The Maynard-Reid's 2013 Annual Letter

 We hope 2013 found you in good health and enjoying God’s many blessings. We had another full year – here are some of the highlights:

December 2012:

·         Pedrito made his annual trip to Oakwood with 2 students (Lucas Smith and Blake Englehart) for the Pastoral Evangelism Leadership Conference.

·         Pedrito ll achieved the ultimate Black Belt in Moh Kempo Kungfu. He says that “ultimate” is a strong word, because there are 9 levels of Black Belts! He did this all while preparing to teach again a class in Artificial Intelligence at Seattle University, and being a loving and caring dad and husband. He continues his work as a Software Engineer at Microsoft. Margaret also is on the team at Microsoft. In her off time she is becoming quite an Android expert; and also did some TA’ing at the University of Washington in that area. She is kept quite busy with the family including her mother, father, and step mother who have all now moved here permanently from China. Jasmine and Leo are doing well in school. Jasmine turned 12 this year and is in 7^th grade; Leo will turn 10, and is in 4^rd grade.

·         We started a new tradition this year: Every 4^th year each family will celebrate Christmas wherever and however they wish. The other years we will come together, rotating at the different homes. Vie and Pedrito celebrated it with Janice and Lorraine in Walla Walla. For Pedrito, especially, it wasn’t the same without the grandkids and his 300 crazy presents! Sob, sob! However, we did have some fun connections via Skype with the families in Seattle and Gainesville.

January:

·         Some of you might remember from last year’s letter that Vie is spending most of the year in Florida helping Natasha with our newest granddaughter, Dalitso. Her sister, Mayamiko, turned 5 y.o. in April and is doing well in pre-school. She dotes over her baby sister. Natasha continues on as Assistant Director/Training Director and psychologist at the University of Florida in Gainesville. She oversees the practicum and internship program for Ph.D. students in Psychology and Ph.D. and Masters students in Counselor Education doing their practice at the Counseling and Wellness Center. Natasha finished up a 350+ page document self-evaluating her training program for its accreditation process this year.  She also continues to see undergraduate and graduate student clients.  In addition, she maintains a small private practice.  This year she serves as president of the North Florida Chapter of the Florida Psychological Association. She also serves on the board of the national association for training directors at university counseling centers. Evans is just about done with his course work for the doctorate in Audiology. Vie had a blast playing grandma.

·         The nice thing about Vie being retired is that she can do whatever she wants. One of those things is being a vendor for a natural rub-on pain relief medication. It really works miracles. If you are on Facebook please check out her page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Painreliefbuzzcom/563881870331635. Or you can check out the link at www.painreliefbuzz.com.

·         Pedrito kept up a mind-boggling schedule with teaching, being Assistant to the President for Diversity, numerous preaching invitations, and traveling, recruiting (e.g., Sharon and YBS in Portland, Emerald City in Seattle), and continuing as lead pastor at Berean Fellowship (a student focused African American worship-style congregation on campus).

February:

·         For the 4^th time Pedrito was invited to chair the Union Bulletin (the local daily newspaper) Community Council (Board).

·         The annual recruiting trip in November to Toronto @ Kingsway College and Crawford Academy was postponed because of the massive snow storm. Pedrito was delighted to make it in February, and signed up a goodly number of prospective students for WWU. It was a delight to stay with his sister-in-law, Anne Thompson. Both Janice and Noel were in Jamaica, as well as Vie.

·         Daddy Thompson passed away in Mandeville, Jamaica, at the ripe old age of 104!! Between his trips Pedrito was able to join the rest of the family (including Pedrito II) for the memorable service.

·         To get to Jamaica he had to cut short his weekend trip to LA where he went to help his sister, Audrey, move to a fabulous condo right on the Pacific Ocean in Long Beach.

March:

·         A busy month of travelling and speaking for Pedrito. First he was the keynote and closing speaker at the Worship Conference at Andrews University in March.

·         A couple weeks later his sermon/lecture on “African American Preaching” opened the Preach-off at Berea church in Boston. He received recognition from the Boston City Council, the State Representative, and from a Massachusetts’ member of Congress. You can find plaques hanging in his office on the 3^rd floor of the Admin building.

·         He spent a few days during Spring Break in Florida. It was great to be with family after playing the bachelor for so long!

April:

·         Pedrito joined his Theology colleagues from Loma Linda, La Sierra, Pacific Union College, Canadian University College, and WWU for the West Coast Religion Teachers’ Conference at Loma Linda. It was great to see his dearest friend, Angel Hernandez. He took a few hours to pop in to see Audrey, of course.

·         A couple weeks later he was the main speaker at New Hope Church in Connecticut for a Worship Conference, which included a rich diversity of music, including the New England Youth Ensemble and Gospel music groups.

·         Mayamiko turned 5 y.o. and graduated from pre-school in May!  She had a fabulous birthday going to Disneyworld with her favorite teacher and Natasha’s dear friend, Sarah Lowery Henning, and family.  They had a blast!!

·         Evans took an extended trip to England for his brother Arthur’s wedding.  He was able to see lots of family and was especially happy to spend some quality time with his mother.  Natasha was able to speak to his mother by video for the first time. 

·         Margaret published a free Android app called Tiny Peppers with Chinese recipes (you can download it at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mzm.tinypeppers). Later in July she published a pro-version which included Jamaican recipes: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mzm.tinypepperspro. You can find them also on Amazon’s Appstore. The app has over 3000 downloads and is used by people in over 40 countries.

May:

·         Yea! Dalisto turned one year old, and Vie’s enjoyable tour of duty ended in Florida (and Dalitso began her first month of daycare, which she loves!), and Vie got back home just in time for Mother’s Day and the Balloon Stampede. As has been the happy custom, Pedrito II and Margaret and the grandkids came down from Seattle for the weekend.

·         Pedrito looks forward to receiving his annual “fix” at the North Pacific Union Conference Regional Convocation (Black Campmeeting) at Camp Berachah, Auburn, WA. There, besides promoting WWU, he teaches the SS Lesson and was the MC for the evening concert.

·         After being invited a number of times, Pedrito was finally able to accept the invitation to be the main speaker at the Lake Region Hispanic Campmeeting at Camp Cassapolis in Michigan over Memorial Day weekend. It was a Spirit-filled marvelous weekend. It was also a joy to see many of his former students and friends from Puerto Rico and WWU.

June:

·         The local invitations and appointment in our Valley are just as important to us. Pedrito’s former Reader and Teaching Assistant, Philip Coffeen, invited Pedrito to join him and his class at the State Penitentiary. It was his first time in the compound (which is only 5 minutes from our home). What an experience. Pedrito says that when he retires in 27 years (at the age of 93) he would like to be a volunteer teacher at the Penn.

·         It is always an honor and delight to be invited as the guest preacher at non-SDA worship services in the Valley on a Sunday morning. The invitation for Pedrito to be the guest preacher at the local Congregational Church was no exception.

·         As some of you know Pedrito is under contract to write the Commentary on the Book of James for the International SDA Bible Commentary series. His deadline was June. But just too much was going on, so he got an extension until December 31. He has since spent a lot of time hibernating, mostly at his sister’s, writing. It is inspirational looking out at the ocean and hearing it roar!

July:

·         Another tradition is the annual multi-family garage sale in our front yard. The 4^th of July celebration is another. We combined them into one this year. For the 4^th we had a blast with the Maynard-Zhangs and the grandkids, Lorraine, Larry and Ellie Veverka, and

our spanking brand new African American VP for Student Life and Mission, David Richardson and his family. The BBQ, Fair in the Park, and fireworks gazing were simply tops. And we made a record haul at the garage sale. But the fun and fellowship cannot be calculated in dollars and cents.

·         The lovely thing about hibernating in LA is that every now and then Pedrito takes a break and does something fun with his sister. One of those times was going to hear the California Philharmonic orchestra. Fantastic!

·         But the intimate and down-to-earth gatherings and music are also awesome. One of those was our hosting a little band from La Sierra University called the Cayote Bandits, in our backyard. They were on their Northwest tour, and chose our home for this intimate setting.

·         We are very much invested in the cause of peace. And we lead out in a Peacemaking Weekend on the campus and in the Valley each year. Pedrito was invited to be a member of the national Adventist Peace Fellowship Board.

August:

·         The huge event in Pedrito II’s life this year was his celebration of the big 40. To celebrate this milestone he got himself an awesome motorbike. Don’t worry, he took and successfully completed a course in riding safety. We had a great time celebrating with some of his friends, hours before his father had to catch the flight to Bangkok.

·         Thailand: Almost 4 weeks spent away across the ocean. Among the things accomplished, Pedrito made the annual visit to Chiang Mai Adventist Academy; did an audit of our Rotary project in Thespadet (he is chair of the International Service Committee that oversees all of the worldwide projects in which Rotary of Walla Walla is involved); and visited the sites in Chiang Dao where we are involved in a $200,000 matching grant water project. After that the rest of the team from WWU arrived for our annual projects in Muak Lek. We are stationed at Asia Pacific International University, and partner with them. If you have been following along these 9 years, you know that we are heavily focused on teaching English at the local high school and to the general public in the evening. We also do fun cultural things like visiting Buddhist temples, riding elephants, and spending a day with tigers (playing with, bathing, and just having fun with them). The highlight of the trip was installing a solar panel at the home of the disabled farmer, whose farm we assist with every year. This was the first time for them to have electricity. We also got them a TV, satellite dish, radio, etc. It was a great team of 12 this year.

·        

Mayamiko began Kindergarten! She’s a big girl, learning quickly and enjoying her new friends and teachers.

·         Natasha attended and made presentations at the World Mental Health Congress in Argentina. She got to practice her Spanish again and spend some time sight-seeing. With Pedrito gone to Thailand, Vie went down to Florida to take care of the grands.

·         Pedrito II’s kids are huge Lego aficionados. In August they went to Legoland in California, and later in October they had a blast at the Lego Kidsfest in Portland, Oregon.

September:

·         In order to meet the deadline for the completion of the Bible Commentary, Pedrito was fortunate to receive a Sabbatical during the Autumn quarter.

·         He took out a few days to attend and participate in the most inspiring Music and Worship Conference in LA.

October:

·         October brought the saddest news of the year. Our daughter, Natasha, was diagnosed with breast cancer. Vie immediately flew to Florida to be with her. It is limited to one breast and will involve a mastectomy. She is presently in the process of preparing for surgery and subsequent chemotherapy and radiation. Your prayers are appreciated. However, as Natasha tends to have the work “ethic” of her father, she was retrospectively glad that she had a successful accreditation site visit from the American Psychological Association who had rave reviews for her training program. 

·         The bad news came just before the annual apple-juicing weekend at the end of the month. But even though Vie was gone, the rest of us wanted to carry on. So Pedrito II and Margaret (and her dad and stepmom who just arrived from China) and Jasmine and Leo, and Lorraine came home and had a blastful weekend.

November:

·         While Pedrito was in California the last of his father’s brothers, Uncle Z (Pastor Zadock Reid) died there in CA. He was 93.

·         This year Pedrito’s annual scholars meetings (Society of Biblical Literature, and Adventist Society for Religious Studies) met in Baltimore. Of course, whenever we are in the DC area it is a must that we stay at Mayra’s home. The Malcolms are great friends and hosts. Pedrito took out time from his conference to attend a great Bill Gaither concert with them, and happily surprised to meet his “sister” from way back in College, Joy Mighty and her husband Hugh. He stayed over for Thanksgiving, and went up with the Malcolm’s to our dearest Pamson’s (Paulette Cameron) husband’s sister’s home in Pennsylvania for the feast on Thanksgiving Day.

·         Vie extended her stay in Florida to help Natasha process the health situation. She returned home briefly on the last day of the month; but will return in a few days. We all will be at Natasha’s for Christmas.

Well, that’s it for life at the Maynard-Reids for the last 12 months. Thanks for your love and prayers. If you wish to see numerous photos of this year’s events, please visit our photo site: http://people.wallawalla.edu/~pedrito.maynard-reid/gallery2/main.php ; and visit Pedrito’s blog as well:  http://blessingsfrompedrito.blogspot.com/.

We would love to hear from all of you, so drop us a line at pedrito@wallawalla.edu or violet.maynard-reid@wallawalla.edu or “friend” us on Facebook.

Blessings

Vie and Pedrito