We all know that California is in a

severe drought and in fact, experts have called it the worse drought in this state’s history. You may have seen pictures of lakes throughout California drying up, and we have a governor that has called for a state of emergency by ordering Californians to drastically reduce their use of water. We certainly should all try to do our part by finding ways to conserve as much as possible, and I

have heard many stories of people taking drastic steps in reducing their water usage. For example, my neighbor had spent thou-sands of dollars just a few years ago in beautifully landscaping the acreage around their house, but to save water, he spent thou-sands of dollars more in ripping out all of their lush vegetation to put in plants that are California native and drought resistant.

Since the creation of the world, droughts have

always existed. In fact, some of the most memo-rable stories in the Bible have a drought playing a significant role in its nar-rative such as stories like Joseph, Moses, and Elijah. Obviously, water is crucial to our life in almost every way, and we just could not live without it. Water is also crucial in the Bible as it is referenced 722 times, but in scripture, it has mul-tiple meanings that include the emphasis of water in a spiritual context. Amos

continued on page 2

Drought Resistant Christian by Cary Fisher

Anticipation

It is not hard for the Lord to turn night into day. He that sends the clouds can as easily clear the skies. Let us be of good cheer. It is better farther on. Let us sing Hallelujah by anticipation.

—Charles H. Spurgeon

INSIDE

Graduation Pics page 3

Church Family pics page 4

Taste & Inspiration on page 5

What’s happening? see pages 6 & 9

Our Church Family page 7

Kid’s Page on page 9

For the members, family and friends of the Downey Adventist Church

Vacation Bible School

Our Vacation Bible School

this year is Bible Blast to the Past! Get ready for a life-changing adventure. Each day begins at Blast to the Past Bash where kids will sing, shout, praise, pray, and be introduced to a Bible story and the daily theme.

Join us start-ing Monday, July 20 thru Friday, July 24th from 6 to 8:30pm at the Downey Adventist Church. There will be a free dinner each night from 6 to 6:30pm. Don’t miss the fun! =

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prophesied, “‘The days are coming,’ declares the Sovereign Lord, ‘when I will send a famine through the land—not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord’” (Amos 8:11). Amos is referring to a spiri-tual drought that will happen to the chil-dren of Israel.

While we can’t avoid the drought that surrounds California, we can be sure that we do not suffer from a spiritual drought. Jesus asked the woman at the well for some water and in returned offer her a “living water” to where he said, “whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst”

(John 14:4). While the focus on planting drought resistant vegetation around our lawns seem to be the big thing now, I am call-

ing for us to be drought resistant Christians that partake in the living water that Jesus is offering us, and hopefully, we will spiritually never thirst again.

So, starting in July, we are going to have a summer long sermon

series called the Drought Resistant Christian. We are going to study the aspects of water as ref-erenced in the Bible.

Hopefully, we can avoid the traps that could bring our spiritual life into a drought, and that we are always drinking from Jesus’s living water.

July’s Sermon Calendar

July 4th - The Freedom to Worship - This Sabbath falls on Independence Day, and we will celebrate together with a message that honors one of our country’s great-est freedoms. God values our freewill to love him, and we should be glad that this country does as well.

July 11th - Pathfinders Investiture. The Pathfinders will wrap up their year with this ser-vice. Come out a support our young people. Bill Aumack will share about how Psalm 23 can help us in our daily lives.

July 18th - H20 in the Bible - We are starting our Drought Resistant Christians series. We begin with a message on how the Bible brings out the impor-

tance of water as it relates to life physically and spiri-tually.

July 25th - Blast to the Past - We will reflect on our week of VBS that includes the VBS kids participating in our wor-ship service and a message that sums up what we have learned throughout the week.

See you when the church gathers. =

WE

D

ID

IT

The Latest Word V 27 N 07

BILL AUMACKresponsible for this

LINDA AUMACKcopy editor

ALEX AUMACKpaper distribution

CARY FISHERpastor

address mail to: Downey Seventh-day Adventist Church9820 Lakewood Blvd.Downey, CA 90240office: 562.869.6013fax: 562.622.1691 downeychurch@gmail.comwww.downeychurch.com

distributed monthlyissue date: July 2015 copyright 1992-2015

some of the most mem-orable stories in the Bible have a drought playing a

significant role

“

”

Drought Resistant ... (cont. from page 1)

July 2015

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July 4Cary FisherThe Freedom to

Worship

July 11

Bill AumackPathfinder Investiture

July 18Cary FisherH20 in the Bible

July 25Cary Fisher

Blast to the PastVBS Closing

Worship Schedule

Graduation Pictures

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Pictures of Our Church FamilyFreedom Under

God

Our status of dominion [over creation] derives from God’s del-egated authority. We do not exist as autonomous per-sons at liberty to do as we please. Our privilege of dominion does not mean freedom from God; it means freedom under God.

Our commission to be subrulers under God carries with it enormous responsibilities. ... He intends for us to rise above the rest of the created order and to par-ticipate rationally and responsibly in his divine pur-poses.

—Kenneth Cain Kinghorn, Christ Can Make You Fully Human

Our new Young Adults GroupJoin Us!

July 2015

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Ingredients• 1/2 lb ziti pasta

• 16 ounces ricotta cheese

• 3 cups mozzarella cheese grated

• 3 cups spaghetti sauce

• 1/2 cups parmesan cheese grated

DirectionsPreheat oven to 350.

Boil ziti, following pack-age directions, drain and place in a large bowl.

Mix all the ricotta cheese and half of the mozzarella with the ziti.

Spray a 13x9 pan with Pam.

Cover the bottom half of the pan with about half the sauce.

Put the ziti mixture on top of sauce.

Pour remaining sauce on top of ziti.

Sprinkle with the parme-san cheese.

Top with the remaining mozzarella cheese.

Bake for 20-30 minutes until cheese is melted and it is lightly golden.

Enjoy! =

Baked Ziti

Taste & Inspiration

Pilar & Phillip

Sign up for the Wednesday email newlet-ter on our webpage at http://www.downey-church.org/Signups.html. If you are having problems, just email us at downeychurch@gmail.com and we will add you to the list.

You can also sign up to get notice when this newsletter is available on the web. Saving paper is also good for our pocket and the earth.

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2 3 4

5 7 9 10 11

13 14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22 23 24 25

26 27 28 29 30 31

8:06 pm sunset

8:03 pm sunset

7:58 pm sunset

9:30 am S.S.

9:30 am S.S.

9:30 am S.S.10:50 am Worship Pastor Cary

4 pm Bible Study

9:30 am S.S.10:50 am Worship Pastor Cary12:30 pm Luncheon

4 pm Bible Study

Visit www.downeychurch.orgS.S. – Sabbath School

C.S. – Community Service

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10:50 am Worship Pastor Cary

2 pm Pathfinders4 pm Bible Study

10:50 am Worship Bill AumackPathfinder Investiture

4 pm Bible Study

6

7 pm Band Practice

12

Downey Adventist Church

7 pm Wed. Fellowship

7 pm Band Practice

8:07 pm sunset

9 am Pathfinders

7 pm Band Practice

7 pm Wed. Fellowship

7 pm Band Practice

7 pm Wed. Fellowship

7 pm Wed. Fellowship

7 pm Church Board

7:53 pm sunset

7 pm Band Practice

Vacation Bible School

July 2015

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July Birthdays Geselle Huinquez – 3 Grant Fisher – 3Pilar Centeno, Sr. – 6 Lesley Mendez – 7 Bonnie Iversen – 8 Alfie Macias – 9 James Pond – 9 Lucille Martinez – 11Janette Huinquez – 12 Joel Huinquez, Sr. – 13 Frances Menendez – 19 Kristelle Meade – 26 Kelly Gonzalez – 26 Ethan Morales – 30 Noemilyn Luna – 31

If your birthday is left out in the monthly newsletter, please contact the church office so we can put it in.

Upcoming EventsWednesday - 7 p.m. Wed. FellowshipFriday - 7:00 p.m. Band PracticeSaturday - 4:00 p.m. Bible Study

July 4 - Independence DayJuly 4 - Pathfinders @ 2pmJuly 5 - Pathfinders @ 9amJuly 11 - Pathfinder InvestitureJuly 12 - Yard SaleJuly 20-24 - VBS 6 to 8:30pmJuly 25 - Fellowship Luncheon @ 12:30pm

The Latest Word deadline is the 5th of the month.

Coming Soon

Aug. 1 - Hawiian Shirt DayAug. 22 - Teacher DedicationAug. 29 - Fiesta Parking Lot PartySept. 12 - Pathfinder Camporee

Be sure to keep up with the latest news by signing up for the Wednesday email. You can sign up here www.downey-church.org/Signups.html or send us an email at DowneyChurch at gmail dot com and we’ll add you.

THE LATEST WORD

8

The Latest About

Our Church FamilyCongratulations to

Juanita and Armando Cabrera. Their baby, Victoria America, was born on June 4th. She weighed 9lbs.

If you have any Church Family news, please contact the church office

so we can get it into the newsletter. =

On Vocation? Use GPS!

Thank you to everyone who has been saving Box Tops for Education. That is greatly appreciated.

For the Box Tops for Education, please save the Box Tops coupon.

Please give your labels to Linda Aumack. Thank you for your support! =

Many vacationers rely on a global position-

ing system to get them easily to a destination. But in every season of life, God sends us on vocation — following his call to both feed our passions and serve others. Our “calling,” Frederick Buechner said, is “where [our] deep gladness and the world’s deep hun-ger meet.”

But is there a GPS for vocation? It’s not as detailed or predictive as we’d like. It doesn’t name our destination at the out-set, and it offers general instructions rather than specific directions. And we may end up “recalculat-ing” our life route more

often than our vehicle GPS recalculates our vacation route.

Even so, we travel in safety. This “GPS” might stand for God’s Peace and Strength, or Gospel Promises Sustain, God Provides Salvation or Go! Proclaim! Serve! The GPS guiding our voca-tion speaks to us through Scripture, worship, trusted Christian friends, life events and the silence of our heart. Listening, we hear our Guide’s calm voice and continue on vocation.

—Heidi Mann =

After Apollo 11 landed on the moon on

July 20, 1969, pilot Buzz Aldrin requested via radio that people pause to give thanks for the achievement in their own way. When his broadcast ended, Aldrin read a verse from the Gospel of John and took communion, which his church had sent to space with him.

“It was interesting for me to think: the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the very first food eaten there, were the communion elements,” the astronaut said. “At the time, I could think of no better way to acknowledge the enormity of the Apollo 11 experience than by giv-ing thanks to God.” =

Communing with God

July 2015

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July 2015

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Downey-Florence Seventh-day Adventist Church9820 Lakewood Blvd., Downey CA 90240

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DATED MATERIAL

Ponder This...

= “Life is like a ten-speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.” —Charles M. Schulz

= “A commitment to love and justice demands the trans-formation of social structures as well as of hearts.” —Mary E. Hunt

= “Summer afternoon — summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” —Henry James

= “Don’t pray when you feel like it. Have an appoint-ment with the Lord and keep it.” —Corrie ten Boom