Mickey, Mallory – Columbia, Maryland … Our very own Rajmund [Ray] Dabrowski, Rocky Mountain Conference Communication Director, received the Society of Adventist Communicators Lifetime Achievement Award last week at the North American Division headquarters in Columbia, MD. It was a fitting honor for a man very dedicated to serving his God and his church.

Born in central Poland, Ray has served the church well for more than 50 years now. Among the many highlights of his ministry two occurred while he was serving at the General Conference in Silver Spring, Maryland. While there, he established Adventist News Network and coordinated a process to establish the church’s global corporate identity (logo).

Brenda Dickerson, Mid-America Union communication director, remarks, “Ray has brought the Adventist Church to higher levels of communication professionalism in every role where he has served during his long and notable career. It is an honor to work with him and learn from the wealth of experience he graciously shares.”

For the last eight years, Ray has served as editor of NewsNuggets and Mountain Views in the Rocky Mountain Conference. As editor, he strives to help people, around the conference and beyond, to connect to each other by sharing life and ministry stories. His greatest passion is to help people connect to Jesus Christ by sharing the story of God’s amazing love.

Ed Barnett, former Rocky Mountain Conference president, believes Ray was “a godsend” to the conference. “We had just lost our communication director on a Wednesday and that Sabbath I went to Boulder to preach. After church, Ray came up and introduced himself to me and let me know he was retired from the General Conference Communication Department and would love to help if needed. We ended up hiring him and are still being blessed by his work today!”

Always full of humor, Ray says, that in his case being a church retiree is fake news.

When reflecting upon the recognition Ray was recently given, current Rocky Mountain Conference President, Mic Thurber, shared that it was “a well deserved recognition for our friend and colleague. His many years of excellent service to our entire church and, in his later years here in RMC, have made a lasting mark. We are blessed to continue to benefit from his depth of experience and professionalism. Thanks for investing in us, Ray, and we wish you every blessing as you continue to help us all communicate God’s love and grace.”

This Friday, just like every other Friday, many across our conference and beyond, will receive the Rocky Mountain Conference NewsNuggets. There will be a number of stories contained in it, but the story behind all the stories is the story of an editor who loves God very much and wants to make an eternal difference in the hearts of each reader.

Thanks Ray, for letting God use you. We are all better because of your work.

– Mickey Mallory is RMC ministerial director. Photo by Hugh Davis.