Is it ever “too late” to find faith in Jesus? The

question seems ridiculously simple. Yet, in her heart, a mom feels an uncertain response. Her unhappy life-choices yell at her each morning, “You are a loser”—the future seems sealed.

She grits her teeth each morning and stuff gets done. “Storm” or “arro-gance” defines her name. She is forthright, in your face and does what she wants. However, from the

outside looking in, her bold personality allows her to keep an open mind. Unconventional, she takes time to investigate ideas others would dismiss.

Her story is clear. She would answer our question, “Is it ever ‘too late’ to find Jesus?” with a resounding “NO.” On Mother’s Day, May 7, the message is “A Woman of Faith.” Call all your “mom” friends and especially those moms who might answer our question “yes.” The Bible has some

good news to share.

To honor our moms, we’re hosting a fellowship luncheon and each will receive a small gift. The guys will take charge of the luncheon so the moms can rest and enjoy their special day.

On May 14, the prin-cipal of Adventist Union School (AUS), Mr. Terry Tryon, has a message of God’s goodness to share. Mr. Tryon captures the thoughts of listeners by

continued on page 2

A Woman of Faithby Pastor Mitch

A prayer for one’s family

Our heavenly Father, we come as your children to praise you for putting us in our family. We thank you for the love and nourishment we have received from those in whose presence we have been placed. We confess our need for your guidance in our families. Please grant us harmony in our homes and enable us always to show respect and love for one another. In Christ’s name, Amen.

INSIDEHow do You Measure Goodness? is on page 3

Turning Point on page 4

Ginny’s Kitchen on page 5

What’s happening? see pages 6 & 9

What Would John Wesley Do? on page 7

Our Church Family page 10

Kid’s Page on page 11

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

Christian Educationby Bill Aumack

If you’ve spent much time around me, you know that I’m a firm believer in

Chrisian Education. Both my wife and I are products of Christian Education. And both of our sons are working toward fin-ishing their schooling in Christian schools. It’s been an important part of our Christian experi-ence. I encourage as many parents as possible to get their children in Christian schools.

In May, we have the privilege of having both

our Christian schools visit us. On May 14, Adventist Union School (AUS) will be here to lead the service. You’ll have an opportunity to see what’s happening at our elementary school. Then on May 21st, San Gabriel Academy (SGA) will be at

Downey with their Chorale to lead our worship service. You’ll get some insight into our supported high school on this day.

We all enjoy seeing the youth lead our wor-

continued on page 2

THE LATEST WORD

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ship services. And there is nothing wrong with that, but these special services are so much more than

just an opportunity for us to see the kids ‘perform.’ This is a continuation of their Christian education.

It helps teach them about how important corporate worship to the Christian life. This is a biblical com-mand in Hebrews 10:24-25, which says in part “not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing.”

Not only that, but this is a great oppotunity to invite your friends and relatives who have school-aged children. They can see what a difference Christian education makes. There is also an opportu-nity to talk to the leader-ship of the schools. They can answer any questions you may have about the school.

We look forward to seeing you at these two very special services. =

telling the gospel story through simple demonstra-tions and songs. Many AUS students will join their Principal in songs and participa-tion. Encouraging students to help with the Sabbath service is one essential aim. After all, our goal is to help youngsters choose to follow Jesus as their Savior. If you have been thinking of inviting the neighborhood kids to one of our services this is the day.

San Gabriel Academy’s chorale will offer a musi-cal worship on May 21. Last year, we were

blessed by the San Gabriel Academy chorale. Their uplifting melodies are reminiscent of the Book

of Psalms—which is really a “book of songs” sung throughout the ages. The chorale’s music is a

helpful guide that urges each of us to express our love of God and his love for us.

A luncheon is planned to meet the students and their teachers. In defer-ence to our young friends, the food

theme is “Haystacks.” We need everyone’s help to bring food items to share

with our guest. A sign-up sheet will be available in the foyer.

As many of you already know, Pastor Mitch and Ginny’s son, Mitch Williams, is a Seventh-day Adventist pastor. He and his wife Lena and their 4 girls are serving the Lord at the Adventure Church in Fort Collins, Colorado. Mitch and his family will be with us on May 28.

See you when the church gathers. =

WE

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ID

IT

The Latest Word V 23 N 05

BILL AUMACKresponsible for this

LINDA AUMACKproof reading

LETTY DURANpaper distribution

MITCH WILLIAMSpastor

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: May 2011 copyright 1992-2011

Is it ever too late to find Jesus?

“

”

A Woman of Faith (cont. from page 1)

Christian Education (from page 1)

May 2011

3

Webster says “depend” means “to place reli-

ance or trust” (Merriam Webster at www.m-w.com).

God says through Isaiah, “People with

their minds set on you [God], you keep complete-ly whole, steady on their feet, because they keep at it and don’t quit. Depend on God and keep at it because in the Lord God you have a sure thing” (Isaiah 26).

A friend of mine recently told me a story which he said reminded him of God’s goodness. It goes something like this. “I woke up one morning last week and for some reason thought that I would like to have a maple donut. I forgot

about the idea and went to work. When I returned to the office after driving my morning route, lo and behold, what do you think I found? There was a box of donuts someone had brought into work, and sure enough, inside there was a maple donut. God is so good that he even satisfied my desire for a donut that day.”

I liked my friend’s story, but not for the same reason as he. I liked the story, because it made me think about the differ-ences between people. You see, if I had woken up that morning, thought about having a donut and it sud-

denly appeared before my eyes at work, I would think it came straight from the devil himself; it cer-tainly would not remind me of God’s goodness. Ahhhh, the difference between a friend who does not struggle with weight

issues and me. So when I mentioned that to my friend and his wife, we shared a little chuckle. But it left me pondering about God’s will.

What is God’s will and how do we know whether we are following it? There are plenty of areas in the Bible which tell us about God’s will. For example, it is God’s will that we love him and love others, that we forgive people, that we are honest, and so forth. No questions about it when it comes to things like that. The Bible makes it very clear. But there are other areas, I think, that are not so clear. They can be gray, not black and

white. Something along these lines. Two people are ill. One is healed, the other isn’t. Or, two people desperately seek employ-ment. One finds it, the other doesn’t. Get the idea? I suppose we could come up with any number

of scenarios, couldn’t we?

How do we handle those gray areas? What if we are the person on the seem-ingly nega-tive side of the above scenarios? God doesn’t

choose to heal or hasn’t yet provided a needed job. What are we to think? I certainly do not know the answer, but I am currently of the opinion that situations like that cause us to trust God. We trust God in spite of the fact that we did not get what we thought we needed or wanted. When we get to the end of our rope, when we find our-selves with no place to look but up, we find that we have no choice but to trust God; nothing else to hold on to but God. And we hear him say, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). God is worthy of our trust. =

May 7 Mitch Williams

Mother’s Day

May 14Terry Tryon Adventist Union

School

May 21San Gabriel

Academy

May 28Mitch Williams, Jr

Worship Schedule

God, Webster & You

by Linda Bewley How do You Measure ‘Goodness’?

THE LATEST WORD

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Before the Father

by Linda FernandezThe Turning Point

There is considerable roadwork being done

on my way to work. Each day I try to take note of what the workers are doing and where they are in their progress. It amazes me at how many steps there are to putting in a median or repairing a road. I began to think of the phases God has patiently taken me through as He creates in me a new heart.

The long and winding road of my life often led to one dead-end street after another. Maybe that is why I decided to review the basics of my fundamental beliefs. But where am I now on this path I have chosen to follow? Beginning to trust in God’s Word was the obvious starting point. Learning to trust God to guide and direct my path was difficult at first. Looking to Jesus for peace took more time than I would like to admit. Taking time to listen to the Holy Spirit was hit or miss at first. But as I struggled each day to be more like Christ, the evidence of His influence slowly began to show. So what was the next step? Where did I go from there? Having been raised “in the church,” I felt the right thing to do was to be re-baptized. I had been baptized when I was young, but I wanted

to make that open commit-ment to Christ again.

During this series of articles, I have chosen a country song to try and tie my thoughts on each topic together. I found a won-derful song titled, Baptism, by Kenny Chesney and Randy Travis. Some of the words

describe my journey back to God so clearly. One verse goes like this:

This road is long and dusty, sometimes the soul, it must be cleansed, And I long to feel that water rushing over me again.

The chorus sums it up so perfectly:

Down with the old man, up with the new. Raised to walk in the way of light and truth. I didn’t see no angels, just a few saints on the shore. But I

felt like a newborn baby cradled up in the arms of the Lord.

What have I learned about baptism? I know that baptism is com-manded. I know that was the turning point in my life when I chose to fol-low a new Master. I know baptism didn’t save me; (that gift was provided at Calvary), but by being baptized, I chose to accept that gift and be identified as a child of God in the body of Christ. It was a public confession of my

faith. At that time, I let it be known that even as I came up out of the water, I believe I will one day be

raised up to live forever with my Savior and King. Let’s pray,

Father, help us to walk in the light. Amen. =

“... Repent and be baptized...”

Acts 2:38

“But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light...”

1 John 1:7

May 2011

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Carrot and Asparagus Lasagna

From Ginny’s Kitchen

12 fresh asparagus washed and trim to 3” or 4” long

1 fresh carrot, cut into Julienne strips 3” or 4” long

6 Lasagna noodles

1 pkg. frozen Morning Star Crumbles or canned veg-gie burger

1 cup finely chopped white or yellow onion

1 cap, Liquid Smoke

½ cup fresh chopped basil leaves

3 garlic cloves, chopped finely

1 T. fresh chopped oreg-ano

½ fresh chopped parsley leaves

1 cup Ricotta cheese

1 l6 oz. Mozzarella grated cheese

2 cans of Hunts or favorite spaghetti sauce

olive oil or grape seed oil

salt & pepper

Top with Parmesan cheese (optional)

Preparation:Prepare, wash, cut car-

rots and asparagus and place in microwave dish with ½ cup of water and microwave for 2 minutes and drain, set aside for later.

Precook noodles, per direction until limp. Drain and cool and place on a cookie sheet to fill later. (Lay-out flat and straight).

With grape-seed oil or olive oil, sauté onions with Morning Star Crumbles.

Drizzle over Liquid Smoke over Crumbles while sautéing. Set aside to cool.

In a bowl, mix together all the herbs, the Ricotta cheese and Mozzarella cheese. Add veggie meat mixture with herbs and cheeses. Add l cup spa-ghetti sauce and gently fold all together.

Ready to fill and to make up lasagna rolls.

Handle each lasagna noodle separately. Spoon about 4 or 5 heaping tablespoons of mixture and spread gently over noodle the entire length of the noodle and width. BEFORE YOU ROLL-UP, lay two asparagus

spears and 2 carrots strips at the edge and begin to roll-up lasagna noodle. Place each roll into a Pam sprayed deep bread baking loaf dish. (You may use two loaf dishes). Cover noodles with remaining spaghetti sauce. (It does matter if the carrots or asparagus stick out while rolling and baking). You can put some oil over each one and more sauce to pro-tect them.

Bake this at 375 for 35 minutes. =

Memorial Day emerged from the grim shad-

ows of the American Civil War. Before the close of the war, women began decorating the graves of soldiers who had died in that war. The practice quickly spread, and a few years later May 30, 1868, was designated as Decoration Day — a

day for placing flowers on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers throughout the United

States.

In 1882, Decoration Day became known as Memorial Day, and sol-diers who died in other wars were also honored. Over the years, it has become a day when all loved ones who have died — in war and otherwise — are remembered. In 1971, the United States Congress declared Memorial Day

a national holiday to be observed annually on the last Monday in May.

On this Memorial Day, remember those who gave their lives for our country. But also pray for those who continue serving to keep America free, espe-cially those who are in harm’s way. =

Memorial Day

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

2 3 4 5 6 7

8 10 12 13 14

16 17 18 19 20 21

22 23 24 25 26 27 28

29 30 31

7:46 pm sunset

7:50 pm sunset

7:55 pm sunset

9:30 AM S.S.

9:30 AM S.S.

9:30 AM S.S.10:50 AM Worship San Gabriel Academy12:30 Luncheon

9:30 AM S.S.10:50 AM Worship Mitch Williams, Jr

Visit www.downeychurch.orgC.S. - Community Service

S.S. - Sabbath School

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10:50 AM Worship Mitch Williams12:30 Luncheon

10:50 AM Worship Adventist Union School

9

10 AM C.S.

6:30 pm Band Practice

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Downey Adventist Church

7 pm Women’s Prayer Group

7 pm Women’s Prayer Group

6:30 pm Band Practice

7:40 pm sunset

6:30 pm Band Practice

3:00 Pathfinders

9:00 Pathfinders

7 pm Women’s Prayer Group

6:30 pm Band Practice

7 pm Church Board

Pathfinder Campout

7 pm Women’s Prayer Group

Pathfinder Campout

7 pm AUS Graduation

May 2011

7

The American people pride themselves on

the amount of money they donate in time of crisis such as Katrina, Indonesia’s 2007 tsunami, the disastrous earthquake in Haiti, last month’s unexpected New Zealand earthquake and now Japan’s heartbreaking devastation. It is true that Christian and secular organi-zations, relief agencies, charities, celebri-ties and individuals contin-ually donate to these wor-thy causes. Our Heavenly Father wants us to be gen-erous with those who have suffered loss because He is a charitable, big–hearted, open–handed Supernatural Being. Throughout his-tory, godly generosity has been one of the distinctive characteristics of Christian societies amplified by men and women who have been softened by the gift at Calvary.

One of the best exam-ples of genuine generos-ity comes from the 18th century. John Wesley (1703–1791) and his musi-cal brother Charles (1707 –1788) are often credited as the cofounders of the Methodist church. Both were profound preach-ers and astute business-

men. Both were raised in a clergy home in the small parish of Epworth, Lincolnshire, England. Their father, Samuel, ministered for forty years in this poor parish.

Consequently, because John grew up in a lifestyle of destitution and hardship, he determined as a young man never to be in want but to live comfort-ably all his

life.1

One day while he was still at Oxford University, Wesley decided to pur-chase a few new paintings to decorate his dorm room. It was an exceptionally cold, wintery day and he noticed, when one of his chambermaids came in, that she had only a thin gown to protect her from the cold. Immediately, Wesley reached into his pocket to assist this lady, but then realized he had only a few pennies left after paying for his new paintings. At that moment Wesley was convicted to change his spending hab-its. He then determined to limit his expenses so he could give more money to those less fortunate.

After Wesley finished his formal schooling and

embarked on his career, he decided to continue this experiment of generos-ity. One year he earned 30 English pounds, a very good income for that time. That year he purposely chose to limit his daily expenses to 28 pounds so he could donate 2 pounds to the disadvantaged. The next year Wesley doubled his income and received over 60 pounds. So for another year he chose to live on 28 pounds and was able that year to give away 32 pounds. This became this life–long practice even when he was making extremely large amounts of money. One year Wesley made the equivalent of $1.4 million, yet even in that 12–month period he bud-geted his living expense to 2% of the total and allocated the rest—98% to be given to those less fortunate. During his life-time, he earned approxi-mately $30 million yet when he departed this life what remained was a well used pastor’s cloak, a few spoons and some assorted coins. What happened to his enormous income? He simply chose to die broke and give his money to the poor.2

John Wesley’s financial fundamentals was a ser-mon he preached entitled,

What Would John Wesley Do?Stewpot

by Gordon Botting, DrPh, CHES

continued on page 8

God sees the heart, no the hand — the giver, not the gift.

–Benjamin R. DeJong

There is no hap-piness in having and getting, but only in giving.

–Frank Wakely Gunsaulus

We hear a great deal about the Lord loving cheerful givers: we wonder where He finds them.

–Edgar Watson Howe

THE LATEST WORD

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The Use of Money, based on Luke 16:10. In this ser-mon Wesley stressed three central themes about the use or misuse of money. His major points are like the three sides of a tri-angle; “Gain all you can; save all you can; give all you can.” What did he mean by this uncompli-cated message?2

1. Gain All You Can.

Wesley believed that Christians above all people should work hard, be industrious, diligent and accumulate as much money as possible. To him there was absolutely nothing wrong with accu-mulating wealth. In fact, he argued that Christians were “duty bound” to gain all the financial resources they could. There is no question that Wesley fol-lowed his own advice. He was the top earning preacher of his era and probably of all time. Interestingly, Wesley did not have DVDs and CDs to sell! He received his money from donations, speaking appointments, books and what he called, Penny Tracts. “Wesley certainly makes today’s religious hucksters look like entrepreneurial slack-ers.”2 Before you change your estimation of this great preacher’s philoso-phy, note that he balanced this gaining of wealth with five caveats.

a. Under no circum-stances were Christians to gain their wealth at the expense of their health or way of life.

b. Christians should not gain riches through occu-pations that were deceitful and dishonest. He rejected employment where cheat-ing, lying or avoiding taxes were the norm.

c. Wesley maintained that no Christian should hurt his neighbor by increasing his wealth through gambling enter-prises, pawnbroking, charging exorbitant inter-est on loans, and selling items below market value to jeopardize competition.

d. Christians should reject medical rip–off scams that swindle unsus-pecting people out of their hard earned money. He called them “doctors that play with the lives and hearts of men to enlarge their own gain.”

e. Finally, he argued that Christians had abso-lutely no business in ven-tures that involved alcohol, immoral acts or any other activities that degraded nature or the human soul.

2. Save All You Can.

This second line of the triangle is not what some might think. Wesley was not concerned about the need to have many savings

accounts, stocks, bonds or mutual funds. His idea was the need for Christians to be thrifty with their spending habits or in other words, to be finan-cially frugal or prudent. He warned about what would be appealing to the eye: expensive and extravagant clothes, elaborate houses, fancy garden landscapes and extraordinary decora-tions, expensive paint-ings and works of art and vari-ous other things that appealed to our sense of beauty. Wesley always came back to: “What would Jesus do?” And in this context, it was a sol-emn plea for simplicity.

3. Give All You Can.

This principle was the foundation of his trian-gular sermon. We are, he affirmed, to gain and save all we can in order to be generous. His view of giving was: Give to your-self money to fulfill your essential needs.

a. Give to your imme-diate family and employ-ees their fair share. He val-idates this principle with a text from 1 Timothy 5:8, “But if anyone does not

provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel,” NKJV.

b. Give to the house-hold of faith. Meaning the organized minis-try of churches, para church organizations, and Christian charities.

c. Give to the greater society, which includes

those who are unfor-tunate, such as the poor, home-less and destitute. On this last point he would often switch the word-

ing as he concluded his message from “give all you can” to “give all you have.” 2

Perhaps this concept of being totally dedicated to giving is best encapsulated by these words: charity starts with the checkbook, but generosity starts with the heart.3 =

Reference: 1. Samuel Wesley Internet article under John Wesley: Holiness of Heart and Life. 2. John Wesley’s Trilateral Internet article by Keith Drury. 3. Nyquist Paul, True Generosity, Today in the Word, Moody Bible Institute.

What Would John Wesley Do? (cont. from page 7)

May 2011

9

May Birthdays

Chris Martin – 1 Dudley Meade – 1 Victor Zamora – 4 Linda Aumack – 6 Michael Fernandez – 6 Kaye Navarro – 10 Byron Molina Jr. – 11 Vanity Duarte – 12 Bill Aumack – 17 Ray Munguia – 18 Frank Duran – 23 Alex Aumack – 28 Phillip Mondragon – 28

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

Upcoming Events2nd & 4th Saturdays - 3:00 p.m. Pathfinders1st Sunday - 10 a.m. Community ServiceThursdays - 7 p.m. Women’s Prayer GroupFridays - 6:30 p.m. Band Practice

May 7 - Mother’s Day ServiceMay 14 - AUS Leads WorshipMay 21 - SGA ChoraleMay 20-22 - Pathfinder CampoutMay 31 - AUS Graduation @ Downey

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

Coming Soon

June 18 - Father’s Day ServiceJuly 18-22 - VBS

THIS MONTH

We are starting the early phases of VBS planning. If you are will-ing to help teach, or with food prep, or crafts or anywhere else, please let Bill know.

THE LATEST WORD

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The Latest About

Our Church FamilyEvan Aumack was

recently featured at La Sierra University. He wrote an iPad drum app that got some atten-tion. You can read the article at http://lasier-ra.edu/index.php?id=7177

Congratulations to Elora, Alex and David Chavez. They had perfect

attendance at AUS. Elora and Sebastian Zegarra were on honor roll! Keep up the good work!

We are looking for graduates for this school year. If you know someone who is graduating, please let Bill A. know or email us at downeychurch@gmail.org.

If you have any Church Family news, please contact the church office so we can get it into the newsletter. =

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! =

4-year-old: “My mommy can do anything!”

8-year-old: “My mom knows a lot! A whole lot!”

12-year-old: “My mother doesn’t really know quite everything.”

14-year-old: “Naturally, mom doesn’t know that, either.”

16-year-old: “Mom? She’s hopelessly old-fash-ioned.”

18-year-old: “That old woman? She’s way out of date!”

25-year-old: “Well, she might know a little bit about it.”

30-year-old: “She’s smart-er than she used to be.”

35-year-old: “Before we decide, let’s get Mom’s opinion.”

50-year-old: “Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?”

65-year-old: “Wish I could talk it over with Mom.”

=

The Changing Image of Mother Our church website is

now set up to accept online donations. You can pay your tithe and offer-ings online. After setting up an account, you can make donations to various accounts, much like you fill out a tithe envelope.

The donation site is safe and secure. It is run by the General Conference. There are no fees. And 100% of your donations will go to the funds you select.

Naturally, you can still put your tithes and

offerings into a tithe envelope at church. That won’t change. This is just another way that you can choose to give your offer-ings.

The link for the dona-tions is on the left side of our main page at www.downeychurch.org. The first time you use it you’ll have to create an account, but after that the process is quite easy. If you’ve been paying your bills electronically, it will even seem down right natural. =

Online Donations

May 2011

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May 2011

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

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DATED MATERIAL

Ponder This...

= “If you have a mom, there is nowhere you are likely to go where a prayer has not already been.” —Robert Brault

= “Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blos-som.” —Marcel Proust

= “Success is getting what you want. Happiness is want-ing what you get.” —Dale Carnegie