Pastor Erwin Nanasi and his wife Janell will be serving in the Antlers, Coalgate, and Hugo Churches. Please keep them in prayer as they make this transition.

OKLA- On October 10, 2021, the Oklahoma Conference Women’s Ministry hosted their Fall Retreat at the Embassy Suites in Norman, Oklahoma. The theme was “guard your heart and grow in Jesus Christ.” There were women in attendance from the entire state and our wonderful neighboring state, Texas. After registration, the women walked into a beautiful ballroom decorated with a small gift, resources, and a beautiful centerpiece. The theme color was blue, and everywhere you looked, a variety of beautiful women were wearing beautiful shades of blue. 

WEWOKA, OKLA - On Sunday, October 17, young people and youth leaders from five different churches arrived at Wewoka Woods Adventist Center early in the morning to take care of some much needed manual labor. Some of the projects included pulling out weeds and clearing the flower beds behind the lodge, repairing the lodge fence, adding shelving, reorganizing storage sheds, clearing out old junk adjacent to the maintenance building, and putting the extremely large and heavy pool cover back over the pool for the winter. A special thanks to those who came out from Arbuckle View, OKC Central, Cherokee, First Tulsa, and Edmond churches.

Daniel Ortega, Youth Director

OKLA - Preaching is the highest ministry given by God to man. It is about proclaiming God's truths to the world, so it should never be taken lightly and during these two months our Spanish churches have taken this ministry of preaching with enthusiasm, dedication, decisiveness and with the power of the Holy Spirit, trusting that we would see modern miracles and lives transformed by the power of God's word. Martin Luther said, "I preach as if Christ was crucified yesterday, rose again today, and is going to return tomorrow." In eight churches and eight groups in our conference there were evangelistic campaigns resulting in the revival of churches and 30 new baptisms for the glory of our God. Every conversion is a miracle, every soul won to heaven, costing the precious drops of blood of the Son of God. 

Tulsa Central-Abrielle and Maelie Poueriet are twin girls who were born physically on the same day and spiritually as well; they were baptized on September 25 at Tulsa's central church. For health reasons Maelie was isolated for several months without being able to go to church, but her desire and prayer was that God would give her the privilege of being in the church and being baptized. It is the fruit of many answered prayers and a miracle of health and new life.

Capitol Hill, OKC-Four girls from the Pathfinder club made their decision for the Lord, but one of them in particular is Sarai, the church miracle girl. Burdened by illness, Sarai, her family, and the church cried out to God for a miracle to restore her health and God listened to those requests. Along with the teachers at Parkview Adventist Academy, all members of the church and the Pathfinder club rejoiced at the time of her baptism.

Independence, Tulsa-When the building project for the baptistry in the church began, many members donated their time to do this work. When the time came to work on the concrete, Margarito showed up with 16 of his co-workers, as volunteers to do this work, and five months later, Margarito entered that baptistry that he helped build without imagining that it would be the place where he would find Jesus. 

Lawton- Juan and Guadalupe Amador were faithful members of their Baptist church for 25 years, but when they were invited to the campaign they learned more about the word of God. They were impressed with the message and brought other friends to the campaign as well. At the end of the campaign, they made the decision to be baptized in the Adventist church of Lawton. Before their baptism, they went to their church and publicly explained the reasons why they had made this decision, explaining clearly, that they would remain friends and brothers, but that they had learned a more complete message of the word of the Lord. 

Luis Prieto, Spanish Ministries Coordinator

ATHENS, TEX. - On the last weekend of October, 375 Oklahoma pathfinders and their leaders, representing 22 clubs, showed up to Lone Star Camp in Athens, Texas for the Southwestern Union Pathfinder Camporee. Over 3,800 attended this unforgettable weekend including other Pathfinders from Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas and Louisiana.

ARDMORE, OKLA. - Ardmore Adventist Academy students and staff were very blessed by a church member who decided to buy Subway sandwiches for everyone! Students are provided with an opportunity to have a hot lunch every Wednesday, with Mrs. Chelsea Speidel coordinating all the lunches. But no one expected a church member to be so generous! Imagine how they felt when Mr. Bob McCoy drove up and opened the sliding door of his van to reveal loads of Subway boxes! The students really enjoyed their meal and gave thanks not only to Mr. McCoy, but to God as well. We as so blessed to have such generous people who love young people!

OKLA - October 2 was the North American Division's designated Children’s Emphasis Sabbath. Churches from around the Oklahoma Conference prepared a special program with our children doing some or all of the worship service. Isaac Ortega gave the sermon at Oklahoma City Central, along with many of the other children providing all of the other essential portions of the church service. At the Edmond church, the Junior Sabbath school class provided a wonderful skit for the children’s story, the kindergarten class had special music, and children led out in the offering call and prayer. Oklahoma Central Spanish Church had a special program honoring children. One of the highlights were mothers, in Bible time costumes, bringing their children to Jesus to be blessed. They went to the park in the afternoon for a wonderful time together. What a blessing it was to have our children not only be the focus of the church service, but the ones that were leading out as well. 

Now is the time to be training our children and young people to lead out in our churches, training and mentoring them in the various aspects of our worship services. The Bible tells us to “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”  Prov. 22:6. Giving children the opportunity to participate in the worship service, teaching them how to speak and pray up front, inviting them to share their musical talents, teaching them to help learn how to run the PA, and allowing them to make mistakes in a safe environment, are all part of “training up a child.” I challenge you to make your church a place where children can grow and treated as integral, essential members.

ARDMORE, OKLA.- “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:8. Have you ever deeply pondered this verse? The verse does not read that God displays love or God demonstrated love but as a declaration of being that God IS love. What a concept?! Do you believe the Bible to be true? Was there ever a time when God was not love?

ARDMORE, OKLA. - It is with great excitement that we share the news of a wonderful gift that was donated to Ardmore Adventist Academy!  A condominium in Branson, Missouri was generously donated by an anonymous donor with the intent of having the unit sold and the proceeds placed in an educational endowment to benefit Ardmore Adventist Academy.  

WEWOKA, OKLA- A calm, quiet evening, a warm fire in the lodge overlooking a peaceful lake ~ this was the perfect setting for the Oklahoma Conference’s Native American Camp Meeting held October 22-23. The weekend’s theme, “Let It Rain,” was introduced by Native Ministries Assistant Director Jim Landelius and then Sabbath began with Jennifer LaMountain’s luminous vocals.  

Sabbath morning started with North Carolina pastor and Native Elder Scotty Deal (Tuscarora) playing “Amazing Grace” on a native flute. Burnette shared “How to Teach A Vibrant Sabbath School,” stressing the importance of meeting people’s needs by understanding what they might know rather than assuming they have a spiritual background: many have never read a Bible or any spiritual books. He suggested posting scriptures around our homes so that we will see the words of God before us and they will become part of our thoughts and vocabulary.

In between meetings there were many materials available to guests for sharing with Native friends such as CREATION Health programs, American Indian & Alaska Native Living magazine, "Diabetes Undone" seminar materials, and more. Join us at the next Native American Camp Meeting to learn how you can share Jesus with your Native friends and neighbors.

God Loves Me and All My Feelings gives children language to name their feelings and empowers them to know what to do in response to what they feel. This book builds a foundation of God's acceptance and love for the whole range of their human experience, building resilience and a willingness to face feelings that are sometimes difficult. Designed for Ages 2-8.

Southwestern Adventist University was recently awarded a $4 million Hispanic-Serving Institution Title III F STEM Grant from the U.S. Department of Education, provided by the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), for their STEM Excellence project proposal. This comes just a year after receiving a $2.5 million Title V grant awarded in October 2020.

Please share your church and school activities by emailing pictures and stories to Communication@Okla-Adventist.org. Invite others to sign up to receive our E-Newsletter by visiting our conference website at www.okadventist.org. The sign-up form is at the bottom of the home page.

Daniel Ortega, Communication Director

Yesenia Ortega, Newsletter Manager

Caroline A. Fisher, Newsletter Editor