Adventist Heritage Center. May 31, year-old Sean Bernardo used to have so much restless energy

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1 Adventist Heritage Center From: Sent: To: Subject: North American Division Communication on behalf of North American Division Communication Wednesday, May 31, :21 PM Adventist Heritage Center NAD NewsPoints-Boy bikes to raise funds for charities; ACS flood report update from Arkansas; Maranatha founder passes away; dealing with antagonists News and Information from the North American Division View this in your browser May 31, year-old Sean Bernardo used to have so much restless energy that he sometimes had trouble sitting still. A few years ago, in an effort to The waters from Missouri have flowed into Arkansas, resulting in major flooding. For days the rain continued filling the Black River, causing 1

2 channel his son s energy and also bond over a shared interest, Sean s father began taking him on bike rides. At one point he asked Sean, "Why do you have so much energy? The boy replied, God gives it to me and the idea was soon hatched to use Sean s energy and new passion for a greater good. From one ride, Sean was able to donate 100 Bibles. MORE levees in several communities to overflow/break. The Arkansas/Louisiana ACS DR coordinator, Lavida Whitson, is leading out a team in the operation of small Warehouses that are currently distributing needed items to the local communities. READ MORE of this May 31, 2017, update. John Dodd Freeman, the founder of Maranatha Volunteers International, a charitable organization and supporting ministry of the Seventhday Adventist Church, passed away on May 22 in Salem, Oregon. He was 95. The Adventist businessman launched the international charitable organization in READ MORE; and CLICK HERE to read Adventist Review's article. In 26 years as a local pastor/administrator, Roger Hernandez has observed that antagonists follow a pattern with their attacks. In a recent CALLED magazine article, he shares four approaches an antagonist may use to bring a church leader down. Hernandez says this won't stop a person from being hurt, but "at least you can see the hate coming and prepare better." MORE 2

3 Guam Adventist Academy Graduates 10 His Touch in My Hands Award Presented to Dr. Chris Yamamoto (Ga.) Sinai SDA Church Service Honors First Responders (Fla.) Vallejo Central Church (Calif.) Honors 98-Year-Old Vet with Interview, Thompson Praise Moses Lake SDA Church (Wash.) to Host Fun Run and Walkathon WAU Music Professor Gets Organist Gig 50 Years After Applying New Klamath Falls Church Pastor Says He Had His Jonah Moments (Ore.) Union College Students Train to Save Lives with International Rescue and Relief Degree Oakhurst Church (Calif.) to Hold Weekend Revival in June with Lonnie Melashenko The NAD All-Night Prayer Call is June 1-2, from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Eastern Time. NAD prayer leaders will serve as "prayer hosts" throughout the night. Let's give thanks; let's share needs; let's pray together! Call ; access code is Prayer# (772937#). Encourage your church to reserve Oct for the Voice of Prophecy A Pale Horse Rides, the follow-up to the award-winning series Shadow Empire. This short, documentary-style series will center on a seldom-told story that played a pivotal role in Martin Luther's success. A Pale Horse Rides will also coincide with the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's nailing of the 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. You'll want to invite the whole community! Your church may request a free event kit by signing up at palehorserides.com. 3

4 Arthritis is a painful and debilitating disease that limits the joint mobility and impaires the quality of life. Tune into to Hope Channel s Go Healthy for Good this Wednesday at 2 p.m., 7 p.m., and 10 p.m. EDT to learn how to limit arthristis impact on your life. Just in time for kids on summer break! The Southwestern Union Record shares an incredible story, "Journey to the Top," for kids and a fun activity in their May 2017 edition. READ the story; and CLICK HERE for the downloadable children's activity. June 28-3 Prayer Focus: Rocky Mountain Conference 1-2 NAD All-Night Prayer Call 3 Offering: Local Church Budget 4-10 Prayer Focus: Alaska Conference 10 Offering: World Budget/NAD (emphasis on Multilingual Ministries/Chaplaincy Ministries) 10 Women's Ministries Emphasis Day 10 Refugee Awareness Sabbath NAD Compassion Weekend 17 Offering: Local Church Budget 24 Offering: Local Conference Advance June Focus: Church Growth and Evangelism Month of Prayer: North Pacific Union Conference Camp Meeting Calendar Adventist Mission 4

5 NAD Feature: "Why We Work," by Daniel R. Jackson, pp NAD News: Strong Attendance at Creation Film Prompts Additional Showings, Hacksaw Ridge Receives Two Academy Awards, Christian Record Service Relocates, Southwestern's Symphony Center Fund-raiser Debuts I Believe, Southern Alumni Premier Bonhoeffer Docudrama, pp NAD Update: "ehuddle Facilitates Evangelistic Visioning," by Anthony WagenerSmith, pp NAD Perspective: "'Is This Thing On?' - A Social Media Perspective," p. 17 This magazine is mailed to Adventists in North America; click HERE to read online. 5

6 Willingness "Do not lose courage. The Lord can use you. All you have to do is be willing to serve." Carolyn Forrest, associate secretary of NAD Secretariat, speaking at staff worship on May 30, 2017 Forward to a friend Subscribe NewsPoints Archives and PDFs 6

7 2017 North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD Dan Weber, communication director Julio Muñoz, associate director Kimberly Maran, assistant director Georgia Standish, senior editorial assistant This was sent to why did I get this? unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists Old Columbia Pike Silver Spring, MD USA 7

8 Home > News > Stories & Commentaries > This Little Bike of Mine--Boy Uses Passion and Energy for Greater Good By Aimee Perez Sean Bernardo takes a break during his 2013 ride on the unpaved trail from Tottenham Conservation Area to Brampton, Ontario, Canada. Photo by Ardison Bernardo Sean Bernardo is like many other 10-year-old boys. He enjoys playing video games, he is sometimes annoyed by his two younger sisters, and he loves sports: basketball, soccer, tennis, swimming, and pretty much any activity that lets him burn off his energy. In fact, Sean used to have so much restless energy that he sometimes had trouble sitting still. A few years ago, in an effort to channel his son s energy and also bond over a shared interest, Sean s father, Ardison began taking him on bike rides. Together, they would ride for long periods of time without tiring, and Ardison began to wonder just how long his son could last. At one point he asked Sean, "Why do you have so much energy? The boy replied, God gives it to me. An idea was soon hatched to use Sean s energy and new passion for a greater good. Setting Goals Ardison, pastor of Bramalea Filipino-Canadian church in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, and his wife, Cindy, had always endeavored to teach their children about being engaged in ministry and their community. Ardison planned Sean s first bike ride fundraiser as an event to help send the youth of their church to a Generation of Youth for Christ (GYC) convention being held in Orlando, Florida. A goal of 53 kilometers (32.9 miles) was set, and on May 26, 2013, Ardison and Sean rode together on an unpaved trail from the Tottenham Conservation Area to Brampton. Despite the challenge of using a single-gear bicycle on rough terrain, Sean persevered, and the father-and-son pair completed the ride in just under eight hours. Approximately $1,000 was raised for GYC, and a spark was ignited in Sean. While Sean enjoyed being surrounded by nature, the rough terrain proved difficult, so the next year, Ardison decided to switch to a paved trail. On Aug. 4, 2014, the pair embarked on a new challenge a 100-kilometer (62.1 miles) round-trip jaunt along the Toronto waterfront. Sean s passion for Pathfinders led him to fundraise for the Bible and a Buck project at the 2014 International Pathfinder Camporee, which aimed to collect 25,000 Bibles for distribution to countries with little or no access to the Bible. Armed with a larger multigear bike (in fire-engine red!), Sean and Ardison began their journey in Scarborough, Ontario. This time, instead of riding straight through, the pair enjoyed the scenery along the waterfront, stopping for photos and breaks along the way. Unfortunately, Mother Nature did not fully cooperate, and halfway through the ride, it began to rain. At first, Sean was not bothered by the drizzling rain he actually found it refreshing after the restrictive heat earlier in the day. However, as the rain continued, their clothes became more soaked, and fears of slipping on slick trails forced the pair to seek safety under a picnic shelter until the rain abated. Sean s mother, Cindy, began to worry about her husband and son as the day wore on and temperatures began to drop. God watched over them, however, and though they had to cut the route short, they managed to complete 86.6 kilometers (53.8 miles) that day. Despite the setbacks, Sean found the bike ride peaceful, and he raised enough money to buy 100 brand-new Bibles for the Bible and a Buck project and delivered them personally to the camporee in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Stepping Outside Comfort Zones In 2016, Sean prepared for his biggest challenge yet. Doubling his previous goal, he planned a 200-kilometre (124.3-mile) roundtrip from Oshawa to Mississauga, Ontario, over two days. He also set his fundraising sights higher, casting his net beyond the membership of the Bramalea church for the first time and reaching out to the Filipino Adventist Ministries Coordinating Council (FAMCC) churches in Ontario. FAMCC is a committee Sean Bernardo displays the 100 Bibles he donated to Bible for a Buck. Photo by Ardison Bernardo made up of all of the Filipino-Canadian Adventist churches in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Together, FAMCC s executive team planned a multispeaker, multisite evangelistic series in Laguna, Philippines, with a culminating series led by conference president, Mansfield Edwards. With an endeavor of this magnitude, Sean s fundraising goals increased accordingly. Sean agreed to speak at several churches in the GTA leading up to his bike ride. Sharing his naturally shy disposition, Cindy expressed her admiration of Sean stepping outside of his comfort zone in order to raise funds for evangelism. Most people thought that [riding for 200 kilometers] was really inspiring. But... what was really inspiring for me is when his dad told him

9 that he should speak in the Filipino churches. You see, he s shy. He s not a confident speaker... He had to master that fear. He had to overcome his shyness. Sean readily admits the nervousness he felt each time he stepped into a new church, facing people he had never met before. Cindy recalls, Every time we would go to a church, I could feel that he was nervous and shy,... but every time I saw him in front I thought, My son is doing this, and I know what it takes to go [up] there because I am that [shy] person. Despite his fears, Sean continued to visit churches and step up to the pulpit. He recalls the relief he felt as soon as he was finished speaking. He also appreciates the effort every church put into making him feel welcome. And thus, for two months in the summer of 2016, Sean visited a different church every week, not just speaking about his bike ride, but preaching for church services. Displaying maturity beyond his years, Sean regularly gave up his free time to practice his sermons and sacrificed seeing his friends at church while he travelled each Sabbath. Finally, bright and early on the morning of Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016, Ardison and Sean departed from Courtice, Ontario, to begin the first leg of their journey. Fortunately, the weather cooperated, and they enjoyed a beautiful sunny day while riding their bikes across the GTA. After completing the first leg, Ardison and Sean spent the night in a hotel to rest and recover. Sean kept his spirits up by video chatting with his mom and sisters back home, and then settled in for a good night s rest to prepare for another full day of cycling. The second leg of the journey began much as the first. With a bright shining sun, Sean took off toward home. Ardison had begun to feel the strain of cycling, but pushing his own discomfort aside, he allowed Sean to continue to set the pace for their ride. And together, father and son rode side by side for eight hours toward their final destination: home. Sean was so excited to see his mom again that he was actually faster on the return trip than during the first leg. Sean and his dad, Ardison, are on the trail at Scarborough Bluffs Park in Ontario, Canada, in Photo by Ardison Bernardo Fortunately, Sean s hard work and dedication, both in the churches and out on the trails, paid off. After two months of fundraising, he raised a staggering $8,000 for the evangelistic series in the Philippines, more than half of the total fundraising earned for the mission trip. Every single penny went to the fundraising effort, but there were a few kind souls who felt especially impressed to give Sean a separate donation for himself. Those funds were put directly into a savings account by his parents and will go toward a new road bike for future rides. So what lessons have they learned so far? Ardison learned the finer details of planning matching the terrain to the right kinds of equipment, preparing for rain and other inclement weather, and remaining mindful of the time. He will take this into account as he plans their next route for their fourth fundraising bike ride this summer. Learning Along the Way While Sean always enjoyed these long bike rides, he has learned over the years to focus on his goal. By the third fundraising bike ride, he no longer complained, instead choosing to concentrate on the task at hand and enjoying the peacefulness of nature around them. Luckily, his boundless energy and love for cycling propelled him forward, so the only preparation required was extra rest and early bed times. For future rides, however, he will start training to increase his overall pace. As for the preaching, introverted Sean is unsure that he would choose to go through that experience again. He does, however, have sage advice for other children who may consider undertaking their own projects. Never give up. He is adamant in insisting that whatever your goal may be, don t quit, or you ll never achieve it. Plans are still tentative for this summer, but they are looking at increasing the goal distance once again, this time to 250 kilometers (155.3 miles). Ardison is also in the process of narrowing down a list of potential recipients for the fundraising component. He has been prayerfully seeking God s guidance in each aspect of the preparations, waiting for the Lord to direct his plans. For his part, Sean trusts his dad to handle the details, knowing that when he sets off on his bike once again, his father will be right by his side the entire time. When Sean began his first fundraising bike ride at seven years old, he could not have conceived what it would become. Sean has now cycled almost 350 kilometers (217.5 miles), raised nearly $10,000 for various projects, and preached at seven different churches. It s quite an accomplishment for anyone, much less a shy 10-year-old boy. And yet, the goal was never about the money; it was about parents teaching their child about helping others. A simple joy for bike riding was transformed into his own ministry. To ask him about it, Sean s quiet exterior belies his enthusiasm. He may protest at the attention, but Sean Bernardo is a shining example of what can be accomplished with a passion and a goal, whether you are 7 or 70, 10 or 100. He didn t aim for greatness or have visions of grandeur, but he did learn that anyone can make a difference in the world around them. Sean may have started small, but along the way the words of Theodore Roosevelt rang true, Do what you can, with what you have, where you are, and that makes all the difference in the world. Aimee Perez is a secretary and staff writer for the Canadian Adventist Messenger; click here to find a link for the original article published in the April 2017 Messenger.

10 (/news) Arkansas Floods - June 6, 2017 H o m e (/) A b o ut Us W h a t we do (/what-we-do/) Community Development (/projects/) Crisis Care (/partners/) Disaster Response (/new-page/) Elder Care (/elder-care-tools/) H o pe for Humanity (/hope-for-humanity/) Tutoring and Mentoring (/tutoring-and-mentoring/) Young Adult Emergency Services! [YES!] (/yes-youngadults/) Contact Us (mailto:acs@nadadventist.org) R esources A CS Grant Applications (/grant-applications/) A CS Centers Near You (/acs-near-you/) A CS Personnel Directory (/s/acs_directory_may2017.pdf) B o o k s (/resources/) B randing/logos (/brandinglogo/) Code of Conduct and Ethics (/s/code-of-conduct-and-ethics.pdf) Disaster Response Tools (/disaster-response-tools/) E-Reporting (/e-reporting/) Fundraising (/fundraising/) Ingathering Tools (Hope for Humanity) (/ingathering-material/) K eys to ACS (/s/acsi-leaflet-handbook pdf) Leadership Development (/leadership-development/) National Awareness Days (/new-page-4/) Urban Ministry Tools (/urban-ministry-resources/) V i d eos (/featured-videos/) News (/news/) Events (/acsevents/) Search ( Donate Now ( May 31, 2017

11 ARKANSAS FLOODS Adv Comm Services ( The State of Arkansas has been heavily impacted by the recent Missouri floods. The waters from Missouri have flowed into Arkansas, resulting in substantial flooding. For days the rain continued filling the Black River, causing levees in several communities to overflow and break. The effects of these events had devastating consequences on the towns of Georgetown, Pocahontas, DesArc, and Bescoe. The Arkansas/Louisiana ACS DR Coordinator, Lavida Whitson, is leading out a team in the operation of small Warehouses that are currently distributing needed items to the local communities. ACS is partnering with various faith-based organizations such as the Red Cross, LDS, and others that had donated goods to us for previous disasters sitting at a Warehouse ready for use. The International Paper Company donated 1000 boxes to be used for distribution. Payron Elementary, a local public school in Clarksville, also set up a collection center for bleach. By the end of their call they had secured about 200 bottles of bleach which were distributed, along with food and other household supplies. On Memorial Day, there were approximately 15 volunteers who took their holiday to serve their community. They not only distributed supplies, but also spoke with many survivors that were uncertain about how they would manage through the next ( US Adventist University Opens Organic Farm to Benefit Students, Community ( ( A week ago ( Adv Comm Services ( Over 450 participate Atlantic ( rally in late ( ( A week ago (

12 day. ACS DR provided some resources, and in areas where we couldn t help we tried to connect them with other organizations that might offer the assistance needed. "The one thing you quickly realize when working on a Disaster is how many it takes to truly have an impact on a community affected by Disaster. It s encouraging to see we have such competent, dedicated people working in every community within the Division," said W. Derrick Lea, NAD ACS DR Director. O THER STORIES ACS Responds to Airway Heights Water Crisis ( many-volunteer-to-helpduring-airway-heights-watercrisis-1/ ) NAD Assists ACS Hope For Humanity's Partners in Mission Literacy Program ( g/article/ /news/ current-and-archived-newsstories/2017-current-newsarchives/ northamerican-division-givesassistance-through-partnersin-mission-literacy-programin-central-america) ACS Center Reopens After Hurricane Matthew ( 1/adventists-communityservice-center-in-greenvillereopens/) Resource Center Offers Services to Perryville Tornado Survivors ( /local-news/multi-agencyresource-center-providingservices-to-tornado-victims)

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15 Home > News > Current and Archived News Stories > 2017 Current News/Archives > John Freeman, Founder of Maranatha, Passes Away The Maranatha family mourns the loss of founder John Freeman, who passed away at the age of 95 on May 22, John established Maranatha Volunteers International in The idea came from his desire to introduce his family and friends to the mission field. While short-term mission trips were not new to the world, John put a unique spin on the concept: volunteers were invited to fly their own planes to the mission site. An experienced pilot, John invited friends with private planes to join his family on building the Eight-Mile Rock Seventh-day Adventist Church in Grand Bahamas. The project welcomed 28 volunteers, and Maranatha Flights International was born. (The name was changed to Maranatha Volunteers International in 1989.) John and his wife Ida Mae continued to lead and participate in mission trips, traveling all around the world and growing the Maranatha community. John s last Maranatha project was to Mexico in Even at 88 years old, he was passionate about missions and willing to serve. John and Ida Mae Freeman Photo provided by Maranatha Volunteers International It takes a special kind of person to begin something to take an idea and bring it to life. That s who John Freeman was. God used John to start this ministry, a vision to introduce everyday people to the mission field, says Don Noble, president of Maranatha. Forty-eight years later, Maranatha Volunteers International has become more than a mission organization. It s a way of life, a community, and a commitment to share the Gospel through service. We mourn John s death, but his life reminds us of what it means to answer God s call. God not only used John to start this ministry, He chose John to change the world. A memorial service will be announced at a later date. Messages of condolence can be sent to Ida Mae Freeman at Mad Creek Road, Gates, OR In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be sent to Maranatha Volunteers International. A church will be constructed in memory of John Freeman and additional donations will go to further Maranatha s work.