NN Feb 2021 Page 2

19 Feb

CHRIST AT THE CENTER OF EDUCATION EXPERIENCE FOR PAUL NEGRETE, NEW ASSOCIATE SUPERINTENDENT

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By Karrie Meyers — Denver, Colorado … Following an invitation by the RMC Administrative Committee, Paul Negrete accepted the position of associate superintendent of RMC education at the end of January and will begin his position on July 1.

“God has blessed Paul with many gifts that will, in turn, bless the schools and communities in our conference,” Diane Harris, RMC superintendent of education said. “His passion for Adventist education is contagious. His K-12 experience not only compliments the strengths already found in the department but will also serve as a valuable asset as we develop ways to better serve our schools.”

Negrete brings a track record of education successes that span 24 years. He began his career teaching at East Valley Adventist School in Baldwin Park, California, where he taught at the fifth through eighth-grade level for six years, later becoming the teaching principal. Following East Valley Academy, he transferred to San Gabriel Academy in Southern California where he occupied multiple roles, including head principal, a position he has held for the past 11 years.

He now joins RMC with a proven track record of meeting high expectations and a keen understanding of the importance of meaningful communication between teachers, parents and the community.

During his time at San Gabriel Academy, he oversaw the implementation of changes at a systemic level, a transition that happened six years prior to the North American Division initiative for the same changes.

Negrete credits this experience as giving him a unique understanding of how to transition and implement such changes within a large system. “I am grateful God has had a place for me in Adventist Education,” Negrete said. “I’m looking forward to the opportunity of working with superintendent Harris, who not only has a deep love and understanding for RMC education, but also a vision for where it can go.”

“Our work as educators is to continue to better understand His [God’s] plan for education and His ideal for the world we live in. My hope is to help bring many young people to Christ through the ministry of education so that they, in turn, can contribute to the preaching of the Gospel and be ready for Christ’s soon return,” Negrete added.

Negrete earned a bachelor’s degree in history and political science and a master’s degree in education administration and leadership from La Sierra University. He and his wife, Cindy, who supports and partners with him in the ministry of education, have two daughters, Natalie and Giselle. Natalie is completing her third year at La Sierra University, and Giselle is a high school sophomore.

–Karrie Meyers is communication assistant at Mile High Academy; photo supplied

18 Feb

Campion student honored with Good Citizen Award

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By Campion Academy News – Loveland, Colorado…Samantha Hodges, Campion senior and frequent contributor to NewsNuggets, was recognized with a Good Citizen Award by The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She was nominated by Campion’s staff for demonstrating the qualities of dependability, service, leadership and patriotism.

“It was a honor to be nominated for this award, and a joy to earn the title of the Good Citizen Award as well as represent Campion Academy. It was a great opportunity to write an essay about our country and its heritage. It is my hope to inspire others through my writing and everyday actions by being the best person I can be,” Samantha Hodges said.

The Namaqua Chapter has hosted an annual Student Recognition and Patriotic Tea for 105 years, which Samantha attended online this year. Each of the selected winners from seven local high schools read a personal essay on the topic, “Our American Heritage and Our responsibility to Preserve it.”

The Thomson Valley School District Superintendent, county commissioner, and Loveland mayor were present to honor the nominees.

–Campion Academy News; photo supplied

18 Feb

CASPER STUDENTS DEFY FRIGID WEATHER TO SPREAD LOVE ON VALENTINE’S DAY

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RMCNews with Traci Pike – Casper, Wyoming…Wyoming kids are tough. They don’t let a high of zero degrees keep them from going out to spread some cheer.

Mountain Road Christian Academy students ventured into the freezing temperatures on February 11 to spread love to lonely church members who have been homebound.

The school normally makes cookies and goes Christmas caroling every year for shut-ins, but the pandemic caused the closure of the school a week early before Christmas and they had to cancel this long-awaited event.

Knowing how much the community looked forward to seeing the students, teacher aide Lynnette Huber began discussions in January with Traci Pike, head teacher, on how to do a similar event for Valentine’s Day.

With a plan in place, students began preparation by making Valentine cards and practiced singing Jesus Loves Me, and Oh, Friend Do You Love Jesus as “love songs” in preparation to share Jesus’ love with their fellow church members and others.

Pike recalls the event, “February 11 was a cold, COLD day in Casper. Students, staff, and Pastor Shayne Vincent bundled up in winter gear and loaded onto the school bus before heading out. Singing was cut down to just Jesus Loves Me to limit the time out in the frigid wind chill temperatures that were around -20 degrees that morning.”

The visit by the students brought smiles to the members they visited.

“What fun it is to surprise people with a friendly visit. Smiles were abundant on the faces of the visited as well as their young, singing visitors. People didn’t mind at all holding their doors open for two minutes as the students and staff sang the familiar old song to them to remind them that Jesus does indeed love us and to show them that they have not been forgotten during this time of pandemic,” Pike added.

Mountain View Christian Academy plans to continue this activity in the future as it has become a favorite outreach activity for the school and students.

–RMCNews with Traci Pike who is head teacher at Mountain View Christian Academy; photos supplied

18 Feb

International cultures color the weekend at Campion

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By Tiffany Dien … Loveland, Colorado … Campion church was filled with colorful flags and the sound of greetings and songs in various languages on February 13 as the church embraced and celebrated the cultures and countries of many of their students for International Sabbath.

Students and members paraded a variety of flags from countries all around the world, many wearing traditional cultural clothing from the countries they represented. They sang in six different languages and read Bible verses in other languages as well.

Reflecting on the event, Airi Nomura, international student from Japan, said, “It was very hard but fun to sing in many different languages. I really liked when everyone was trying to say “Jesus loves you” in Japanese.”

A group of Indonesian students performed for special music.

“I loved how I could speak to God in another language and sing for Him. I was able to express my culture in a way people could remember,” commented Blessing Simamora. “This International Sabbath was definitely worth performing for and it’s something I will cherish for a long time.”

Continuing on the global theme, Campion Academy’s International Club created a special evening activity for dorm students, who rotated to four stations representing the home countries of the international students. At the station in the gym, Brazilian students organized a game of taco, a Brazilian form of cricket, and offered carnival mask painting. Students from the Democratic Republic of Congo held soccer games and hosted a drum circle.

The Chinese students offered games of ping pong and taught rotating students to write the Chinese character ‘love’ for Valentine’s Day. In the chapel, student Airi hosted Japanese karaoke and origami. Throughout the stations, students could win traditional Chinese red packets with a raffle number for their participation. Five winners received a free take-out meal. The night ended with sparklers and fireworks in celebration of Chinese New Year.

“I really enjoyed how we could all come together and share our cultures even though we are from different countries. I liked the evening games because we learned new games and other things from other countries,” Sophie Baez, Campion student said.

–Tiffany Dien is a senior at Campion Academy; photos supplied

You can view more photos from International Sabbath and Club Activities at Campion.net/news

16 Feb

MINISTERS REFRESHED AND REENERGIZED AT 2021 RETREAT

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RMCNews with Mickey Mallory – Pastors from around the Rocky Mountain Conference gathered on Zoom for a two-day retreat that not only reenergized them, but provided seminars by various speakers to encourage the ministers who have, like many, been dealing with the challenges of the on-going pandemic.

Among the many seminars which refreshed RMC ministers was the presentation by Dr. Ranko Stefanović, professor of New Testament Studies at Andrews University Seminary who “gave a refresher class on The Revelation of Jesus Christ” according to one minister.

“I sat at the feet of Dr. Stefanović in both my undergraduate and seminary studies. I was refreshed to hear [his] presentations on [The Book of] Revelation,” Nestor Soriano, associate pastor of the Campion church said.

Frank Fournier, pastor of Eden Valley church commented on Dr. Stefanović’ presentations, saying, “The books of Daniel and Revelation and his expert commentary excited me. I found every aspect discussed interesting and relevant. Mostly, it awakened in me a sense of humility. There definitely is more going on than I have ever understood.”

The meetings also included a chance for those who gathered to check in and fellowship with each other even if only through a computer screen.

“It was great being able to see everyone’s faces again. Having gone through the pandemic for almost a year now, just to see everyone alive and functioning was truly a miracle of God’s grace,” Mickey Mallory, RMC ministerial director said.

Ed Barnett, RMC president, who concluded the meetings with a message of appreciation and encouragement, appreciated that an invitation was given to Dr. Stefanović to share his scholarship and inspire the pastors. “Over the years, I have preached and presented outreach programs on the messages of both Daniel and Revelation. Dr. Stefanović makes his commentary fresh and relevant. It was a treat to have him meet with our ministers and to listen to him.”

Pastors are looking forward to when the pandemic is over and people can safely gather together.

“I have been very impressed with their resiliency during such a difficult time in the history of this country. None of them, including myself, ever had a class on how to do ministry during a pandemic, but yet they have made the best of things–trying to make a difference in spite of the challenging times,” Mallory commented.

Steve Nelson, pastor of Cody Church district, Wyoming, commented: “God truly blessed this year’s ministry meetings with wonderful devotionals and stirring presentations.”

–RMCNews with Mickey Mallory who is RMC ministerial director

16 Feb

Putting a new face on the school year

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By Gabrielle Nappi –Lincoln, Nebraska … Natasha Gibson, a junior nursing major, lit up the McClelland Art Gallery with the first exhibit of the school year last fall. In a stunning collection of masked portraits, Gibson captured her subjects and the attention of the campus alike.

Gibson was certain of two things growing up, the first being her love of photography. She began staging photoshoots at a young age using whatever was available to her and uploading the images to Instagram. The second, that she would attend Union College.

Chanelle Dames Watson, Gibson’s mother, graduated from Union in 1994 and encouraged her children to take advantage of what Union College has to offer. As Gibson’s siblings all ended up attending, in 2018 Natasha followed suit, unable to pass up the advantages of Union’s renowned nursing program.

Though Gibson had signed on as a nursing major, she continued to pursue her passion for photography. Wanting to learn more, she registered for photography classes as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

Changing landscape

With the sudden shutdown of campus due to COVID-19 in March of 2020, the last photos that had been hung in the art gallery located in the campus Visitor Center were from another student in Gibson’s very own photography class. Upon returning to campus and seeing no change, she took it upon herself to get involved. With the permission and support of Bruce Forbes, director of the art and graphic design program, Gibson set about creating a new exhibit to represent the new masked faces of campus.

“When I put it all up, I really wasn’t expecting anything,” she said. “I had no idea that people were going to care about my exhibit, but the response has overall been very enthusiastic, very supportive. I honestly figured people would walk past it not caring, but instead, people saw the beauty in what I was doing. I had my friends and professors coming up to me saying how impressed they were with my work, and that was just amazing. It’s all just made me very grateful.”

Capturing the personality of an individual while half of their face is covered is no small feat, but one Gibson was excited to take on. Encouraging the subjects to be as involved as possible, whether it happened to be as simple as not smiling or unearthing a fire extinguisher to use as a prop, the sky was the limit. Originally Gibson had intended to keep the collection black and white. This would allow the viewer to forget about any details that would be distracting from the subject’s eyes or smile. Or perhaps, as Gibson will admit, it was to indulge her pension for a more dramatic flare.

Taking on the project in addition to regular classes would be daunting to any college student, and Gibson quickly realized this would not be a project accomplished alone. Recruiting her best friend, Jenifer Galvez, Gibson got to experience one of the best things about Union—there is no shortage of people willing to help you. It was at Galvez’s suggestion that Gibson steered off her original plan of black and white and implemented some color photos.

“The ones I did in color happened because my friend suggested that the focal point should be someone’s eyes or the interesting color of their hair,” Gibson explained.

“Something that Union has taught me is the fact that—and I know this is going to sound cheesy—but I really learned that community and your peers are willing to support you through no matter what,” she said. “When I have these big ideas but I don’t know how to execute them, I definitely know I can lean on my professors for support and they’re going to be there for you. Union has taught me that we’re really in this together, you know, and we support one another.”

–Gabrielle Nappi is a senior English major at Union College; photo supplied

This article was originally published on Union’s website

11 Feb

BAPTISMS CELEBRATED AT FORT MORGAN

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By Don Lopes — Fort Morgan, Colorado … The Fort Morgan congregation celebrated the conclusion of their evangelistic outreach on Sabbath, January 30, with the church rejoicing as they witnessed the baptism of Saul and Mariel Munoz.

According to Lopes, the evangelistic series, which started at the end of 2019, concluded with the decision by Mariel and Saul to be baptized. Saul’s cousin, Fernando, a member of the church in Fort Morgan, put into motion this beautiful turn of events when he invited them to study the Bible and make a decision for Jesus.

Although Mariel and Saul were ready for baptism during the Summer of 2020, circumstances, including Covid restrictions, prohibited the ceremony from taking place. “We were delighted [to finally be able to] hold the baptism recently,” Don Lopes said.

“We praise the Lord for their decision and a newly-found love for Jesus,” commented Pastor Lopes.

–Don Lopes is pastor of Northeastern Colorado District; photo supplied

11 Feb

HOLYOKE CHURCH MEMBERS ARE READY TO GO ON THE ROOF

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RMCNews with Don Lopes – Holyoke, Colorado … The Holyoke church members knew the roof on their church was in desperate need of being replaced, but they had no funds to cover the insurance deductible of $4,400, at least not until a local roofing company decided to help the church with this need.

In the spring of 2020, a member from another Adventist congregation, who works for a roofing company, inspected the roofs for the Northeastern Colorado churches and confirmed what the members already knew–the roof on their church had to be replaced.

Members were very hesitant to file a claim because of the deductible knowing the funds were not available.

“We were hesitant, at first, to make a claim because we knew that we would have to pay the $4,400 deductible and didn’t know where we were going to get such funding. We prayed for our roof and our church for a few months. Then we determined that we must fix the roof and we set out in faith that God would provide the deductible,” Don Lopes, pastor of Northeastern Colorado District said.

After the insurance adjuster reviewed the roof, he gave the insurance documents to the church for their review. Then the roofing company representative reviewed the adjuster’s notes and showed church members what they could do themselves to save on initial costs. This was a bonus as other smaller jobs needed to be done which would also cost the church.

It turned out to be a tremendous blessing to the small church.

“We had two options–to hire out the non-roof-related jobs or do the work ourselves. If we were to do the work ourselves, we would have enough to cover the deductible and more than $2000 to do the other non-roof repairs. So, we decided to do the job ourselves,” Lopes said.

Now with a new roof, “members are rejoicing since they no longer have to deal with water inside the church when it rains,” Lopes added. The members plan to work on the non-roof-related items later in the spring and summer.

“We are so excited [about] how God is helping to repair our building and make it a more beautiful mission center for the Holyoke community,” Lopes concluded.

–Don Lopes is pastor of the Northeastern Colorado District; photo supplied

11 Feb

Campion students return to campus – round two

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By Jill Harlow – Loveland, Colorado … Following three weeks at home after four residence hall students tested positive for COVID, Campion Academy students have once-again returned to campus.

While students were home, Campion administration met with public health officials to put a more comprehensive plan in place to avoid a shutdown even when positive cases occur.

All students and staff were given a PCR COVID test upon their return to campus on Monday, a test which can detect both symptomatic and asymptomatic cases. After the test, students were isolated in residence halls with their roommates, continuing classes on Zoom until the results come back. In-person classes are expected to resume on Friday, February 12.

Students are happy to be back on campus. “It definitely feels weird being back and being stuck in your room, but there’s promise we’re gonna see everyone very soon. I’m very excited to be back and am hoping we can stay in-person and healthy for the rest of the year,” said Gwyn, one Campion student.

Sam, another student expressed his feelings on returning to campus by saying, “Being back on campus is a very strange feeling, especially when you can’t see your friends as much as you used to. I really do miss that. But I’m sure that it’s just a rough start to something that will be amazing for all of us.”

Students returned to new COVID precautions. Previously, in the event of a positive COVID case, it was impossible to completely separate the boys because of their shared residence hall bathrooms. Now, however, the administration has created a designated isolation room on the third floor of Hankins Hall. In addition, the administration has increased their efforts to keep track of close contacts, minimizing the effects of possible contamination on the bulk of the student body.

Finally, Campion’s nurse Jenny Gann has access to rapid COVID tests that give same-day results. Having these tests on hand will decrease the amount of time students spend in isolation when it is not COVID and allow quick isolation of close contacts when positive.

During this time of isolation, staff are delivering meals to the students’ rooms, and students have a designated class period for outdoor recreation. In the evening, Chaplain Meszaros hosts a daily worship on Zoom followed by light-hearted, interactive games online.

“I feel very happy to be back at Campion. The one thing I missed the most about being away was not having my friends around. Although I can’t see them just yet, just being on campus is enough,” enthused Poe, a just-returned Campion student.

–Jill Harlow is Campion Academy communication director; photos supplied

The administration and staff are helping out delivering meals to the students in the residence halls.
05 Feb

WINTER SOUPS ON THE MENU AT CAMPION COOKING CLASS

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By Ardis Stenbakken – Loveland, Colorado … A cold winter night is the ideal time to enjoy hearty winter soups, and Melanie Goetz recently demonstrated not only how to prepare two soups, but also how to make a salad and some simple crackers—a complete meal!

Fifty-three men and women, including nine children and eight community members not associated with the church, gathered in the community center of the Campion church on January 28 to learn about these soups, along with the salad and crackers, and to taste them as well. All were invited to attend future events coming to the church.

During the demonstration, giveaways, were followed by a drawing for Habits That Heal books and information was given on where to buy the specialty ingredients locally. Goetz explained the health benefits of the various components used such as the butternut squash and the peanut butter and ginger, along with the benefits of certain kitchen appliances and gadgets.

Another lesson Goetz talked about that she learned from her mother is the importance of serving size in weight control, something even more important than worrying about or counting calories.

Cana (7) and Micahl (5) helped their mom demonstrate making the crackers, just as they enjoy doing at home. Melanie Goetz shared how, as a young person, she “lived in the kitchen,” helping her mom. That is how she learned to cook. She wants her children to know how to cook healthy meals as well. In fact, she recommends that all children learn to cook even if it adds work to the clean-up process. She believes it is worth it.

–Ardis Stenbakken is Campion Church communication director; photo supplied.

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