Church-elected delegates must attend in person to vote on agenda items.
App: TXSDA
Website: TexasAdventist.org
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THE FLAME: issuu.com/TexasAdventist
Email: Info@txsda.org
Phone: 817.790.2255
Cover Info: Together As One, J17:21 (adapted from John 17:21) has been our prayer focus for the past two years. We strive to be Together As One as a Texas Conference family, uniting to share the gospel with those around us. We pray you will read John 17:21 and ask the Lord how you can join us in working Together As One.
Cover photos from iStockphoto.com.
THE FLAME is a quarterly publication produced by the Texas Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and is available online at issuu.com/texasadventist. Please direct questions or comments to flame@txsda.org.
President: Elton DeMoraes
Executive Secretary: David Montoya
Treasurer: Randall B. Terry
THE FLAME STAFF
Editor: Kenn L. Dixon
Managing Editor: Tamara Michalenko Terry
Designer: Teymi Townsend
Proofreader: Debra J. Hicks
Printing & Mailing: Pacific Press Publishing Association | Nampa, Idaho
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Alot has changed over the past four years. After 11 years of faithful service, former Texas Conference President Carlos Craig was elected Southwestern Union Conference president during its constituency session in April 2021. The following month, on May 6, the Texas Conference Executive Committee extended a call for me to serve as its president. Having served most of my ministry in the Texas Conference, I was humbled and honored to accept the call.
Soon after my appointment, virtual listening sessions with staff, pastors and teachers, as well as conference-wide town hall meetings, helped chart the course for our conference. These sessions made it apparent that we needed to focus on:
Unity
Evangelism
Communication/Innovation
Youth/Youth Adults
Adventist Education
Lake Whitney Ranch
A common theme in the listening sessions was the importance of unity. Wondering how we could accomplish that in our vast territory, we realized the answer was prayer. J17:21, Together As One, became an initiative based on John 17:21 that foresees the Texas Conference united and ignited by the Holy Spirit, praying together passionately, powerfully and perpetually for specific and strategic needs in the local churches, schools and throughout the Texas Conference. Through this initiative, we have experienced churches and schools coming together like never before.
Texans dream big, so as a united conference family, we aim to double our membership in the next 10 years. Together As One, we can do it!
We now have two full-time evangelists dedicated to achieving this dream. Byron Corbett serves our English-speaking churches, and Amado Sánchez assists
the Spanish churches. As they share the good news around the conference, many baptisms occur because of the messages and local church connections with their communities.
In addition to meetings conducted by conference evangelists, churches are strongly encouraged to hold their own meetings. Every year more than $1 million is allocated for local church evangelistic efforts.
Seeing the need for more pastoral leadership, we expanded our Volunteer Lay Pastor program from five to 45 individuals. These lay pastors are essential to our team to help us reach more people for Jesus.
As membership grows, so does the number of our churches. The North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists recognizes the Texas Conference each year for the highest number of churches planted. We are now expanding the Church Planting | Volunteer
Lay Pastor area to include Church Revitalization. We want to be intentional in helping struggling churches find growth again.
Another way to grow our membership is through communication and innovation. When churches had to close during the pandemic, our communication team transformed the conference worship room into a studio. Through technology, the team witnessed to thousands from a room where previously only a small group had gathered.
Communication & Public Relations continues to provide a service that impacts our field through the recently acquired mobile studio. Our training events and other programs can now be recorded or shared via livestream to reach a wider audience.
Our monthly program TEXTalk shares the news and progress of our conference, to foster transparency and accountability. We now have a brand-new conference app, TXSDA, to provide reliable and accessible content.
Youth & Club Ministries and Young Adult Ministries are as
active as ever. The saying “They are the future of our church” doesn’t apply in Texas. Here, they are the church working alongside all generations, Together As One.
I am so proud of our education staff. They’ve worked so hard every day, especially through the pandemic. Their effort is paying off, as most of our schools have seen an increase in enrollment since the pandemic. That speaks volumes to the quality they are providing their communities.
The Determined Cycling campaign continues to promote health and encourage giving for a $1.5 million endowment. We want every student who wants to attend one of our schools to be able to financially afford to do so.
Lake Whitney Ranch is another area showing great strides. Leaders Hector and Anabel Perez have made many new improvements to the ranch, including bath and shower houses for club ministries. They have increased the lodging capacity and have plans for more projects as funds allow, including an open pavilion for 5,000 people. Special thanks to our pastors, teachers and members for
diligently serving the Lord, for returning your tithes and being generous with your offerings. The Texas Conference could only survive and thrive with you.
It is a joy to work with our executive officers and vice presidents, the ADCOM team. My executive administrative assistant, Nilsa Johnson, has a wealth of knowledge, having worked for the Texas Conference for over 30 years. My wife, Alessandra, my partner in ministry, has the heart to serve the ministerial spouses so eloquently. Texas Conference Receptionist Doug Denny is dedicated to customer service as he assists those who call or visit.
As I close, I am reminded of the words by Ellen G. White, “In reviewing our past history, having traveled over every step of advance to our present standing, I can say, Praise God! As I see what God has wrought, I am filled with astonishment, and with confidence in Christ as leader. We have nothing to fear for the future except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history,” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, p. 31.
The last four years of ministry can be summed up with five words: People, Partners, P.A.R.L., Policy and Praise.
People—Our conviction here at the Texas Conference is that every person is important and special. After our relationship with God, our most valuable treasure is the people God created in His image.
It is a joy to report that this human treasure in the Texas
Conference has grown during this past quadrennium. We celebrate God for this increase! We need to remember that those digits represent real individuals of great worth, persons who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and are part of God’s wonderful family.
All of our brothers and sisters in Christ gather in their respective congregations. We ended 2022 with 255 churches, 66 companies, and 34 groups, giving us 355
62,243 members
63,154 members
64,295 members
65,934 members
congregations! Ours is a very diverse family. This is evident by the various languages in which church services are conducted.
Burmese: 1
Korean: 5
Tonga: 1
Ukrainian: 1
Igbo: 1
Portuguese: 3
Akan: 1
Creole: 1
Vietnamese: 1
Zomi: 1
French: 1
English: 173
Spanish: 165
Partners—Ministry work is performed by human beings who have been saved by the grace of God and empowered by the Holy Spirit. God calls us to partner with Him and each other in carrying out the Gospel Commission. We are grateful to God for the following partners:
—Our 434 local church clerks and assistants ensure, through their faithful monthly reporting, that every church member is included. Of those 434 clerks, 315 use eAdventist, our online membership database system.
—Our 188 educators represent Christ every day in our schools.
—Our 160 pastors, 39 associate pastors, 28 lay pastors and three interim pastors all work together to lead Texas Conference churches.
—Our 33 workers who retired between Jan. 1, 2019, and Dec. 31, 2022, offered many years of combined service. We delight in helping them transition to their next phase of life.
—Our Texas Conference office staff work tirelessly to support the growth of local congregations.
P.A.R.L.—Another very important
Baptisms
6,228
ministry of the Secretariat department is Public Affairs and Religious Liberty, or P.A.R.L. We work closely with the Southwestern Union Conference, the North American Division, and the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists to ensure religious accommodations for our members. In the past four years, we provided 152 Sabbath accommodation letters to church members or students required to work or take a school exam on the Sabbath.
Policy—The Texas Conference Constitution and Bylaws help us operate in a focused and effective manner in fulfilling the church’s work. Coordinated by Secretariat, the Constitution and Bylaws committee will periodically review this important document and propose any necessary changes to ensure that we comply with policies set by the North American
Division and the General Conference. These changes are adopted and implemented when voted on by the delegates at a constituency session.
Praise—All of the aforementioned would not be possible without the Almighty Jehovah! He has given His Holy Spirit to lead, empower and enlighten us as we proclaim the three angels’ messages in Texas and beyond. I would like to borrow the words of king David and the apostle Paul, respectively, to express our gratitude to our great God for His faithfulness during these past four years:
“Blessed are You, LORD God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, The Power and the glory, The victory and the majesty; For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, And You are exalted as head over all,” 1 Chronicles 29:10-11.
“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen,” 1 Timothy 1:17.
The goodness of God is the best way to describe what we have experienced in the Texas Conference during the past four years. I am reminded of the song “Goodness of God.” It begins, “I love you, Lord, for Your mercy never fails me. All my days, I’ve been held in Your Hands. From the moment that I wake up Until I lay my head, Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God.”
In these past four years, we have experienced many things, especially the effects of the
COVID-19 pandemic. When it started, we were very concerned about how it would affect the finances of our members and the Texas Conference.
The mission-minded focus and generosity of our members are genuinely inspirational. By the goodness of God, our members have been blessed in their returning of tithes and giving offerings.
The mission of the Texas Conference Treasury is to serve our constituency and safeguard the resources God has entrusted to us. Leviticus 27:30 says, “And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the LORD’s. It is holy to the LORD.” This is a vast daily undertaking for our department, which includes many new staff members.
Constituency delegates will receive a copy of the audited financial statements for the years ended Dec. 31, 2019-Dec. 31, 2022. The General Conference Auditing Service conducted these audits, and the statements report the financial activity of the Texas Conference and Association. The Association works with churches and schools to process purchases and sales of buildings and to review contracts with builders and architects with the help of our real estate attorneys and consultants. The audits, which take place annually, are just one of the internal control systems designed to ensure that funds are handled appropriately and with Christian integrity.
In the past four years, faithful members have returned $233.7 million in tithe, compared to $195.7 million for the previous
quadrennial. That is an increase of 19.4 percent. The tithe graph shows an annual increase of 18.6 percent and an average of 4.7 percent per year. This is truly remarkable due to financial constraints within the United States during the last four years. The only explanation is God’s goodness.
The Texas Conference tithe distribution graphic shows how the tithe is distributed. In addition to providing funds for Texas Conference ministries, a portion of the tithe is shared with the world church. The tithe returned to God literally takes a trip around the world to assist in proclaiming the everlasting gospel.
Approximately 4 percent of the total tithe is returned to the Texas Conference as an appropriation for education and evangelism. That means that approximately 64 percent of each tithe dollar is used to operate Texas Conference ministries.
The Ministries category includes Church Planting | Volunteer Lay Pastor | Church Revitalization, Family Ministries, Lake Whitney Ranch, Ministry & Evangelism, Men’s Ministries, Pastors, Prayer Ministries, Prison Ministries, Summer Camp, Women’s Ministries, Youth & Club Ministries and Young Adult Ministries.
The Services category includes Auditing, Communication & Public Relations,
Adventist Community Services, Information Systems, Literature Ministries and Planned Giving & Trust Services | Stewardship.
Our payroll team processes more than 1,000 employees’ paychecks twice a month. Our auditing team works with local treasurers to audit finances for more than 320 churches and companies and 17 elementary/junior high schools. This year, volunteer screening was added to Treasury because it is a Risk Management area. Since every church and school volunteer must be screened before interacting with our young people, that can be thousands of volunteers screened each year.
The property manager assists churches and schools with their building and property needs. Currently, we have 47 buildingrelated projects in process. In the past four years, we have purchased 16 buildings and sold 20.
Malachi 3:10 encourages us, “’Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,’ Says the LORD of hosts, ‘If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.’”
We are thankful for God’s blessings and for your part in growing and enhancing His work in Texas. I am so grateful for the Treasury team that makes this report possible and the local church and school treasurers, who diligently work together to complete God’s treasury ministry.
As the Texas Adventist Book Center (ABC) manager, I genuinely believe in the ministry of the printed word. It is amazing how God can use an author, a publisher and the ABC to deliver an important message to His children.
Our mission is to provide Seventh-day Adventist Church members with truth-filled books for their spiritual growth and literature to share with others. In addition to books and periodicals, the Texas ABC has one of the largest selections of health foods in the Southwestern Union Conference, which includes Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. We enjoy helping customers find what they need to stay healthy and live for God.
Did you know that the Texas ABC is the only ABC within the Southwestern Union?
That’s why the Direct to You program—or D2U, as we call it—was created. It enables us to personally deliver products to our sister conferences on a regularly scheduled basis.
We also create displays at camp meetings, men’s and women’s retreats, constituency sessions, ministries conventions, worker and teacher meetings and marriage retreats in English and Spanish. Our staff meets people wherever they are to get God’s Word out.
As more and more resources are available online only, we are grateful for the support of our Texas Conference family. When COVID-19 stopped
everything in 2020, the Texas ABC remained open. We simply adopted new methods to care for our customers with a limited staff. Even though sales were down a bit during that time, our faithful members continued their evangelistic efforts. We were even able to help a customer in California who needed a massive quantity of The Great Controversy books for sharing and outreach. It was an answer to prayer for us to find the amount she needed to share with others.
With annual sales of just over $2 million in 2021, by the end of 2022, we saw a $236,209 increase in sales compared to the preceding
year. Again, this rebound was due to the faithfulness of our Southwestern Union Conference family, who feed themselves physically and spiritually through the Texas ABC and who share the good news with others.
If you appreciate the continued services by your Texas ABC, please remember us for all your book, periodical and health food needs. As the expression goes, “If you don’t use it, you will lose it.”
Since several ABCs had to close in recent years, their customers were forced to either go without or find another source for their purchases. For your convenience, we
maintain three websites that share events, provide updates on the D2U delivery schedule and allow you to shop at home: ABCKeene.com, ABCKeene. org and AdventistBookCenter. com. You can also order by calling our toll-free number at 800.333.1844.
We look forward to assisting you soon. If you are in Keene, Texas, please come by the store on Old Betsy Road. We are just down from the Southwestern Adventist University campus and would love to see you.
Thank YOU for supporting your Texas ABC.
ORDER
Phone: 800.333.1844
Website: abckeene.org (D2U)
Website: abckeene.com
Website: adventistbookcenter.com
In person: 201 S Old Betsy Rd Keene, TX 76059
Sunday through Thursday 9:00 am to 6:00 pm
Friday 9:00 am to 4:00 pm
CONNECT
Facebook: @keeneabc
Twitter: @keeneABC
Email: abc@txsda.org
Email: Food.ABC@txsda.org
Phone: 817.558.0100
In September 2021, Deborah and I began our first day on the job at Texas Conference Adventist Community Services (ACS) by delivering supplies to help with Hurricane Ida. During our training, we prayed for guidance on getting more churches involved. We soon realized that a few churches needed supplies, some needed encouragement, and others needed someone to step up and lead.
Through various councils, we decided to have a big giveaway, and 50 churches registered to take part. We then added 10 more churches by taking materials down to the valley area in southern Texas. The next day we received phone calls from church members who told us they had been praying to start a ministry but had no materials, then our email came through as an answer to prayer. Various churches brought their trailers, U-hauls, and even one 18-wheeler, and we were blessed to hear their miracle
stories as we loaded the vehicles with supplies. Joining us to pray over the individuals and materials were Carlos Craig, Southwestern Union Conference president; Tony Anobile, Southwestern Union Conference vice president for Church Ministries; Elton DeMoraes, Texas Conference president; and several others.
Our ACS team led training events throughout the Texas Conference. While meeting with a group of churches in the San Antonio area, we told about the different ministries that ACS helps throughout the conference. Geraldo Alonso mentioned that the Somerset Spanish Mission Group was looking for help—just to get a Sabbath off now and then to recharge—but they didn’t want to let their “church family” down by not showing up. He explained that their “church family” is a homeless community that comes together every Sabbath for a hot meal, shower, laundry, etc. On hearing this, a Philadelphia
Seventh-day Adventist Church member stood, wiped away tears from her eyes, and said, “We have been praying for a way to get involved and decided to come to the ACS training to learn more. God just answered our prayers. We would love to help your group.” To date, nearly 30 members of this “church family” have been able to get jobs, find a place to live, and dedicate themselves completely to God in the baptismal waters.
By bringing together our members who want to be involved in their local community, ACS training sessions encourage outreach by relating inspiring stories and creating new opportunities to partner together.
Our youth and young adults are so important to my wife and me that when we were approached by the Texas Conference Office of Education to be part of Outdoor School and Freshmen Bible Camp, we had to say yes. After
explaining that serving others in the community is a calling from God that can be rewarding, we presented ideas for how young people can prepare for disasters.
We also worked with some of our schools to assemble hygiene kits for school-aged children. Now, when a disaster hits, we can share an age-appropriate kit with our youth and even offer some for younger children, including a small stuffed animal.
As a result of praying for additional ways to work with young people, we connected with Texas Conference Youth & Club Ministries to do a shark-tanklike event for our Master Guides. Watching kids of all ages get
excited about doing something for others is amazing. I can see why Ellen G. White speaks of the impact that an “army of workers as our youth, rightly trained, might furnish, [and] how soon the message of a crucified, risen, and soon-coming Saviour might be carried to the whole world!”
We continue to encourage you to find a way to be relevant in each church community. Find out your local needs, take stock of your members’ abilities and talents, and pray that God will show you how to minister to your community. It doesn’t have to be a huge project, but we must get off the pews and out the doors.
Ifeel blessed to collaborate with every Texas Conference department in serving our constituents and, more specifically, our communities.
As of December 2022, the Texas Conference embraces 255 churches, 66 companies and 34 mission groups. The most amazing thing is that from those 355 congregations, 75 have been planted within the last five years, with 10 planted this year and three more in incubation. This means that 21 percent of our congregations have been planted in the last five years—to God be the glory!
Such growth could not have been possible without help from our department committee, support from the Texas Conference administration, the joint efforts of every leader of our local churches and a fantastic team of volunteer lay pastors.
You may be asking, “What are volunteer lay pastors?” Volunteer lay pastors, or VLPs as we call them, are church elders with the heavenly calling and gift to serve and lead a congregation under pastoral supervision. These individuals participate in a very intense and continuous training that helps them to be well prepared and more effective in leading the congregation with a spiritual and missional mindset.
Since starting this program almost a year ago, 37 new VLPs have trained and joined church leadership teams in congregations throughout the Texas Conference. As of Feb. 28, 2023, we are blessed with 59 VLPs, five of whom lead multiple congregations. Volunteer lay pastors are being added according to the need in different areas and congregations.
These individuals are carrying an awesome and blessed responsibility for the Lord. The simple fact that an army of volunteers is willing to serve in this capacity and help expand the kingdom of heaven is vivid proof that God is guiding His church in Texas.
As the leading conference in church plants in the North American Division, we want to make a difference and an eternal impact in the Texas Conference. Planting churches is good and being number one is amazing, but planting healthy congregations is the ultimate goal of our department. How are we doing that?
ACTS stands for Assess, Coach, Train and Send. ACTS nurtures a churchplanting movement through multiplying practitioners,
leaders and residencies. The following shifts in how we equip are key:
• From open-invite lowcommitment programs to inviteonly, high-commitment groups
• From going wide with many to going deep with a few who will invest in many
• From pushing a model to discerning the Spirit’s leading in your context
• From train the trainers to train the trainers who train the practitioners
• From planning the next event to developing the next multiplier
To date, the 15 pastors in our conference who completed this program in 2022 are now helping train 21 additional pastors: one group in English and one group in Spanish. And last, but definitely not least, ACTS Church Revitalization will come very soon to the Texas Conference. Be on the lookout and be blessed!
WEBSITE OR APP gives you the opportunity to give back to the Lord all of your firstfruits as soon as you have them. Now you can return your tithe and give your offerings any time of day or night to the church of your choice.* LET
PERSONAL GIVING PLAN RECOMMENDS 3-5%
Every moment we live is an opportunity to use the talents God gives to help others. I want to thank you, the Texas Conference, and the constituents for the honor of serving and using the skills God has provided our team to assist you for the past four years.
On a recent Sabbath, a church member expressed appreciation and pride for the news and updates we provide during our monthly show, “TEXTalk.” Just one of the many innovative and
creative projects launched during the past four years, TEXTalk allows members to hear from the Texas Conference president and me about the Texas Conference Executive Committee’s actions and upcoming events and projects. We also produce other talk shows, worship experiences and podcasts. We must remain relevant in this challenging time when technology is constantly changing.
The Texas Conference Communication & Public Relations team provides topquality media productions in our full-service conference studio and through our on-location mobile media production truck. We want to provide the very best production service for each event.
The need to continue investing in technological innovations brings us to a turning point, and I see connectedness within our territory. The introduction of artificial intelligence (AI), along
KENN L. DIXON Vice President
with our studio and production resources, allows us to create incredible content that is engaging and informative.
I’m so grateful for the team that supports every department, church, school, pastor and teacher within the Texas Conference and for their continued support in membership growth, volunteerism and community support.
Our goal, as a team of digital content specialists, graphics designers, videographers, video editors, copywriters and marketing and communication personnel, is to share the diverse stories, people and experiences around the Texas Conference that will connect people to Christ in digital spaces.
This department is also responsible for crisis management and for protecting our reputation throughout our vast territory. Technology helps to protect our brand while notifying us of
media opportunities involving our churches and schools. Good public relations enables good marketing for Seventh-day Adventists in Texas. Our mission is to protect and multiply our reach across social media by creating engaging content that shares the love of Jesus Christ.
As we wait for the second coming, we are actively recruiting skilled talent and researching better tools and strategies to keep the mission of the Texas Conference moving forward. With you, the constituency, in mind, we created the Texas Conference App, TXSDA. From events, to push notifications, to a prayer wall, to live streaming content—on our App, conference sites, social media, Apple TV and Roku devices—we want to keep you informed and educated on how we are stewarding trusted resources.
The reach of our Texas Conference social channels has increased 300 percent since we aggressively launched content, creation and strategy. The total number of viewer hours on our YouTube channel since 2020 has reached 1.7 million. We understand the need to connect with specific audiences, and we continue to focus on creating intelligent strategies that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-based.
Our social channels are extra active during our annual Determined Cycling tour to various parts of the Texas Conference. Dedicated cyclists ride approximately 400 miles in six days, promoting health and raising funds for a Texas Conference Adventist Education Endowment. When we reach the goal of $1.5 million, the interest will create scholarships to assist students who want to attend a Texas Conference school.
The Texas Conference Communication & Public Relations team believes that our greatest asset
is not the cameras or computers we use to tell stories, but you—all 65,934 members of the Texas Conference. You are an essential member of our team. Thank you for allowing us to serve you.
The mission of Adventist education is to enable learners to develop a life of faith in God and to use their knowledge, skills and understanding to serve God and humanity. Each day within the Texas Conference, our educators contribute their time, talent and treasure to ensure that God is glorified and introduced to every student they encounter. This great work of educational evangelism calls us to prepare students in our 22 schools for this world and the world to come.
Over the past four years, the Office of Education has gone through several transitions. From the 20192020 school year, where the global pandemic changed the way we delivered education, to an introduction of a new assessment tool and new curriculum, to the implementation of mentorship programs and coaching instruments, the educational staff collaborated
to advance the work of Adventist education within the Texas Conference.
Enrollment in our schools is strong. While the pandemic brought a drop in our overall enrollment, we have seen a steady increase and are now gaining on our pre-COVID-19 enrollment. We praise God for His blessings, as we want to reach as many children as possible with a Christ-centered education.
Over the past few years, Adventist education in Texas has developed key partnerships with other departments that serve our conference. Texas Adventist Community Services (ACS) has become more alive and relevant to our students as a result of team members visiting our schools, assisting with service projects during Bible Camp and directing disaster training for our Outdoor School students. Ministry & Evangelism covers the expenses of a Week of Prayer speaker for each school plus additional materials for Bible studies. Secretariat and Hispanic Ministries & Spanish Evangelism are key advisors to assist us in developing our spiritual master plan for the infusion of Christ in our schools. The saying “It takes
a village” is our motto, and we proudly serve alongside our colleagues as we serve our constituents to fulfill our mission.
This noble work calls us to reach each student and see that they are saved in God’s kingdom. We are thankful for our teachers, who show the love of our Savior as they guide students in academic and spiritual lessons.
Ellen G. White writes, “True education means more than pursuing a certain course of study. It has to do with the whole person, and with the whole period of existence possible to human beings. It is the harmonious development
of the physical, the mental, and the spiritual powers,” True Education, p. 9.
We are forever grateful to those who support Adventist education—our schools, students, educators and staff.
1. ADVENT RIDGE ACADEMY Stephanie Mardones, Principal 1523 Ranch Rd 12 San Marcos, TX 78666 | 512.392.9475
2. BURLESON ADVENTIST SCHOOL Carrie Seuss, Principal 1635 Fox Lane Burleson, TX 76028 | 817.295.6812
3. BURTON ADVENTIST ACADEMY Ellen Thomas, Principal 4611 Kelly Elliott Rd Arlington, TX 76017 | 817.572.0081
4. CHISHOLM TRAIL ACADEMY Otto Keubler, Principal 401 S. Old Betsy Rd Keene, TX 76059 | 817.641.6626
5. CLEBURNE ADVENTIST CHRISTIAN SCHOOL Kelcie Neves, Principal 111 Meadowview Dr Cleburne, TX 76031 | 817.645.4300
6. COGGIN MEMORIAL SCHOOL Tamra McMearty, Principal 6645 Downing St Corpus Christi, TX 78414 | 361.991.6968
7. CONROE ADVENTIST ACADEMY Mark McDonald, Principal 3601 S. Loop 336 E. Conroe, TX 77301 | 936.756.5078
8. CYPRESS BEND ADVENTIST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL Sherry Clapp, Principal 2997 FM 728 Jefferson, TX 75657 | 903.665.7402
9. DALLAS CHRISTIAN ACADEMY Rhonda Acosta, Principal 4025 N. Central Expressway Dallas, TX 75204 | 216.528.6327
10. FORT WORTH ADVENTIST JUNIOR ACADEMY Eli Gonzalez, Principal 3040 Sycamore School Rd Ft. Worth, TX 76133 | 817.370.7177
11. GARLAND CHRISTIAN ADVENTIST SCHOOL Zoya Walker, Principal 1720 E. Centerville Rd Garland, TX 75041 | 972.271.3403
12. HOUSTON ADVENTIST ACADEMY Smith Castillo, Principal 11735 Grant Rd Cypress, TX 77429 | 713.896.0071
13. JOSHUA ADVENTIST MULTIGRADE SCHOOL Carol Schneider, Principal 1912 Conveyer Rd Joshua, TX 76058 | 817.556.2109
14. KATY ADVENTIST CHRISTIAN SCHOOL Nidia Moller, Principal 1913 East Ave Katy, TX 77493 | 281.392.5603
15. KEENE ADVENTIST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL Todd Coulter, Principal 302 Pecan St Keene, TX 76059 | 817.645.9125
16. KILLEEN ADVENTIST JUNIOR ACADEMY Lizzette Garcia, Principal 3412 Lake Rd Killeen, TX 76543 | 254.699.9466
17. KNOWLEDGE SEEKERS CHRISTIAN SCHOOL Ebony Huffin, Principal 1471 West Corporate Dr Lewisville, TX 75067 | 972.353.3981
18. NORTH DALLAS ADVENTIST ACADEMY Wayna Gray, Head of School 2800 Custer Pkwy Richardson, TX 75080 | 972.234.6322
19. SCENIC HILLS CHRISTIAN ACADEMY Christopher Perez, Principal 11223 Bandera Rd San Antonio, TX 78250 | 210.523.2312
20. SOUTH TEXAS CHRISTIAN ACADEMY Fred Esquivel, Principal 7001 North Ware Rd McAllen, TX 78504 | 956.682.1117
21. STONEHILL CHRISTIAN ACADEMY Chinyere Uyaniker, Principal 4301 Kelly Lane Pflugerville, TX 78660 | 512.763.2776
22. TYLER ADVENTIST SCHOOL Rebecca Runnals, Principal 2931 South S.E. Loop 323 Tyler, TX 75701 | 903.595.6706
Family Ministries in the Texas Conference would be impossible without the wonderful support of my wife, Ketty, who has actively assisted me in this area for the past 15 years. Our motto, “Turning Hearts Toward Home,” is inspired by the invitation Jesus gives in Luke 1:17 for us to join Him in helping every family member turn toward God and one another, to make people ready for the coming of the Lord.
Our theme for the last four years has been “Making Family Education Fun and Creative.” The foundation of a healthy family is a solid spiritual and emotional connection with God and with one another.
To achieve this goal, several members of our team got together with other volunteers to produce six family games. The family
spinners help families connect in a fun and creative way. Couples time, family fun, and family worship are the most popular spinner-game themes.
At the International Pathfinder Camporee in Oshkosh, Wis., in 2019, more than 8,000 families from around the world took home the family worship version of the spinner, courtesy of the Texas Conference, the Southwestern Union and the North American Division.
During this term, we introduced Family Festivals. We joined with Texas Conference Children’s Ministries to travel across Texas, offering a Sunday of fun, community service and education for families of all ages.
A lovely group of engaged couples attended a special retreat for them at Lake Whitney Ranch in Clifton, Texas. One couple liked the ranch so much that they decided to hold their wedding there.
We are so grateful for our team of speakers, who during these last four years
Family Ministries Director & Local Church Pastor have provided over 120 family workshops and spoken in over 100 churches in the Texas Conference.
During the pandemic lockdown of 2020, we still held over 25 online workshops and created the 30-Day Family Challenge to help families stay emotionally and spiritually healthy during the lockdown.
In 2021, we partnered with Marriage Academy to train lay members to facilitate marriage enrichment activities in local churches. Over 200 couples joined the academy and downloaded the Marriage Academy app to foster a healthy marriage.
In 2022, with the support of Ministry & Evangelism and Ministerial Spouses, we offered four marriage enrichment luncheons for pastoral couples. The event included marriage and ministry enrichment talks by Alessandra DeMoraes and Javier Donate. Another highlight of 2022 was that more than 700 couples registered to attend the ForeverONE Marriage tour in Houston, San Antonio, Fort Worth and McAllen.
We thank God for providing resources and volunteers, and we are grateful that our amazing Texas Conference administration wholeheartedly believes that investing in healthy families helps create a healthy and thriving Texas Conference.
In the department for Hispanic Ministries & Spanish Evangelism, we feel blessed to collaborate with every ministry to serve our constituents and promote the vision and initiatives of the Texas Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in the Spanish language.
God has blessed our efforts, and as of December 2022, the Texas Conference has 144 Spanish-speaking churches and companies plus 31 new groups. With the help of our great team of 84 pastors, the message of the soon coming of Jesus is
preached in every corner of our territory.
During the current quadrennial, which includes two years of the pandemic, the Hispanic work has experienced tremendous growth (a) reaching 29,891 members, (b) with a total of 4,660 baptisms and (c) a tithe increase of 22 percent, surpassing the $20 million mark in 2021 and 2022.
To fulfill the mission established by Jesus Christ in Matthew 28:18-20, under the slogan Cuenta tu Historia (Tell Your Story), we organized two training events per year to reach each of our 10 areas within the Texas Conference. The first training event focused on evangelism, and the second was oriented toward local church elders. This year, we began a new training format with tutorials on leadership sharing through our virtual platforms.
We strongly encourage each church to complete at least two evangelistic cycles yearly. In addition, we organize a special evangelistic emphasis in two regional areas each year through the MAS (More) initiative. In recognition of the complexity of our sociocultural fabric, we also encourage our congregations to plant Englishspeaking groups in their facilities.
Responding to the restrictions created by the pandemic, we began the virtual evangelistic effort CONECTADOS (Connected) in 2020. Since then, we’ve held 11 virtual events on social media with the participation of our area pastors in partnership with Ismael Castillo, Alejandro Bullón, Bruno Raso, Arnaldo Cruz and Elmo Rodríguez.
We believe in providing opportunities for the continuous academic growth
of our members and leaders, so in 2019, we established the Instituto de Discipulado Adventista de Texas (Adventist Discipleship Institute of Texas). And over the past three years, in partnership with Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Mich., we have offered the following courses: “Small Groups Leadership,” “Church Leadership” and “Fundamentals of Adventism.” By the grace of God, we have more than 350 students connecting virtually to receive academic instruction in the current course.
Finally, to create a safe environment and promote the well-being of our pastors, we started the program Ni un Ministro Más (Not One More Minister), which seeks an honest dialogue about the needs and challenges that pastors suffer in silence. A virtual connection every three months sends a daring message: WE WILL NOT LOSE ANOTHER PASTOR for lack of information or support in prayer.
I would like to express my deepest gratitude for the constant support and friendship of our team and, above all, thanks to God.
Texas Conference Human Resources is committed to providing excellent customer service for our employees. We are here to serve our pastors, teachers and office staff.
Even before an employee is hired, Human Resources creates and posts job descriptions, interviews potential employees and completes the onboarding process for all employees.
We assist Texas Conference administrators in developing policies and procedures and help coordinate the recruitment and selection of staff.
We oversee employee relations, compensation, health insurance benefits, compliance with all employment and labor laws, immigration, family medical leave, life insurance and both short-term and long-term disability.
Over the past four years, we have processed hundreds of new hires for the Texas Conference and have helped our employees become more informed and familiar with available benefits. We also implemented training in different
categories, including diversity and inclusion, and have become more involved in helping to ensure a safe working environment for all employees.
The Texas Conference processes payroll for conference-funded and locally funded employees twice a month. Conferencefunded are full-time or part-time pastors, teachers and office staff. Locally funded employees are individuals our churches and schools request to hire to serve local needs.
In 2022, we began updating
employee handbooks for pastors and office staff, both salary and hourly. Teachers already have the Education Code handbook, which the Southwestern Union Conference Office of Education updates regularly. Updated policies are essential so that both employees and employers can be clear on expectations.
Please keep our pastors, teachers and office staff in your prayers, since they are on the front lines representing the Texas Conference. It is an honor to serve them.
Information Systems is responsible for the technology used in the daily operations of the Texas Conference office. We supply and manage the computers used by all department directors, associates and staff. We install, manage and maintain the computer network devices to allow and restrict access as necessary for security. We negotiate with service providers and suppliers for telecommunications services and equipment (i.e., internet service, phone service, hosting, management, computers, servers, switches and phones).
In addition to the office staff, we manage and supply all Texas Conference employees with Microsoft 365 email accounts. For business continuity, we manage, maintain, secure and back up all files generated by Texas Conference office employees. Since people are our greatest security asset, we manage ongoing security awareness training for all Texas Conference employees who have access to the Texas Conference office network.
Throughout the past four years, we implemented in-depth, encrypted, redundant, and offline backups for files and virtual machines. We have implemented
multifactor authentication for any remote network access for file access security. We have contracted with a third party for network security to manage, monitor and secure external network access. For user sanity and happiness in case of accidents, we started keeping backup copies of all files every 30 minutes during the workday.
Our goal is to continually improve the services we support, while being vigilant to conserve the resources we are given for accomplishing these tasks.
In beautiful Clifton, Texas, Lake Whitney Ranch is an excellent place to enjoy fresh air and activities such as hiking and camping near Lake Whitney. The ranch is full of sunshine and adventure, just waiting to be explored.
Lake Whitney Ranch can accommodate those who want to
pitch a tent or park their RV. Even guests who don’t have camping gear or an RV but still want to explore God’s beauty can book a cabin or a room in one of our lodges or a house on the property. It doesn’t matter what you want in a camping experience; you will find it at the ranch.
Previously the ranch’s central kitchen was inside the chuck wagon beside the Event Center. Staff had to carry food into the Event Center from outside. Today, we provide food service from a completed commercial kitchen inside the Event Center.
The Nature Center used to be in the small basement of the Tree House, where most items stayed packed in boxes due to space constraints. An unused two-door garage near the caboose has been converted into a temporary
Nature Center. Items that had been previously stored away in boxes are now showcased in newly purchased display cases. Every group that visits the ranch is encouraged to stop by and enjoy the improved Nature Center, which also functions as a meeting room or, during summer camp, as a nature classroom.
In past years, the summer camp utilized a small room in the Event Center as its camp store and used the kitchen’s dry food closet as an office; Now, a cabin near the main entrance houses a temporary summer camp office and store. Built from a 40-by8 metal container, the outside is constructed to look like a Western-themed storefront. We must be creative with what the Lord has provided when funds are limited.
More than a year ago, Lake Whitney Ranch received
a donation to purchase a 16by-32 building. With the help of wonderful volunteers, we transformed the building into a nurse’s station permanently located in the camporee area. Partitions inside divide the space into two patient rooms with sinks, a central waiting area, one bathroom and a room for the resident nurse.
The chuck wagon was relocated to the camporee area, as well, and placed near the nurse’s station. This gives any large group that wants to stay on the camporee side of the ranch the option to rent a commercial kitchen, which proves helpful when feeding volunteers.
Two other features on the camporee side include a Pathfinder Museum created to showcase pins and other historical memorabilia from all over the world and an entrance sign for the area. This beautiful Texas Conference sign was displayed at the International Pathfinder Camporee in Oshkosh, Wis., in 2019, then brought back and installed at Lake Whitney Ranch as a permanent welcome sign.
Volunteers are responsible for completing much of the work at the ranch, including transformation of the caboose to a one-bedroom “cabin” with a full bathroom. It sits in a great spot with a breathtaking view of Lake Whitney.
In 2022, we acquired a house located on our boundary line and beside one of the camp’s already owned houses. Our volunteers reframed the inside of the house, creating four bedrooms and two bathrooms to accommodate up to 14 people. We are continuing to provide accommodations for
groups of all sizes. Now, for the most exciting news. Using two different models, we are constructing four bath and shower buildings in the camporee area. Two of the buildings will house a total of 24 complete family bathrooms. The other two buildings will have 24 separate showers, toilet stalls and sinks. We are very excited to watch this dream turn into a reality!
Visitors have wanted bath and shower houses on the camporee side of the ranch for years. The infrastructure for this worthy goal required laying 3,000 feet of gravity-fed pipes to connect the bathhouses to the sewage treatment plant. Most donors understandably prefer to donate money for other things, but this project was necessary and expensive due to the rocky soil at the ranch.
At the same time, the ranch connected its RV sites to the new gravity-fed pipes. Previously, the RV sites offered only water and
electricity, but now more than 30 RV sites have full hookups and 30and 50-amps capacity. We also added an RV dump station.
As Lake Whitney Ranch waited for completion of this infrastructure, it acquired a portable shower trailer with eight stalls to provide better service for small groups camping in tents at different locations.
As funds allow, the ranch will continue to make improvements. Masterplan Phase 2 calls for six summer camp cabins available for year-round use. This would increase the housing capacity to 256 beds. Masterplan Phase 3 outlines construction of a multipurpose building.
Together, we can continue to make Lake Whitney Ranch a light in the heart of Texas.
Thank you for being so supportive during the past three years. We accomplished so much due to our dedicated volunteers and generous donors. God bless you all!
Ellen G. White wrote, “Let every believer scatter broadcast tracts and leaflets and books containing the message for this time. We need colporteurs, who will go forth to circulate our publications everywhere,” The Review and Herald, Nov. 12, 1903.
Literature Ministries works with students and many church members to help spread the gospel’s message through literature. We aim to see every church member involved in one or more of three areas. The first program motivates churches and members to get involved with mass literature distribution. The second program is known as Youth Rush, where our students get to experience a life-changing mission
trip every summer, right here in Texas. The third is the literature evangelist program, where anyone can make Literature Ministries a full-time work.
Over the past four years, we have worked with our Youth Rush teams in cities throughout Texas, and by God’s grace, we have been able to place 110,684 books in homes. While canvassing, each student can leave books, pray with people and find Bible study interests. Since 2019 we have initiated approximately 4,500 Bible study leads, which go to either the local church or a Bible worker.
Since 2019, Youth Rush students have raised $1,806,886.32 in donations to help them pay their tuition at Seventh-day Adventist
JOSHUA REYNA Director
universities and academies. Moreover, the program infuses our youth with a desire and passion for ministry. We believe the best way to keep youth active in the church is to put them directly in the ministry of saving souls.
The year 2020 brought challenges to all aspects of the ministry. No one could have foreseen the number of changes our world went through in such a short time. In the Literature Ministries program, our adult colporteurs suffered the most. Before 2020, we had about 25 adult colporteurs.
However, when COVID-19 came, only one or two continued working through the pandemic. Now we have about a dozen adult colporteurs, and slowly but surely that number is growing.
Dana, one of our summer students, was canvassing when she met a man on a street who asked excitedly if she happened to have a book called The Great Controversy. She replied, “Yes, but I’m out of them right now. Let me call my leader and get more.” As they waited for
her leader to bring the book, the man told her that he had been watching Stephen Bohr on YouTube and that he had recommended The Great Controversy. The leader brought the book, then they prayed together and the man left.
Through this ministry, we see that God works in many ways, and in many cases, the colporteur gets to be the answer to someone’s prayer. We have seen many people who are already looking for the books we came to offer. In this ministry, we see God working firsthand to save souls. The impact made on those who participate, as well as those whom we contact, is eternal.
While much has changed over the past four years, the mission of Men’s Ministries | English has not. Our driving force is to help every man of the Texas Conference become the man God has called him to be.
In the book Education, these words of Ellen G. White inspire us: “The greatest want of the world is the want of men—men who will not be bought or sold, men who in their inmost souls are true and honest, men who do not fear to call sin by its right name, men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole, men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall.”
As we reflect on the past and plan for the next four years, we continue to challenge the men in the Texas Conference to participate in events created just for them.
Men’s Ministries | English collaborated with and supported the Southwestern Union Conference Men’s Retreat at Lakeview Camp and Retreat Center, held May 2019 in Waxahachie, Tex. Over 1,000 men around the Southwestern Union found the weekend event a time of
spiritual renewal, fellowship and prayer. Attendees were blessed to hear from Minner Labrador, John Nixon, Bill Kilgore and special guest Ken Bevel, an actor from the film Courageous.
In November 2019, Men’s Ministries | English held a conference-wide rally at the Houston Central Seventh-day Adventist Church with the theme “Unbroken.” More than 800 men came to hear uplifting music, practical seminars and inspiring sermons from Doug Batchelor, Whitley Phipps and Eddie Hypolite.
Beginning in 2020, events shifted online because of the pandemic. Every Tuesday at 5:20 a.m., men joined a Zoom meeting to pray. A Virtual Week of Prayer summit in November 2021 featured presentations from Mike Tucker, Tony Anobile, Sr., Randy Roberts, Elton DeMoraes, John Bradshaw and others.
In 2022, there was a leadership transition as Tom Grove succeeded Sean Harris. Men’s Ministries | English grew under the leadership of Harris, and we continue to build on the foundation his leadership laid.
In 2023, we finally returned to inperson events. ReCharge events, held in the first half of this year in the various regions of the Texas Conference, encouraged men to recharge their spirituality after a challenging couple of years. These events were designed to equip local leaders to grow vibrant Men’s Ministries in local churches.
We are excited to see what God has in store for Men’s Ministries | English in this next quadrennium.
Men’s Ministries brings experience, curriculum and logistics to the 70 Spanish churches that report active men’s ministries. These churches conduct programs that instruct, inform and warn about contemporary trends for men.
We are the second conference to achieve certification from the North American Division Men’s Ministries Leadership Certification program. This certification course was designed by the North American Division to equip local church leaders with the knowledge and skills necessary to lead out in men’s ministries in their communities.
The first Sabbath of September is Men’s Ministries National Prayer Day. For several years now, former Men’s Ministries | Spanish coordinator Sergio Rodriguez wrote the sermon churches used for that day.
The annual Men’s Ministries | Spanish retreat sees up to 800 men attending. During the retreat, an offering is collected for international
projects and disaster relief.
In our six geographical areas of the Texas Conference, we coordinate breakfasts for men and offer training and curriculum to those participating.
We also offer a resource for helping people who struggle with certain addictions. Very soon, once it is translated from English to Spanish, every church in the Texas Conference will have a copy of Joshua’s Men: Mentoring Men for Spiritual Leadership Leader’s Guide. Available in English at AdventSource.org, this guide is the most comprehensive curriculum for implementing small groups for men. Created by Tom Grove, Texas Conference Men’s Ministries | English volunteer coordinator and associate director for Ministry & Evangelism, it was designed to equip spiritual leaders for
JOBNEL TINEO Volunteer Coordinator & Local Church Pastor
ministry. “The local church needs to have leaders who will lead in their homes, in their workplaces, in their communities, and in their churches,” says Grove.
Texas Conference Men’s Ministries | Spanish believes, “We do not set up a program; we facilitate a spiritual connection with God.”
In 2022, the Evangelism and Ministerial departments merged to form Ministry & Evangelism, focusing on “Helping pastors and churches grow.” We offer training, resources and support in ministry and evangelism.
During the past four years, in conjunction with Hispanic Ministries & Spanish Evangelism, we continued to hold practical evangelism training events in various areas of the Texas Conference, “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry,” Ephesians 4:12. Our church elders, leaders and members are eager to become better equipped to serve for kingdom growth.
The Texas Conference provides several resources to support our pastors and churches in ministry, evangelism and Sabbath School. One is Natural Church Development, which helps congregations discover their strengths, weaknesses and identity and then guides them toward healthy growth. We also offer access to Link2Lead, which makes demographic data available so churches can better understand their communities and strategically plan their outreach efforts.
One of our department’s key functions is to develop our pastors’ professional skills. Those who have yet to be ordained or commissioned participate in a two-year cycle of eight quarterly training sessions. A pastor must complete this Pastoral Ministry Development course to be considered for ordination or commissioning. The format has been modified recently to target the seven core qualities the North American Division considers essential for effective pastoral ministry: character, evangelism, leadership, worship, management, scholarship and relationship.
Joshua’s Men groups provide further pastoral development. This yearlong mentoring journey is experienced in small groups using a Men’s Ministries curriculum, which is adjusted somewhat to fit our pastors’ needs. In addition, the Focusing Leaders program offers monthly network meetings to help pastors lead their
churches in discovering God’s unique calling for individual members and identifying opportunities to serve their community.
It can be easy to forget that pastors are human and that their families go through the same kinds of life crises that we all experience. In
addition to supporting pastors and their families through personal visits, in 2020 we offered mental health retreats. A Seventh-day Adventist psychologist provided information and training to assist our pastors and, in turn, their members in maintaining mental health during the increased stress of recent years.
The Great Commission Jesus gave in Matthew 28:18-20 has always stayed the same. However, we must develop new methodologies and implement innovative ways to carry out that commission today.
Byron Corbett is available to conduct evangelistic series of varying lengths in our churches. While on-site, he also trains
members who wish to improve their ability to take part in fulfilling the Great Commission.
We are excited about new initiatives such as The Promise Prophecies, an innovative digital series using online lead generation, podcasts and more. Streams of Light International is helping us distribute The Great Controversy book to each household in the Texas Conference. We are also partnering with Amazing Facts and ShareHim to grow God’s kingdom here in Texas.
Tom Grove and I consider it our greatest privilege to serve as pastors to the pastors of the Texas Conference, as well as to provide training and resources to our church members. Byron Corbett is delighted to serve as your English evangelist. Along with our administrative assistant, Esperanza Garza, we are grateful to be honored with the high calling of ministering to the pastors and members of the Texas Conference.
From the beginning, God planned for mankind to be stewards of the world He’d just made. What an honor! Even in a perfect world, God blessed Adam and Eve with essential stewardship responsibilities.
We love God and cherish the gifts He has given us. We recognize Him as the source of every good thing. It’s not about what we manage or how much we have. The principle of stewardship covers our whole lives, and the last “crowning” act of stewardship is done through our estate plan.
In the Texas Conference, three pastors currently serve as trust officers and stewardship coordinators, each caring for a specific region within the conference. They serve constituents by speaking at churches, Adventist Youth (AY) meetings, prayer meetings and special events, providing information about stewardship and estate planning.
During the past quadrennium, churches, schools and ministries within the Texas Conference received more than $3.7 million in gifts through the estates of our faithful members. In the same period, the Trust Services team wrote 516 estate plans, established
three Charitable Gift Annuities and made updates to 312 existing estate plans.
Stewardship is a total lifestyle. It involves our temple, time, talents, trust, truth, testimony and treasure.
We are so grateful to have faithful stewards in the Texas Conference, such as church members Cheryl and David in East Texas. After they married, they found employment in Marshall, Texas. When it was time to buy a home, they found few options, so they prayed to God. They asked Him to expand their family and provide a home where they could serve Him.
First, God helped them find land that was just the right size. David shared, “We felt the Lord placed us right here.” Then, God helped them find more land across the street. When Cheryl’s widowed
aunt needed to move away from the cold and snow of her home in Maine to be closer to family, God answered her prayer through Cheryl and David. They helped move a one-bedroom home onto the property. After she passed away, they continued to use this “mission home” as a temporary shelter for Hurricane Katrina victims and a residence for family, friends, gospel workers and others.
In 2021 the Marshall, Linden, Marietta-New Hope, Atlanta and other Seventh-day Adventist churches met for a district church camp. On Sabbath afternoon, two young men were baptized, and one of them worked with the
Literature Ministries program to help pay his academy tuition. David shared, “We never imagined we would see baptisms on this property. Praise God that we get to serve in this capacity.”
The beauty of stewardship is that it helps us live a better life today and displays our trust in God tomorrow. God takes what we are willing to trust Him with and does incredible things! Stewards of God, let us experience the joy of giving and advance the Lord’s work. Let us continue to trust Him today and tomorrow.
. In the same period, the Trust Services team wrote 516 estate plans, established three Charitable Gift Annuities and made updates to 312 existing estate plans.
Following the ascension of Christ, Acts reveals that praying together was indispensable to the early church. Over and over, wording such as “being devoted” described the believers’ attitude toward approaching God together.
Embracing this concept of oneness, the Texas Conference Prayer Ministries committee chose J17:21 Together As One as the theme to highlight this area of ministry. J17:21 refers to John 17:21, which says, “that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You.”
The team envisions a conference mobilized and motivated to pray together for specific spiritual and strategic objectives consistent with the mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The Prayer Ministries committee has met weekly by Zoom to pray together and solicit God’s guidance in encouraging others to pray.
A wonderful 10-day season of prayer in support of our Texas Conference schools and Christian education began Aug. 17, 2022, and concluded with a 24-hour prayer vigil in both English and Spanish.
To help us focus our prayers, a Texas Conference Prayer Map lists all of our churches, schools, departments and ministries so that people can pray each day for a specific one. Designed like a subway map, this interactive tool allows individuals to check off in Acrobat Reader when their prayer is complete.
Throughout the year, we have supported churches and the Southwestern Union Prayer Conference by attending and providing training about Prayer Ministries Sabbaths. It is wonderful to see so many excited and united in prayer.
We are grateful for those who participated in the prayer events, and we encourage each to join the Ignite intercessory prayer team. Find more information about the daily, weekly, monthly and annual events and sign up or share prayer requests on our website at TexasAdventist.org/Prayer.
I want to thank the local church Prayer Ministries leaders, the Texas Conference Prayer Ministries committee, the Texas Conference Communication & Public Relations team and our Texas Conference president, Elton DeMoraes, for the commitment to unite in prayer. The Holy Spirit has worked in a mighty way through Texas Conference Prayer Ministries, and we know He is only getting started.
J17:21 Together As One envisions the Texas Conference as united and ignited by the Holy Spirit, praying passionately, powerfully and perpetually. We believe that as we realize the prayer request of Jesus in John 17:21, the Latter Rain will fill our homes, schools and churches throughout the Texas Conference.
Texas has the highest prison population in the country, with more than 250,000 individuals currently incarcerated. Recognizing the immediate need to bring the light of Jesus into the many correctional facilities within the great state of Texas, the Texas Conference launched its Prison Ministries program in 2023.
More than 20 churches are sharing the Seventh-day Adventist message within the walls of the prison system. Their scriptural inspiration is found in Isaiah 42:7 NLT, “You will open the eyes of the blind. You will free the captives from prison, releasing those who sit in dark dungeons.”
The vision of Texas Conference Prison Ministries is to train, empower and propel all disciples to release those who sit in dark dungeons. Its mission is to train and equip church members within the Texas Conference to minister to incarcerated individuals.
To empower church members to take the gospel message into Texas correctional institutes, Texas Conference Prison Ministries is partnering with Karen Swanson, director of the Correctional Ministries Institute in Wheaton College, to provide necessary training.
More than 90 church members have already received their Texas
JOSÉ M. ROJAS Volunteer Coordinator Local Church Pastor
Conference Prison Ministries volunteer certification. The training covers basic ministry skills, an introduction to correctional ministry, traumainformed care, crosscultural ministry, and generational poverty values.
“It is our goal to spark an interest within the members of our churches by training them and showing what correctional ministry is,” Swanson shared. “It simply means providing compassionate, holistic care through the transforming power of the gospel message with those vulnerable to a pathway of crime, or impacted by crime and its aftermath, all grounded in the love of Jesus and the pursuit of justice.”
The Texas Conference Prison Ministries team wants to train church members in each of the major areas in Texas to launch thriving prison ministries. Those volunteers can then train and empower transformed prisoners to study the Bible with other inmates. Together, it would ignite a movement for 1,000 inmates to make decisions for Jesus through baptism within the next four years.
Texas Conference Transportation has been moving church employees and members throughout the United States for almost 70 years.
We are a fully equipped, professional moving company. The main differences between the well-known moving companies and us are that we don’t travel on Sabbath and we pray before and after each move, asking for God’s protection and peace for all involved in the moving process.
Our current fleet of trucks includes three semi-tractors and five trailers, a one-ton truck and two smaller enclosed trailers.
The philosophy behind the slogan “We move with care everywhere” continues.
We consider ourselves more than just a transportation company. People ask about the Texas
Conference of Seventh-day Adventists logo on our trucks, and we are happy to share about our ministry and love of Jesus Christ. Only in heaven will we know exactly how lives were touched as a result of our witness at truck stops, restaurants and many other stops along the way.
It can be challenging, especially during peak times, to move everyone when they need to be moved, but we do our best to serve others, knowing we are representing Christ in everything we do.
Our drivers, David Lambeth and Anthony Rosado, are a great asset to our team and really showed their faith in God and commitment to our work as they logged more than 100,000 miles and moved more than 500,000 pounds of freight in 2020, when many were afraid to leave their homes during a pandemic.
In addition to moving people all over the United States, the Transportation department provides logistical support for all Texas Conference departments,
including managing the conference vehicles titled by the Texas Conference Association.
We are especially honored to assist the Texas Adventist Community Services and Disaster Response department in times of crisis, doing our part to help those in need.
We are grateful for the opportunity to serve the Texas Conference in this ministry.
“Our drivers, David Lambeth and Anthony Rosado, are a great asset to our team and really showed their faith in God and commitment to our work as they logged more than 100,000 miles and moved more than 500,000 pounds of freight in 2020, when many were afraid to leave their homes during a pandemic.”
What a difference two years made. Twentyfour long months of COVID-19 and its worldwide impact forever changed our lives. As the world slowly started to re-emerge from lockdowns and mandates in September 2021, Texas Conference President Elton DeMoraes called me to be the Women’s Ministries | English volunteer coordinator.
Excited to serve, one of my first tasks was connecting with the Women’s Ministries leaders for nearly 200 English-speaking churches. It was a pleasure to speak, attend prayer breakfasts and participate in the local church’s social activities. I was delighted to see the dedication and enthusiasm these leaders had for ministry within their local churches and outreach in their communities.
I was often asked, “Are we having a women’s retreat?” Following a 30-day conference-wide prayer and fasting initiative in the fall of 2022, we finally had an in-person retreat in the historic Plano area, where the Texas Conference was formed 144 years ago. Heather-Dawn Small, Women’s Ministries director for the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, along with Felicia Lee, a ministry leader with Adventist-
Laymen’s Services & Industries (ASI), and recording artist Ladye Love-Smith are just a few of the presenters from that power-packed weekend retreat.
So many talented women minister within the Texas Conference. We were able to highlight a few of them in a video series titled “A Priceless Love Story.” Used as a soft evangelism tool, the videos share uplifting messages, testimonials, music and recipes that thousands have viewed on the Adventist Women of Texas Facebook page and TexasAdventist YouTube channel.
Helping our sisters in need is a key aspect of Women’s Ministries. Leaders band together to help where needed—physically, mentally and spiritually.
This past February, we hosted young women at Lake Whitney Ranch in Clifton, Texas, for “Single and
SANDRALEE MARS CoordinatorSpiritually Strong.” The goal of this “sleepover” retreat was to equip our young women with the tools to stand strong holistically for Jesus in a post-Christian society.
I appreciate the unwavering support of Cheryl Allgood, who has worked with Women’s Ministries for many years, and would like to acknowledge Sandy Reyes, my predecessor, for giving me the opportunity to be part of her beautiful ministry. Creating the prayer rooms for her retreats was a highlight for me. To my Texas Conference staff family, I thank you for your help and support. Last, but not least, I thank my family for understanding my passion for ministry.
It is my humble prayer that as we see indications of the imminent return of our lovely Jesus, all who come on this journey would find me faithful, a light to help them find their way.
Since the fall of 2021, I have had the honor of serving as the Women’s Ministries | Spanish coordinator for the Texas Conference. God has blessed our opportunities to fellowship through spiritual breakfasts, dedicated prayer days and annual spiritual retreats.
Starting in February of 2022, we hosted Sunday morning breakfasts all over the Texas Conference territory to encourage, teach and spiritually enrich our Hispanic female church members. This initiative reached six key areas of Texas: McAllen, Fort Worth/Keene, San Antonio, Austin, East Texas and Houston. The events, which provided a time of fellowship and enrichment, served 100-260 women in each area. Avelina Diaz, a medical internist, joined us to speak on women’s health issues. The General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists sets the annual International Women’s Day of Prayer for early March. To celebrate this special day, we invite women to speak for the main worship
service. Also, during intercessory prayer time our churches display a prepared video that communicates the importance of prayer in a woman’s life and the impact it can have for individual families and churches.
We held our first in-person annual retreat since the pandemic on Sept. 23-25, 2022, at Camp Hoblitzelle in Midlothian, Texas. The theme for this weekend was “Mujer con Propósito” (Women with Purpose). In the past, these spiritual weekends have been held in hotels and convention centers, but we wanted to give our ladies a different experience— in nature, with no distractions. Approximately 550 participants represented more than 71 Spanish churches. The ladies received information about their spiritual, physical and mental health. We also had a special program for young girls, ages 13-19, featuring purposeful and enriching topics
NILDA E. DIEP Coordinator
catered to their stage of life. In addition to the main programs, we enjoyed a prayer experience, a prayer walk and a social night. Before the Sabbath ended, we celebrated four spontaneous baptisms.
Between these events, we provided to all new local women’s ministries directors the women’s ministries manual, along with mentorship through Zoom meetings. We also created group chats on WhatsApp so participants can communicate on a regular basis.
The Lord has blessed us greatly, and we look forward to continuing His work of enriching the lives of Hispanic women in the Texas Conference.
Texas Conference Young Adult Ministries launched in December 2019, just months before the COVID-19 lockdown began. God has been gracious, and we took great strides, gained momentum, and made crucial connections for and with the next generation.
Young Adult Ministries connects generations for and to Christ. The first connection we were able to make was with high school seniors who graduated from Youth Ministries and entered Young Adult Ministries. Some transitioned to Southwestern Adventist University in Keene, Texas, or to another Seventh-day Adventist university. Still, about 80 percent of our high school seniors attend a public or non-
JUSTIN YANG Director ABIGAIL ESPINOSA Administrative Assistant
Seventh-day Adventist college or university.
For this reason, we launched chapters of Adventist Christian Fellowship (ACF) on public campuses, and to date, we have an Adventist presence on 16 campuses in Texas. These chapters are our largest mission fields, with 30,000 to 40,000 students on each campus.
Host churches (or Seventh-day Adventist faculty and staff) extend their support and encouragement by welcoming students, providing
community and empowering them with discipleship and leadership development. If you’d like to adopt a campus or help launch a chapter on a campus near you, please email ACF@txsda.org.
For freshmen who enroll at Southwestern Adventist University (SWAU), we provide an annual luncheon to officially welcome them into Young Adult Ministries. We also partner with Pathways to Success, the Spiritual Life and Development team and the Student Association to journey with these students while they are on campus. To date, we have served over 300 freshmen.
For seniors who are ready for graduation, we provide a senior luncheon to remind them that their diploma from SWAU is not a goodbye; we’re willing to go forward with them and grow together on their professional and spiritual journeys. We invite the seniors to join the Adventist Young Professionals (AYP) network, which now boasts more than 5,000 active members. For the past two years, in partnership with AYP, we have hosted two annual conventions that gathered more than 450 young professionals from all
over Texas and beyond. Through these events, we inspire, empower and connect young adults with a community that aligns with their professional interests and industries.
Last but not least, we foster a crucial connection with the local churches that want to become places where all generations grow and thrive together and have expressed a special interest in bonding with our young college students, young professionals, young couples and young families with children.
To this end, more than 25 churches are going through a Growing Young journey based on the book of the same name by Fuller Youth Institute. At
least 30 Spanish churches have just recently stepped into #CreciendoJuntos. Offered in partnership with the Southwestern Union Conference, multiple generations and leaders come together to learn and literally grow together. Church members learn how to empathize deeply with each other and begin the crucial conversations necessary to reconcile and collaborate intergenerationally.
We pray that our churches in Texas Conference will continue to make every effort to deeply empathize, listen and journey together with the next generation.
We are in this together. We’re not called to grow apart. We want to be growing together.
Paulo Tenorio, former Texas Conference Youth & Club Ministries director, took a call to the Guam-Micronesia Mission of Seventh-day Adventists in February 2023. Below is his report for 2019-2022.
When schools began to shut down in early 2020, Texas Conference Youth & Club Ministries kept going and created the first online camporee, called iCamporee. More than 12,000 people representing 60-plus countries registered for the event, which went right along with our motto of World Changers.
One year before we organized the first-ever Pathfinder Camporee in Egypt, we sent Gisele Aguilar there as a missionary. She helped us plan for and arrange the 2022 event with volunteers from Texas. Around 250 people attended, and the 24 resulting baptisms prompted a big celebration in Egypt and Sudan.
During two of the past four years, our department coordinated Empower training events. The last one in 2022 drew 1,300 people, and for the first time we
offered an Adventist Youth (AY) track. An attendee who shared appreciation for the AY track told us that leaders in the past have often lacked the resources to be effective and have felt alone and not heard.
Before the pandemic, we created small, tract-size promotional booklets that answer the question “Who are we?” for Adventurers and Pathfinders. The small size allows churches to easily share them with families in the community whenever they invite youth to join a club.
We also created an instruction notebook for prospective Master Guides, to help them complete the leadership training process.
For Global Youth Day, we prepared a booklet to suggest activities, share hashtags and provide information necessary for hosting a successful event.
Because so much is happening, the
department maintains four Youth & Club Ministries websites to share important information and events throughout the year.
For small-group Bible studies, we were able to give churches the booklet called Life. It contains Bible studies on addiction, sex before marriage, immigration and more. After one of the small groups doubled in size, the mother of a participant wrote me a thank-you note and shared how this booklet has helped the young people.
We’ve organized three team leadership conventions where
youth leaders are trained to mentor. We’ve also held two Engaged conferences, one in Austin and the other in Dallas, with attendance of 500 and 1,000 people, respectively. Both were successful, with volleyball tournaments and a variety of workshops that appealed to young people.
Two youth pastor retreats gave pastors timely information on how to give their young people tools for dealing with specific challenges. For example, after the pandemic, we invited a psychologist who was able to give pointers to our youth pastors so that they could better help the young people in their churches who struggle with mental health issues.
Last but not least, I must share about the Bible challenge in which thousands of our young people participated. We gave a wristband with the words “Bible Challenge” to all young people willing to commit to reading one chapter in the morning and one chapter in the evening. Some even pledged to abstain from social media to connect with God more powerfully and directly. One person who sent me a message of thanks for the challenge shared, “It helped me to have peace
of mind. It’s helped me in my relationships with my family and with my boyfriend. This challenge has been so helpful, because now I have created the habit of reading my Bible every day and not depending on anybody else, but just going to the source directly myself. I now have peace like never before, and that’s the beauty of the Word.”
The main focus of Youth & Club Ministries is to teach our young people to have a relationship with God. The pandemic helped our young people learn that if they go to Jesus directly, many good things can happen.
