A Communiqué from the Office of the President |
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TOGETHER -- WE'RE SHAPING THE FUTURE OF THE ARIZONA CONFERENCE
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It is a pleasure to share with Arizona constituents and friends the many wonderful things happening within our Conference. May you catch our vision for winning men and women, boys and girls to Jesus!
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“Who Is Your Neighbor”
Luke 10:25-37
The Message
(Yes I know, this is a paraphrase, but read how this text is clearly explained)
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25 Just then a religion scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus. “Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?”
26 He answered, “What’s written in God’s Law? How do you interpret it?”
27 He said, “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.”
28 “Good answer!” said Jesus. “Do it and you’ll live.”
29 Looking for a loophole, he asked, “And just how would you define ‘neighbor’?”
30-32 Jesus answered by telling a story. “There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but when he saw him he angled across to the other side. Then a Levite religious man showed up; he also avoided the injured man.
33-35 “A Samaritan traveling the road came on him. When he saw the man’s condition, his heart went out to him. He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. In the morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill—I’ll pay you on my way back.’
36 “What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?”
37 “The one who treated him kindly,” the religion scholar responded.
Jesus said, “Go and do the same.”
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I went to a Taco Bell recently to get my fiesta veggie burrito when when I witnessed a great illustration of the story that Jesus tells in Luke chapter 10. I noticed a young man cleaning the windows and floors of the Taco Bell. He was obviously on the “lower rung” of the employees of that particular Taco Bell. Within a few moments I noticed a young lady getting out of a car and walking up to the cashier and asking to talk to the manager. The manager appeared and asked what she could do to help her.
The young lady responded, "I noticed that you are hiring and I need a job."
The manager explained to her how to apply for the job online on a personal computer. The young lady said, "I don't have a computer. Can I apply some other way?"
The manager said “Our policy doesn't allow for that. You have to apply on a computer.”
About that time the young man who had been cleaning the floors walked over to the manager and said, “I can help her, if you’ll allow me.” He continued, “I can enter all of her information on the computer myself, so this way you'll have the application you need in the format you need, for her to work here.”
I was truly amazed, God had shown me again that there are a lot of good people in this world willing to help others. He gave me a very real illustration of the “Good Samaritan.” So, the question for you today is which one of these Taco Bell employees was truly the neighbor of this young lady? The one following the company policy or the one going the extra mile to help someone in need? Are you willing to help someone you may not even know along life's rugged road?
Jesus said we should go and do the same as the Good Samaritan did. I pray that we will have the strength, and willing heart to be like that Good Samaritan.
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The first week of August I had the opportunity of spending time with my family in Tennessee. It was such a blessing to see my daughter Becky and her husband Harrison and my son Andrew and his wife Rhina. Of course the greatest joy was seeing my two grandkids three-year-old Benjamin and the cutest one-year-old girl in the world, little Emma. The main reason we were there was to participate in Emma’s big first birthday celebration.
That first week of August I was supposed to be in Florida for the ASI meetings, but I got sick with a bad cold (thankfully not COVID) that kept me from going to ASI. So I got to spend more time with the grandkids, but unfortunately with some “social distancing.” That also gave me time to make dozens of work-related phone calls that would probably have had to wait until I got back. The hardest thing though, was producing a video for the new employee orientation while I was dealing with 103 degree fever. My friends at the office got a kick out of seeing me struggle through that video, (they never get to see me like that) so I get it. The part they don't know is, it took me six takes to get through a two-minute video without coughing my head off.
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The second week of August was mainly spent interviewing potential pastors for the Arizona conference. August 11th my wife Lillian and I celebrated our 37th wedding anniversary we spent the weekend in Sedona enjoying the beauty of God’s creation up there. We did several hikes but the one we enjoyed the most was the “Devils Bridge” hike. On the trail we ran into a couple of large tarantulas and some other interesting wildlife. Walking across the bridge was a little too much for my wife, with the huge drop off on either side, so she waited in a good location and took pictures of me doing the walk. We had a great time and I needed it because the next week was a super busy week. |
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The week of the 14th through the 20th was similar to the previous week with several church and pastor interviews. With my new coworkers Ray Navarro and Van Bledsoe we were able to fill a couple more open churches. I’m truly thankful for those guys. And speaking of being thankful, I’m truly grateful that we have Chris Juhl and his wife Regan with us now. Chris took over the Superintendent of Education position and hit the ground running. It’s amazing how much he’s been involved since he started working with us just a month ago. God has truly blessed us with a great team of hard working, dedicated Christian leaders in this conference, I’m thankful to be working with them. |
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The week of August 21-25, I was in a NAD local conference president’s meeting in Wisconsin. It was great to hear all that was going on around the Division and the speakers were truly inspiring.
Sadly, sometime during that week my mother-in-law, Elvia had a serious fall and broke her leg in two places and had a nasty bruise on her head near her eye. This was on her 94th birthday and my wife had planned to have her over the house for dinner, but obviously that did not happen.
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That weekend I was supposed to participate in the Prison Ministry convention in Irvine, California, but given the situation with my mother-in-law I was not able to do that. I’m truly thankful for my dear friend BJ Warren who stepped in last minute to cover my speaking appointment. What a blessing he and his wife Creola have been to the Arizona Conference and to me personally. Since I was not able to leave town my dear friend Bobby McGhee asked me if I would preach in his church.. It was a blessing to be at the Cave Creek church, and AWC. Both churches had a great attendance, and a beautiful worship service. I always enjoy hearing Bob Sanders play his musical saw. He played “Whispering Hope” one of my all-time favorites. The worship team at AWC did a fabulous job as well, thanks to Allan, Keith, John, and Bob. |
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The last week of August was committee week, which could have anywhere from 8-15 committees, depending on how they fall in the calendar. This time we had 12 with various appointments squeezed in between meetings just for fun. (Just kidding). One of those meetings was an assembly with the TAA Students as part of the Academy's Board Day which provided an opportunity for Board members to interact with students.
We’re all working hard, so keep praying for us so that we will have the wisdom to know where to put that hard work to best use.
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MONTH
MAY
JUNE
JULY
YEAR TO DATE
WEEKS
AVERAGE/WEEK
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$1,315,171
$1,341,551
$1,377,480
$9,487,145
31
$306,037
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2021
$1,469,178
$1,246,490
$1,340,257
$9,255,996
31
$298,581
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-10.48%
7.63%
2.78%
2.50%
2.50%
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GNTV Expanding in the Rocky Mountains |
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Upon learning about the effectiveness of Good News TV throughout the years here in Arizona, a group of lay members in Colorado decided they would like to start our channel in the Denver, the largest metropolitan area of Colorado.
After months of planning and preparation, they will start broadcasting our Engish channel in Denver starting October 1, 2022. There will be many more details to share soon.
Much Prayer Needed...
Please pray for the start of our GNTV ministry in Denver. Please pray that church members there will be supportive as you have here, and please also pray for God to help those throughout the Denver area to easily find this new channel, be attracted to watch it, and for their lives to be changed by Jesus love in preparation for heaven. The team in Denver also want to start the GNTV Latino channel to reach Spanish viewers, so please pray that they are able to build up enough support to accomplish that soon.
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Want to share AZ Camp Meeting with a Friend? |
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The programs from 2022 Camp Meeting are now being shown on Good News TV. If you want to share a series or the entire Camp experience with a friend, there is a very handy option. We are not only continuing to sell DVDs, but we are also offering thumb drives for the first time ever. Please download the order form below, fill it out, and turn it into the Adventist Book Center in Scottsdale or call us directly.
Many of these resources in stock today.
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For more information about GNTV or to schedule a tour of our studio, please contact us at 480-264-1116 or [email protected].
Thank you so much for your prayers and support!
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Luke Skelton
Director, Media Ministry
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.Sunday 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Monday – Wednesday 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Thursday 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Friday & Saturday Closed
480.991.8501
We are also available for curbside pick-up or local Phoenix area delivery.
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Holbrook Bus Accident
My Perspective
by Katie Chitwood
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Sunday, August 28 began as any normal day. I was working on church finances, Micah was playing legos, and Jonathan was taking a shower, getting ready for the day. My phone buzzed,
and I heard Jessica’s frantic voice, “There’s been an accident!” Jessica and Sam are members at Kinlichee Church, but they live 90 minutes away in Holbrook, where Sam teaches at Holbrook Indian School. Sam had contacted Jonathan on the Friday before, to let him know that he wanted to bring a group of students up to Window Rock to help us pass out flyers about our upcoming evangelistic meetings. They texted when they left Holbrook and Jonathan was getting ready to meet up with the 19 students and 3 staff members.
As soon as I got the phone call, I pounded on the bathroom door to let Jonathan know, “There’s been an accident, we need to go!” Although we didn’t know precisely where it had happened or how serious the accident was, we grabbed our stuff, jumped in the car and headed out, tracing the path they would have to take to get to our place.
We drove, prayed, worried, and texted friends/family to pray too. The scene of the accident was about an hour away from our house. As we drove, more information began to trickle in, the exact location of the accident (I-40 just West of Sanders AZ), at least one student was in very critical condition, life-flights were being called in…
We arrived on the scene to discover a tractor-trailer flipped over in the median, another semi truck’s front end all smashed up, a helicopter waiting for a patient to be loaded, several ambulances, and the Holbrook school bus back with a gaping, floor-to-ceiling hole on the rear driver’s side. The freeway was closed, and debris from the accident was scattered everywhere. The students who were ok, but shaken up were gathered together off to the side. Jonathan was able to move about freely, listening, comforting, and supporting those in shock. It was at this point that he discovered that Kiarra had passed away. Her family had been notified, and they arrived at the scene of the accident just after we did. Jonathan sat in the ambulance with Kiarra’s mom and grandmother as the awful truth began to sink in…
After an hour, the students who were ok physically were cleared to leave. I helped to transport those who didn’t want to ride in a bus back to Holbrook, while Jonathan stayed behind with some of the other staff members. It was a quiet trip back. The kids were given a sack lunch since it was past lunch time and after eating, those gathered were told that their classmate, Kiarra Gordon didn’t make it.
It. Was. Hard.
To see these young people have to grapple with the,
“Why?”
“How Come?”
“It’s Not FAIR!”
“If Only…”
A day that started out perfect and normal, turned into tragedy.
My heart broke right along with them. I was hugging the girls who had fled the room and slumped on the floor in the hallway, tears flowing down my face too. I didn’t know Kiarra, but I saw the girls’ pain, felt their broken hearts, and sat on the floor crying right along with them.
A school assembly was planned for that evening. There were students, staff and board members (who just happened to have a board meeting the next day) all in attendance. They had a group prayer for the students still in the hospital, Kiarra’s family, and all the hurting, broken hearts.
Kiarra’s graveside service was on the following Sabbath morning at a cemetery in Klagatoh, about 30 minutes southwest of our Kinlichee Church. The day was perfect. Not too hot, but sunny and breezy with light puffy clouds. Jonathan had been asked to lead out in the service, and thanks to a visiting speaker at the Window Rock church, we were able to be there.
Holbrook staff and students all joined Kiarra’s family at the cemetery to remember her life. There had to be over 100 people gathered in a big semi-circle around her grave. Kiarra was a junior at Holbrook. She had attended there for over a year and a half. She loved sports, especially volleyball. She was focused and had a passion for improving her game. She was a great horseback rider and a hard worker. She was very artistic, dabbling in photography. She was an amazing friend. As students, teachers, and family shared their memories, there were smiles, chuckles, and tears.
There’s something special about Navajo funerals. After the pallbearers lower the casket into the ground and everyone has an opportunity to sprinkle dirt over the casket, the pallbearers use shovels to start filling in the eight-foot-deep hole. Sometimes it can take 30-45 minutes. They pile up the dirt in a huge mound over the grave and then place flowers or little mementos on top. You can tell the age of the grave based on how high the mound is. Over time the dirt settles and the mound becomes smaller. I love how the Navajo people do this last act of service for their loved one!
In light of this past week’s tragedy, I can’t help but ask the questions: “How are we serving those around us?” Are we living each and every day to the fullest? Are we living it in service to others?
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Arizona Connect
-Ed Keyes, President
-Ray Navarro, Executive Secretary
-Reggie Leach, Treasurer
Information: 480-991-6777
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