NewsNuggets Page 57

Toby Quillin – Loveland, Colorado … An audience of more than 300 people were transported to New York City during the Broadway-style production of the musical Annie in the Campion gymnasium on Saturday night, January 28.

Keaton Drake, a sophomore student, shared, “The play was fun to watch, and I think that all the actors played their parts very well. It was an enjoyable story and I liked it a lot.”

Campion’s adaptation of Annie, one of the best family musicals, was based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip Little Orphan Annie and loosely based on the 1885 poem Little Orphan Annie written by James Whitcomb Riley.

Annie, the main character in the play, was performed by senior student Ruth Rawlings. “I didn’t really mind everyone watching me as the main character because I was prepared,” she reflected. “I knew all my lines and had memorized them for more than five months, so I was comfortable.”

The Campion Academy Orchestra accompanied the performance with an overture and finale. Flutist Quiana Davis commented, “I was stressed because the pieces of music were hard, and we only had two weeks to prepare. In the end though, it was amazing and incredible! I couldn’t even hear myself because of the applause! It was a great night overall.”

The performance benefited the senior class with most of the money coming from the sales of New York-style foods such as hot dogs, black-and-white cookies, and New York cheesecakes. “There was a lot of good food at the show, but my favorite was the cheesecake because it was delicious, sweet, and creamy,” commented Alexandra Cordoba, a sophomore student.

Annie was the second musical drama teacher Erin Johnson has directed. “I am very proud of the drama class this year and the work they put into the show,” she explained. “I feel like this year there was a lot of excitement from last year’s production and our class time was full of positive energy and new talent. I am looking forward to the growth of the drama department.”

—Toby Quillin is on the Campion News Team. Photos provided.

Gary Nowlan – Boulder, Colorado … With a mild sense of horror, I stood observing furniture and other items from the Boulder Seventh-day Adventist Church piled near the basement entrance to the church. Times had changed and the church had decided these items were no longer needed.

Two items especially caught my eye—the large pulpit that had stood on the rostrum since the church was built around 1950, and a smaller pulpit that stood in front of the large one at a lower level. In much of the past, the smaller pulpit was used for Sabbath School and the larger one for the church service. I envisioned these two pulpits being disassembled and used for other purposes. Or, worse yet, being split into kindling.

So, after discussion with then Pastor Japhet De Oliveira, I loaded them into my SUV and moved them to my garage. He gave me the bronze plaque that had been attached to the side of the large pulpit. It reads:

In Memory of Our Mother
Kathrine Florence Austin
1862 – 1951
By
Earl and Ray N. Austin

The pulpits stood in my garage for many months as I contemplated what to do with them. Could they be used as reading stands in our heirloom basement?

Then one day, I was conversing with Pastor Hubert Cisneros, who grew up in Boulder, attended Boulder Junior Academy, and is now pastor of the Capitol View Seventh-day Adventist Church in Lincoln, Nebraska. He was ecstatic to learn that the pulpits were still in existence, remembering the days when he, as a teenager, stood behind them and performed or spoke. He asked if he could use them in the newly-remodeled Capitol View Church.

Recently, I attended Capitol View. There they were—still serving as they had served for so long in the Boulder Church. I smiled in satisfaction.

—Gary Nowlan is a member of the Boulder Adventist Church. Photos supplied.

Rebecca Berg and Denae Yuros – Highlands Ranch, Colorado … When students arrived back on campus after Christmas Break, they soon recognized that the teachers and staff had planned something very special for the beginning of 2023. Mile High Academy (MHA) dedicated the month of January to celebrating and sharing kindness on and off campus.

Preschool through 12th-grade students participated in the kick-off assembly with kindness definitions, quotes, poetry, and songs. Guest speaker, Heidi Carpenter, shared her own personal stories of kindness and demonstrated how words and actions are lasting. That same day, MHA began putting together its kindness chains in the upper, middle, and lower school buildings. Whenever anyone observed or received a kind act, they wrote it down on a paper strip and looped it to the chain. The brightly-colored chains quickly took shape as kind acts spread among students and staff.

The theme of kindness continued into the second week with all-school spirit days. Each day was dedicated to another aspect of kindness: Positivity Day, Acts of Kindness Day, Don’t Judge Others Day, and Support Each Other Day. Students showed their “kindness spirit” by wearing certain colors on designated days while worships, morning meetings, and chapels emphasized the daily themes and brought them to life.

During the week of January 23-27, MHA took part in the Great Kindness Challenge. Hundreds of schools all over the nation participate in this yearly challenge to complete various acts of kindness in their communities. MHA students passed out thank-you cards, hung “Kindness Matters” posters in the hallways, brought flower bouquets to administrative staff, gave apples and bananas to teachers, made bookmarks for others, and changed the world for good in other simple ways. In all, the MHA student body shared more than 5,000 acts of kindness during the five-day challenge.

“MHA is committed to making this an annual part of our school programming,” said Denae Yuros, lower schoolteacher. “Kindness Month inspired students and staff to uplift each other through daily meaningful acts of kindness. We hear what the world says—kindness is weakness; one cannot be both compassionate and strong. Yet, we know, as Christ’s followers, that we are called to a much higher way of living. Colossians 3:12 says, ‘Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.’ We pray that this kindness grows in our school, moves to the community, and spreads through the world.”

—Rebecca Berg is an upper schoolteacher and Denae Yuros is a lower schoolteacher at Mile High Academy. Photos provided.

Anton Kapusi – Pueblo, Colorado … Twenty years ago, Pueblo First Seventh-day Adventist Church had the vision of saturating the radio waves over Pueblo, Colorado, with the Three Angels Message. The church felt a great need of having a 24/7 outreach ministry to the city and surrounding area. 

Through much sacrifice, work, and education, the church started broadcasting on January 11, 2003. Under the dedicated leadership of the first radio president, Ron Cothran, and with only a few staff members, the first programs were lined up, and long-lasting collaborations were established with Three Angels Broadcasting Network (3ABN), Life Talk Radio (LTR), and Adventist World Radio (AWR).

On January 21, 2023, Hope Radio of Pueblo celebrated its twentieth year broadcasting with Robert Peck, AWR representative, thanks to numerous local radio pioneers and supporting staff. During this time of memories and praises, Ron Cothran stressed the God-given unity that transpired as the church came together to purchase the frequency for Low Power (LP) radio broadcasting from the Federal Communication Commission (FCC). There was no lack of funds or dedication from church members to catch this opportunity. 

Cotran commented, “On the day the switch was flipped and the broadcasting started, there was no outstanding debt for the radio.” Dan Hewill also reminisced about the beginnings of Hope radio station, saying that “[he is] not anymore the same person from twenty years ago,” and that he saw [the radio station] as an opportunity to demolish the “wall of separation” between us and the community that surrounds us as a church.

Michael Baldauf, the broadcast engineer who faithfully served the radio station’s technical challenges through the years, emphasized how he was able to see God’s hand in the two-fold blessing of bringing the satellite down link and having the broadcast start on time come together in a miraculous way. 

Delbert Hayden, current radio president, joined the celebration via ZOOM due to the health isolation his family is under. He said he couldn’t agree more with all the previous speakers, further emphasizing God’s leading hand in sustaining and supporting the radio station. He further commended more than two dozen individuals who were and continue to be directly involved in the support and running of the radio station. Furthermore, he said that none of what happened during the last twenty years was possible “without the sure guidance and love of the Heavenly Father, whose desire is that all would be saved.”

The celebration culminated in the presentation of awards and gifts of appreciation to all involved through the years, followed by an inspiring talk by Robert Peck (AWR) on the impact of the radio ministry throughout the world and a fellowship meal we all thoroughly enjoyed. 

During the last three years, the radio station team has worked hard on creating a recording studio, upgrading the production side of the station with all new equipment and better software, and receiving professional training. Solomon’s proclamation is true, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” (Proverbs 29:18, KJV). Yet where there is vision for God’s mission to reach all for eternity, people are revitalized, revived and recruited into God’s mission. We pray here at Pueblo that many more will be reached for Christ through the radio waves. And we hope our story inspires others to do the same.

—Anton Kapusi is pastor of Pueblo First Adventist Church. Photos supplied. 

Ciara Felix – Loveland, Colorado … Getting up at 5:30 a.m. on January 22 for a seven-hour road trip by bus to Union College offered Campion seniors a fun beginning to get a taste of life in college with Preview Days. 

Following dinner at Union Market, the group engaged in a scavenger hunt around downtown Lincoln. Their first day included free time in the Student Center with participation in activities such as pool, ping pong, and catching up with Campion alumni now attending Union.

Ana Segawa, one of the Campion students, commented, “I really enjoyed the scavenger hunt because it was a great opportunity to see what it was like outside of the college campus. I was curious since I had never been to Lincoln before, and the fun thing was that we got to see so much of downtown in such a short period of time, while running around like crazy and competing to win the game.”

The seminars they attended the next morning gave them tips on how to pay for college and they met with professors and advisors based on their individual interests. “I enjoyed talking to the different professors and learning more about the career I might study in the future. They gave me great advice and helped me out a lot,” said student Nimsi Quinonez. 

The fun of Preview Days at Union ended with lunch in a popular HuHot Lincoln restaurant, and the final leg of their trip included a seven-and-a-half-hour-long bus ride back to Campion. 

“Although the trip to Union College was fast and furious, it was a great experience spending more time bonding with our class, getting to see Lincoln, and to experience college life up close,” concluded student Haley Beckermeyer. 

—Ciara Felix, Student News Team. Photos supplied.

Anton Kapusi – Pueblo, Colorado … Angels of Kindness ministries at Pueblo First Church started out of love and care for the homeless in our city. Ernie and Carol Reynolds were inspired to provide hot meals, warm clothes, water, and toiletries to those on the streets or other underprivileged in Pueblo. 

From the very beginning, the vision was that this ministry would be supported by individual donations from church members and willing hearts. After acquiring the necessary permits for the use of Mineral Park, the ministry began, and for the last sixteen years, it has been running strong, serving as many as a hundred and twenty individuals a day. 

Covid19 considerably interrupted the ministry of the Angels of Kindness, but, under the new leadership of Mike Marquez and Joey Perrin, the ministry not only revived, but expanded into a new area of the city. Bessemer Park, in the downtown area of Pueblo, has become the second area of outreach for the Angels of Kindness. The new area allows for meeting new people and impacting even more lives. The new leadership has also purchased a twelve-foot-long enclosed trailer and incorporated the ministry with that of Adventist Community Services (ACS) while welcoming more volunteers and willing donors.

Presently, the ministry is at Mineral Park every second Saturday and at Bessemer Park every fourth Saturday of the month. As lines form and people wait, the volunteer staff serves not only a hot meal and a sack lunch, water, toiletries, socks, underwear, blankets, sleeping bags, and tents, but also engages in conversations, prayers, and even Bible studies with those in need. As some staff serve, others sit down at tables and eat with the guests listening to their stories as they open up and get ready to receive Christ. 

Speaking of judgment day, Jesus expressed in one of His parables how the King (God the Father) will measure one’s faithfulness: “Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ ” Matthew 25:34-36. While the primary goal of the ministry is to feed and care for the homeless, it can’t shy away from sharing the bread and water of life that is Jesus Christ. This is another victory for Christ and His Kingdom, as we serve our neighbors while serving God.

—Anton Kapusi is pastor of the Pueblo First Adventist Church. Photos supplied.

Karrie Meyers – Highlands Ranch, Colorado … For decades, Mile High Academy (MHA) has prided itself on its ability to offer various foreign languages. This school year, with an anonymous donation, MHA has expanded its foreign language offerings to include Mandarin for its middle school students.

A local Adventist pastor connected Mile High Academy with Excellerate Learning Academy (EXLA), a family-owned business founded October 2017 that is committed to providing language programs to schools across the country. EXLA gives schools, parents, and students the opportunity to immerse themselves in learning a foreign language through interactive activities, games, movement, and cultural appreciations.

Said Lorraine Saintus, EXLA chief operations manager, “As Adventist business owners, we are excited to partner with Adventist schools such as Mile High Academy. It has been a pleasure working with the MHA administration and with the teaching staff. This connection is important for a successful partnership. And, most importantly, we always ask God to give us wisdom so we can assign the right teacher to each school.”

Proctored by MHA teacher Jayme Blaire and taught live via Zoom by Shu Yin Chen, MHA’s middle school Mandarin class meets every Monday and Wednesday afternoon. Chen has been teaching Mandarin for almost 30 years, both in her home country of Taiwan and in the United States. Under her guidance, the students are learning fundamentals such as greetings, pinyin, tones, and strokes. They are also learning about culture and holidays.

“It is important for students to learn the language, culture, and history of China to allow them more global opportunities as they move forward in both their education and career paths,” said Chen.

According to a recent study by Statista, Chinese (Mandarin) is the second most spoken language in the world, and is the third most spoken language in the United States. Mandarin is often considered one of the world’s most difficult languages to learn, taking hard work and determination.

MHA eighth-grader, Alaina commented, “It is a unique opportunity to learn a new language. Learning a different language is also beneficial because it can be a fun challenge.”

With several months remaining in the school year, Chen is excited to watch her students continue to grow and is grateful for the support she has received from her MHA colleagues. “The students are very dedicated to learning and are engaged in class. I am so thankful Excellerate Learning Academy selected me to be part of the MHA team.”

—Karrie Meyers is the marketing and development staff at Mile High Academy. Photos provided.