NewsNuggets

By Evelyn Rivera — Denver, Colorado … “Waking up with Christ” is a series of inspirational live morning devotionals offered to Hispanic church members every weekday morning at 7:00 a.m. via Zoom as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. A group of some fifty participants from Denver area Hispanic churches join the daily meetings consisting of a traditional song service, prayer requests, and a short message from a different pastor each day.

As churches remain closed, this ministry is helping to connect the Hispanic church members and to enrich their spiritual lives during the pandemic. The morning devotionals are an initiative of the Hispanic pastors of the Rocky Mountain Conference.

“Every morning is very special because God wakes me up before 7:00 a.m. to consecrate church members, my family, and myself,” explained Jose David Rodriguez, who is pastoring several churches in RMC.

Commenting on the initiative, Veronica Yanez from Bloomfield Seventh-day Adventist church said, “Seeing so many people connected to pray for each other daily with the same purpose has been a great blessing in my life. Listening to these devotionals gives me a lot of courage to make it through the day and it strengthens my faith to know there are others going through the same difficulties as I am.”

The initiative is a welcome engagement for Ninfa Krutsinger, a member of Denver Hispanic Adventist church. She shared that “since I started joining these virtual devotionals, I have not stopped listening to them in the mornings. The devotionals give me the spiritual daily bread I need and have been very helpful in my personal life.”

—Evelyn Rivera, is a member of the Nueva Esperanza SDA Church Aurora, Colorado; photo supplied

By Dorie Panganiban — Farmington, New Mexico … The La Vida Mission School building is closed, but school continues until May 22, reported Dorie Panganiban, office manager at the Mission. When the students went home on March 14 for their one-week Spring Break, they never came back for face-to-face school since all schools in New Mexico were ordered by the governor to close. At that time, La Vida Mission made the decision to close until the end of the school year and to use a distance learning program. Because good internet is an issue in this part of the country and many of our students don’t have internet access in their homes, online school was not a good option.

Educators opted to mail schoolwork to students weekly and have them mail back their finished work. Both elementary and high school teachers–Claire James, Vicky Pioche, and Catherine Hartley—use the distance-learning method.

The church is also closed, and live services are temporarily suspended, but worship happens in members’ homes. The Mission staff continues to hold outdoor Sabbath worship at Treehouse Park with everyone sitting six or more feet apart, except for husbands and wives. The church leaders are able to connect with church members and community family through Facebook, Messenger, cellphone texts, and phone calls, the Outreach team packs “love/care packages” of rice, beans, canned goods, wipes, fruit, bread, missionary books, and other essential items, and delivers them to local friends in the community. “They are truly grateful because the “stay-at-home” order prevents many of them, especially our elders and poor families, from going to town,” Panganiban commented.

During Spring Break, before the lockdown order by both the State and the Navajo Nation government, the Mission director, Steve Gillham, and his wife Carol, were in Texas, emailed a list of projects to “adopt,” which keeps the staff busy doing practical things to improve the campus.

At the end of April, board member Neal Kelley brought a load of food from the Montrose Adventist Church and several of the Montrose members. Sharing Ministries, an independent food bank involving several area congregations, donated the food. Such donations support and reinforce the Mission’s Community Food distribution.

While the office is mostly closed to the public, administrative and other regular office work and community mail service continues.

Lockdown? Yes! Shutdown? No! The Mission is still at work and continues to serve the Lord through its ongoing ministry to the students, church members, and community family. “We continue to keep in prayer our students, their parents, and mission supporters. May God keep us all safe,” Panganiban adds.

– Dorie Panganiban, Office Manager & Community Outreach Director; photos supplied

By Mark B. Johnson — Boulder, Colorado … I have frequently been asked why it is that an unelected “bureaucrat” like me has the power to promulgate public health orders during a pandemic in Colorado. It’s a long story, and to me, its hero is a “little old lady” who grew up in the mining town of Central City.

In the 1940s, the health of Colorado was abysmal. More than 40% of Colorado draftees for World War II were found to be “not physically fit for the Armed Services.” Colorado had high rates of diphtheria, typhoid, dysentery, and maternal and infant mortality. It was one of the six worst states in the country in regard to smallpox.

In 1944, as Colorado prepared for the return of its soldiers from World War II, Governor John Vivian appointed numerous planning committees, including a committee on public health. The Governor had no real interest in health and was convinced by an aide that the retired Dr. Florence Sabin, an “innocuous, white-haired, little old lady” should chair the committee. She was indeed a “little old lady”, but she was far from innocuous.

Florence had graduated from the prestigious Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she also became the school’s first female professor. Subsequently, she was the first female president of the American Association of Anatomists and the first woman elected into the National Academy of Sciences.

As chair of the Health Committee, Dr. Sabin didn’t “waste” time talking to the state’s legislators, but worked instead with the legislators’ spouses, teaching them about the abysmal state of public health in Colorado. Because of their influence, in 1948 the Legislature passed the “Sabin Health Laws”.

Her constant message had been that the health of the public was too important to leave to politics, and the public health system the Sabin Health Laws established required a professionally trained staff of physicians, nurses, health educators and scientists, hired on the basis of merit, not political bias. And so, because of that “innocuous little old lady,” public health decisions in Colorado were taken out of the hands of politicians and left to scientifically trained public health professionals.

We Adventists have a “white-haired, little old lady” of our own. She, too, was far from innocuous, and was comfortable speaking truth to the powerful. Based on her guidance, we have established the largest Protestant health care system in the world, with a strong focus on whole person care.

The guiding principle behind this focus was her belief that health care, with its intimate, personal, restorative touch, was a living manifestation of the gospel as revealed in the healing ministry of Christ. Because of this aspect of Adventism, there are thousands of professionally trained Adventist health care workers around the world on the frontlines of this pandemic response, putting their lives at risk to treat those in need, just as Christ did.

—Mark B. Johnson, M.D., M.P.H., is executive director, Jefferson County Public Health, and a member of the Governor’s Expert Epidemic Emergency Response Committee for the state of Colorado. Updated, this article appeared first on Facebook and in the Boulder Adventist Church Bulletin, May 14, 2020. IMAGE CREDIT: Taft, P. W. [Florence Sabin as a young girl]. Photographic Print. Portrait. [ca. 1880s]. Public domain, via the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

By Jose Cortes, Jr. – Columbia, Maryland . . . Her name is Liz, she is a retired science teacher who lives about six houses from ours on our street, and just last night she welcomes our family to the neighborhood, as we walked our dog. Nothing wrong with that, unless you know that we have been in this neighborhood for over five years. I know, totally embarrassing that our family, followers of Jesus, Christians, Seventh-day Adventists who love God and love people had not gotten to meet our neighbor, who lives six houses away from ours.

The thing is that prior to the Pandemic, I spent a significant amount of my time traveling, Joanne, my wife, super busy at the office, and most recently pastoring, and our boys with their school and other activities. Well, I know you probably know the feeling, we are all super busy with very little time, so you may be able to relate.

So what changed? What made it possible for us to slowly walk our street and meet our neighbor Liz for the first time in five years. The Pandemic happened, and that has kind of changed everything! All of a sudden, our family gets to walk in our neighborhood, as we didn’t have the time to do before. Having said that, you would never hear me say anything positive about the Pandemic because it is cruel and evil. It has taken away the health of millions, killed hundreds of thousands, including many friends and loved ones, and brought new levels of fear and anxiety to humanity. You will never hear me say that this is our best time, it is not, hospitals are running out of beds and funeral homes are not able to keep up. Neither will you ever hear me say, what I have heard some Christians say and imply, that God sent the Pandemic to punish the world because of our sin. The ultimate way for God to deal with sin was by sending Jesus, not the Pandemic. God wants to save sinners, not kill sinners. God did not send the Pandemic, but He did send you and me to respond to the Pandemic.

I have been encouraged in my conversations with hundreds of Pastors across North America during this time of crisis. Their response to the present situation is impressive. These conversations have brought to the surface certain principles, which perhaps, we should have always followed, but that for sure we need to keep in mind, not only now but for the future.

I have been encouraged by the response that we, as individuals and as a church, have had during this time of crisis. The Pandemic will end, but some principles need to stay after the Pandemic is gone.

1. People are most important: for years we revered our buildings and invested large quantities of funds in purchasing and in maintaining our facilities. Not a bad thing, as long as buildings are not valued more than mission and ministry, which bless people, thus making our buildings the center of worship. After two months, I still see people refer to a church being closed, simply because the building is shut down. Although thousands of our church buildings have now been closed down and sit pretty useless for over eight weeks, the church is still open, because the church is the people, not the building.
2. Compassion: People caring for others and checking on our elderly. Food banks that feed thousands in collaboration with city/state government. Online tutoring. Churches collecting medical equipment to be donated to medical responders in the front lines. Drive-by birthday celebrations. Churches are helping families who lost their jobs. All of these should also stay after the Pandemic is gone. Compassion works during the Pandemic, but even after the Pandemic. Don’t let compassion die after the Pandemic is gone.
3. Small Groups / Virtual Small Groups – I have attended small groups in English and Spanish during the Pandemic. I have experienced community, happy faces, sad faces, smiles, tears, sharing, testimonies, and animated discussions about relevant topics and Scripture during the last few weeks. People will need all of those components after the Pandemic goes away. Small groups are a great setting for community building, relationships, and relevant mission. Virtual small groups even make it easier for people to participate during a hectic week since no extra time is needed to get ready, dress up, and commute.
4. “Everyday church” rather than just “once a week church”: We own buildings that cost millions of dollars that open for 5 or 6 hours a week during regular times (church service and prayer meeting). During the Pandemic, I have seen churches that meet early in the morning for prayer, in the afternoon for Midday Worship, and in the evening for small groups. I go to my social media, and there are always several preachers on, regardless of the time of the day or night. This is an awesome thing! We’ve become the church of the seven days, rather than the church of the seventh-day only, or would you say “the church of the 3 hours on the seventh-day.
5. Use of technology and social media: the Pandemic has helped many, even some who used to knock technology as negative, worldly, and evil, to understand that without technology, it is difficult to stay in touch and operate as a church during this time. Those who were using technology before the Pandemic are way ahead. Still, I have seen a pastor go from no media presence to having services with 100 devices connected online, plus the people connected on Zoom. I am grateful for Pastors and churches who are willing to learn, stretch, and sacrifice to continue to reach their congregations and community.
6. Empowerment and embracement of younger generations and creatives: These are people who should have been embraced and empowered all alone, but now the church needs them more than ever. The other day, I saw a pastor who preached his entire sermon upside down on Facebook Live. I felt bad for him. I was worried his blood would go to his head ;)! The next day I noticed he preached upside – up. I asked, “what happened?” The reply was, “some of the younger people helped me to get it right.” Younger generations and creatives are our children and grandchildren. Most are digital natives; they have gifts many of us have not been given. After the Pandemic goes, we better keep them, embrace them, and empower them. Technology is not evil; it depends on what you use it for. Younger generations and creatives can help pastors and the church to use technology and social media to spread the gospel.
7. Collaboration: the collaboration I have seen among pastors, elders, churches, institutions, and several ministries during the Pandemic, is at an all-time high. This spirit of cooperation will always trump the spirit of competition. “We are in this together” needs to stay a reality way beyond the Pandemic.

The Pandemic will end, but the importance of people, compassion, small groups, the church of the seven days, the use of technology and social media, the empowerment of younger generations and creatives, and the collaboration among all have to remain!

The Pandemic needs to go, but these need to stay! …including our family walks in the neighborhood.

–Pastor Jose Cortes Jr., is an Associate Director of the Ministerial Association and leads Evangelism, Church Planting, and Adventist/Global Mission for the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists. Photo supplied.

This article is courtesy of the North American Division Ministerial Department and was originally published on the NAD Ministerial website.