310 Women Impacted by Hispanic Women's Retreat
The recent Hispanic Women’s Retreat focused on mental and spiritual health, which is central to Hispanic women’s ministries in the Central California Conference. This event took place Sept. 8-10, but was initially scheduled for March of this year in Yosemite. The event was canceled due to the weather and had to be rescheduled at a new location, the Embassy Suites Hotel in San Luis Obispo, California.
“We had to work hard to find a different place. We were afraid a lot of our scheduled attendees would not be able to switch the date and location,” explained Susi Pulido, Hispanic Women’s Ministries director for the Central California Conference. Instead, there was a very good turnout. 310 women attended these meetings, learning about mental health and spiritual health from the two main presenters: Leticia Huerta and Ester Crisóstomo Cortes. These presentations included reminding attendees to remember that God is our King and He helps with our battles against evil.
“We came together again after the recent pandemic and were able to trust in each other and begin to move on,” said Pulido. “There are many of us fighting this fight, and we can support each other and remind each other that we are daughters of the Great King.”
The purpose of this event was to equip the women, better their relationship with God and prepare them mentally and spiritually for their many different purposes. “When we, as women, have a relationship with God it equips us and gives us tools for our families, churches and the community,” said Pulido.
Marbella Castañeda, one of the attendees of the event, said that attending the women’s retreat was a blessing to her and her family. “Through the information shared by psychologists and other professionals, I learned a lot about myself and have taken their advice and implemented it in my interactions with my family. Also, taking some time away from home to get to know sisters from various churches has been helpful in growing my community of faith. I feel very fortunate to have been part of this and to share this experience with my sisters in Christ.”
The Hispanic Women’s Ministries is planning to provide more hands-on learning tools for spiritual and mental health. They also work with churches to bring new friends to the church. They want to involve as many directors in their upcoming events.
“We want them to feel empowered and feel ownership in creating these events. Everyone who goes to these events is part of it,” said Pulido. Learn more at www.cccadventist.org.
By Brennan Hallock
Sabbath Keepers Motorcycle Ministry
On Sabbath, July 1, 2023, the Santa Maria SDA Church Sabbath School featured ministry to motorcycle clubs. Pastor Joe Mallinson, who had been involved in ministering to these clubs in the past, was invited to share how some Adventists got involved in this ministry. Explaining that biker communities are more easily reached by people in leather vests and jeans rather than suits and ties, Mallinson shared the following:It was 1947. WWII was over; former soldiers were coming back to the US by thousands. One group, riding motorcycles, came to the little farming town of Hollister, CA. They began racing up and down the main street, drinking beer, and throwing bottles around. A national magazine photographer took pictures that were published in their magazine, and from this, the idea of motorcycle clubs was born.
Soon, the film, The Wild One, starring Marlon Brando, was being seen in theaters across the country, largely based on these incidents at Hollister.
Fast forward to 1997. Some of the motorcycle clubs decided they should celebrate the 50th anniversary of the beginning of motorcycle clubs and suggested that the event should be held where it all began, in Hollister.
The townspeople were uncomfortable with the idea of thousands of bikers descending on their little farming community, so plans were formed for the CHP, the sheriff's department, and the local police to be called up to protect the community.
The local Seventh-day Adventist church members, where Mallinson was pastor, began discussing how they could minister to all these bikers, most of whom needed to hear the message of salvation.
Out of the church's planning came the idea of forming their own motorcycle club and calling it the Sabbathkeepers Motorcycle Ministry. A patch was designed that could be worn with their vests, displaying their club emblem like the ones worn by many other clubs.
This ministry concept began to spread, and today about 20 Sabbathkeepers clubs have been established across the USA and even internationally with clubs in both Canada and Australia.
Their ministry literature describes them this way:“Sabbath Keepers Motorcycle Ministry (SKMM) is a Seventh-day Adventist ministry committed to spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ to the motorcycle community. Membership is open to all baptized members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Local chapters often participate in motorcycle rallies, charity rides, church dedication services, or other motorcycle-related activities.“
SKMM members have been invited to preach at rallies and have shared thousands of pieces of literature, given away many Bibles, and led prayer sessions with members of other motorcycle clubs.
Personal contact and literature evangelism are the primary methods used to spread the gospel. However, SKMM does not limit itself to ministering to the motorcycle community or even requiring members to have a motorcycle.
More information on the Sabbathkeepers motorcycle ministry can be found at: https://www.skmmnational.org/about
By Joe Mallinson
Youth Basketball Ministry Brings New Members into Church
Endok Ferdinand Ignacio—also known as Coach Buddy Boy—and his wife Dalia moved into their new neighborhood in the Tarpey Village area of Fresno, California, in November 2020, and they saw the need to reach out to this neighborhood. Ignacio has been an avid basketball player since his youth, and was even close to being a professional player, but the desire to use his life to share Christ helped him decide to go a different direction in life.
Basketball has remained central to him, and he continues to play. This is why one of the problems he saw when he moved into his new neighborhood was the lack of a basketball court. “Everywhere I go I have a small basketball court, and I am still keeping up with young people,” said Ignacio. He decided to look into having a court built beside his home, but he wasn’t sure if he could afford this.
Then the idea came to him to use the basketball court to reach out to the neighborhood surrounding his home. “God gave me the guidance to start a basketball ministry,” he said. This would be paired with the Meals on Wheels ministry he managed that was already active in the neighborhood. Church members gave him money to support this idea, and a court was built.
Ignacio’s neighborhood, made up of mostly Hindus, has become excited about this ministry. When it opened in Sept. 2021, six kids showed up ready to play basketball. Ignacio opened with prayer, and continued praying for the group when more kids began showing up to his basketball ministry. The kids began asking questions about Christianity and requesting Ignacio pray for some of their friends and family members as well, some of them suffering from the coronavirus pandemic.
Recently, one of the families of the kids attending this basketball ministry began attending the church where Ignacio also goes. The parents told Ignacio, “When you pray for us, God answers your prayers. And you’ve been so good to our children. We decided we don’t want to be Hindu anymore, we want to become Christian like you and Dalia.”
By Brennan Hallock
