First of all, thank you for such a loving intro-

duction to this wonderful church. My family has already been blessed by being a part of the Downey Adventist Church. As we continue further into sum-mer, we realize how much fun the month of July is. During this month, we cel-ebrate our country’s inde-pendence and on July 6th, I will share message on how to truly be free. On July 13th, we will discuss the

need to be connected with Christ as a church. It starts by tapping into the one that has created us. This mes-sage should prepare us as we embark on our VBS. I can’t wait to participate in Downey’s legendary VBS. On July 20th, we will focus on a blessing we will receive while teach-ing our children the love of God. I pray that we all are able to be involved in this wonderful ministry as Jesus taught his disciples that it is

actually our children who end up teaching the rest of us what it means to believe in Him. May God guide us as we serve in love and in unity as a church.

On July 6th the mes-sage is Freedom in Christ. “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1, NKJ). During this time a year, we reflect on the

continued on page 2

Summer Fun in July by Cary Fisher

Sew Me in Your Hem, oh Lord

Tuck me where your garment folds. Sew me in and keep me close. Stitch me in the linen folds. In your garment I will stay Where I’ll hear you speak and pray. Sew me in, oh pre-cious Lord. Tuck me where your garment folds.

—MaryAnn Sundby

INSIDEStormy Weather Ahead page 3

Your Bugle page 4

Taste & Inspiration on page 5

What’s happening? see pages 6 & 9

Planning for a Successful Retirement 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

God’s Backyard Bible Camp VBS

Our Vacation Bible School this year is

God’s Backyard Bible Camp! Get ready for an outdoor adventure that starts in your own backyard and gets bigger as kids take the love of Jesus into their neighborhoods and com-munities! The children will learn about serving their family, their friends,

their neighbors, their com-mnity and Jesus.

Join us starting Monday, July 29 thru Friday, August 2 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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freedoms that we have by living in this great country, but let us also celebrate our time with God. True freedom comes as we are released from the oppression of sin as we give our lives to Jesus.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:5, NIV). When we are connected with Christ, we are tapping into the one that created us which allows us to live the life that we are designed to live. Join us on July 13th for the message Fruitful Living.

The message on July 20th is Becoming a Child. “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted

and become as little chil-dren, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heav-en” (Matthew 18:3, NKJ). With VBS coming up, this will be an exciting oppor-tunity to teach children the love that God has for them, but like Jesus shared with his disciples, it is our

children that often do the teaching.

Our VBS program this year is focusing on Mark 12:29-31. This passage is familiar to most of us as it is where Jesus gives us the two most important com-mandments; love God and love your neighbor. If we stop and think about that

passage for a moment, we have to ask ourselves what does it mean to love God? How does that look? Can other people tell? And most importantly, how can I tell if I love God or not? But it’s more than that. Because we are told to love God with all our hearts, minds, souls and

strength. Another way to put that is to love God with everything we have. To love to the maximum. Sometimes we try to skate by doing as little as possi-ble, but God asks us to do as much as possible. He is asking us to be Maximum People. Join us on July 27th as Bill Aumack brings us this message.

See you when the church gathers. =

WE

D

ID

IT

The Latest Word V 25 N 07

BILL AUMACKresponsible for this

LINDA AUMACKcopy editor

HATZUKO AISPUROpaper 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 2013 copyright 1992-2013

We reflect on the freedoms that we have by living in this great country, but let us also celebrate our time with God.

“

”

Summer Fun in July (cont. from pg 1)

July 2013

3

month? It seemed a great idea, so I planned to ask her if and when I saw her. Strangely enough, I saw her almost immediately upon arriving at church and, even more strange, I remembered to ask! (Unless you are someone who is often forgetful, you may not be able to relate to that statement!) I was very pleased when Margarette said she would be happy to help out. So I gave her the lesson book and told her she could pick any week she liked. She picked Sabbath, June 8th. Yay! What a great addi-tion to our team of Sabbath School leaders!! Thank you, Lord!!! Little did I know at the time that a personal storm was on the horizon.

Long story short, my

mom was admitted to the hospital on Monday. She was released on Thursday, only to end up back in the emergency room on Friday when she was again admit-ted into the hospital around midnight. Running to and fro the hospital all week, keeping up with deadlines at work and taking care of life’s ordinary business, all made for an extreme-ly long week. Yet I couldn’t help but see God’s hand in my situa-tion. When I asked Margarette to teach, I had no clue my mom would be in the hos-pital and that I would be so preoccupied with life’s challenges that I would be unable to prepare for the next week’s Sabbath School, but God did. And what are the chances that Margarette would pick the exact week I would need her most? The answer seems clear to me. She was following God’s lead. Each time things became more difficult this week, I stopped to think about the perfect timing and provi-dence of God. He made

provision to help me when He knew I would need it most. While others may have been able to cruise through this situation and still prepare for Sabbath School, I’m happy God knows this child of His! He knew I would need backup and He came to my rescue in the form His children, Margarette and

Natalie (who also willingly helped).

We know, of course, that God is always work-ing, even if we can’t see it. But in difficult situations, it’s an amazing comfort to be reminded of His pres-ence and to know that He is there to calm the storm. Wouldn’t you agree? =

July 6

Pastor CaryFreedom in Christ

July 13 Pastor CaryFruitful Living

July 20Pastor Cary

Becomnig a Child

July 27Bill Aumack

Maximum People

Worship Schedule

The Word & You

by Linda Bewley Stormy Weather Ahead

God’s word says, “As they sailed across,

Jesus settled down for a nap. But soon a fierce storm came down on the lake. The boat was filling with water, and they were in real danger. The disciples went and woke him up, shout-ing, ‘Master, Master, we’re going to drown!’ When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and the raging waves. Suddenly the storm stopped and all was calm” (Luke 8:23, 24).

Last Sabbath, while putting the finishing

touches on the lesson for Primary, I had a very clear thought. Why not invite Margarette to give the lesson in Primary once a

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Before the Father is on hiatus while Linda fights cancer. Your prayers on her behalf are appreci-ated.

It seems like the new bad guy that we blame

everything on is our busy schedule. Everyone is busy, too busy. We don’t have time for things that seem important. We miss our children’s school pro-grams or sporting events because we are “too busy.” We don’t take vacation time because we are so far behind already. We don’t have time to donate a few hours of time to church or other favorite charity. We don’t even have time to eat right because, you got it, we are too busy.

There’s probably a whole host of reasons for this phenomenon. Here’s a couple that I’ve noticed.

Cell phones: We have to be in touch with everyone we know at all times. I’m often amazed at how the people around me need to call someone and check something, or someone calls them to check about something very mundane. Obviously cell phones are great in emergency, or important, situations. But when did everything become important? We can’t go the store without calling someone to check on something. We can’t

get through a meal without someone needing to call us about something. Phones ring during worship ser-vices and funerals. And that’s just the actual phone calls, many of us get a lot more text messages than we do phone calls.

Internet (computers & smart phones): The internet and being connected at all times is nearly an addiction for many people. We whip our smart phones to check facebook, email, messages, the news, YouTube and a thousand other things. It’s almost like a status symbol. If you’ve got to stand in line at the local Starbucks, you better be cool by messing with your phone. You wouldn’t want to be caught actually making conversation with the person next to you, or even worse, just standing there. Which leads us to the last item

We don’t know how to not be busy: Many of us have no idea how to not be busy. We’ve always been busy. There’s always more things to do than time to do them all. We have no clue how to organize or prioritize our lives. We just live by rac-ing here and there and

everywhere. Often times, we have no idea if one event is more important or worthy than another, it’s just another thing we have to do so we try to cram them both in.

Obviously, more than just these three things affect the business of our lives. But I really think these are some of the key drivers. And naturally these things all effect our spiritual lives too. We don’t have time to read the Bible, study, pray or even have a quiet time with God. Then we wonder why we don’t “feel” spiri-tual or close to God.

Did you know this is not just a modern, or first-world, problem? This issue of being too busy or dis-tracted has been around for quite some time. Numbers 10 tells of God’s com-mand that Moses make two bugles for various purposes: summoning the leaders, sending the people to war, announcing wor-ship, presenting offerings, calling everyone for a fes-tival. “Blow the bugles,” declares the Lord. “They will keep your atten-tion on God” (v. 10, The Message).

What “bugles” draw our attention to God? Maybe church bells chime daily near your home. Maybe worship attendance

by Bill Aumack Your Bugle

“Blow the bugles,” declares the Lord. “They will keep your attention on God.” Numbers 10:10 (The Message)

If you’ve got to stand in line at the local Starbucks, you better be cool by mess-ing with your phone.

continued on page 5

July 2013

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Isaiah:28 24-26 says “When a farmer plows

for planting, does he plow continually? Does he keep on breaking up and work-ing the soil? When he has leveled the surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin? Does he not plant wheat in its place, barley in its plot, and spelt in its field? His God instructs him and teaches him the right way.”

We, as Christians, put our faith and trust in the word of God to instruct, inspire and teach us the right way. Whether that’s farming, eating or cooking and everything in between. It’s reassuring to learn through His word that God continues to make avail-

able the teachings and instructions we need to grow and prepare herbs, spices and plants as nutri-tious staples in our diet for healthy living just as it was way back then.

INGREDIENTS:

2 oranges 2 TBLS olive oil 2 cups chopped onion 4 garlic cloves (finely chopped) 4 tsp chili powder 4 tsp ground cumin 2 tsp ground cinnamon 3 15.5 oz. cans of seasoned black beans (drained) 2 14.5 oz. cans of diced tomatoes in juice hot pepper sauce ie;

Tapatio, El Cholula or Sriracha plain yogurt 1/2 a bunch of chopped fresh cilantro

PREPARATION:

Grate enough orange peel to measure 1 1/2 tsp. Juice oranges. Heat oil in heavy large sauce pan over med-high heat. Add onions, sauté approx. 5 minutes. Mix in garlic and spices let cook for 3-4

minutes. Add in beans, tomatoes and half the orange juice. Simmer over med. heat until heated through and flavors blend, stirring often about 15-20 minutes. Mix in orange peel and remaining juice. Season to taste with hot sauce, salt & pepper. Ladle into bowl to serve and garnish with a dollop of yogurt and nice pinch of cilantro.

Enjoy! =

Vegetarian Black Bean Chili with Orange & Cumin

Taste & Inspiration

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.

Pilar & Phillip

serves as the “bugle” that calls you back to the Divine. Some people place a small dot-sticker on the face of their watch to remind them to pray whenever they check the time. A sticker on your cell phone or MP3 player might work even better. Maybe you set your Bible or devotions on the kitchen table before bed to remind you to start your day with God.

God’s people get dis-tracted easily, whether with tent-pitching in the Sinai Desert 3,500 years ago or with jam-packed schedules today. We all need a “bugle.” What’s yours? =

Your Bugle (continued from p. 4)

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

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28 29 30 31 1 2 3

8:05 pm sunset

8:02 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

9:30 am S.S.10:50 am Worship Bill Aumack

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

C.S. – Community Service

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10:50 am Worship Pastor Cary

10:50 am Worship Pastor Cary

8

7 pm Band Practice

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Downey Adventist Church

7 pm Women’s Prayer Group

7 pm Band Practice

8:07 pm sunset

7 pm Band Practice

7 pm Women’s Prayer Group

7 pm Band Practice

7 pm Women’s Prayer Group

Vacation Bible School 6:00 - 8:30 PM God’s Backyard Bible Camp!

7:53 pm sunset 9:30 am S.S.10:50 am Worship Pastor Cary12:30 Fellowship Luncheon

OFFICE CLOSED

OFFICE CLOSED

July 2013

7

Benjamin Franklin is often quoted as say-

ing, “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man (or woman) healthy, wealthy and wise.” With a little stretch this same quote can be applied to having a suc-cessful retirement. Being healthy is the first require-ment for enjoying one’s sunset years, followed by having an adequate income. And finally, the accumulation of experi-ence and wisdom will give this final phase of your life significance, value and meaning. To encourage you to think along these lines, these three concepts are expanded below.

Health The first concern when

planning for retirement is health and wellness. If you are not in great shape for your age and have lost strength and vitality, the other concerns such as “will my money last?” or “what will I do during those sunset years?” are meaningless. An interesting survey from the National Bureau of Economic Research by James Poterba, Steven Venti and David Wise shows that being healthy

in retirement cuts both ways: individuals in their 50s who were in the healthiest 20 percent not only had three times the assets of the least healthy but also spent down their capital more slowly. Poterba states, “People in good health have lower health care costs, so they have less of a drain on their resources.”1

Today, whether you are in your 30s or are only a few years from retirement, it is important to know your biochemical numbers:

• What is your cholesterol level? If it is under 145 mg/dL it is unlikely that you will have heart disease, but if it’s over 200 mg/dL you are twice as likely to have a heart attack as even

the average American.

• What about your hypertension numbers? Is your blood pressure in the excel-lent range of 110/85? Or sadly, you don’t know

what it is and might be among the 20 percent of adults totally unaware that they have high blood pressure or its consequences on their cardiovascular system.

• What about your glu-cose? Is it under 95, the ideal, or will you go into retirement like a third of Americans who are unaware that they are diabetic and with no thought of the after-effects of daily dialysis, kidney failure or neu-ropathy?

Even if your family history indicates that you are prone to high blood pressure or high glucose, you don’t have to resign yourself to that condition. New research on genes, called “epigenetics,” indi-cates that 70 percent of your health and well-being is up to you, not your fore-fathers. Learning as much as you can and putting into practice the fundamental wellness principles of nutrition, physical exer-cise, positive attitude, ben-eficial sleep habits, loving people and reducing stress will add years to the retire-ment phase of your life.

Wealth In today’s volatile

markets relying on your portfolio can sometimes seem futile. However, if during your working years you matched your employer’s 401k or 403b contribution, added at least 10 percent extra in sav-ings and diversified your

Planning for a Successful Retirement

Stewpot

by Gordon Bottling, DrPH, CHES

continued on page 8

“It is not what you gain but what you give that measures the worth of the life you live.”

— unknown

“We have noth-ing to fear for the future, except as we forget the way the Lord has led us, and his teaching in our past history.”

— E. G. White, Life Sketches, p 196.

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stocks and other money funds, you can expect to draw between two to four percent during your retire-ment years.

Two additional areas that will make life a little easier are having a part-time job and having absolutely no debt.

Career After age 45 your

knowledge and life experience are more important than your credentials. This is also true at 65 or 70 when for whatever reason you need or wish to stay in the work place. Employers like to see that you not only are competent, but still learn-ing and adapting. Taking short courses in areas of interest and pursuing proj-ects that force you to mas-ter new proficiencies or technology will help your marketability.

Debt-free Being debt-free should

be the goal of every indi-vidual and couple as they face their sunny retire-ment years. One of the guidelines my wife and I determined to follow for retirement was that we could not even think about it until we had retired our mortgage, and fortunately, now that we are at retire-ment age our house is debt free. However, surveys indicate that 70 percent of

Baby Boomers are plan-ning to pay off their house in their retirement years. Add to that the fact that more and more individu-als of retirement age are straddled with school debt and that over 20 percent

were not on track to get credit cards paid off. Some financial planners call the five years before retire-ment the most important block of time in your life. It is the time during which you should give serious planning to your budget and expenses for your retirement years.

Ministry An area that secular

retirement specialists fail to talk or write about is how we spend the last third of our lives. I believe some of that time should be devoted to giving back to our families, our church and the larger society. Not only should you be having fun with your grandkids, taking trips you have dreamed about and doing other things on your retire-ment bucket-list, but it’s a good time to volunteer at your local church in its

ministries. It’s interest-ing that the only text in the Bible that speaks of retirement is concerning the high priest who by Levitical rules was to retire at the age of 50. Numbers 8:25 goes on to say that

he was to continue to assist the next high priest, not just ‘ride off into the sunset’.

Billy Graham, in an interview about his book Nearing Home, speaks of two paths of retirement. “Either we can use it to indulge

ourselves or we can use it to make an impact on the lives of others.....Pray and ask the Lord to show you what you can do as you transition your time and talents. Get involved in your local church and other ministries that point people to Christ. This will stretch you and challenge you to grow deeper in your faith.”2

By assisting church outreach, such as cham-pioning the Pathfinder club, advocating well-ness programs, adopting church landscaping or maintenance, or espousing mission and evangelistic projects, you will remain a productive servant in your senior years. Ellen White put it a little differently, but with the same theme in mind: “It is better, far bet-ter, to die of hard work in some home or foreign mis-sion field, than to rust out in inaction.”3

Conclusion By now I’m sure you

realize that a successful retirement is a combina-tion of factors and having each in balance will deter-mine whether those golden years are lived to the full-est. =

Resources:

1 “Six Secrets of Retirement,” Money Magazine, March 2013.

2 Chuck Bentley, “Billy Graham, America’s Pastor on Nearing Home,” Do Well Magazine, 2013, Vol. 3, Issue 1: p 12.

3 Ellen White, The Retirement Years, p 30.

Planning for a Successful Retirement (cont. from page 7)

“A greasy burger is worse than a bear market.”

— Money Magazine, March 2013: p 64.

July 2013

9

July Birthdays Geselle Huinquez – 3 Pilar 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 Isacc Perez – 21 Kristelle Meade – 26 Kelly Gonzalez – 26 Ethan Morales – 30

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

Upcoming EventsThursdays - 7 p.m. Women’s Prayer GroupFridays - 7:00 p.m. Band Practice

No Pathfinders or Adventures during the summer.

July 4 - Independence DayJuly 4-5 - Office ClosedJuly 29-Aug 2 - VBSAug 3 - Fellowship Luncheon

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

Coming Soon

August 24 - Parking Lot PartyOctober - Small Groups BeginOctober 26 - Fall Party

THIS MONTH

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The Latest About

Our Church FamilyCongratulations to

Elissa Luna. She made the Top 100! The top 100 what you may ask? You’ll have to ask her.

Congrat-ulations to Ale Marquez (Vic Acuna’s girl friend) gradu-ated AA from El Camino College. She

is headed to UC Davis to continue studying Environmental Science

and Manage-ment.

Congrat-ulations to Kristelle Meade. She is going to Andrews University next year.

If you have any Church Family news, please con-tact 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! =

Legendary Florida State University football

coach Bobby Bowden often inspired his team with stories. Here’s one that former players cite as a favorite:

As a college baseball player, Bowden had never hit a home run. Finally, he hit one down the right-field line, into the corner. He ran past first base and looked to the coach, who waved him on.

Bowden made it home and hit the plate, thrilled to have his homer. But as he was accepting his teammates’ congratula-tions, the opposing pitcher

took the ball and threw to the first baseman. The umpire immediately called Bowden out because he’d neglected to touch the base.

Reflecting on the inci-dent, Bowden said, “You have to take care of first base. If you don’t honor the Lord first, then it doesn’t matter what else you do.”

Similarly, we need to take care of first things first. Unless we honor the Lord in all we do, nothing else will matter. =

Take Care of First

Considering the stagger-ing height of redwood

trees, we assume they must need incredibly deep roots. But these giants have extremely shallow roots, growing only 4 to 6 feet deep.

Instead of heading downward, the roots extend outward — spread-ing out as far as 125 feet. Stability occurs because the roots intertwine with those of neighboring trees. This network allows red-woods to stand tall despite strong winds and storms.

In a similar way, such interconnectedness keeps the body of Christ stand-ing strong. Psalm 133:1 urges believers to “dwell in unity” (ESV). In order to inhabit one another’s lives, we must share our stories, offer forgiveness and provide encourage-ment. Through those actions, our roots spread wide as we support our brothers and sisters in Christ. =

Dwell in Unity

July 2013

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July 2013

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

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Ponder This...

= “Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing.” —Harriet Braiker

= “Don’t speak unless you can improve the silence.” —Spanish proverb

= “Little faith will bring your soul to heaven, but great faith will bring heaven to your soul.” —Charles Spurgeon