 2021, the church has distributed more than 1,000 lunch boxes to houseless individuals. Kim encourages his members each week to, when they go to the market for groceries, spend an extra $10 to $20 on food they can distribute to houseless people they see on their way home.

“It is important to practice not only thinking about those in need but to actively reach out to them,” Kim said.

In addition, the Garden Grove deaconesses felt a special burden to create a special online health program focused on natural remedies. As church members distributed brochures advertising the seminar, however, they found that many people they spoke to did not know what Zoom was or how to use it. And so they invited anyone who was interested to attend a training session at the church to learn how to use Zoom.

Their ﬁrst natural remedies seminar saw more than 250 attendees each night, with a total of 1,300 attending over the course of the ﬁve weeks. Their second seminar was expected to have more than 1,000 in attendance each night from all over the world.

“Like many other churches, when COVID-19 hit, we began to worry how we would continue to reach our community within the new reality,” Kim remembered. “As we thought and talked and prayed, however, we found we could do many things even through a pandemic. We just had to believe it was possible and be willing to try new things.” ______By Becky St. Clair

Printed: September 2021 - Page 26 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Paciﬁc Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. La Sierra students created artwork to celebrate the accomplishments of inﬂuential Black Americans.

In honor of this year’s Black History Month, La Sierra Academy celebrated the history and accomplishments of the Black community with intentional chapel programs and a unique curriculum.

At each Friday’s outdoor chapel service, a pastor invited from one of the constituent churches approached Black history from a diﬀerent perspective. Pastor Jeremiah Green talked about the “Historic Perspective” and commemorated the contributions of the Black community. Pastor Baron Sovory spoke about the “Present Perspective” and the impact of the Black experience in today’s world. Pastor Wade Forde provided a look at “United Within Diversity” and recognized the people and events that have helped to unify our diverse nation. Pastor Eric Penick presented “Future Perspectives,” with hope and a vision for a positive future.

Pastor Jeremiah Green composed spoken word poems for the students to read at each chapel program. “To see the kids with so much talent perform these pieces was truly beautiful,” said Libett Munoz-Beard, La Sierra Academy principal. “For our campus, worshipping together was very healing.”

Glenn Valenzuela, campus chaplain at La Sierra Academy, also noted that the campus was able to consider their perspectives as a school family. “Each pastor blessed our students with a powerful discourse,” said Valenzuela. “We

Printed: September 2021 - Page 27 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Paciﬁc Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. were forced to not only listen but to contemplate and consider.” Valenzuela also highlighted the praise team composed of predominantly Black students and alumni that led the students in worship every week. “They brought their energy!” Valenzuela said.

Each teacher at La Sierra Academy designed a curriculum that honored Black History Month in one of their class periods each week. John Chen, TK-12 vice principal, and Victoria Karsten, grades 7-12 registrar, were available as curriculum coaches to assist teachers as they created lessons. Stephanie Sarli, sixth-grade teacher at La Sierra Academy, guided her students as they studied George Washington Carver, Thurgood Marshall, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Amanda Gorman. “As we studied each person’s life, I asked the students to reﬂect on the characteristics of these men and women,” said Sarli. “Students discussed how they could apply the same mindset as these activists in today’s society.”

As the month progressed, Valenzuela noticed that La Sierra Academy’s proactive approach to honoring Black History Month caused students to discuss the issues. “Education was happening on every level,” Valenzuela said. “We were all exposed to wonderful truths, and that has helped us to become better people and a stronger community.”

Valenzuela pointed out the work of the “Taboo Team,” a group of students who gather around social justice awareness. “Each week the team would post a one-minute talk on social media about a powerful and gifted African American,” said Valenzuela. These talks joined the chapel and classroom experiences on LSA’s social media to share with the wider community.

As Black History month drew to a close, Munoz-Beard expressed plans to use the same model to celebrate more students in the future. “La Sierra has a student body composed of many diﬀerent ethnic groups, and we are looking forward to incorporating Latino and Asian heritage into our curriculum as well,” Munoz-Beard said. “We want every child and family to feel comfortable and celebrated at La Sierra Academy.”

______By Tricia Murdoch Zmaj

Printed: September 2021 - Page 28 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Paciﬁc Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. Pre-COVID, the sixth- to eighth-graders at Escondido Adventist Academy (EAA) and Oceanside Adventist Elementary (OAE) got together on a regular basis so the students could get to know each other and build relationships through activities, sports, chatting, and having chapel at OAE. When the pandemic put a halt to cross-school visits for the 2020-2021 school year, everyone was disappointed.

“We want EAA to be a positive and likely option for the Oceanside kids when they’re ready for high school,” explained Bill Davis, EAA principal. “The whole purpose of getting our students together is so that if the OAE kids do decide to come here for academy, they already have a group of friendly, familiar faces waiting for them.”

During the SECC virtual Jr. High Bible Camp in January, Davis hit upon an idea.

“The students were cheerfully engaging online through this virtual event, connecting and having fun,” he said. “It occurred to me that we could do something similar between our two schools.”

And so the idea for joint virtual chapel services was born. The ﬁrst one was held in February, and—after extremely positive feedback from teachers and the 75 students involved between both schools—shortly thereafter a couple more joint chapels were scheduled.

“On a basic level, we want the kids to form friendships with other kids their age who are also attending an Adventist school,” said Brooke Lemmon, OAE principal. “But we also want to help them form bonds that will hopefully lead to friendships when our students head to EAA. The kids really enjoyed it and were immediately excited about the prospect of doing it again.”

During the February chapel, EAA chaplain and religion teacher Gabe Martinez started with an interactive activity to get the students engaged with each other and comfortable with the format, and then he presented a short talk.

“COVID has actually made events like this much more easily accessible,” Davis pointed out. “This isn’t something we’d ever really considered before because logistically you’re always thinking of in-person and how you’re going to haul an entire bus full of kids across town for a 30-minute chapel. But I think we’ve been inspired to continue trying things like this even when we’ve achieved some sense of normalcy again.”

Lemmon feels that events like this are the epitome of what Adventist Education is meant to be.

“This is the reason Adventist Education exists,” she said. “To promote godly relationships among young people and

Printed: September 2021 - Page 29 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Paciﬁc Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. help them grow together in Jesus. I hope this partnership lasts a long time, and I hope it inspires other schools to look for ways to collaborate, too.”

______By Becky St. Clair

Printed: September 2021 - Page 30 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Paciﬁc Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. On Jan. 9, the Southeastern California Conference (SECC) hosted the annual Equipped 2 Serve training event. This Sabbath afternoon session oﬀered inspiration for church members in leadership roles as well as for those who hope to use their spiritual gifts in the future.

Traditionally, the SECC has oﬀered two annual Equipped 2 Serve events at two separate locations within the conference. Participants would enjoy meeting their ministry counterparts from other congregations and would share a meal together at the end of the day. Like many other activities this year, COVID-19 restrictions mandated that January’s event be oﬀered virtually. Attendees registered through Eventbrite and then downloaded the Whova event platform onto their devices.

The afternoon training began with a brief general session with Keith Morris, senior pastor of the Riverside Kansas Avenue church. The program oﬀered 20 ministry-related breakout sessions focused on ministries such as community service, greeters and hospitality, youth and children, and women’s and men’s ministries. Each hour-long workshop was repeated so that attendees could choose two topics from the 20 quality presentations.

Pastor Caleb Jara drew from the Gospels and the writings of Paul to share solid biblical teaching for these exceptional times. “Deacons and deaconesses are following the instructions of Christ in Matthew 10,” said Jara. “Christ calls His members to serve as He served His people.” Jara emphasized the importance of continuing the ministry even though church members are currently separated. “In Acts 6, we read that the Holy Spirit directed the apostles and the work of the deacons,” said Jara. “We must be alert to the doors that God is opening for us at this time.”

Karen Martell, SECC prayer ministries coordinator, drew upon the truth of James 5:16. “The eﬀective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much,” she said. “True prayer is to know God, and the role of a prayer ministry leader is to help the congregation be God-centered and to see life from God’s perspective, not theirs.”

SECC President Sandra Roberts attended many of the sessions. “Each year I am reminded that the Equipped 2 Serve event is a good example of the body of Christ coming together,” she said. “Our goal is to equip each church member to use his or her God-given gifts to expand the kingdom of God.”

Even though church members are physically separated, the Equipped 2 Serve event provided strength and insight to SECC church members as they continue to follow God’s leading. ______By Patricia Murdoch Zmaj

Often there are misconceptions about how and why regional conferences began,” said Robert Edwards, VP for Black Ministries in the SECC. “Our purpose with this event was to educate and continue the process of working through our unconscious and conscious biases.”

On Saturday, Jan. 23, leadership of the SECC hosted a second event in their series on the topic of racial equality and justice. The presenter was Dana Edmond, executive director of the Oﬃce of Regional Ministry for the North American Division.

“This was an opportunity for learning about the history of racism in the Adventist Church,” explained Sandra Roberts, SECC president. “It’s a sobering history of which many Adventists are unaware.”

Printed: September 2021 - Page 32 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Paciﬁc Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. SECC participants included Sandra Roberts, conference president (LEFT); and Marquis Johns, evangelist for Black ministries and director of community service.

During the virtual event, Edmond shared that the decision to start regional conferences started with the General Conference having a choice: They could integrate, or they could start a separate organization for Black Adventists. The GC chose the latter. Edmond also pointed out that regional people were simply looking for equality and equity. Regional conferences helped to provide a sense of that equality and equity in the church’s organizational context.

“This past year our entire country was confronted with the lack of equality and justice for our black and brown brothers and sisters,” Roberts said. “We learned a lot about implicit bias and the culture that allows such behaviors to exist. It was painful, and it caused us to look at our own churches, schools, and communities and ask what we can do to create a safer, healthier environment of equality.”

This is why Roberts and her team have created a series of forums on the topic of racial justice and equality. The purpose is “to listen, dialogue, learn, and grow in our commitment to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God in the SECC.” But it doesn’t stop with conversation.

“To change the direction the feet go, it starts with the head,” Edwards said. “Your body goes where your mind is. Where your heart is. I would like to see the heart and mind of the church change, and that begins with leadership.”

As president of the SECC, Roberts agrees.

“It takes much intentionality, and it takes a willingness to both listen and take actionable steps to correcting our behaviors,” she said. “We are learning together and are looking to do better as the baton of leadership is in our hands. We believe that all people are the creation of God, crafted in His image, and we must be driven to put that belief in practice to create a conference environment of justice and equality.”

Two additional forums are planned for 2021; stay tuned to SECC social media and newsletters for details. ______

Printed: September 2021 - Page 33 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Paciﬁc Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. By Becky St. Clair

As the prayer leader for both the Paciﬁc Union Conference and the Southeastern California Conference, Karen Martell regularly connects with prayer leaders at conferences and local churches across the Paciﬁc Union. In the fall of 2020, many of them were talking about the GC and NAD’s 10 Days of Prayer event.

Printed: September 2021 - Page 34 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Paciﬁc Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. From the Central California Conference, Tara Vang helped with the prayer rooms and the technology for the meeting, and Cheyna Ashe provided music.

“A lot of people wanted to participate, but it’s a lot of work to do something like that, even in your own church,” Martell pointed out. “Not everyone has the resources to get it done.”

So she and other conference prayer leaders came up with an idea: The union would lead the participation and open it up to all the churches and conferences who wanted to be part of it. This would allow everyone to do as much or as little on their own end as they could or wanted to.

Printed: September 2021 - Page 35 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Paciﬁc Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. From January 6-16, the Paciﬁc Union Conference hosted nightly prayer gatherings, encouraging all participants to download the study materials from the GC. No one group had to provide all the content—each conference sponsored an evening’s program, arranging for a speaker and special music on their night. The overarching theme was “Lord, Make Us One in 2021.”

Over 1,700 people from across the union, the U.S., and the world joined the ﬁrst night, and the union was thrilled to have to invest in a larger Zoom contract to accommodate all who were interested in the 10 Days of Prayer program.

“We tried to ensure we had a diverse group of people presenting, of all ages, locations, and cultural backgrounds,” Martell explained. “We wanted to be inclusive.”

SECC sponsored two evenings of the ten. Their chosen speakers were Aron Rennacker, youth and young adult ministry director, and Randy Roberts, senior pastor of Loma Linda University church. Four teens—Aidan Martell, Carissa and Dylan Santoya, and Jack Neely—from SECC churches led a prayer response, and music was presented by Chyeyna Ashe from Central California Conference and Adrian Presley from the LLU church.

Following the main evening program, participants were placed into virtual prayer rooms of 6 to 8 people, where they would share personal prayer requests and pray together over each one. Prayer leaders from each conference managed the rooms.

“Those prayer rooms were so powerful,” Martell shared with reverence. “It was really phenomenal to see people across the union praying earnestly for each other personally.” The event was such a success that Martell is discussing hosting regular prayer nights throughout the year, coordinating with local prayer leaders.

“More people were able to come to this virtual event than would have attended an in-person prayer conference,” she said. “God is giving us new ways to do things, and it’s working.”

To view the 10 Days of Prayer virtual evening programs, go to SECC’s Facebook page. ______By Becky St. Clair

Printed: September 2021 - Page 36 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Paciﬁc Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. Printed: September 2021 - Page 37 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Paciﬁc Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved.

We all know school is where you go to learn “Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic,” but how do you learn how to study? How do you learn to ﬁnd answers to questions? How do you learn to take and organize notes? How do you learn to read and write as a scientist? How do you learn to advocate for yourself?

The answer to all of the above questions (and more) is simple: AVID.

“AVID is a nationally recognized program which provides specialized training and coaching for teachers so they can intentionally and eﬀectively prepare students in grades K-12 for their educational and professional futures,” explained Amy Cornwall, curriculum coach at the SECC Oﬃce of Education.

In addition to school-wide strategies in which teachers are trained, there is an AVID elective class for secondary students who wish to further develop their skills for college and career readiness.

Students who wish to participate in the elective are required to interview and must maintain a C-grade average. Assignments include putting together an organized binder or Google Drive system and participating in what AVID calls “tutorials,” where students learn how to work collaboratively to ﬁnd the answers they need.

Teachers at Mesa Grande and Orangewood academies—the two SECC schools currently using AVID—noticed a diﬀerence within the ﬁrst two weeks of the program.

“The students’ conﬁdence shot up so fast,” commented Zaidy Olivarria, art and marketing teacher at Orangewood, who teaches art, culinary skills, and personal ﬁnance. “They learn how to be good students, not just with study skills, but self-discipline, interpersonal skills, and more.”

They spent a week focusing on self-care and dealing with stress, and they have studied learning styles. They also learn to self-advocate, which begins with an assignment to introduce themselves to a teacher and converse on a predetermined topic.

“This may seem silly at a school where everyone knows everyone, but in college, being able to approach the professor with their needs can mean the diﬀerence between struggle and success.”

Printed: September 2021 - Page 38 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. AVID isn’t just for students; the entire school benefits from what Olivarria calls the “in-between stuff.”

“AVID puts all of our teachers on the same page in terms of instructional strategies,” said Alfred Riddle, principal at Mesa Grande Academy. “Not everything is the same, but our strategies are aligned. AVID raises the bar for how we teach.”

Winston Morgan, principal of Orangewood Academy, has been an AVID fan since he attended an AVID conference at a previous job and realized what an asset it would be. He has advocated for it at each school he’s worked for since and now serves as director for the Orangewood program.

“Sometimes, very capable kids are simply without opportunity,” Morgan said with passion. “You give them the opportunity to succeed, and they will ﬂy. We’re all blown away by what they accomplish, but the truth is, they’ve always had it in them; they just needed a little push.” ______By Becky St. Clair

By Tricia Murdoch Zmaj

For most of 2020, the nation has been struggling with a pandemic that disproportionally impacts communities of color; in addition, we have been confronting the social injustices of the African American experience. To meet the needs for future evangelism for the Black community, the Southeastern California Conference’s Black Ministries, the North American Division’s ministerial department, Breath of Life Television Ministries, and Message magazine joined to sponsor a new evangelistic series: The Next NormalX.

“After the upheaval of the last year, there is no going back to normal,” said Marquis Johns, Black ministries evangelist and host of the event. “In the title of The Next NormalX, X stands for the unknown. This series represents a departure from the old normal and discovering a new way of fulﬁlling the Lord’s work.” Through his relationships throughout the Black Christian movement, Johns pulled together an inspiring lineup of speakers. According to Johns, the presenters were able to equip listeners with tools designed to help minister in a way that is “unapologetically

Meeting in an online format from September 15-17, The Next NormalX featured speakers who addressed subjects such as the history and future of evangelism in the African American Seventh-day Adventist context, community development and engagement, racialized trauma, and pertinent topics for pastors and laypeople.

Johns highlighted the interactive component employed after each presentation that allowed the audience to fully beneﬁt from each of the speakers’ insights. “For example,” said Johns, “on the second night, W. Franklyn Richardson of the National Action Networks discussed how a social justice hermeneutic should inform the programs on the outside and inside of an African American church. After his presentation, a panel of Black millennial pastors discussed the ideas while answering questions from YouTube and Facebook users.” As the panel met with the wider online audience, Johns said, “SECC pastors were able to pose questions to the speaker in a separate Zoom setting.”

Allowing each of the speakers’ ideas to be discussed in real time while allowing pastors to ask questions in a small group was a great way to capitalize on the rich content on each of the evenings. Johns shared that he hopes The Next NormalX was a step in the right direction toward allowing Black pastors to share the unique Adventist message in a way that allows them to be both unapologetically Black and Christian.

By Becky St. Clair

Schools around the world have experienced challenges adjusting to their new normal, but Calexico Mission School (CMS) faces some unique challenges. Eighty-ﬁve percent of the student body of CMS are Mexican residents, due to its location on the Mexico-California border. In pre-COVID times, these students would stand in line at a port of entry for an hour or more each morning before school, then walk the ten minutes to CMS.

“‘Mission isn’t just in our name to sound cool,” said Oscar Olivarria, principal. “We are serving a community that is mostly non-Adventist. However, contrary to what most people think, a lot of these students are also U.S. citizens, though their parents are not.”

Printed: September 2021 - Page 40 of 41 Article reprint from Adventistfaith.com on September 2021 2021© Pacific Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Copyright, All Right Reserved. When COVID-19 closed schools around the world, it also closed international borders. This meant that even when CMS qualified for a state waiver to reopen, there was little point, since a vast majority of their students could not or would not return to class. When education was deemed “essential travel” so students could cross the border for school, many parents, because they could not accompany their children, did not feel safe sending their kids back to school. Unlike the U.S. government, the Mexican government did not provide stimulus checks or unemployment benefits to its citizens, so many CMS families have had a difficult time navigating finances in recent months. As a result, enrollment at CMS has dropped by 20 percent.

Technology has also been a concern. “Many of our families have access to devices, so distance learning is possible,” Olivarria explained. “However, we do have some whose sole device is a cell phone, making online assignments nearly impossible.” Virtual learning poses another challenge when you consider the low percentage of parents who are able to speak and read English well enough to help their children with their classwork.

“Families view us as a language school, mostly,” Olivarria explained. “They send their kids to school here because they know their children will learn English, and they know being bilingual will boost their chances for success. Like all parents, they want their kids to have better opportunities than they did.” Olivarria also emphasizes the incredible work the CMS teachers have done, adapting on the ﬂy over and over again, with high expectations and long days. “What they’re doing essentially places them, in my mind, right up there with frontline workers,” he said.

The number of challenges facing CMS seems insurmountable some days. Being located in the county with the highest number of COVID cases per capita does not help, but Olivarria said he and his team of teachers are called to a mission, and in this they ﬁnd courage and motivation.

“Every single one of our team members has a story about how God led them here,” he shared. “God has put these students in our paths, and we’re going to do our best to minister to them, hoping that whatever we put in their hearts is going to lead them in a direction to see God’s plans for their lives fulﬁlled.”