Called to Serve
Last month I shared an article about how we, as Christians, are called to serve the people around us. The story told of Miss Millie Perkins, a United Brethren Deaconess, who answered that call by founding a school in Velarde in 1912. That was the first school in northern New Mexico for the Spanish-speaking children and was the beginning of today’s McCurdy Ministries Community Center.
Many more dedicated women and men have served this mission for the past 111 years, including Patricia (Patsy) Alvarado, McCurdy’s Executive Director. Patsy has played a vital role in serving the children and families of the Española Valley for over 34 years. She has performed many roles, including working as a teacher and then the Principal of the McCurdy Mission School and now as the Executive Director of today’s McCurdy Ministries.
She has been an amazing blessing to all who know her, but now it is time to say farewell to this dear sister in Christ. Patsy is retiring and will finish her tenure with McCurdy Ministries on July 31, 2023. Patsy has truly been the "heart" of McCurdy's ministries and programs as she shared the love of Christ with everyone she encountered – both young and old. She will be greatly missed!
I know all the volunteers who have met and worked with Patsy through the years know what a task it will be to replace this woman of faith in her key role of leadership for McCurdy, so we are asking for your prayers – prayers for the Executive Committee who are searching for her replacement and for Patsy who is stepping into a new phase in her life.
We invite you to send a note of appreciation and congratulations to Patsy on her retirement. Mail cards to:
Ms. Patricia Alvarado, Executive Director
McCurdy Ministries Community Center
362A S. McCurdy Road
Española, NM 87532
May we all be reminded of our call to serve as “Christ’s hands and feet” in the world by helping others as we pause to recognize and appreciate the tremendous work accomplished by Patricia Alvarado during the past 34 years!
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Top (l-r): Patsy and some of the board members dressed in costume for the 2022 McCurdy Fiesta; Patsy with staff, board members, and volunteers working the 2019 McCurdy Fiesta
Bottom (l-r): Patsy, Rev. Diana Loomis, and Amanda Gonzales participating in the Mission Covenant Service at Boston Avenue UMC in Tulsa, OK; and Patsy with the current McCurdy Board of Trustees
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Another Farewell
It was just a year and a half ago that we welcomed Pastor Sarah Allen as the new Director of Development/Church Relations. Sarah stepped into this new role with great enthusiasm and a broad skill set. She has accomplished so much during her short tenure with McCurdy Ministries. Unfortunately, some health issues have arisen following two bouts of COVID-19 and she needs to step away.
Pastor Sarah was so excited in her new position with McCurdy as she was eager to carry on the call to ministry and service that has been in her family multiple generations. Her dear aunt, Irene Cole, served as a teacher, Home Missionary, and volunteer at McCurdy for more than half a century.
We have so appreciated Sarah’s “fresh eye” as she looked for creative ways to serve the children and families of the Española Valley. She worked hard to find new solutions to provide long-term stability for this vital ministry. Her skills, her smile, her great work ethic, and her devotion to Christ and His ministry will be greatly missed by all who had the privilege of knowing her.
We invite you to send Sarah a note of appreciation as she, too, steps into retirement. Mail cards to:
Pastor Sarah Allen
5981 N. Jornada
Las Cruces, NM 88012
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Applicants Needed
You can help support McCurdy Ministries during this leadership transition by sharing the news that we have two key staff positions needing to be filled by July 31, 2023. We also ask for your prayers as the Executive Committee works to find the right people to lead McCurdy into the future.
If you know someone who would be interested in applying for either the position of Executive Director or the position of Director of Development, please have them contact Eufemia Romero for a job description and an application. Contact Eufemia by phone at 505-753-7221, ext. 210 or by email at eromero@mccurdy.org.
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Youth Volunteers
Youth from Christ United Methodist Church in Plano, Texas were on campus the week of June 8th as a part of their summer Youth Choir Tour. The Christ United Youth Choir is comprised of high school and middle school students (6th – 12th grades).
The photos above show the teens at work weeding the campus and repainting the United States map on the playground by Hovermale. This playground is used by the children in our After School Care program throughout the year. Here is another great example of youth from out of state helping the youth that McCurdy serves!
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Sign Up Your VIM Team for 2024
It’s not too early to begin planning to register a Volunteer in Mission (VIM) team to serve McCurdy Ministries during the 2024 mission season. Teams are welcome on campus from mid-March through October each year.
Volunteers are assigned a wide range of work tasks while at McCurdy. Some specific work tasks involve skills like carpentry, computer/IT, data entry, filing, electrical, general maintenance, painting, plumbing, or a good “green thumb”.
McCurdy staff will match you and your skill set to the project/work areas that are needed. The bottom line is that whatever your ability, there’s a job and a need for YOU!
To register your VIM team to serve in mission at McCurdy during the 2024 mission season, please contact our Volunteer Registrar, Eufemia Romero. She will check on available dates and schedule your mission week. Contact Eufemia by phone at 505-753-7221, ext. 210 or by email at eromero@mccurdy.org.
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Amazon Wish List
One easy way to support McCurdy Ministries is to simply select an item or two each month to purchase from our Amazon Wish List. The Wish List operates like a wedding registry site and has new items added each month. You can select from a wide variety of items (i.e., basic school supplies, office supplies, cleaning products, disposable masks, bedding, towels, snacks, etc.).
Please consider using the following link to log onto the Amazon website and select something needed. Just be sure to select McCurdy Ministries Community Center on the address list at checkout so your items ship directly to Española.
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Red and Green Chili Casserole
Are you ready for some spicy New Mexico cuisine? This month’s recipe from McCurdy’s very own collection, Recipes of a Century Past, published in 2012, features red and green chilis. The recipe was shared by Tom Cramsey. Enjoy!
Red Chili:
- 1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 4-6 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 4-6 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon seasoning salt
- 5 tablespoons Red Chili powder (medium hot or hot)
- 2 tablespoons crushed red chili (chili Tepine)
Green Chili:
- 12-18 corn tortillas
- 3 (3-ounce) packages cream cheese
- 4 (4-ounce) cans diced green chili
- 1-1½ cups grated cheese (Cheddar, Swiss, or Monterey Jack or combination)
For Red Chili: In a pan cook beef, onion, and garlic until beef is brown. Drain off fat. Add the cumin, Worcestershire sauce, seasoning salt, red chili powder, and crushed red chili with enough water to cover mixture. Simmer 15-20 minutes until thickened.
For Green Chili: Heat tortillas to soften. Spread cream cheese on half of a tortilla, cover with green chili and then fold in half. Spray a 9 x 11-inch casserole dish with Pam or other non-stick coating. Arrange folded tortillas in casserole until bottom is covered. Pour half the red chili mixture over tortillas, arrange second layer over tortillas over red chili mixture, then pour rest of red chili mixture over tortillas.
Bake in 350oF oven for 15 minutes. Cover with shredded cheese and return to oven for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve 6-8 regular people or 4 New Mexicans!
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Finding God's Love in the Darkness
by Elizabeth Laing Thompson
“…A psalmist wrote this poignant prayer in God’s Word that helps us seek His love in dark times:
Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy? Send me your light and your faithful care, let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell. Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight.
(Psalm 43:2c-4a, NIV)
When heartache strikes, we can ask our Father to lead us. And where does His loving light point us? To His mountain, His altar. To relationship with Him, a relationship radiating joy and delight.
That's a comforting thought, yet when we're walking a not-so-comforting path - loneliness, loss, debt, disease - it can be difficult to see God's light or feel His presence. We inch forward, dodging shadows. Eyes glued to the ground, we see only rocks and divots and dangers. Consumed by worry and fear, we don't notice our Father quietly shining His light behind us, keeping watch till we're safely inside.
The psalmist expressed a similar inner conflict. He asked God to lead him, but in his next breath, he poured out a contradictory jumble of feelings:
Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God (Psalm 43:5, NIV).
He was basically saying, ‘I do trust God ... but I still feel sad and confused ... and that confuses me!’ Can't we all relate to this struggle? When life gets challenging, our feelings and our faith may disagree! But the psalmist fought through his feelings to reclaim his faith. He deliberately put his hope in God's care.
And what does putting our hope in God look like? It often begins simply: by asking God to help us see His love at work. Because even when our path is littered with obstacles, our faithful Father is working, guiding us to solid footing. If you pay attention, you'll begin to notice the many ways His love is piercing the darkness, lighting your way.
Maybe He prompts a friend to text you at just the right moment.
Maybe He guides you to a scripture that bolsters your courage.
Maybe He helps your money stretch just far enough.
When we look ahead with eyes of faith, we see our Father keeping watch over our steps, beating back the darkness with enough light - and love - to help us find our way home.
Father, thank You for being ever faithful. My hope is in You. Please open my eyes so I can see all the ways You are caring for me. In Jesus' Name, Amen.”
To read this devotional online, use this LINK.
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HYMN:
Trust and Obey
“When we walk with the Lord in the light of his word,
what a glory he sheds on our way!
When we do his good will, he abides with us still,
and with all who will trust and obey.
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
Many readers of this column grew up singing this familiar gospel song in Sunday School classes, worship services, revival meetings and other gatherings of the church.
Gospel songs often take a kernel of Scripture and weave a personal or first- person reflection around the chosen passage. We are not sure of the text upon which the author, John H. Sammis (1846-1919), based his hymn...
…The hymn was inspired in 1886 when the composer of the music, Daniel B. Towner (1850-1919), was the music leader during one of Dwight L. Moody’s famous revivals. Towner provided the following account cited by Moody’s musical partner, Ira D. Sankey, in his biography, My Life and the Story of the Gospel Hymns:
‘Mr. Moody was conducting a series of meetings in Brockton, Massachusetts, and I had the pleasure of singing for him there. One night a young man rose in a testimony meeting and said, I am not quite sure—but I am going to trust, and I am going to obey’ I just jotted that sentence down, and sent it with a little story to the Rev. J. H. Sammis, a Presbyterian minister. He wrote the hymn, and the tune was born.’
Sammis is said to have composed the lines of the refrain upon receiving the letter:
Trust and obey—for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
As is the case with most gospel songs, these lines provide the central theme around which all of the stanzas were written. The text and tune first appeared in the 1887 collection, Hymns Old and New, and the hymn has been included in countless hymnals since then. Methodist hymnals in the United States have carried it since 1897.
Sammis was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and was a successful businessman in Logansport, Ind. Through his work with the YMCA he was called to the ministry, attended McCormick and Lane Seminaries, and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1880. After serving congregations in Iowa, Indiana and Minnesota, he joined the faculty of the Los Angeles Bible Institute.
I can imagine that many a sermon has been based on these three words, and following the singing of this hymn at the conclusion of the sermon, many worshippers have headed home humming or whistling the refrain, providing a lyrical way to take the theme with them.
Dr. Young points out that this hymn ‘is concerned with the rewards of trusting God’s word and obeying God’s will.’ The ultimate reward, a heavenly one so common in hymnody, appears in the final stanza when the hymn writer muses that in fellowship sweet we will sit at his feet.
Dr. Hawn is professor of sacred music at Perkins School of Theology.”
To read the full article, use this LINK.
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McCurdy Ministries Community Center creates hope and empowers the lives of children, youth, adults and families through education, life skills, and faith-based programs in Española, New Mexico.
As summer activities provide a time of rest from the busyness of the school year, may we each take time to reflect on the abundant love of our Lord and Savior. May we know His peace and grace as we trust Him with our future.
On behalf of the McCurdy Ministries Community Center Board and staff as well as the children, youth, adults, and families MMCC serves, we pray you experience God’s love, mercy, and grace in your walk with the Lord!
McCurdy Board and Staff
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Through our Volunteer Newsletter, we are providing the latest information about volunteer opportunities at McCurdy Ministries Community Center and sharing helpful tips about planning a mission trip to Española. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or suggestions about articles or resources. Send your suggestions or questions to Linda Polson at lpolson1966@gmail.com. Linda is an MMCC Board Member and experienced VIM Team Leader.
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McCurdy Ministries Community Center creates hope and empowers the lives of children, youth, adults and families through education, life skills and faith-based programs
in Española, NM.
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