President's Corner

Thank You to Our Teachers

Abilene Junior Academy
Teacher:  Myriam Ambriz




Adventist Academy of Santa Fe
Head Teacher:  Melissa Chacon
Teacher:  Elisa Hernandez

 

As schools are now back in session, we want to take time to recognize and show appreciation for the teachers in our Seventh-day Adventist schools.  Our Christian teachers are enthusiastic and innovative, constantly looking for new ways to help students learn.  On behalf of the Texico Conference, we would like to thank you for your long hours of hard work, commitment, dedication and patience you exhibit day after day in the classroom. You allow Christ to be reflected in your character.

Crestview Seventh-day Adventist Academy
Head Teacher:  Liliana Graf
Teachers:  Kim Gillen, Joanna Herr*, JudiBeth Lopez*, Yuri Valles*


 

El Paso Adventist Junior Academy
Head Teacher:  Cathie Workman
Teachers: Lisa Clifford* and Kelsey Workman*
 

Thank you for staying up late making lesson plans and grading papers.  Thank you for challenging students to excel.  It takes a special kind of teacher whose laughter and brilliance motivates their students.  It takes energy to play with the students during recess.  Thank you for constantly going above and beyond the call of duty.  You inspire Christian values, compassion, philanthropy, hard work, bravery, integrity and commitment.

Teachers, you capture the hearts of the students and parents when you teach with passion, fearlessness and sincerity. You can become a parent to a child who is missing one of his or her own. A teacher can be a role model, a savior and friend. You can compel a student to have a lifetime hunger for knowledge.  Teaching is not just a job, it is a God given gift. 
 

 Lubbock Junior Academy
Head Teacher:  Susan Zimmermann
Teacher:  Virginia Simmons*

 
Thank you for molding young minds. Thank you for overcoming the daily struggles and dedicating yourselves to achieving as much as possible for your students. We appreciate the kindness and love you show to our children.  
 

Sandia View Christian School
Principal/Teacher:  Bonnie Garner
Teachers:  Barbara Martinez, Michelle Rico, Darleen Roche, Jim Wilson

Even on the difficult days, remember that you are never forgotten. Students and parents think of you often. We will reminisce for decades about the teachers we adored.  You are making a difference for eternity!

* Part-time employee or volunteer

Lee-Roy Chacon,
President

Silver City
Gospel Feet Ministry
 

 

Norma Gonzales (left) and Audrey French go door to door in the town of Tyrone, NM to reach the people for Christ.  (below) The ladies holding their gifts to distribute.





 

At the conclusion of a successful evangelistic series, 89 year old Audrey French, Silver City women’s ministries director, was impressed by God to become more personally involved in reaching souls for Christ. She realized that members were relying too heavily on the ministers and evangelists to complete God’s commission, and the members were not doing their part. She decided to do her part and start knocking on doors.

Believing in the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and praying late and early in the morning for continued direction, she felt drawn to contact her friend, 68 year old Norma Gonzalez, personal ministries director, and share what God had laid on her heart.
 
After taking the time to pray and seek the Lord’s guidance, Norma was impressed to partner in ministry and together they named the initiative, Gospel Feet Ministry. These two women of God were moved to focus on Tyrone, a neighboring city of approximately three hundred homes west of Silver City, NM. With the church board’s support, they organized the church in door to door evangelism.
 
Following the Lord’s counsel, "Christ's method alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Saviour mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, 'Follow Me.'" {MH 143. 3}
 
"There is need of coming close to the people by personal effort. If less time were given to sermonizing, and more time were spent in personal ministry, greater results would be seen. The poor are to be relieved, the sick cared for, the sorrowing and the bereaved comforted, the ignorant instructed, the inexperienced counseled. We are to weep with those that weep, and rejoice with those that rejoice. Accompanied by the power of persuasion, the power of prayer, the power of the love of God, this work will not, cannot, be without fruit." {MH 143.4}
 
In order to access the community’s needs, church members went door to door with a simple questionnaire inquiring residences’ physical, mental and spiritual health. Each respondent received an illustrated Steps to Christ, business cards from our various ministries, a card offering the Quiet Hour Bible Studies, and a treasure hunt with various items listed on a small piece of paper along with a Bible verse. Those desiring more information were given access to the church’s lending library, which contained DVD’s on health and stress management and the volunteers would return to pick them up and answer any question.
 

(above) Church member Joe Gonzalez (right) talks with George, veteran and senior resident of Tyrone. After George requested help to clean up his yard, Silver City church members came to help.
(below) Progress being made on George's yard.

 
George, a veteran and senior resident of Tyrone, requested help to clean up his yard. His seven and a half foot tall hedge, shrubs and various plants required trimming. The evangelistic team, Gospel Feet, requested further assistance from the church, and returned with various church members’ pickups, trailers, chain saws and hedge trimmers. When the community witnessed what the church was doing, some of the neighbors came and asked who we were. They expressed their appreciation for the work we were doing and some requested Bible studies.
 
The result of this ministry have been marvelous in our eyes. There are no words that can express the satisfaction of this ministry. Our aim is to work as long as we can because we want Jesus to come soon. His promises are sure and it is a joy to have a part in helping people to understand His Word.  If every church member would participate in whatever they can do to share the Gospel, it would soon reach the whole world and Jesus would come.
 

Submitted by Hector Quinones

Youth Rush - Stronger than Ever
 

2015 Texico Youth Rush team





Elizabeth Whetsell and Jason Rich pray before knocking on doors.

 

Our church leaders place a great emphasis on evangelism and continually remind the church that “the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few" (Luke 10:2). Sometimes we question and doubt whether His words are relevant today. The world around us is in strife and calamities are ongoing problems. Could there truly be a harvest in the midst of the disaster around us? As we continue to read in Luke 10, Jesus makes a petition to those listening to Him. “Pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask Him to send more workers into His fields.” God hears and answers our prayers.

This summer 30 young people encountered a plentiful harvest in the Texico Conference. The group of young people made a ten week commitment to gather the harvest by participating in door to door ministry. Through this literature evangelism ministry, approximately 56,400 homes were visited in the cities of Albuquerque, Carlsbad, Hobbs, Midland, Snyder, Odessa, and other small towns in the Texico region. We found the harvest which Jesus spoke of in these neighborhoods.
 
“If there is one work more important than another, it is that of getting our publications before the public, thus leading them to search the Scripture.” (Testimonies, vol. 4, p. 390). In these very neighborhoods, 1,584 Great Controversies went out to people desiring to know “what is truth?” and 1,013 Desire of Ages entered homes who wanted to know more about a Man who changed the course of history.  A total of 6,487 Steps to Christ went out to those who have been searching for freedom from worry, guilt and fear. We cannot number the amount of people that we were able to pray with. It gets better! Not only were we able to leave these precious books in the homes, but we were able to leave the stacks of Bible study contacts we received to the area churches. The harvest truly is plentiful and is here!
 
We helped gather the summer season's harvest in your neighborhoods, but what was also beautiful was that God gathered our hearts while we labored for Him. We were able to see how God answered our prayers time and time again. Commitments were made to follow and serve God. Our prayers became more fervent and real as we studied and experienced prophecy being fulfilled through us in our time.
 
At the end of the summer, a total revenue of $144,338 worth of literature was placed in homes and 65% of the proceeds are going to help the students continue their Christian education. The work done this summer benefits our church in every way. Our church grew with new converts, there was a spiritual revival in our youth and it brought in revenue to continue to gather the harvest throughout the seasons to come. The results of the gathering have been positive.
 
There are still souls in the Texico Conference hungering for the Word of God and many people are perishing. God desires that they be reached. “But how can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them?” Romans 10:14. Will you join us in the gathering of the harvest? It is plentiful.
 
 
By Carlos Interiano

Pathfinder Bible Experience Team Witnesses by Example

The Albuquerque North Valley Pathfinder Experience team studies the book of Exodus at a local McDonalds.

The Albuquerque North Valley Pathfinder Bible Experience (PBE) team members continue to witness while studying their Bible.  Jeffrey, Jordan and Lexi de Graaff of Los Lunas, Zechariah Eastland of Rio Rancho, Perla Perez and Stephanie Colmenero of Albuquerque North Valley are all members of the team. 

 (from the left) Stephanie Colmenero, Lexi de Graaff, Raiden Eastland, Jeffrey and Jordan de Graaff enjoy getting together to study and memorize portions of the Bible.

 

We were excited to go all the way to the Division level PBE earlier this year winning first place. Part of our success is our determination to commit large portions of the Bible to memory - not just to participate in PBE testing, but for life!
 
The team frequently meets together in public places for group studies and to witness to others. People overhear the young people studying and are amazed at their interest in learning scripture. One time while studying at CiCi’s Pizza, several large families commented about what the young people were doing.
 
We recently had an amazing witnessing experience at McDonalds! There were people sitting on each side of the table where we were studying, and they overheard us praying and studying the book of Exodus. One of the ladies had just experienced a tragedy and felt like her life was quickly tumbling out of control. She said she has never known much about God, but that she had recently turned to Him out of pure desperation, even though she didn’t really know what that meant.   As she heard us praying and reading from the Word of God, she felt impressed to ask us questions, but she was too scared.

All the while, an older couple on the other side were also listening intently to our studies and prayers. That lady went and found our Pathfinder moms and asked them what church we were from. She said she had worked in the past with other Seventh-day Adventists and remembered them fondly. Her eyes filled with tears as she told our moms how much it touched her to see young people studying the Bible the way we were.
 
The mothers explained a few things about our church beliefs, about Pathfinders, and told them how PBE works. They told the woman how the book of study for the 2015-2016 PBE year is the book of Exodus. The woman made a generous donation to our PBE team so we could buy something to eat while we were studying and to help with next year’s travel expenses.

While the moms were talking to this lady, the other woman whose life was falling apart saw the elderly lady talking to our moms about our Bible studies, and she felt a strong urge to go talk to them, too, even though she was  scared. She called one of the moms aside to tell her about her experience. The other mom continued talking to the elderly lady and they had prayer together for her ill husband.
 
The desperate woman explained about the trials she was experiencing and about how she needed to know more about God and listening to our team study made her want to know more. We shared a Steps to Christ with her and she asked for Bible studies. Praise God!
 
Now we make sure to keep Steps to Christ, The Great Hope (a giving book edition of the Great Controversy), and lots of GLOW tracts with us so we can give them out to the people who ask us about our team and our church. We are so very thankful that God has provided a central meeting place for our team that is open just about anytime we want to study.  They don’t play distracting music and the employees welcome us. We have so many chances to witness for Christ! Please pray with us about the contacts we have made and the Bible studies that may result from our witnessing.
 

Submitted by Jeffrey, Jordan and Alexandra (Lexi) de Graaff, Zechariah Eastland, Stephanie Colmenero and Perla Perez with the assistance of Tricia de Graaff and Monica Eastland.

Conference President Brings "Hope for the Family"
 in Española, NM


 

Pastor Lee-Roy Chacon, with Pastor Ruben Rodriguez, baptizing Joe Martinez at the conclusion of the "Hope for the Family" series in Española. 

The Española Valley Bilingual Church was honored to have Texico Conference President, Lee-Roy Chacon, present "Hope for the Family," an evangelistic event held on August 8-22 in Española, New Mexico.

Pastor Chacon traveled to Española four nights per week to present beautiful prophetic messages centered on the family.  Members and visitors were truly blessed and inspired by Pastor Chacon's clear and powerful presentations. A children's vacation Bible school, led by member, Gina Martinez, also took place during the evangelistic meetings.  Many visitors' children looked forward to the "Galaxy" themed Bible school.  At the conclusion of Pastor Chacon's presentation on Sabbath morning, the children sang the songs they had learned during VBS. 

Joe Martinez, a visitor who attended each night, shared that when he was given a flyer by some of the women from the church with an invitation to attend the evangelistic meetings, he felt that it was God leading him to the church.  Mr. Martinez made the decision to be baptized as a result of the meetings, and was baptized by Pastor Chacon that Sabbath morning, August 22, as numerous members witnessed the miracle of a changed life. Other visitors were also moved by the Holy Spirit during the meetings and made their decision to prepare for baptism!

High school sophomore, Viviana Espiricueta, who also attended the meetings and eagerly assisted with the vacation Bible school program, made the decision to join the Española Church by profession of faith on Sabbath morning!
 
Thank you to Pastor Ruben Rodriguez and his wife, Tyra, for coordinating this special evangelistic event.  A special thanks to Pastor Lee-Roy Chacon and his wife, Nelva, for their work in the ministry and bringing people to Christ.

Submitted by:  Diahann Cordova

Women's Ministry Retreat
"Excite, Encourage, Empower"

Keynote speaker, Shirley Benton

The goal of this year’s Texico Women’s Retreat, held August 22-23 at the Albuquerque Heights Church, was to Excite with the Word, Encourage with the promises and Empower with tools to further the work of Women’s Ministries in our churches.

Shirley Benton mingling with the ladies.




Roxanne Smyth, Texico Women's Ministries Director, leads out at the retreat.

Keynote speaker, Shirley Benton and daughter, Valerie Green, packaged the weekend program by building from a spiritual gifts assessment, to emphasizing the nearness of Jesus coming, to exercising the ladies giftedness, to finishing the work.  Topics included: "Our Calling in the Last Days," "What Women’s Ministries is and is not," "Effective Communications," "Conflict Resolution," "Public Speaking" and "Laws of Leadership."
 
Shirley and Valerie were interesting, informative, warm, humorous and most importantly passionate about Jesus and Women’s Ministries. They took time to talk and pray with many of the women individually.  All felt richly blessed.
 
Pastors' wives were recognized for their ministry, not only in the support of their husbands, but to the church.  We love our pastors' wives and recognize that their roll in ministry is not always an easy one. It was an honor to have 11 with us this year!
 

 Texico pastors' wives were recognized for their ministry in the church.
 

Sunday afternoon became a time of sharing idea’s. Maria Harris from Dalhart, TX, told of the many activities and projects taking place in her churches - beautiful card making and sending to every visitor, blanket making for the elderly, Veteran's Day recognition, plus other great projects.  Emily Trujillo, of the Santa Fe English Church, shared their ministry of giving gift bags to visitors and new members.  Emily said “I’ve never given a bag away that wasn’t received with a big smile.”  The bags include items such as a Steps to Christ, a Welcome to our Church card, a fresh baked loaf of bread or cookies and more.

Kathie Alver of Dalhart, TX, through the tragedy of her husband passing away, has developed a Widow’s Ministry which reaches out to widows of Dalhart.  Meeting at a local community center, the widows come together for encouragement and help with various needs.  A police officer may come and talk to the widows about home safety, a mechanic will show how to do minor maintenance to their cars, and a banker will come and talk to them about finances.  Las Cruces has a program for divorcees, Española, a program for unwed mothers. The encouragement for the ladies was amazing!
 
The attendees were richly blessed by this year’s praise team.  Lisa Christopherson and three Sandia View Academy students blessed the retreat with rousing worship in song.  The ladies were awesome and brought much joyful worship to the retreat.
 
The weekend concluded with Adventist owned vegan food supplier, Vegan Source, providing products for sale to the ladies.  This was a much appreciated service for those who have found purchasing vegan supplies difficult in their areas.
 
The ladies expressed enjoyment of the entire retreat, including the great food prepared by Reuben Estrada and his team, showing the hospitality of the Albuquerque Heights Church.

Submitted by:  Roxanne Smyth

Texico Welcomes Four New Educators

This year the Texico Conference is privileged to have four new educators join the team.  Gary Brown will serve as the principal of Sandia View Academy, Melissa Chacon and Elisa Hernandez have taken over the Adventist Academy of Santa Fe and Myriam Ambriz has begun a new school in Abilene, TX.
 

Gary has been in education for twenty years as a teacher and administrator both in the elementary and secondary level.  During his time as an educator, Gary has been responsible for team building, running capital campaigns, developing curriculum, developing alternative learning programs and individualized education plans (IEP's) for at-risk students, as well as, marketing and teaching.  He has gained a wealth of experience working in California, Hawaii, Oregon and Idaho.  Gary is married to Kathy, a nurse, and has two sons.  Prior to entering education, he worked in the finance field in the areas of risk management and marketing.  His new position at Sandia View Academy will offer both challenges and gratification as he continues to bring quality education and spiritual growth to the young people in the Albuquerque area.
 

Myriam Ambriz will have her hands full as she starts a new school in Abilene.  She was born in Mexico and came to the United States when she was twelve with her parents and siblings.  They settled in the East Texas area where her parents began a business in Willis. She is bilingual and loves to run, play soccer and read.  She chose to attend Southwestern Adventist University, where she graduated in May of 2015 with a psychology degree and an elementary teaching certificate for grades K-8.  She is excited, not only begin her first year as a teacher in a one grade school, but she has to begin almost everything from scratch.  However, with her hard work, trust and faith in Jesus and with the help of her school board, everything was ready for her students when they started school on August 10.
 

Melissa Chacon has held a special place in my heart as I was her academy principal all four years at Sandia View Academy.  She showed a lot of talent. In her freshman year, I told her she should go into teaching and that I wanted to bring her into the teaching staff of the Texico Conference when she graduated.  This Spring when she was finishing her senior year at Southwestern Adventist University (SWAU), I was able to fulfill that plan and she accepted a teaching ministry position as head teacher of the Adventist Academy of Santa Fe (AASF).  However, Melissa states, “My decision to become a teacher was truly God-led.  Before going to Southwestern Adventist University, I was determined to become a family lawyer. I would’ve stayed on that path if it weren’t for God impressing upon me that I needed to go into the teaching profession.” Shortly after graduation, she moved to Santa Fe and began preparing for the school year.  When school began, she was ready for the students in grades 5-9 and plunged into the instruction with gusto. She has made a great impression on the students and many of them have indicated that they want to study into the history of Bible times.  Melissa believes that she will be able to help many of the students grow in their relationship with Jesus this year.
 

Elisa Hernandez also has become a teacher at Adventist Academy of Santa Fe after graduating from SWAU in May 2015.  She says, “I am a goal oriented person that is passionate about helping others in any way that I can.”  Elisa was not able to attend a Seventh-day Adventist school until her junior year in college when she moved from South Texas to Keene to attend Southwestern Adventist University.  She had already obtained an Associate of Arts in Criminal Justice and Corrections from South Texas College in Rio Grande City, when she felt the call to the teaching ministry.  That is when she moved north and obtained her Bachelor of Science in Psychology at SWAU.  She is teaching grades K-4 at AASF and is enjoying every minute of the time she has with the students as she leads their academics, physical education and spiritual growth.
 

Submitted by:  Derral Reeve
Education Superintendent

Abilene Students Paint the "Three Angels Messages"

Artist, Themba, at work on his painting.

Recently, the Abilene Junior Academy, along with the Adventurers and Pathfinders, came together as a group united in one accord. We met at a local painting studio where a talented artist was inspired to create a one of a kind painting of the Three Angels Messages for us. Step by step she walked the kids, ages 3 to 15, through the process of creating this beautiful painting. Each little Picasso was encouraged to be creative using their own color choices to make their art a masterpiece.

When the teacher noticed that the kids were getting too intense on their work and perhaps frustrated that it was not coming out quite the way they wanted, she would ring a cow bell. The kids were instructed to yell as loud as they could. This resulted in roaring laughter, which eased the tension that came along with striving for perfection.

We all had so much fun. It was a blessing to watch these 12 kids come together while learning to paint like a professional. It was challenging, but the kids showed discipline and self control, as well as, a spirit of excitement.
 

Completed artwork has been hung in the "art gallery" at the Abilene Church.

All artwork has been hung in the "art gallery" at our church to be seen and appreciated. We are excited to share with the rest of the world, as our artwork depicts, the message that is clear in Revelation. These children are leading the way and are ready to finish the work that was started so long ago.

If you are interested in purchasing a print, please contact Jill Robertson at (325) 428-8004 for more information.   All proceeds will go toward helping Abilene Junior Academy.


Submitted by:  Jill Robertson

Treasure Trove

One of the most powerful texts in the Bible is Ephesians 2:8-9, “God saved you by His grace when you believed.  And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.  Salvation is not a reward for the GOOD STEWARDSHIP we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”

Okay . . . in case you weren’t paying close attention, I changed the wording just a little.  It really says, GOOD THINGS instead of GOOD STEWARDSHIP.  My point is this:  as important as stewardship is and as much as it is definitely a “good thing,” it is still NOT a thing to be boasted about, nor does it in any way, earn us salvation. 
 
Stewardship, then, should never be reward-motivated.  And, if we remember that what God really wants is our hearts not our pocketbooks, then stewardship will derive, as it should, from hearts brimming with thanksgiving for all that our loving Creator has first given us. 
 
Relevant to this discussion is the story, which Jesus told, about the widow’s humble offering (found in Mark 12 and Luke 21).  Granted that the main message of this story is the fact that the widow’s gift------because she was poor and it represented all she had to live on-----was of significantly greater sacrificial value than the large gifts made by the very wealthy out of their excess. But, Jesus also boldly spoke out against the prideful, “look-at-me”, showy, “make-a-lot-of-noise-when-you drop-the-money-in-the-offering-box-so-that-everyone-will-notice” kind of giving that the religious leaders, of His time, were so prone to engage in.  The widow’s humble and yet profound offering was in stark contrast to these splashy and yet heart-empty gifts! 
 
Let’s remind ourselves that God owns EVERYTHING!  As such, He really doesn’t NEED our offerings from a monetary standpoint.  He desperately, however, WANTS US TO GIVE HIM OUR HEARTS!  He knows that stewardship, if done with the right spirit, will promote a trust relationship and heart connection.  Before you write the next tithe check or drop a bit of currency into the offering plate, say a prayer that God will accept that offering which He cherishes most------YOUR HEART!               

Jeff Metherell,
Texico Association Secretary, Planned Giving and Stewardship Director