Texas Conference Biennial Constituency 2019 - 2020 | Spring 2021 by THE FLAME | Texas Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

THE FLAME TEXAS CONFERENCE OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS

IGNITING A PASSION FOR LIVING AND SERVING IN TEXAS

REACHING TEXAS & BEYOND BIENNIAL CONSTITUENCY 2021 | VOL 8 ISSUE 2

JOIN OUR ONLINE FAMILY

@TexasAdventist

CONTENTS 4

PRESIDENTIAL | Carlos J. Craig

SECRETARIAT | David Montoya

TREASURY | Randall B. Terry

ADVENTIST BOOK CENTER | Mickey Johnson

ADVENTIST COMMUNITY SERVICES | Marshall Gonzales

COMMUNICATION & PUBLIC RELATIONS | Kenn Dixon

DESIGN & PRINT SERVICES | Bo Gendke

EDUCATION | Kisha Norris

ENGLISH EVANGELISM & SABBATH SCHOOL | Dan Serns

HISPANIC MINISTRIES & SPANISH EVANGELISM | Osvaldo Rigacci

HUMAN RESOURCES | Becky Bochaberi

LAKE WHITNEY RANCH | Hector Perez

MINISTERIAL & PASTORAL DEVELOPMENT | Nathan L. Krause

PLANNED GIVING & TRUST SERVICES/STEWARDSHIP | Lynette Ecord

PUBLISHING & STUDENT LITERATURE | Joshua Reyna

TRANSPORTATION | Dennis Habenicht

YOUNG ADULT MINISTRIES | Justin Yang

YOUTH & CLUB MINISTRIES | Paulo Tenorio

ADDITIONAL MINISTRIES & SERVICES

Connect with Us Website: TexasAdventist.org Facebook: @texasadventist Instagram: @texasadventist LinkedIn: @texasadventist Pinterest: @texasadventist Twitter: @texasadventist YouTube: @texasadventist THE FLAME: issuu.com/texasadventist Email: info@txsda.org Phone: 817.790.2255

THE FLAME is a quarterly publication produced by the Texas Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. Please direct questions or comments to flame@txsda.org or by mail to PO Box 800, Alvarado, TX 76009. ADMINISTRATION President: Carlos J. Craig Executive Secretary: David Montoya Treasurer: Randall B. Terry THE FLAME STAFF Editor: Kenn L. Dixon Managing Editor: Tamara Michalenko Terry Proofreader: Janelle Sundin

Cover Info: The theme, Reaching Texas and Beyond, seemed especially appropriate for this Biennial Constituency issue since most of our departments, ministries, services, local churches and schools have spent the past year sharing online. The bright spot to that is many have been able to reach beyond their walls—and even Texas borders—to reach people all over the world with the love of Jesus. We pray this issue will be educational and inspiring as you search for ways to share Jesus’ love and forgiveness with those in your territory. Cover photos from iStockphoto.com.

Cover Design: Sora E. Yañez Layout & Design: Tamara Michalenko Terry 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.

TexasAdventist.org

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PRESIDENTIAL By Carlos J. Craig

As we gather together to recognize the Lord’s bountiful blessings and recount His diligent care for His people here in Texas during COVID-19 and other challenges,

Biennial Constituency 2021

We have seen our educators adapt under the most trying conditions to meet the needs of our children with love and care. They have exhibited exceptional professionalism and patience to minister both in person and virtually to the future leaders of God’s work.

brim with gratitude and

Our pastors have held the torch of the Gospel high during these past two years, transitioning from the pulpit to the camera to sustain the dissemination of the Word of God.

profound appreciation.

God’s work in Texas and around the world has not only weathered

our hearts are full to the

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I want to give a Texas-sized “Thank You” to our teachers, pastors, church leaders and members in general for your steadfast faithfulness during these trying times. It is a testimony to your love for God and His Church!

the storm but flourished in the midst of it. Miraculously, despite the restrictions to in-person meetings, we have seen our average online attendance mushrooming to triple and even quadruple our average in-person and online audience before the restrictions began on any given Sabbath morning. The growth has been astounding! I have seen church leaders from Eagle Pass to Sherman and from Brownwood to Lufkin stretching themselves to meet the need of the day, thus enriching the work in ways unimagined just two years ago! God is good, and His people are amazing. Although a piece of the downsizing exercise we went through a year ago involved discontinuing a full-time allocation for children’s ministries, it has been so inspiring to see the local church grab up the torch and carry it forward in the interim. In addition, we were no longer able to continue a full-time Family Ministries director but assigned that resource into the field and continued to address the important family aspect on a half-time basis (see page 46). We wholeheartedly express our gratitude to Dr. Errol Bryce for his pioneering leadership in the area of Health Ministries on a volunteer basis. Many strides forward were undertaken through his leadership. As of March 2021, Dr. Randy Phillips, a member of our Executive Committee, has accepted the responsibility of overseeing health and wellness for the conference moving forward. In all honesty, our Women’s and Men’s Ministries have taken quite a hit during the pandemic and we look forward to a rebound in the months and years ahead! We want to recognize the outstand-

ing and visionary leadership of Sandy Reyes, who led Women’s Ministries with distinction for the past 14 years. As of June 2020, she relinquished her responsibilities. Pastors Sergio Rodriguez and Sean Harris continue to give leadership to Men’s Ministries. Letty Craig continues to provide leadership to our Ministerial Spouses’ association. Thank you, Letty, for 10 fine years of devoted service!

Connect with Us Website: TexasAdventist.org Email: president@txsda.org Phone: 817.790.2255

I conclude by letting you know that currently I am extremely privileged to serve with the finest team I have ever served with in ministry! They are such a joy to collaborate with—dedicated, positive, visionary, stable, zealous, prudent and honest. I thank God for each and every one of them every day! I speak of our ADCOM (Administrative Committee) group: David Montoya, Randy Terry, Osvaldo Rigacci, Nathan Krause, Kisha Norris and Kenn Dixon. Pray for them often because the challenges they face and the burdens that they shoulder are at times stifling. The presence and direction of God is their greatest need on a daily basis. Thank you for your prayers. We never take them for granted. They are our lifeline to heaven!

Carlos J. Craig President

Nilsa Johnson

Executive Administrative Assistant

TexasAdventist.org

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“Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.” Acts 8:17

SECRETARIAT

DECEMBER 12, 2020 | 12:00 P.M. Arlington Seventh-day Adventist Church 4409 Pleasantview Dr | Arlington, TX 76017

By David Montoya

e begin our report by quoting the prophet Samuel from the Old Testament: “Thus far the Lord has helped us,” 1 Samuel 7:12. These inspired words appropriately summarize our acknowledgment of and gratitude to God for His faithful presence working in us, through us and for us in carrying out His work in Texas. He is our Divine Helper. Hallelujah! After expressing thanksgiving to our Heavenly Father, we are moved to also say “Thank You” to all our church members, locally hired employees, Bible workers, teachers and pastors for your dedicated work in ministry at the local church level. The apostle Paul’s words are fitting: “We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying

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Biennial Constituency 2021

always for you … since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints,” Colossians 1:3, 4. Family Growth We praise God whenever a person gives his or her life to God and makes this very important decision through baptism or profession of faith. When an individual accepts Jesus as Savior and Lord, he or she is one more precious person who becomes part of the family of God. We are thrilled to share the increase in church family members as shown on the graphs on pages 7 and 8. In addition to those numbers, the average church attendance for 2019 was 18,717. Even though COVID-19 greatly impacted our churches and church members, the average attendance for 2020 was 14,186.

Connect with Us Website: TexasAdventist.org Email: secretariat@txsda.org Phone: 817.790.2255

Local Church Clerks For us to be able to keep track of these important statistics, we need the help and assistance of our dependable and loyal local church clerks. Currently, we have a fantastic team of 322 clerks. New Churches and New Companies As of December 31, 2020, we have 257 churches, 62 companies and 35 groups. These congregations are organized into 182 districts with 220 pastors, associate pastors and lay pastors, all serving alongside the local leadership. District Realignments In 2020, we went through a process of restructuring church districts. This consisted of removing a church from one district and adding it to another district so that each church, especially lay-led churches, could have adequate pastoral support and so that all communications from the Texas Conference office could be conveyed to all our congregations in an effective manner via the district pastor. At the end of the process, we were able to coordi-

nate 16 different district realignments. Constitution and Bylaws Committee Another responsibility of Secretariat is coordinating the Constitution and Bylaws Committee. This committee periodically reviews the Texas Conference Constitution and Bylaws and, if necessary, proposes changes that will help the church in fulfilling God’s purposes in a more focused fashion. These proposed changes are then voted by the delegates at a Constitu- David Montoya ency Session. Currently, Executive Secretary the Constitution and Bylaws Committee is comprised of 10 lay members, representing each area of the Texas Conference, plus 10 employees, representing each area of the conference, for a total of 20 members.

David Runnels

Rhonda Garner

Executive Administrative Assistant

Field Secretary (Quality Assurance)

Rubi Gomez

Conference Membership Clerk

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Religious Liberty Secretariat also assists with Religious Liberty and Public Affairs, working closely with the Southwestern Union Conference, North American Division and General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists regarding Sabbath observance issues. When church members have work or school issues, such as exams, during the Sabbath hours, we assist by sending letters requesting Sabbath accommodations. Pastoral Transitions As the work of the Lord continues to move forward and His church continues to grow, it is necessary to send workers to the different parts of God’s vineyard. As such, 17 new pastors became part of the Texas Conference team since June 1, 2019. Because the Lord sometimes directs His workers to new areas within the state of Texas, we coordinated 32 pastoral transitions so his or her spiritual gifts could be shared in a different part of Texas.

Church Planting In 2019, Texas Conference was the church planting leader throughout the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists, which

Retirements

includes territories of Bermuda, Canada, Guam/Micronesia and the

Another very important role of secretariat is assisting our employees in the retirement process. Since June 1, 2019, a total of 26 Defined Benefits Retirement applications were processed. It is a privilege and honor to help our workers transition into their next chapter, and we commend them for their many years of dedicated service to the church.

United States.

Doxology

There is no doubt that God is in control and

As we review the progress of the Lord’s cause here in Texas for the last two years, it is very appropriate to close with the lyrics of the Doxology: “Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below; Praise Him above ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.”

He blesses His work!

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Biennial Constituency 2021

Concerned as to how the pandemic would modify the church planting process, we put our trust in God. To His glory and honor, 12 new congregations were added to our Texas Conference sisterhood of churches in 2020. Five of these congregations are English speaking, five Spanish speaking, and two speak Burmese or Swahili languages.

Robin Lopez

Church Planting & Volunteer Lay Pastor Coordinator

ONLINE OR APP

AdventistGiving.org Texas Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

D E D R A W E R S S E N L YOUR FAITHFU GIVING OPTIONS ADVENTIST GIVING

OUR WEBSITE AND APP give you the opportunity to return all of your first fruits to the Lord as soon as you have them. Now you can return your tithe and give your offerings any time, day or night, to the church* of your choice.

*Church must be enrolled in AdventistGiving

Your Church Selection

LOCAL CHURCH

PERSONAL GIVING PLAN RECOMMENDS 3-5%

Local Church Budget

Texas Vision

LET EACH ONE GIVE as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7

Tithe & Love

Offerings to God

“Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:7 KJV

TREASURY

Texas Conference of Seventh-day Adventists PO Box 800 | Alvarado, TX 76009

TEX AS CONFERENCE

By Randall B. Terry

he mission of the Texas Conference Treasury Department is to safeguard the resources God has entrusted to us. The Treasury team is charged with the sacred duty to administer the tithe. Leviticus 27:30 NIV tells us, “A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.” This is a very daunting task that the Treasury team undertakes to honor on a daily basis. The past two years have been full of ups and downs. We have learned new phrases and adapted to different circumstances because of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite all this, we have continued to further the work here in the Texas Conference. Through the faithfulness of God,

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Biennial Constituency 2021

our Texas Conference constituents and modifications made by our administration and Executive Committee, we finished 2020 stronger than we started. It is always exciting to see church membership grow each year. Often with that growth, additional staffing is desired. The key to making that happen, though, is realizing that the Texas Conference pastors, office staff and a portion of our teachers’ salaries and benefits is covered by tithe funds. If tithe returns are low, that requires a reduction in the budget, which in turn results in a reduction in staffing. Since roughly 80 percent of the conference’s budget is employee salary and benefits, you can see where substantial budget reductions are required.

After a 12 percent increase in tithe for 2018 and a continual increase in membership in 2019, the demands for increased staffing were warranted. Unfortunately, though, there was a tithe decrease of 1.3 percent for 2019 compared to 2018, so we started 2020 with a budget deficit.

figure out how to solve that challenge, the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

In the midst of much prayer and many long discussions trying to

Thanks to innovative thinking, many churches started drive-up

With so much unknown as to how this disease was spreading, it was decided to close our churches. That created another challenge for our members desiring to return their tithes and give their offerings.

Connect with Us Website: TexasAdventist.org Email: treasury@txsda.org Phone: 817.790.2255 Auditing Phone: 817.382.9795 Auditing Email: auditing@txsda.org

Hispanic Churches

Non-Hispanic Churches

Ministries include Church Planting, Family Ministries, Lake Whitney Ranch, Men’s Ministries, Summer Camp, Women’s Ministries, Youth Ministries and Young Adult Ministries. Services include Adventist Community Services, Auditing, Communications & Public Relations, Design & Print Services, Information Systems and Publishing & Student Literature. Office/Administration includes Association operations, Human Resources, office operations, Presidential, Secretariat and Treasury.

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The totals listed include direct contributions in addition to the distribution of the Texas Vision offering.

Auditing During the past two years, the Auditing team completed financial reviews (normally called audits) for 101 of our churches. These reviews include, but are not limited to, the handling of remittances, offerings, payments and bank reconciliation. To improve financial review performance, the team has developed and implemented training sessions for church and school treasurers. Each year, church treasurers receive four one-hour classes, and last year, training began for school treasurers as well. Church treasurers have a choice of four types of classes: Basic or Advanced, English or Spanish. The topics include creating a chart of accounts, registering offerings, making deposits, AdventistGiving, registering checks, reconciling bank accounts, reporting, budgeting and policies and procedures. Once training is completed, the materials are posted to our website so all treasurers have access to the information, whether they were able to attend or not. So far, 443 treasurers, assistants and pastors from 233 organizations have benefited from these instructions. The team has also responded to 2,124 calls from 291 of our organizations, an average of 88 calls per month. Topics include, among others, questions from new treasurers, AdventistGiving, corrections to deposits or checks, reconciliation, procedural questions from pastors, accounting software installation, budgeting and questions regarding month-end Francisco Pollock Josue Estrada Dileanny Jimenez closing. Associate Treasurer, Auditing

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Biennial Constituency 2021

Auditor

offering times. Others visited members to collect the tithe and offerings, while some chose to give online. AdventistGiving.org is a web and app platform where members can return their tithes and offerings. Churches can sign up to offer this service at no cost to the church. This provides members with a way to return tithes and give offerings locally and abroad. When COVID-19 first began, we had approximately 115 of our 319 churches and companies signed up for AdventistGiving. Within weeks, we had processed approximately 130 new applications. At the end of 2020, 275 of our 319 churches and companies were signed up for AdventistGiving. During 2020, more than $34.8 million was donated using AdventistGiving. After everything was said and done, we ended 2020 with a 2.1 percent increase in tithe compared to 2019. This could have only been accomplished by God’s blessing on His people of the Texas Conference and their faithfulness in returning their tithes and offerings. Praise God from whom all blessings flow! In January of 2020, Barbara Craft, Associate Treasurer, Payroll, retired after 18 years of service in the Texas Conference. She oversaw the processing of payroll for more than 1,000 employees of the Texas Conference. She had one of the longest commutes of anyone who works in the conference office, yet she was so consistent with showing up at the office, each and every day. Save for a few wintry days or sicknesses, Barbara was always in the office. Madeline Ogando, Associate Treasurer, Payroll, has assumed Barbara’s position and has been

overseeing the processing of the conference payroll. Earlier this year, Roger Mekelburg retired after 20 years of service in the Texas Conference. He served as the Planned Giving & Trust Services director, as well as Association Secretary/Treasurer. The Texas Conference Association holds the title for all Texas Conference properties. He also assisted churches and schools with buying and selling properties and completing construction and remodeling projects. Beginning February 1, 2021, Raul Del Valle was hired as Property Manager to help churches and schools with their building and property needs. Lynette Ecord, who was Associate Director for Planned Giving & Trust Services, was elected as the director of the department. God hasn’t provided the right undertreasurer yet for our team, but we deeply appreciate our current team, including our local church and school treasurers, who have stepped up to diligently complete God’s work.

Randall B. Terry

Betsabe Cuevas

Madeline Ogando

Raul Del Valle

Irais Ortiz

Greg Garner

Liz Velez

Letty Craig

Treasurer

Associate Treasurer

Associate Treasurer, Payroll

Property Manager

Senior Accountant, Payroll

Senior Accountant, ABC Accounts Receivables

Executive Administrative Assistant Church Remittances

Administrative Assistant, Accounts Payable Risk Management

TexasAdventist.org

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ADVENTIST BOOK CENTER

By Mickey Johnson

our Texas Adventist Book Center (ABC) is the only ABC in the Southwestern Union Conference and serves Texas, Southwestern Union and beyond through its in-store customer service, “Direct to You” (D2U) delivery program and online ordering options. Texas ABC is the primary source of distribution for Seventh-day Adventist books, music, sharing literature, Bibles and vegetarian food. Products are sold to conferences, churches, schools, institutions, members and community friends. Those in the Southwestern Union territory can order books and

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food through the D2U program and have them delivered on a scheduled basis to a closer location than the store in Keene, Texas. Those not able to wait for the D2U scheduled delivery can order food as well as anything else offered in the store through the Texas ABC websites and have it delivered within days (based on your choice of delivery service). In addition, we offer a mail-order service to all customers and special orders for items not stocked locally. When COVID-19 canceled many events as well as the camp meetings we serve, we had to adjust

Services

Connect with Us

Maintains an inventory of books and other materials in both English and Spanish. Supports a significant display at all annual conference and locally sponsored major events like English and Hispanic camp meetings. Provides, when possible, displays for special weekend events such as marriage retreats, prayer retreats, family camps, English and Hispanic women’s retreats, VBS workshops and Pathfinder camporees. Participates in large outreach evangelism and sharing programs sponsored by the conference, such as “Your Best Pathway to Health.” Coordinates the billing and distribution of Sabbath School and other church materials for local conference churches, schools and institutions. Provides a “Direct to You” (D2U) delivery program where preordered food and other materials will be delivered on a predetermined schedule, based on the response of members, to churches, schools and members throughout the Southwestern Union for a nominal delivery charge of $5. We currently operate nine routes across the five states in the Southwestern Union territory.

and adopt new methods to take care of our customers.

annually in sales through our constituency.

Considered an essential service, we were thankful that we did not have to shut down during the crisis.

We are grateful for the support of the conference administration and members of the conference Executive Committee.

Like most businesses, though, we had to cut expenses and labor with the decrease in sales due to event cancellations.

If you appreciate the continued service provided by the Texas ABC, please continue to purchase your books and food through us. As the saying goes, “Use it or lose it.”

Texas ABC currently has two fulltime staff with the rest serving part time in various positions. We are thankful God is in control, and we have been blessed. Being able to serve is a privilege we cherish when we learn of sister ABCs having to close—one in 2019 and two in 2020. Even though sales were down in 2020, we are thankful for the nearly $2.3 million earned

Facebook: @keeneabc Twitter: @keeneABC Email: abc@txsda.org Email: food.abc@txsda.org Phone: 817.558.0100

Order with Us 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

We pray if it is God’s will that we will serve Texas, the Southwestern Union and beyond for many years to come.

Mickey Johnson Store Manager

Frank Robledo Business Manager

TexasAdventist.org

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ADVENTIST COMMUNITY SERVICES By Marshall Gonzales

“Y

ou don’t know how many lives you have saved,” a doctor shared with me after we distributed N95 masks to first responders and medical personal. As soon as COVID-19 raised its ugly head, we were able to send more than 2,000 N95 masks to the Seventh-day Adventist hospital in Hong Kong. We also helped various county emergency management directors, other nonprofit agencies and our churches around Texas with masks and hand sanitizer. At the same time, many of our churches stepped up their efforts to fill the ever-growing need for

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food in their communities by setting up drive-through food pantries. We were able to provide food pantry organizers with masks, hand sanitizer and gloves to protect their volunteers in addition to giving more than $35,000 in grant money to help them purchase food and other items needed to serve their communities. During 2019 and 2020, we continued to deal with other disasters, such as an earthquake in Puerto Rico; floods in Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas; tornadoes in Texas and Louisiana and hurricanes in Louisiana. Clean-up buckets, hygiene kits,

2020 Stats

Connect with Us

$87,000 grant money given to churches $1,200,000 given out in clothing, personal protective equipment,

Website: Texas-ACS.org Facebook: @TXACS Email: acs@txsda.org Phone: 817.641.7679

clean-up buckets, etc.

2,054 volunteer hours We appreciate our regular volunteers from Keene Adventist Elementary School, Southwestern Adventist University Honor Students and Texas Conference employees.

Ways to Give In your tithe envelope or through AdventistGiving.org or app TX Adventist Community Services TX ACS - Disaster Buckets TX ACS - Ingathering clothes and many other items were given to each area to help survivors get back to as normal a life as possible. Clothes were sent to help the immigrants who were coming into south Texas, and aid was given to homeowners in Refugio, Texas, as the long-term recovery from Hurricane Harvey continued. In 2019, we were able to present training in various churches and assist ten churches with community outreach where clothes, diapers, hygiene kits and other items were given to those in need. One young man came to one of these events and was able to get clothes he needed because he was going to have a job interview the following Monday. He shout-

Text Bucket to 41444 Mail a check to: Texas ACS PO Box 35 Keene, TX 76059 ed loudly for everyone to hear, “There is a God!” He shared with us how the day before he had been praying for clothes he could wear to the interview, and God had answered his prayer. We thank God for His goodness towards us, and we want to thank you for your support and financial donations. Without your help, without your support, we would not be able to touch and change so many lives.

Julie Gonzales Associate Director

Marshall Gonzales

Director

Mario Escobar Depot Coordinator

TexasAdventist.org

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COMMUNICATION & PUBLIC RELATIONS By Kenn Dixon

e were looking forward to traveling throughout the Texas Conference in 2020 to video members sharing their incredible stories of faithfulness and trust in God. Then COVID-19 brought almost everything to a standstill. As the months progressed and social distancing became the norm, the empty conference office worship room was slowly transformed into a studio to record sermons and music to share online. By July 2020, we were creating a complete online Worship Experience designed explicitly for those preferring to stay at home

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who didn’t have a home church providing online services. Thankfully, we have a very willing and talented group of individuals at the conference office who helped with all aspects of the service. It didn’t take long for us to realize that this crisis was not going to be a quick one. Soon we were recording weekly. Recordings We started 2020 with a candid discussion on diversity. The #YouMatter campaign provided office staff and pastors an opportunity to better understand their role as Christians in loving everyone.

In March 2020, Texas Conference President Carlos Craig recorded the State of the Conference regarding COVID-19. A Town Hall meeting followed so questions could be asked as we entered this uncharted territory. An Innovation Think Tank was then recorded to give people ideas on how to handle this new normal. Several CommPR news segments followed, and then TexTalk was created to highlight Executive Committee discussions. As churches closed, AdventistGiving accounts increased, providing members a way to return their tithe and pay their offerings in a way they had not done so before. Sharing step-by-step instructions on using the AdventistGiving app helped members feel more comfortable with this new way of giving. Looking Back The traditional International Pathfinder Camporee took place in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, before I joined the Texas Conference. Tamara Terry and family had a good time documenting this quinquennial event with more than 50,000 in attendance. The stories and photos were tagged on our Facebook channel #Texas2019Chosen.

That event was also featured in the Texas Conference THE FLAME magazine in the first flip version of the magazine with English and Spanish in one issue. Social Channels As listed on the right, our social channels are one of the best ways to connect with our Texas Conference family. Whether sharing #12daysofgiving or the #TX21DayGratitudeChallenge, the channels allow us to connect and share.

The Texas Conference Executive Committee even requested a Prayer & Fasting time for our constituents that was featured on our Facebook account #txcprayerandfasting. DETERMINED One of our most significant endeavors so far is our DETERMINED Cycling Tour (featured on page 48) to raise awareness about health and raise funds for an endowment for Adventist education. There is a way for everyone to participate in this campaign! That’s just a brief synopsis of what the CommPR team accomplished in the past two years. We are thankful for God’s blessing and strength as we continue His work here in Texas.

From January 2019 to December 2020

Kenn Dixon Vice President

Tamara Michalenko Terry Associate Director

TexasAdventist.org

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Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Ft. Worth, TX Permit No. 3310

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The Terror Behind Terrorism Saturday July 27 Why are we seeing a continuing rise in violence? Why do innocent people suffer? If God cares why is there so much pain in the world? Come and see what is happening behind the scenes and how God will deal with it in the near future.

God’s Final Message to Planet Earth Sunday July 28 Before the end of the world Bible prophecy predicts that a special message will go to every nation, tribe and language group in the world. What is that message and what is its significance for our daily lives? Come and see how to prepare for the future.

T »

Uses the Bible alone as our textbook and rule of authority.

Explains Bible

©Steve Creitz/Licensed From GoodSalt.com.

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Why is there so much confusion about religion? | Monday, July 29 Avoiding 666 & the Mark of the Beast | Tuesday, July 30 How the world is polarizing into two groups | Wednesday, July 31 How the World Will End | Thursday, August 1 How to Live for Jesus in the Last Days | Friday, August 2 Growing Stronger and not giving up | Saturday, August 3

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Coming to North Fort Worth » Free Light Supper for each meeting » Free Bible Program for kids Requested in Home Date July 22-24 Date Sensitive Material

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377

FORT WORTH

THIS SEMINAR IS OPEN TO ALL CLASSES OF PEOPLE - IT IS DESIGNED TO MEET THEIR NEEDS AND TIME RESTRAINTS. THE RELAXED SETTING IS WELCOMING TO BOTH CHRISTIANS AND NON-CHRISTIANS ALIKE. YOU AND YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS ARE INVITED TO COME AND EXPERIENCE FOR YOURSELF WHAT ANSWERS THE BIBLE HAS FOR YOU AND THE CHALLENGES YOU MAY BE FACING TODAY.

COMING TO NORTH FORT WORTH JULY 26 (FRIDAY)

• Deep cleaning and sanitizing all areas before and after the service • Offering several hand sanitizer stations

• Assigning teams to clean each area

• Offering several in person church services

• Our children’s classes are currently closed for the safety of our children.

• Online services are available

Rescate

ORION D ESD E EL

Shine forJesus

What we need you to do: • If not feeling well, please stay home

WOMEN IN MINISTRY

•Practice social distancing, staying six (6) ft. apart from others

Shining Within Shining Out Shining Together

High Tea - 1950’s Theme

• Wave and smile at others instead

• Continue to pray for restoration PRESENTACIÓN Pr. Armando Juárez

14-21 DE MARZO

SPEAKER

KAREN PEARSON

More Information at:

HWY 377 | PILOT POINT, TX 76258 | CELL: 940-484-4889

SEMANA DE REAVIVAMIENTO | DESCORRIENDO EL VELO DEL FUTURO Sábado 14

Texasadventist.org/ReturningToChurch Domingo 15

7:15 pm

Las llaves para abrir los misterios del futuro

7:15 pm

El caleidoscopio profético

7:15 pm

Dos testigos con un triple mensaje

7:15 pm

Descorriendo el velo del futuro

(APOC 1-5)

DESIGN & PRINT SERVICES Lunes 16

Martes 17

(CABALLOS Y TROMPETAS APOC 6, 8, 9) (APOC 10 Y 14)

(LA BELLA Y LA BESTIA APOC 12) TEXAS CONFERENCE

Miércoles 18 7:15 pm

Dos bestias y una marca

Jueves 19

7:15 pm

Las siete plagas mortales

Viernes 20

7:15 pm

La caída de la gran ramera

Sábado 21

7:15 pm

El fin del mundo y un mundo nuevo

(APOC 13)

(APOC 16)

(APOC 17-18)

Following COVID-19, digital artwork became a necessity as social media communication and worship service and school streaming became essential.

When COVID-19 cases increased and face coverings became a requirement, we assisted the Keene Seventh-day Adventist Church in Keene, Texas, to create a custom face mask for their volunteers to wear during the church food

While the church and school doors were shut, digital meth-

20 | THE FLAME |

Biennial Constituency 2021

rd Rd

ods were the best way to reach church and community members alike. Whether it was promoting an online worship service, an online or Zoom Sabbath school, a Bible study, a prayer meeting, evangelistic materials or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for churches and schools to display once they could reopen, our graphics team created projects as requested.

he Design & Print Services team works hard to assist conference departments, ministries and services as well as churches, schools and other nonprofit organizations with their graphic design and printing needs. The sidebar on the top right of the next page lists some of the areas we can assist with, but it is not an exhaustive list of how we can help.

I-35E

By Bo Gendke

S Ro

Tendremos atención especial para niños, regalos, música especial y sorpresas.

gers

35E

Hilltop

Iglesia Adventista del Séptimo Día de Waxahachie 122 5 Points Rd., Waxahachie, TX 75165

Howa

(APOC 19-22)

y, June 1 11:10 am y, June 1 2:30 pm

THEME

ints

7:00 pm

EL GRAN DRAMA DE LA REDENCIÓN

• Wear masks, if it increases your comfort level

5 Po

TIME

May 31

• Do not offer handshakes and hugs

Products Appointment Cards

Holiday Cards

Banners

Invitations

Booklets

Labels

Bookmarks

Letterhead

Brochures

Magazines

Business Cards

Menu Printing

Calendars

Mailing Services

Carbonless Forms

Newsletters

Catalogs

Notepads

CD Products

Postcards

Door Hangers

Posters

DVD Products

Rack Cards

Envelopes

Response Cards

Flyers

Sign Printing

Greeting Cards

Table Tents

Hang Tags

Tickets

Connect with Us Website: TexasAdventist.org Projects: TexasAdventist.org/projects Email: printshop@txsda.org Phone: 817.790.2255

Bo Gendke

Madelein Terreros

Sora Yañez

Doug Denny

Miguel Gomez

Jannet Diaz

Director

distribution program known as LIFT. To let each person know they were special and cared for, the hashtag #YOUMATTER was printed on one side with the Texas Conference logo and the LIFT logo on the other side. Another new area for us was creating social media posts for Texas Conference Communication & Public Relations to use on the conference social channels. Each graphic designer created a Happy Sabbath graphic, a Scripture picture or a holiday greeting for our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter channels (@TexasAdventist) to encourage constituents and guests visiting us online. We consider it a privilege to work alongside our conference, church and school personnel

Senior Graphic Designer

as well as the many local church volunteers who are leading Sabbath schools, children’s and youth events including Adventurers and Pathfinders. Our creative team is here to assist you in producing your next design, printing or mailing project.

Senior Graphic Designer

Pressman

Assistant

Administrative Assistant

TexasAdventist.org

| THE FLAME | 21

EDUCATION By Kisha Norris

ver the years, the Texas Conference Adventist Education system has worked to fulfill the evangelistic mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church while working to educate students with a highquality educational program.

the students entrusted to our care.

The Texas Conference Education office has had a very different condition of operating over the past year and a half navigating the global pandemic, but the commitment to excellence has not wavered.

The first initiative has been the implementation of a new assessment tool called NWEA MAP. NWEA stands for Northwest Evaluation Association. NWEA is a nonprofit organization that has assessed over 4.5 million students. NWEA has a presence in 49 foreign countries, 50 states and 3400 districts.

This mission fulfillment has been carried out by the phenomenal teachers and administrators in our 23 schools across the state of Texas. While pushing to maintain some semblance of normalcy for our students, the educators have pressed forward every day to ensure the continued training of all

22 | THE FLAME |

Biennial Constituency 2021

Over the past two years, several initiatives have been designed and implemented to begin a process of curriculum advancement, instructional support, program development and school improvement.

MAP stands for Measures of Academic Progress. MAP is an online assessment tool that is aligned to the Common Core standards. It measures a scholar’s growth three times per year with un-

timed assessments in mathematics, reading and language usage.

method to foster collaborative learning among colleagues.

The scale used to measure each scholar’s progress is called a RIT scale (Rasch unIT), which is an equal-interval scale much like feet and inches on a yardstick. This resource not only charts growth but provides data-driven instructional supports for educators.

Teachers encourage, teach and plan together on the professional practices and areas of concern for students. We see these groups as invaluable to the future of the Texas Adventist school system to maintain a learning environment that speaks to quality and excellence.

Supporting the implementation of this tool is Texas Conference Associate Superintendent Renee Whiting. She has put in countless hours to learn this system and support the teachers as they navigate the results to ensure academic growth and goal setting for all students. The continued delivery of the Continuous School Improvement (CSI) plan has been a great asset to our schools as a constant look at the community they serve. Led by Texas Conference Associate Superintendent Raul Aguilar, this training facilitates the transition from seeing school improvement as an “event” or based solely on compliance and accountability to a commitment to a shared vision that is inclusive of both student achievement and faith identity. Each school is guided through the process of reflection to create an environment that is constantly improving and reviewing their practices. The evidence created can be used to satisfy external functions in the accreditation process. As students’ needs increase, the requirements for teachers grow as well. To facilitate training and professional and instructional development, the education department has begun professional learning communities (PLCs) across the conference. These communities connect schools and grade-specific teachers as a

Connect with Us Website: TexasAdventist.org Email: education@txsda.org Phone: 817.790.2255

As we strive to provide excellence in the classroom, the most important aspect of Adventist education is the opportunities for students to build a relationship with Jesus Christ. Students see by example the love of Jesus through our teachers and school support staff and learn about Him through His Word and study in Bible classes, worship and fellowship. If you know someone who desires to be in one of our Seventh-day Adventist schools, please contact the school (find the list on page 24). We are determined to have funding available to help those who are currently unable to afford an Adventist education (see page 48 to join a Determined fundraising team). Thank you for keeping our schools and students in your prayers.

Kisha Norris Vice President

Raul Aguilar

Renee Whiting

Danielle Bunkley

Sharon Dickerson

Associate Superintendent

Administrative Assistant

Associate Superintendent

Administrative Assistant

TexasAdventist.org

| THE FLAME | 23

2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10,11,13,15, 17,19 METRO 23

DALLAS

AUSTIN

HOUSTON

SAN ANTONIO

14, 12 22

CORPUS CHRISTI 1 6

17, 20

15. KEENE ADVENTIST ELEMENTARY SCHOOL | 302 Pecan St | Keene, TX Phone: 817.645.9125 16. KILLEEN ADVENTIST JR ACADEMY 3412 Lake Rd | Killeen, TX Phone: 254.699.9466

1. ADVENT RIDGE ACADEMY 1523 Old Ranch Rd 12 | San Marcos, TX Phone: 512.392.9475 2. BURLESON ADVENTIST SCHOOL 836 E Renfro St #226 | Burleson, TX Phone: 817.295.6812

8. CYPRESS BEND ADVENTIST ELEM SCHOOL | 2997 FM 728 | Jefferson, TX Phone: 903.665.7402

17. KNOWLEDGE SEEKERS CHRISTIAN SCHOOL | 1471 West Corporate Dr | Lewisville, TX | Phone: 972.353.3981

9. DALLAS CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 4025 N. Central Expressway | Dallas, TX Phone: 214.528.6327

18. LAREDO ADVENTIST CHRISTIAN SCHOOL | 3108 Columbia Dr | Laredo, TX Phone: 210.346.9870

3. BURTON ADVENTIST ACADEMY 4611 Kelly Elliott Rd | Arlington, TX Phone: 817.572.0081

10. FT WORTH ADVENTIST JR ACADEMY 3040 Sycamore School Rd | Ft. Worth, TX Phone: 817.370.7177

19. NORTH DALLAS ADVENTIST ACADEMY 2800 Custer Pkwy | Richardson, TX Phone: 972.234.6322

4. CHISHOLM TRAIL ACADEMY 401 S. Old Betsy Rd | Keene, TX Phone: 817.641.6626

11. GARLAND CHRISTIAN ADVENTIST SCHOOL | 1702 E Centerville Rd | Garland, TX | Phone: 972.271.1154

20. SCENIC HILLS CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 11223 Bandera Rd | San Antonio, TX Phone: 210.523.2312

5. CLEBURNE ADVENTIST CHRISTIAN SCHOOL | 111 Meadowview Dr | Cleburne, TX | Phone: 817.645.4300

12. HOUSTON ADVENTIST ACADEMY 11735 Grant Rd | Cypress, TX Phone: 832.701.3675

21. SOUTH TEXAS CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 7001 North Ware Rd | McAllen, TX Phone: 956.682.1117

6. COGGIN MEMORIAL SCHOOL 6645 Downing St | Corpus Christi, TX Phone: 361.991.6968

13. JOSHUA ADVENTIST MULTIGRADE SCHOOL | 1912 Conveyer Rd | Joshua, TX Phone: 817.556.2109

22. STONEHILL CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 4301 Kelly Lane | Pflugerville, TX Phone: 512.763.2776

7. CONROE ADVENTIST ACADEMY 3601 S Loop 336 E | Conroe, TX Phone: 936.756.1083

14. KATY ADVENTIST CHRISTIAN SCHOOL | 1913 East Ave | Katy, TX Phone: 832.913.3838

23. TYLER ADVENTIST SCHOOL 2931 South S.E. Loop 323 | Tyler, TX Phone: 903.595.6706

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Biennial Constituency 2021

A Bucket of

Gold

Buckets full of essential cleaning supplies are like gold to those disinfecting their homes after a natural disaster

Give to those in need Text Bucket to 91999 or through AdventistGiving.org or mail a check to: Texas ACS | PO Box 35 | Keene, TX 76059 acs@txsda.org | 817.641.7679 | Texas-ACS.org

ENGLISH EVANGELISM & SABBATH SCHOOL By Dan Serns

Jesus is transforming people’s lives all over Texas, but how do you baptize them during a pandemic? 26 | THE FLAME |

Biennial Constituency 2021

erna Justice was cutting a young man’s hair in the salon where she worked when they started talking about Jesus and the Bible. At the end of the conversation, the young man, Jacob Serns, who happens to be a pastor, asked whether she would like Bible studies, and she agreed. As she learned Bible truths, she put them into practice. Then she went through a testing time when her boss fired her for not working on the Sabbath anymore. But she was determined to follow Jesus in every part of her life, including keeping His Sabbath holy. In August 2020, Jacob Serns baptized her in the back of a pick-up truck because their new-

Sabbath School/Small Groups Sabbath School is a wonderful time to enhance our relationships with Jesus, His Word, each other and our guests. About 3,000 members participated in area Total Member Involvement trainings in 2019 to better understand their area of service. God’s Final Message is just one of many materials created for small group study.

Connect with Us Website: TexasEvangelism.org Facebook: @texasevangelism Instagram: @texasevangelism Twitter: @texasevangelism Email: evangelism@txsda.org Phone: 817.790.2255

Reach the World Next Door trained dozens of members in how to share their faith with refugees, immigrants and international students primarily in small group settings. During pandemic times, Zoom accounts enabled us to continue those small group discussions. Presently, 650 Zoom groups have been initiated in the Texas Conference to keep connections and biblical discussions going. Would you and your friends consider starting a new Sabbath School or small group soon?

ly planted Benbrook Seventh-day Adventist Church in Benbrook, Texas, was renting a facility that did not have a baptistry. Richard, Melissa, Meghan and Monique Lerma had been receiving Bible studies from Marlon Wallace, pastor of the Brownsville and San Benito Seventh-day Adventist churches, ever since they attended a public evangelistic meeting in Brownsville. They were now ready for baptism but didn’t know what to do with the church buildings closed because of the pandemic. They decided to head to the Gulf of Mexico where the four of them were baptized in September 2020. Melissa is now preparing to be one of the 100+ Volunteer Evangelists who will have their own evangelistic meetings this spring. The Longview English Seventh-day Adventist Church hosted two online Bible seminars: Unlocking Bible Prophecies by Cami

Oetman and Revelation NOW by Doug Batchelor. Those who were comfortable could watch on the screen in the sanctuary with social distancing and those who weren’t comfortable could watch online and have the Bible lessons delivered to their homes. In December 2020, Omar Rodriguez, pastor of the Longview district, baptized 17 people, including one who watched online 300 miles away and drove all the way there because he didn’t want to miss out. Church member Patricia Lohman, who organized much of the series, is preparing to be a volunteer evangelist this spring. A pandemic may force us to use different methods, but it will never stop Jesus’ message and mission! What can you do to take the Adventist message to all your world?

Dan Serns Director

TexasAdventist.org

| THE FLAME | 27

HISPANIC MINISTRIES SPANISH EVANGELISM By Osvaldo Rigacci

et us turn our eyes to our God in praise and gratitude for His mercy, protection and strength during the past two years and especially during the past 14 months! With the constant support of our leaders and pastors and the faithfulness and dedication of our members, we were able to face the difficulties of ministering and evangelizing during the pandemic. The different needs led us to implement a special pastoral care program through regular phone calls and periodic videoconferences. In the first stage, two well-attend-

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Biennial Constituency 2021

ed virtual training and strategy meetings for pastors and church leaders were held on the use of social media and technology for the live broadcast of our services and worship activities. We relied on professional collaboration and the experience and capacity of pastors from our conference. In the second stage, a Zoom license for the specific use of ministries and evangelism was provided for all small-group leaders and church ministries. We used special funds to subsidize more than half the cost of the annual subscription until August 2021. Thanks to God, we are collaborating with more than 500 licenses that are active in the

2019-2020 Cumulative Report*

*through December 2020

Hispanic Churches and Companies: 143 Membership in Hispanic Congregations: 29,203 Official Planting Groups: 29 Full-Time Pastors (6 in Bilingual Districts): 74 Part-Time Pastors: 8 Bible Workers: 5 Hispanic Seminary Students at Andrews University: 5 Voluntary Lay Pastors: 10 Spanish Baptisms and Profession of Faith 2019 and 2020: 2,444 Spanish Tithe Received in 2019 and 2020: $32,378,205

work of the Lord. It is our plan to continue subsidizing this tool that facilitates our communication and proclamation of the Gospel. Together with the administration and the Evangelism department, we formed an advisory group for evangelism. We chose the theme “Connected” for initiatives to reach souls for the kingdom of God. This motivated us in a joint effort to produce live evangelistic programs, especially through Facebook and YouTube. Three full-week projects led by evangelists and four weekend projects led by local pastors from the different areas of our conference were held with more planned for the end of this year. In addition, joint initiatives and projects of a massive scope with the Southwestern Union, the North American Division and the General Conference began last year and will continue during 2021 under the motto “Living with Hope.” These projects have been joined by an army of volunteer preachers who are leading evangelistic meetings up to this very moment. As a fruit of the work of the Holy Spirit, these channels of proclamation have led hundreds of souls to give their lives to Jesus Christ and join the family of God through baptism and profession of faith.

Connect with Us Website: TexasAdventist.org Facebook: @hispanostxc Instagram: @hispanostxc Twitter: @hispanostxc YouTube: @hispanostxc Email: hispanicministries@txsda.org Phone: 817.790.2255

We are continuing with the Discipleship Institute for lay leaders in coordination and sponsorship of Andrews University, which has nine locations throughout our field with more than 1,000 participants. We started in-person classes during 2019 but had to take a break in 2020, and now in 2021 we resumed the classes virtually. We praise the Lord for the faithfulness to God of our members like the Macedonians in 2 Cor. 8:2, 3. Our congregations also experienced the joy of giving even in the face of great adversity and continued to support the Lord’s work. God has blessed us abundantly through the experience of our people. Finally, we thank God for the administrative team of our conference and the spiritual, strategic and financial support that they have given us to carry out our work—it is truly a team effort for our department.

Osvaldo Rigacci

Ismael Castillo

Amado Sánchez

Esther Rendón

Vice President

Spanish Evangelist

Associate Director

Administrative Assistant

TexasAdventist.org

| THE FLAME | 29

HUMAN RESOURCES By Becky Bochaberi

he Human Resources (HR) department promotes a good work culture, whether it is celebrating our diversity, which is our strength, or supporting our conference as needed with training and development. We consider it a true privilege to present to you the current scope of what the HR department does within the Texas Conference as listed on the next page. In addition to those areas, the Texas Conference requires all employees and volunteers to complete a background check every three years. Sterling Volunteers has partnered with the North American Division (NAD) to facilitate in risk mitigation. The company, previously known as “Verified Volunteers,” changed its branding in June 2019. The

30 | THE FLAME |

Biennial Constituency 2021

program name also changed to Adventist Screening Verification (ASV) and is now housed by the NAD in Columbia, Maryland. All pastors, principals, club ministry leaders and board voted local coordinators assist with the ASV program to ensure that volunteers are trained and screened before the first day of duty. We are guided by the Seventh-day Adventist Church manual, which states, “Church should be a safe place to bring our children. Everyone involved in work with children who are minors must meet all Church and legal standards and requirements,” (Church Manual, Edition 18, pp. 168-169). Thank you, employees and constituents, for helping to create a wonderful culture here in the Texas Conference.

Responsibilities

Connect with Us

• Employment Authorizations • New Hire Orientations

Website: TexasAdventist.org Volunteer Screening Website:

• Compensation Assignments Based on the NAD PayScale

TexasAdventist.org/volunteerministries

Email: hr@txsda.org Phone: 817.790.2255

• Employment Status Changes • Immigration • FMLA (Family Medical Leave) • Short-term and Long-term Disability • Healthcare Applications • Ascend to Wholeness Wellness Program • Supplemental Insurance Plans • Supplemental Life Insurance • Workers’ Compensation • Flexible Spending Accounts • Employee Handbook • Incident Reports • Job Descriptions • Job Postings • Verifications of Employment Requests • Retirements • Terminations • Payroll & Benefits Audits • Personnel Files/HR Document Retention

Becky Bochaberi

Tatiana Meharry

Colleen Worth

Irene Lazarus

Director

Associate Director

Sub Teachers Locally Funded

Employees Total: 1,008

Administrative Assistant

Volunteer Screening Coordinator

TexasAdventist.org

| THE FLAME | 31

LAKE WHITNEY RANCH By Hector Perez

e are very grateful for the opportunity and support that we have received from the Texas Conference and the constituency. We have seen so much potential in Lake Whitney Ranch (LWR) and what it has to offer.

currently in the final stages of completion! As of now, groups are able to tour the building and enjoy all of the new nature displays. We are working on developing a small area adjacent to the nature center for a petting zoo.

We are excited because we have been running LWR all year, even with the pandemic going on. It was limited due to the guidelines of the CDC, but we never closed.

The restoration of the caboose is complete. We plan to use the caboose as additional lodging for couples to stay at the grounds. It has a spectacular view of the sunrise and the beauty of Lake Whitney.

With all of your prayers and support, we are able to move forward. It has been a blessing for us to be here. Thank you. Nature Center Near the caboose, there is a small building that was a car garage. We saw great potential for it and are in the process of converting it into a nature center. We are

32 | THE FLAME |

Biennial Constituency 2021

Caboose

Multi-purpose Building The multi-purpose building has been upgraded to function at full capacity. Water sprinklers were fixed and connected to the monitoring system for safety. We now have a full commercial kitchen and two restrooms inside

the building. The water, the plumbing and sewer were fixed. The two walk-in units, freezer and refrigerator were cleaned out and are now being utilized. A three-phase electrical panel was installed for future equipment. We now have the ability to serve food in a buffet style. A drinking station was built to improve the traffic flow. Groups are able to rent the kitchen as long as their cook is certified or we are able to find a chef for them. Office The office was relocated to the front main entry to provide better customer service to our constituency and guests. Nurse’s Station/Kitchen Camporee We were blessed with a donation to purchase a 16’ x 34’ building to become the nurse’s station. It will be utilized for all camporees. Most of the work inside was completed by volunteers. It has two patient rooms, each with a half bathroom. It also has a bedroom for the nurse to stay in and a full bathroom by the waiting area. The chuck wagon kitchen was relocated to the camporee area. This will provide meals to the staff who help with camporees. Light-up LWR Sign A 300’ trench was dug to power the LWR sign in front of the main road to make it visible at night. Volunteers Thanks to the youth leadership, we were able to establish a facilitators team. The team consists of skilled laborers and contractors who have helped LWR with plumbing, electrical work, framing and general construction. We save thousands of dollars when they volunteer their time to help improve LWR.

World Vision In partnering with World Vision International based in Dallas, we have received furniture, household items, food donations and more.

Connect with Us Website: LakeWhitneyRanch.org Facebook: @LakeWhitneyRanch Email: LWR@txsda.org Phone: 254.622.2194

Cabins Some of the cabins have been upgraded with new furniture and AC units. Summer Camp Office for Operation The office/store for summer camp is almost finished. It is located near the multi-purpose building. Future Plans Due to COVID-19 last year, we paused our plans. This year, we are working with the Operations Committee to move forward with Phase II of the master plan. An architect is drawing plans for bathhouses. These bathhouses will accommodate up to 5,000 people. In the master plan, there is also a new bunkhouse, a multi-purpose building and a Pathfinder pavilion. A civil engineer is working on the site topographic survey, sewer construction plans, geotechnical report, building foundations and the designs of the above buildings. We want to thank all of the individuals currently supporting LWR ministry with their donations. It is because of you we have been able to complete what we have so far. Thank you for your support of Lake Whitney Ranch, “A Light in the Heart of Texas.” God bless you.

Hector Perez Director

Anabel Perez Manager

TexasAdventist.org

| THE FLAME | 33

MINISTERIAL &

PASTORAL DEVELOPMENT By Nathan L. Krause

he mission of the Texas Conference Ministerial & Pastoral Development department is “Helping pastors grow personally and professionally.”

In addition to this stated priority, we also serve local church leaders as they come alongside our pastors in ministry and evangelism. Following is a brief report highlighting some of the ways our department has served our pastors and constituents over the past two years. Trainings Elders Trainings and Leadership Summits were conducted in var-

34 | THE FLAME |

Biennial Constituency 2021

ious areas “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry,” Ephesians 4:12. These practical training seminars were presented in cooperation with the Hispanic Ministries & Spanish Evangelism department and were well attended by both English- and Spanish-speaking constituents. Texas Conference is blessed to have members who are eager to be trained and better equipped to serve for Kingdom growth. Pastoral Development One of the key functions of our department is to develop the professional skills of our pas-

tors. Those who have not yet been ordained, as well as some ordained pastors who are new to the Texas Conference, participate in a two-year cycle of eight training sessions conducted on a quarterly basis. For a pastor to be considered for ordination or commissioning, he or she must complete this Pastoral Ministry Development course. These trainings had previously been presented as day-long seminars at the conference office, but due to COVID-19 recent sessions have been conducted virtually. It is also the privilege of this department to support and encourage our pastors who are currently studying at the seminary. We do this with regular communication and occasional visits with them and their spouses and children. The end of 2020 saw the completion of a two-year journey for several of our pastors who were trained in Focusing Leaders. This training involved monthly network meetings for the pastors who then led their churches on a process of discovering God’s unique calling for individual members and for their church’s unique opportunities to serve their community missionally. Mentoring To provide an opportunity for more intentional mentoring and personal development for some of our pastors in a small group setting, two new groups are meeting monthly using the Joshua’s Men curriculum developed by Tom Grove, Administrative Pastor of the Arlington Seventh-day Adventist Church in Arlington, Texas. The curriculum has been adjusted somewhat to be more specifically applicable to pastors, and the participants are all enthusiastic about embarking on a

personal growth journey together with other pastors. Pastoral Support Even during more normal times, pastors and their families go through the same kinds of life crises that we all experience from time to time.

Connect with Us Website: TexasAdventist.org Email: ministerial@txsda.org Phone: 817.790.2255

Now, during the recent times of increased challenges, pastors and their families are under greater duress as they struggle to continue ministry amidst unprecedented circumstances. In addition to supporting pastors and their families through personal visits, three mental health retreats were offered during 2020 in the northern, central and southern areas of our conference territory. A Seventh-day Adventist psychologist offered information and training to assist our pastors, and in turn their members, in maintaining mental health during increased stress. I consider it my greatest privilege to serve as pastor to the pastors of the Texas Conference. My Administrative Assistant, Sheri Denny, and I are honored with the high calling of ministering to the employees and members of the Texas Conference from the Ministerial & Pastoral Development department.

Nathan L. Krause Vice President

Sheri Denny

Administrative Assistant

TexasAdventist.org

| THE FLAME | 35

PLANNED GIVING & TRUST SERVICES/ STEWARDSHIP By Lynette Ecord

lanned Giving & Trust Services and Stewardship go hand in hand for those wanting to properly manage their finances as God intended today and in the future. Our Trust Officers travel throughout the Texas Conference preaching and giving seminars on Bible-based instruction for our finances. They also assist individuals and families who desire to create a Will, prepare a Trust or plan

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Biennial Constituency 2021

their financial legacy for God’s work through education, evangelism, Lake Whitney Ranch or another ministry or service. Uzziel Maldonado, Stewardship Coordinator and Trust Officer for the Houston/East Texas area, shared his experience with one such couple, Kaye and the late William “Bob” Arwood, Trustors who want God’s work to continue even after death. Kaye confessed to God one evening in her younger years that

Gifts Received From January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2020, 51 new estate planning documents were written with a total value of more than $4 million.

Connect with Us

Gifts received through Planned Giving & Trust Services from maturities, income and special gifts valued more than $400,000.

Website: TexasGiving.org YouTube: @TexasConferenceTrustDepartment Email: trust@txsda.org Phone: 817.790.2255

How Can I Give? Last Will & Testament

Charitable Gift Annuity

Family Trust

Bargain Sale

Beneficiary Designation

Life Estate Reserved

IRA Rollover

Real Property

she didn’t know how to witness to others but wanted to. Soon enough, she received an invitation to go door to door selling Seventh-day Adventist books as a Literature Evangelist collecting Bible study interests and giving Bible studies. By the grace of God, 15 people decided to be baptized. Due to that success, she was invited to Portland, New York, to serve as a Bible worker. The Lord rewarded her efforts with 17 more baptisms. After that, she was invited to Atlanta, Georgia. That is where she met Bob, who became her husband. They enjoyed being actively involved at the Baytown Seventh-day Adventist Church in Baytown, Texas, until 2017. When Bob was diagnosed with cancer, God called them to expand their ministry to include text messaging (Kaye’s preference) and Facebook (Bob’s preference). Kaye shared, “When Bob got cancer we prayed, but God didn’t answer our prayer for healing, so we discussed it and decided the reason he had cancer was

so we could go to MD Anderson and witness to those who were dying.” Kaye took books and tracts with her. As people shared their stories, she asked for their contact information and sent them text messages of encouragement. She is now encouraging some 250 people.

Lynette Ecord

Director | Association Secretary

Sadly, in November 2020, Bob lost his battle with cancer. Kaye is now witnessing at grief recovery classes. Thank you, Kaye and Bob, for being great examples of Christian stewardship during your 43 years of marriage!

Uzziel Maldonado

Deyvy Rodriguez

Jerrod Songy

Sofia Fuentes

Trust Officer | Stewardship Coordinator | Houston/East Texas

Trust Officer | Stewardship Coordinator | South Texas

If you feel God’s calling to leave a lasting legacy, please reach out to us so we can assist you. As with the widow’s mite, God can do much with little. We just need to trust Him. Trust Officer | Stewardship Coordinator | North Texas

Administrative Assistant

TexasAdventist.org

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PUBLISHING & STUDENT LITERATURE By Joshua Reyna

ur Publishing & Student Literature department works to spread the message of our soon coming Savior through the sharing of literature with our communities. Many people have asked the question, “Who reads anymore?” or “Does anyone even open the door for you?” Contrary to what many may think, Literature Ministries is growing in Texas. We have seen more literature being distributed now than ever before.

There are three ways Publishing has been serving the area of Texas. The first is through the spreading of GLOW tracts, free

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literature distribution where anyone can experience the joy of sharing Jesus. The second is the work of our student Literature Evangelism programs, or “Youth Rush,” where students can dedicate a break from school to work for God and see lives transformed as well as make money to pay for their tuition. The third way we have been spreading the message through literature is through the work of the full-time Literature Evangelist or colporteur. This work is not easy, but every day the full-time colporteur gets to experience the joy of working for God and

Connect with Us Website: txsdaliteraturemin.com Instagram: @Youthrushtexas YouTube: @Youthrushtexas Email: publishing@txsda.org

Student Participation Baptisms

trusting Him to care for all their needs. In 2019, we saw so many blessings and inspiring encounters. Like most people, we did not expect the unique challenges that COVID-19 would bring in 2020. However, as God opened the doors, we moved forward and saw that now more than ever people are receptive to hear truth from the Word of God. Through our 2020 summer and winter programs, we saw God’s protection and leading. You can find many of those stories on our website and social channels listed on the top right. In addition to those programs, each semester about a dozen Southwestern Adventist University (SWAU) students, usually with

Literature Evangelism experience, join the Soul Winning Outreach and Discipleship (SWORD) program on Sabbaths to develop their skills in church leadership, Bible work and church planting. Recently their focus has been directed at establishing Adventist work in the Texas Christian University (TCU) area of Ft. Worth. If you or someone you know would like to participate in one of the ways we are reaching our communities with the love of God, please connect with us. No experience is required.

Joshua Reyna Director

TexasAdventist.org

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TRANSPORTATION By Dennis Habenicht

s we crisscross the countryside moving church employees and members, our wrapped trucks promote the Texas Conference and the Seventh-day Adventist Church. They are like a rolling evangelistic billboard providing opportunities for people to ask more questions about what we believe.

David Lambeth, who has been driving for the Texas Conference for almost 15 years, was very excited to receive his missionary card when he became an employee. “That’s when I knew this was not a job,” Lambeth shared. “I became a true servant of the Lord. As a servant of the Lord, I have always said, pray first, then pray again.” Through the years, Lambeth has had many opportunities to share

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his love of Jesus with others inquiring about the truck logos. He has also started being intentional about asking God for divine appointments. One story that stands out for him was on a return trip to Keene, Texas, where the trucks are stored. Encountering some traffic on I-80, he looked for an alternate route and discovered I-65 south towards Indianapolis was clear. Not familiar with this route, he felt impressed to take an exit. “I didn’t need fuel or anything else since I’d only been driving for an hour,” Lambeth recalled, but he felt it was the Lord speaking to him, so he took the next exit. Nervous, not knowing why he was exiting or whom he was supposed to talk to, he kept praying

2020 Stats 102,344 miles driven to transport employees or retired personnel

Connect with Us Website: TexasAdventist.org Email: move@txsda.org Phone: 817.790.2255

663,840 pounds lifted and transported to various destinations Slogan

We move with care, everywhere! the Lord would show him what he was to do. He decided to fill up but the pump wouldn’t turn on outside, so he went inside and got in line at the register. Finally reaching the cashier, Lambeth asked for the pump to be turned on to fuel. He shared that after handing her the Texas Conference corporate card, “She looked at it and then looked at me and asked, ‘Are you from Keene, Texas?’ I almost started crying because I knew she was why I was there.” Apparently, she had grown up in Keene and moved to Indiana with her husband. They now had three kids. “I shared with her that God had directed me there that day,” Lambeth said. Since he had some children’s books with him, he

told her, “I think God wants me to give them to you.” She started to cry and said she would love to have them. She said she hadn’t been to church since she moved but wanted to start taking her kids to Sabbath school. “As I gave her the books,” Lambeth shared, “I told her I would be praying for her and reminded her that God sent me there specifically for her and that He loves her.”

Dennis Habenicht Director

Lambeth believes that divine appointment was as much for him and his faith as it was for her faith. God gives us opportunities every day to share His love with others even when we are many miles from home.

David Lambeth Associate Director

Anthony Rosado

Driver

TexasAdventist.org

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YOUNG ADULT MINISTRIES

By Justin Yang

oung Adult ministries launched December 1, 2019, to provide a community and ministry presence for and with our young people (ages 18 to 35). Although COVID-19 hit US soil just a few months later, by God’s grace, we were able to make great strides to create communities and connect this generation, providing them a sense of belonging and a purpose. From the get-go, we launched several Adventist Christian Fellowship (ACF) chapters on a few of our public campuses with the support of our churches near each campus as hosting churches.

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To date, we currently have nine ACF chapters (five were launched in 2020) all across the state of Texas with one more on the horizon. When the 2020 North American Division (NAD) Youth and Young Adult Advisory Council was held in Dallas in February 2020, we were able to invite and gather some of our key Texas-ACF and young adult leaders to help them connect with their peers and with seasoned leaders from the NAD. Next, we created a Young Adult Advisory Council in collaboration with our area pastors. After COVID-19 became our reality, we launched an online grad-

uation celebration ceremony in collaboration with the Youth and Education departments to connect our high school graduates to our ACF chapters and to student officers on the campus of Southwestern Adventist University in Keene, Texas. This proved beneficial, as many of our high school graduates were able to connect to their mentors and find a community to belong to long before they arrived on the campus. This also allowed us to welcome more than 140 freshmen at SWAU to young adult ministries. Through a mentorship-themed vespers program, we were able to connect our Adventist Young Professionals (AYP), currently more than 5,000 active members, with our college/university students and also our high school graduates. AYP representatives also serve on our young adult advisory. We then launched a series of online book clubs and Bible and fitness challenges for our young adult leaders to connect and grow together mentally, physically and spiritually. Misael Martinez, one of our young adult leaders in the valley, was active in most of our groups and launched a brand new ACF chapter on the campus of University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg, Texas, where he serves as a lecturer for the Mechanical Engineering department, with his protégé, Mario Chavez. Last, but definitely not least, we were able to enroll and journey with four of our churches as they committed themselves to the 2020-21 Growing Young Adventists #GYA cohort journey to learn, listen and grow together as churches. There are now six such churches in the Southwestern Union and 42 in the NAD.

This is the most important aspect of Young Adult Ministries, as our vision is to help our local churches to become a place where all generations grow and thrive together. In a day and age where many churches are aging, shrinking and declining, there are churches that are growing young and growing together intergenerationally. What sets these churches apart are six core commitments that they are putting into practice to become the most empowering, empathetic, Jesus-centered, warm communities that neighbor well and actively develop next-generation leaders. And it is these churches that are connecting and integrating the generations to dream and collaborate to finish the work and usher in the second coming of Christ.

Connect with Us Website: youngtexasadventist.org/youngadults Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/yatexas Instagram: @txyouth Email: ya@txsda.org Phone: 817.790.2255

Soon the registration for the 2021-22 #GYA Cohort will be open, and we pray that many of our churches here in Texas will prayerfully consider making the decision to join that journey to #GrowTogether. Texas Young Adult Ministries exists to “Connect Generations for Christ,” as we believe that connection is the antidote to attrition. God willing, we will continue to do everything we possibly can to help our churches become the very best place for all generations to grow and thrive together.

Justin Yang Director

Deborah Gendke

Administrative Assistant Summer Camp Coordinator

TexasAdventist.org

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YOUTH & CLUB MINISTRIES By Paulo Tenorio

t has been two special years, and time has gone by fast! Thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey. The year 2019 was extremely busy with Lake Whitney Ranch (LWR) summer camp and the Pathfinder International Camporee in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. LWR summer camp had 504 campers with 359 people on the waiting list throughout the different weeks. God worked powerfully through the staff and the guest speakers to have 47 campers baptized that summer! We were excited that 4,723 people attended the Oshkosh camporee representing Texas, and 58 of

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them were baptized there. In 2004, 1,625 went to the Oshkosh camporee. What a growth! I’m thankful for our club council team and club directors who are a huge part of this ministry. Victoria Muthondu, age 15, from Houston International Seventh-day Adventist Church, said: “It was really nice to be able to see people from all over the world that were part of the Pathfinder ministry and that share the same belief as me as a Seventh-day Adventist. Worship was inspirational; 50,000 people singing all together was like something I have never experienced before. ... Because of this ministry

I have something to do Sabbath afternoons where I grow closer to God and grow spiritually.” Engage The Texas Conference Engage Conference was held on December 6 and 7, 2019, in Austin, Texas. More than 500 young people from all over Texas showed up. Ashley Dávila from the McAllen Spanish Valley Central Seventh-day Adventist Church shared that the “Engage Conference was a great way to relax and have fun meeting other young people from other churches from around Texas. As a young woman, it was refreshing hearing a female’s perspective, especially coming from a Hispanic conservative church. The main preacher, Tacyana Nixon, was very transparent, as was Pastor Tenorio, about their struggles when they were younger.” iCamporee After Engage, the pandemic hit, and many things changed really fast. We had to adapt quickly and were able to launch our first Txyouth iCamporee. Around 12,400 people registered from 63 different countries!

iEmpower A survey indicated that 60-70% of our clubs were not meeting (either online, in a parking lot or at church). Many club directors were frustrated, thinking that because of COVID-19 and social distancing, club ministries could not be done. iEmpower was launched as training specifically designed to help directors have a club during COVID-19, resulting in 14,000 views between Facebook and YouTube that weekend. Around 500 club leaders were trained on how to use Google classrooms, Zoom and online icebreakers; how to organize their club during a pandemic; how to do community service and more. The teachers were club directors themselves who had been successful at not only staying afloat but growing their club during the pandemic.

Connect with Us Website: txyouth.org Facebook: @YoungTexasAdventist Instagram: @txyouth Email: youth@txsda.org Phone: 817.790.2255 Adventurers Website: texasadventurers.org Facebook: @txadventurers Pathfinders Website: texaspathfinders.org Master Guides Website: masterguides.org

Many other exciting things happened in these past two years. We are grateful for everybody who has supported our young people and their leaders locally during these challenging times. We are in this together!

We had about 45,000 views between Facebook and YouTube throughout the weekend. Families and Pathfinders camped inside their homes and backyards. Brainstorming Finding out that many of our AY leaders were struggling to connect with their youth, we provided two different Zoom sessions of brainstorming ideas for AY leaders where different leaders from all over Texas shared their struggles and also shared what was working for them.

Paulo Tenorio Director

Iris Escobar

Administrative Assistant

TexasAdventist.org

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Receptionist

Abigail Espinosa Receptionist

Children’s Ministries

Deborah Gendke

Conference contact for questions and resources

Health Ministries

Family Ministries

Ruber Leal

Director & Local Church Pastor

The Family Ministries department is committed to providing year-round resources and opportunities so every member of the family can experience the joy of healthy relationships. Despite the limitations caused by COVID-19, the year 2020 was a successful year for the Family Ministries department. The team held more than 25 in-person and online family ministries events across the conference. We were greatly encouraged to see more than 700 homes commit to practicing family worship on a more regular basis by adopting the Family Worship Spinner created by our department. During the month of August, we joined five other North American Division conferences to sponsor the Agape Conference aired from Orlando, Florida. More than 5,000 Texans joined the online event and workshops. Hundreds of families also joined the 30-day challenge in the month of May to experience togetherness in a fun and practical way.

Randy Phillips Volunteer

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We thank God for the opportunity to serve this great conference since 2008, and we look forward to many more years of collaborating with pastors and local family ministries leaders to provide more opportunities for each member of the family to experience God’s joy through healthy relationships.

Connect with Us

Ministerial Spouses’ Prayer Ministries

TexasAdventist.org Phone: 817.790.2255 Family Ministries Website: ForeverONE.org Facebook: @ForeverOne Twitter: @ForeveroneO

Letty Craig Coordinator

Men’s Ministries

Sean Harris

English Coordinator & Local Church Pastor

Sergio Rodriguez Spanish Coordinator & Local Church Pastor

Information Systems

Zeb Worth Director

Ron Macomber Associate Director

Sofia Fuentes

Administrative Assistant

TexasAdventist.org

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Story

Many years ago, I received the news from my primary care physician that I was pre-diabetic. Knowing my grandmother and grandfather died from diabetes complications just a few years prior, I was nearly overcome with fear and worry. My mother had diabetes, and my father had two heart attacks before the age of 55.

I was scared.

We serve a God that is able to heal even hereditary health issues. He has given us the knowledge to improve our wellbeing through fitness and nutrition. Knowing I was a higher health risk, I returned to cycling. Still suffering from service-connected injuries from proudly serving in the United States Marine Corps, I knew I had to push through the pain to remain healthy. After sharing my journey of cycling, I was asked to create something for health; that developed into Cycling Tours around Texas for Adventist Education. The goal was to stay healthy while witnessing and supporting the next generation. Adventist Education plays an essential role in teaching students to understand the need for healthy relationships and healthy bodies. When we start early with our young people in demonstrating the value of healthy life choices, their future becomes healthier. Every day I am reminded that I am not getting younger. My muscles and bones ache, but I still have my health.

I am blessed and DETERMINED! I’m fundraising for the Texas Conference of Seventh-day Adventist Education because they do fantastic work for our students, churches and communities through education and health programs. I’m inviting friends and church members like you to support our latest educational campaign. Visit TexasAdventist.org/Determined for more information on how you can get involved in your area.

TexasAdventist.org/Determined

Texas Conference Biennial Constituency 2019 - 2020 | Spring 2021

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