NN July 2024 Page 2

Rajmund Dabrowski with Ron Johnson – Uncompahgre National Forest, Colorado … For Leroy Archer, participating in the Cowboy Camp Meeting is an annual event and a high point in the year.

Archer regularly worships in Nucla, Colorado. The Cowboy Camp Meeting is also a regular event for him. “I look forward to [this] Camp Meeting every year. Oftentimes, I’m involved with music. So, the music, you know, touches my heart deeply. But I think it’s, mostly, reconnecting with people that I know and meet—fellow believers—and being able to share like-minded thinking about Jesus openly.”

The event setting makes this gathering special and was held July 10-13. For one, it can remind you of how “it used to be, a large tent and all.” The site chosen for the event is recognized for its scenic beauty and for the ability to ride and hike the trails. Participants’ comments abound that the event provides a “blessed mountain top experience.” And the weather was truly enjoyed by all.

When asked for a comment of what stood out at the meeting, Mic Thurber, Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) president, remarked that “you feel like you’re worshiping all the time when you’re in a setting of a nature’s cathedral like we have around here. The people around here love to be here in this setting, and they love to worship together in this informal setting.”

He added that “some very important spiritual truths were taught, but I think it’s the setting that allows people to absorb them and apply them to their lives. And I love the way they fellowship with each other.”

Each day opened with musical praise time with a camp band and the participants joining in the 2024 camp meeting theme song chorus: “Just any day now, our Lord is coming. He’ll be retuning for you and me.”

As we watch and wait, abiding in Christ should be the priority of each one of us. “Abiding in Christ,” based on John 15, was the message of morning program by Montrose Seventh-day Adventist Church in Monrose, Colorado, lead pastor, Nathan Cranson. “As we abide in Christ, we go through a pruning process in order to produce fruit,” he said, explaining the pruning process for grapes to produce fruit. “Eighty percent of the vine is cut back in order to remove the woody stock which doesn’t produce fruit,” he explained.

“The pruning time can be confusing and painful, but we need to hang on—abiding and trusting in Jesus. When we experience anxiety and fear we sever our connection with God, and, when we feel stress and worry, temptation is the strongest. When we feel peace by trusting in Jesus, temptation will not have a hold on us,” Cranson emphasized.

The evening messages were presented by Pastor Jason O’Rourke, who was, until recently, chaplain at Littleton Adventist Hospital. Basing his messages on Ephesians 1:1-14, he said that if we are secure in Jesus we will want what He wants. “As sinners, we can’t turn ourselves around, Jesus turns us around. Our job is to keep our eyes on Jesus,” he pointed out.

Commenting on her Camp Meeting experience, Cheri Scott, a participant from Grand Junction, Colorado, said, “I appreciate hearing the word of God and hearing about the love of God mostly. And in an informal setting where there are no pretenses. We’re just a bunch of people in our grubby clothes and hanging out and hearing about God and singing joyful songs and praying together.”

One of the new features of the “wilderness gathering” was having audio amplification, enjoyed by all—speakers, musicians, and the audience, alike. Karl Schwinn, who was involved with the camp set-up including a public address (PA) system, commented that he has been at cowboy camp now for 12 or 15 years. What stands out is “the fellowship. I came in on Wednesday and I visited around. I felt like it was Sabbath already on Wednesday and Thursday and Friday. It’s just the peace and the fellowship [of this meeting] that stands out.”

The organizers plan to have the 2025 Colorado Cowboy Camp Meeting July 9-13, 2025. It will be the 25^th event to be held in the same location, the Uncompahgre National Forrest, southeast of Silver Jack Reservoir.

—Rajmund Dabrowski is the RMC communication director with Ron Johnson, from Grand Junction, the Cowboy Camp Meeting treasurer. Photos by Rajmund Dabrowski.

Charles Metz – Ward, Colorado … History was made at Glacier View Ranch (GVR) in Ward, Colorado, as, for the first time in several years, blind campers came for a week of fun, faith, and more, June 30-July 5.

Blind campers enjoyed many of the same activities that other campers do, and the morning and evening programs were adapted to provide an enjoyable and inclusive experience. The skilled GVR camp counselors guided the campers to each destination and helped them have an enjoyable experience.

Despite a smaller number of campers this week participating in the Blind Camp, the camp remained busy with other camps running simultaneously. This included the Horse Camp and Extreme Outpost.

For the first time in history, GVR hosted a horse intensive camp week. The horse barn staff trained campers in a more focused environment to provide them with rich equestrian experiences, and they got to help with feeding, grooming, and more. There was even a rodeo held that was run entirely by the campers.

Many of the GVR camp staff remained back at camp while the GVR camp outpost team took campers on an excursion into the Colorado wilderness. Campers at GVR generally stay in cabins, but the outpost kids camp out in tents. They participated in a range of activities like white water rafting and mountain climbing. They would return to camp every day for evening programs.

Charles Metz, RMC Summer Camp summer program director, remarked, “While this week was a little different from the previous weeks, our staff remains committed to their goal of making it easy for kids to know God. GVR is excited to welcome more campers to this beautiful mountain area and show them just how wild God’s love can be.”

—Charles Metz is the RMC Summer Camp summer program director and a staff pastor. Photos by Ella Griggs.

Timothy Jones – Longmont, Colorado … An evangelistic outreach in the cities of Longmont and Louisville, Colorado, respectively, was conducted by evangelist Martin Kim and hosted at the Mountain View and Twin Peaks Seventh-day Adventist Churches.

The meetings were well received by both congregations and the community according to Tim Jones, lead pastor at the Mountain View and Twin Peaks Churches. Kim was the primary speaker with assistance from Chuck DeShazer, elder at Mountain View Church.

Jones baptized seven attendees who requested baptism at the end of the series of meetings, June 29. “We are expecting even more fruit from these efforts,” remarked Jones. “It was a blessing to see how God moved on the hearts of the people, and the church rejoiced as new members were welcomed into the fellowship of believers.”

Mountain View Church is planning to conduct additional meetings this year. The Mountain View Spanish congregation will present an evangelistic series this August featuring Eliangel Fermin Carrizalez, a pastor from the Texas Conference. In addition, Jones will present an English seminar in the Fall. They are also planning to deliver a copy of Ellen G. White’s book Steps to Christ to every home in Longmont.

“We are thankful for the new members and have instituted a district wide prayer call every day at 6:00 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. with both the Mountain View and Twin Peaks churches,” continued Jones. “We are following God’s direction for our churches to become ‘A House of Prayer.’ We are praying for, and expecting, a revival. We are thankful for the support we have received from the conference that enables us to pursue these outreach efforts. May God bless!”

—Timothy Jones is lead pastor at the Mountain View and Twin Peaks Seventh-day Adventist Church in Longmont and Louisville, Colorado, respectively. Photos supplied.

RMCNews – Cañon City, Colorado … The second Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) camp meeting of 2024, the Southeast Colorado Camp Meeting, was hosted by the Cañon City Seventh-day Adventist Church in Cañon City, Colorado, June 28-30. This year’s camp was intended to be a revival of faith with the theme “Lifting Him Up Again.”

Josh Sholock, pastor of the Cañon City and Leadville Seventh-day Adventist Churches in Cañon City and Leadville, Colorado, respectively, headed the camp meeting programming. When asked what his hope for the camp meeting was, he commented, “Reading in Evangelism, Ellen G. White talks about how we need to have our camp meetings designed as times of revival, times of calling people to a commitment charge. Reading that propelled me to ask the area pastors if we could do a theme of lifting Jesus up, as if Jesus saying, ‘if I be lifted up, all will draw to me.’”

The camp meeting kicked-off June 28 with the featured speaker, Lucas Luhan, pastor of Colorado Springs South and Woodland Park Seventh-day Adventist Churches in Colorado Springs and Woodland Park, Colorado, respectively, with over 75 in attendance. He spoke on the lessons referring to pride from the story of the brass serpent from the Book of Numbers 21:7-9 in his presentation titled “Lifting Up the Serpent: Looking for the Cure.”

“This is a story of discouragement,” remarked Luhan. “Discouragement can lead to doubt when we don’t trust God’s Providence and sovereignty, and trust is a salvation issue,” he continued. “We are not yet at the promised land and still in the wilderness. The whole purpose of this weekend is to view our walk with Christ.”

There were over 125 in attendance for the main church service session led by Dave Kettleson, pastor of Colorado Springs Central Seventh-day Adventist Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In a witty and lively presentation entitled “Lifting Up Jesus,” Kettleson commented, “I am going to heaven and there is nothing you can do about it! I am a mess, but He is the Messiah … Christianity and salvation isn’t based on what you do, but who you know. We [Christians] have to move away from a behavior-centered religion and to a Jesus-centered relationship. Our victory is only in Jesus Christ.”

International musician, composer, and entertainer, Gale Murphy, provided the energetic and humorous musical programing and piano accompaniment for the camp meeting. Along with a wealth of story-guided musical offerings, she involved the audience by taking song requests from four attendees with the occasional assistance of talented local violinist, Kenny Orr, member of the Denver South Seventh-day Adventist Church in Denver, Colorado. Murphy left the audience with the thought, “That gift of music, that art, is a gift we get to take to heaven with us.”

“I feel so blessed to be able to come to [the Southeast Colorado] camp meeting to come together friends and hear such joyful music,” commented one attendee. “It is a highlight in our year.”

The Southeast Colorado Camp Meeting closed with a session covering Adventist World Radio’s (AWR) recent outreach efforts in the island nation of Papua New Guinea (PNG) led by Dr. Duane McKey, AWR president, Dr. Bob Peck, AWR field representative coordinator, and Amy Webb, AWR scriptwriter. Peck commented on AWR works abroad: “After these people had been helped physically, imagine how receptive they were to spiritual help.”

The Southeast Colorado Camp Meeting was supported by Mic Thurber, RMC president, Doug Inglish, RMC vice president for administration, Darin Gottfried, RMC vice president for finance, and Mickey Mallory, RMC Ministerial director. Special totes with the camp meeting’s graphic theme were passed out during the ministry booth expo and were produced and provided by the RMC Planned Giving & Trust Services team also in attendance at the camp meeting.

—RMCNews. Photos by Liz Kirkland.

Muriel Indermuehle – Loveland, Colorado … The Campion Seventh-day Adventist Church in Loveland, Colorado, celebrated four multi-generational baptisms recently.

Father and son, Darrel and Ryan George, respectively, were baptized together. Much of their family lives in the Philippines and stayed up until 3:00 a.m. to witness these baptisms with the time zone difference.

Ryan, age 11, will be in the sixth grade at HMS Richards Adventist School in Loveland, Colorado, this Fall. Ryan’s testimony is as follows: “I told my parents that I have a tug in my heart that I felt like God was telling me that now is the right time to be baptized. My dad and I have been studying the Bible together with Pastor Bizama, and today I feel like it is the most special time of my life. My dad and I are being baptized together.”

“Although I was baptized at a very young age,” commented Darrel, “I don’t feel it was for the right reason. I feel my baptism today is what God is wanting for me, to follow him and become closer to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Eileen Blood, a member of the Campion Church, was rebaptized by Eric Nelson, Campion Church elder. “I have been a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church for many years. I have always valued my membership. However, I would like to take that a step further,” remarked Blood.

She continued, “In my mind, there is a difference to being a member of the Church and a disciple of Jesus. Discipleship is imitating the Teacher’s life, imitating His values and reproducing His teachings. The disciple of Christ desires, above all else, to be like Him in word, thought, and actions. My wish is to give my complete heart and soul to Jesus as His disciple.”

Evan Bizama was given Bible studies and baptized on June 8 by his father, Leandro Bizama, associate pastor of Worship and Evangelism at Campion Church. Evan is 10 years old and will be in the fifth grade at HMS Richards this Fall.

“The reason I want to be baptized,” remarked Evan, “is to officially be part of God’s church and family. Matias, my older brother, got baptized, and I want to follow in his footsteps. Now I feel warm all over, not just on my outside because of this water, but inside also, for I know that I am about to be baptized into God’s church.”

The congregation of Campion Church warmly welcomes each of these individuals into their church family.

—Muriel Indermuehle is an assistant head deaconess at Campion Seventh-day Adventist Church. Photos by Erik Stenbakken.

Ardis Stenbakken with RMCNews – Loveland, Colorado … Leandro Bizama, associate pastor of Worship and Evangelism at the Campion Seventh-day Adventist Church in Loveland, Colorado, was ordained June 29.

A pastor in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, regardless of gender, serves in ministry for several years before they are considered for ordination. They then go through a series of interviews and questions administered by the local conference office. That conference then sends the request for ordination to the union office leadership who makes the decision and issues the ordination credentials.

Prior to joining the staff of Campion, Bizama served as chaplain/music director/Bible teacher at Mile High Academy in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, Ozark Adventist Academy in Gentry, Arkansas, and Delap Seventh-day Adventist School in the Marshall Islands.

Bizama was joined in the ordination ceremony by fellow church staff, conference officials, and family friends. They recognized his history in ministry and his gifts. Bizama made the point that one of these gifts was important to him and his ministry: music! Bizama has a passion for youth ministry, especially through music.

Much of the music in the service was original compositions by Bizama. He is a music/theology graduate of Southwestern Adventist University and holds a master’s degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Arkansas. Bizama is constantly working on ministry projects like books or songs, in the hopes that they will inspire others to come to know Christ and His love.

The Candidate for Ordination was introduced by Diane Harris, Rocky Mountain Conference (RMC) Education director, followed by the Ministry Affirmation provided by Doug Inglish, RMC vice president for administration. The Ministry Charge was presented by Craig Carr, Mid-America Union Conference (MAUC) Ministerial director, and the Ordination Prayer was offered by Mic Thurber, RMC president. Mickey Mallory, RMC Ministerial director, presented a Ministry Welcome.

Jennifer Bizama, Leandro’s wife, is an important part of his ministry, so she was also recognized and welcomed by Jana Thurber, RMC Women’s Ministry, Prayer Ministry, and Ministerial Spouse Support coordinator.

“We, as a church body, were privileged to witness and participate in the ordination our own associate pastor, Leandro Bizama,” commented Ardis Stenbakken, Campion Church communication director.

“Ordination does not confer any special powers or abilities, but it is the Church’s way to validate a call to ministry,” she continued. “We can all acknowledge that Pastor Leandro does have a heart and soul for ministry, and we celebrate that this was recognized. We wish Pastor Leandro God’s richest blessings in his ministry.”

— Ardis Stenbakken, a former Women’s Ministry director of the General Conference, is the Campion Seventh-day Adventist Church communication director and is involved with Women’s and Family Ministries. Photos by Erik Stenbakken and Susan Inglish.