Maynard-Reid's 2016 Year in Review

Dear Friends and Family

We have been sending out family Christmas greeting photo cards and then an annual letter at the beginning of December since 1977. We started a new tradition last January: An annual Year-In-Review highlights of the previous year.  Here is the 2016 edition:

January:

·        Pedrito was invited to be a presenter at the Kansas Avenue SDA Church, for the fourth annual

Ignite Lay Leadership Conference of the Black Adventist Ministerial Fellowship of the Southeastern California Conference. He focused on resolving conflicts in the local church. Spending time with his sister Audrey, and getting to see his cousin Liz, are always highlights on trips to the southlands.

February:

·        Pedrito was asked again to chair the Union Bulletin (Walla Walla

daily newspaper) Community Council. This is his 7^th year chairing this Council, which is comprised of a wide cross-section of citizens.

·        For Black History Month Pedrito was invited to be the Sabbath speaker at Camelback SDA Church in Phoenix, AZ. He was delighted to be able to spend some time with Karen Zinn, whom he met from her days at the Oregon State Bar. She is now an attorney in Phoenix.

March:

·        The national conference for Chief Diversity Officers in Higher Education was held in San Francisco. Pedrito learns so much from these conferences, and this year he was able to make substantive contributions to the discussions.

·        Jo Ivester, Audrey’s (Pedrito’s sister) step-daughter was honored in Austin, Texas, with the Torch of Liberty by the Anti-Defamation League. She and her husband, Jon, invited Audrey and Pedrito to be their special guest along with Jo’s and Jon’s children. It was fantastic. And so was the Austin Ballet performance that we attended. Jo and Jon are major patrons of the Ballet Company, as well as many social causes throughout the city and nation.

 

April:

·        The annual conference for West Coast Religion Teachers was held at La Sierra University. It was a small group this year; yet there was some healthy discussion. Pedrito popped in one night to see his sister, Audrey. They always maximize the minimum time.

·       

At Walla Walla University’s Homecoming Weekend we had the Inauguration of the Donald Blake Center for Race, Ethnicity and Culture, with Dr. Timothy Golden as its first director. Dr. Donald Blake was present as the guest of honor. In 1963 he made history as the first person of color to be employed by a predominantly white SDA university. Don broke the glass academic ceiling for Blacks in Adventist Higher Education. This Center comes under Pedrito’s Office of Diversity.

May:

·        Vie’s business as a vendor for Real Time Pain Relief keeps her very busy. If you suffer with any pain at all, please contact her. The business, however, keeps her from traveling as much as she would like. Yet she took out a couple weeks this month to fly down to Florida to be with Natasha, Evans, Mayamiko and Dalitso. They could not be happier to spend time with grandma.

·        Pedrito continues to be very active in Rotary of Walla Walla, particularly as the Chair of the International Service Committee. This month we received notice that we were approved for a Grant of $11,000 for purchase of medical equipment for the Mitigare Hospice Care in San Miguel, Mexico. There are still a couple major grants that are in the pipeline, valued at nearly $400,000. These are with clubs in Mexico and Thailand.

·        Vie, Pedrito, and Lorraine made the annual trip to southern Oregon to Milo Academy’s graduation, where he represented Walla Walla University and awarded hundreds of thousands of $$$ in scholarships.

June:

·        Pedrito got a Sabbatical for the up-coming autumn term. He has three main writing projects: Completion of the SDA International Commentary on the Epistle of James; a couple of articles for an Archeology Bible; and a chapter in a book dealing with the Regional (Black) SDA work in North America. The chapter he was assigned was, “The role of immigrants in the mission and structure of the Regional work.” He received a Faculty Grant to travel across the country to dialogue with representative focus groups of immigrants and African Americans.

 
·        The first focus group was from the Lake Region Conference (mostly from Detroit and Chicago). Pedrito met with them at the LRC Camp Meeting at Camp Wagner in Cassopolis, MI. There he also preached the devotional for the workers’ meeting. Though brief, he was able to overnight and visit with Marisol Arajuo and her husband, Sam Zita, in Chicago. Fabulous people! The same can be said of her sister’s (Myrna) family in Berrien Springs.  They were his gracious hosts while in the Andrews University area.

July:

·      

  In the Maynard-Pemba’s family, Natasha was promoted to Associate Director of Training at the Counseling and Wellness Center at the University of Florida. (See below in November’s entry for a big write-up on her.) And, we don’t know where the time went, but Mayamiko started third grade this month! She loves to read. She is 8 years old, and Dalitso is 4.

·        Since Vie’s dad died four years ago (at the age of 104) we have not been back to Jamaica. We    decided to take a real vacation with Janice at a lovely all-inclusive resort near Runaway Bay on  the north coast – the first time we have been able to take such a vacation. From that base, we     

made forays into

Portland and St. Thomas, and the Blue Lagoon; to Mandeville to visit Yvonne and Dave, Hyacinth McCoy, and Shelley B (Michelle Bryce); to Kingston to see Erma and her family and Josiah and his family.

·      The second focus group for Pedrito’ research was from the Greater New York Conference. It is the “White” Conference; but demographically it is almost all immigrants. Much thanks to Alanzo Smith who coordinated the meeting. That weekend Pedrito was invited to be the guest preacher for the Northern Caribbean  University Alumni Day at Hanson Place Church. He was able to spend the day with them at a true Jamaican picnic in the park. Wow,

it was so awesome to see and fellowship with so many friends and colleagues from long ago. He was especially pleased that Gwen de la Chevotiere-Creary was able to be there for the weekend. And how can we forget seeing Pam and the Pryce’s, and so many other friends from long ago!  Dexter and Ruth, and Hugh and Joy were great hosts.

August:

·       

You’ll remember that our son-in-law, Evans, became the latest doctor in the family when he graduated last December with a degree in audiology from the University of Florida. This month he became the chief audiologist at the Costco Hearing Center in Jacksonville, Fl. His patients and co-workers love him! He also sees some patients at the Veterans’ Hospital in Gainesville. If you are in the area, stop and see the doctor!

·        It’s been a long time since the faculty of the School of Theology and our families went on a

vacation together. We broke the spell and went to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. We had a blast visiting Butchart Gardens, whale watching, and having lots of fun.

·       

In the Maynard-Zhang’s household many activities continue to take place throughout the year. Pedrito II continues as a software developer at Amazon. Margaret works at Microsoft as an Android developer, and presented quite a few talks at Android developer conferences throughout the year.

·        Jasmine turned 15 and Leo 12 this year. Leo played defense again for his Revolution soccer team and they did very well -- coming in second in their league . Pedrito II still rides his motorbike daily – a great way to get around the Seattle traffic. This month he made a 2000-mile trip from Seattle to the San Francisco Bay area and back. He took the opportunity to visit with his cousin, Leondra and her family. [Incidentally, for

those who missed this in last year’s letter, Leondra is the youngest, and the first black justice on the California Supreme Court.] During August the Maynard-Zhang’s also traveled to beautiful Cannon Beach, Oregon, for a vacation.

·        Pedrito’s third focus group met in the Riverside area of Southern California. Maury Jackson put together a great and insightful group. The West Coast has no Regional Conferences; thus the perspectives from this group was quite different from the others. Any excuse to be at his sister, Audrey’s, home is a delight for Pedrito. He did some writing while there.

·        Thailand Mission and Cultural Trip 2016 was one of the best, with one of the finest teams. There was weeping and wailing on the last day of the English Camp at the

Elementary School; the students and staff loved them so much. Everyone also got the opportunity to work on the farm of the disabled farmer and his wife (Uncle Prasarn and Aunt Nang). They are so appreciative of us coming year after year. We didn’t go to the Tiger Temple because of the recent scandals. Instead we did an overnight beach outing on Koh Samed Island. Pedrito posted everyday on Facebook. He also blogged. You can read more details at either places.

September:

·    Pedrito II made his first trip to Germany. It was an Amazon business trip where he had the privilege to give a techinical presentation.

·        The fourth focus group was conducted in Orlando, Florida. Thanks

to Len Archer who was the coordinator. We had representatives from both the Regional and State Conferences, and immigrants as well as African Americans. A great cross-fertilization discussion! Got to spend time with Natasha and family and get some writing done. Oh, and we found the biggest Caribbean Supercenter in Orlando. We went to town shopping!

October:

·      

The fifth and final focus group for Pedrito’s research took place at the Northeastern Conference Campsite in upstate New York at Camp Victory Lake. This Conference is a Regional one; but like the Greater New York Conference it is predominantly immigrant. It was a one-day trip; but he got to stay at Dexter and Ruth’s home overnight.

·        Much of the sabbatical writing and editing took place at one of Pedrito’s hide-aways in Long Beach at his sister’s. It was two weeks well spent.

·        In July Pedrito received the following e-mail from the President of the Robert Webber Institute for Worship Studies (a graduate institution based in Jacksonville, Florida): “We are looking for a part-time professor for a 6-hour masters-level course, Cross-Cultural Perspectives in Christian Worship…. Your name has come up as a distinguished expert in missiology, cross-cultural and multi-cultural perspectives, inculturation and contextualization. Do you (or someone you may know) have interest in being considered for this teaching position as described in the attached document? I would consider it to be a great honor if you would help us find the right person for this position.” Pedrito applied, and this month the search committee selected him. The course is taught in a one-week intensives in June and January. As you can imagine, he is excited that his book, Diverse Worship: African American, Caribbean, and Hispanic Perspectives has made such an impact.

·      

  Pedrito looks forward to his annual trip to Toronto to recruit for Walla Walla University at Kingsway College and Crawford Academy. Staying with Janice is always exciting.

November:

·        Another big news item was this announcement that was published in the University of Florida Student Affairs’ newsletter: “Dr. Natasha Maynard-Pemba, associate professor at the Counseling and Wellness Center at the University of Florida, has recently been elected as the president of ACCTA, the Association of Counseling Center Training Agencies.  ACCTA

represents one of the largest training settings for American Psychological Association-Accredited internships in the United States and Canada.  Dr. Maynard-Pemba was also recently promoted to associate director of training at the Counseling and Wellness Center. She has also served as the president of the North Central Florida Psychological Association.  Dr. Maynard-Pemba joined the faculty of the Counseling and Wellness Center in 2005.”

·        The WWU President’s Cabinet, of which Pedrito is a member, are invitees to meetings of the University Board of Trustees. For the first meeting of the school year and the new quinquennium, we met at a fabulous retreat in Welches, Oregon near the stunning Mount Hood. Vie was able to come and enjoy the beauty and time together. We also swung by Portland and overnighted with Lorraine and saw

Frasier and Niles (her latest feline additions) for the first time. Frasier is a handful. But Niles and Elvis take it in stride.

·        At the Maynard-Zhang’s home, Jasmine made the Issaquah High School gymnastics team. In the Maynard-Pemba’s household, little Dalitso is also taking gymnastics lessons. 

·        Pedrito’s annual scholars’ meetings were in San Antonio. A highlight was the Festschrift presented to his friend and former seminary professor, Robert Johnston. It was made more special that some of his children came for the

event. Some of you may know that Beth and Margaret have called Pedrito “dad” and he has called them “daughters” since 1973! Pedrito also had some great outings and time together with our

friend, Cyndy Dinwiddie.

 

·        Thanksgiving was at our home. What a great and thankful time we had with Pedrito II and family, and with Lorraine. Not only did we have the traditional American fare and lots of pies, but there were loads of Jamaican and Chinese cuisine, and egg nog and sorrel!

December:

·        

Evan Davies and Matthew Cosaert joined Pedrito at the annual Pastoral Evangelistic Leadership Council at Oakwood University. The preaching this year was beyond exceptional.

·       

This was Natasha’s year to host the family Christmas gathering in Florida. On the way down we were able to spend a few hours in LA at Audrey’s. Natasha booked a large house on the Atlantic Ocean in South Ponte Vedra Beach, between Jacksonville and St. Augustine. Simply fabulous! Everyone was there, including Vie’s sister, Janice, and Evans brother, Alex. The fellowship and food, tours, boat rides, shopping, the walks through nature reserves and seeing alligators and bisons in the wild, etc., etc., were all memorable. Pedrito also got to briefly visit Maxine Brown, his childhood friend (and still, after these many years) and her husband, Carl Reid (his cousin), who recently moved to Florida.

Well, that’s it for life at the Maynard-Reid’s (and Maynard-Zhang’s and Maynard-Pemba’s) 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: https://www.flickr.com/photos/143715478@N06/albums/  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