Maynard-Reid's Annual Letter 2017

January 1, 2018                                                                                 397 SE Highland Park Dr

              College Place, WA 99324

Dear Friends and Family

It is now 40 years since we’ve been sending out family Christmas greeting photo cards and annual letters. Here is the 2017 edition:

January:

The year began 19,000 feet in the air, on the way to Walla Walla, returning from a great family

Christmas holiday with Natasha and family hosting in Florida. Celebrated “Three-Kings’ Day” and belated Christmas in Portland with Lorraine. The previous day her best buddy and favorite feline of all time, Elvis, was put to sleep. It was a bitter-sweet celebration and memorial weekend. Sadly, it wasn’t a great year for her. In October her mom passed away also.

Pedrito was elected as chairperson of the national Adventist Peace Fellowship Board.

Vie attended the national conference in Las Vegas for Real Time Pain Relief vendors. Remember, if
you are suffering any type of pain, this product really works. Here is the link to the product:

https://rtpr.com/offer/16db5382

February:

Vie spent a month with Natasha and family in Florida.

Great spring break with grandma. Natasha continues to work as a Counseling Psychologist and as Associate Director of Training at the University of Florida's Counseling and Wellness Center.

March:

Pedrito attended the National Association for Diversity Officers in Higher Education meetings in

Washington D.C. Had the privilege of hearing Congressman John Lewis (a civil rights icon) speak.  It was a delight to stay with his dear friends, Maxie and Desiree Blakeney.

Natasha visited Puerto Rico for the first time in 24 years for a conference.  She drove to Mayaguez and visited the place she went to school and lived.  She had the pleasure of staying with her friend’s mother while she was there.

Ann Gore, Pedrito’s cousin in Ekebyholm, Sweden, flew him over to perform the baptism of her children. He stayed in the castle that is now used for a dorm at the school. It was a treat also to play the German baroque organ there. Organ builders from Germany came over to the school in the 60s and built it.

April:

InterVarsity announced the 11th printing of Pedrito’s book, Diverse Worship: African American, Caribbean, and Hispanic Perspectives.

WWU School of Theology hosted the West Coast Religion Teachers’ Conference. We were delighted

to have Janice De-Whyte (LLU) and fellow Jamaican, Kevin Burell (Burman, CA), at our home and treat them to a Jamaican breakfast spread.

WWU Homecoming weekend honored present and former

presidents. How great it was to see especially WG and Nancy Nelson. Such wonderful memories—not the least of which was our first mission trip to the Philippines!

Pedrito was shocked when it was announced that he was selected to give the WWU Distinguished Faculty Lecture in November! What an honor. However, what a lot of work for the rest of the year doing research and writing in preparation!!!

Pedrito II went on a recruiting trip (as part of his job at Amazon) to Sydney, Australia. He took the opportunity to rent a motorcycle for a day and ride around the Blue Mountains. 

May:

As an expectation for receiving a Sabbatical (Fall 2016), Pedrito presented a School of Theology Colloquium, entitled,  “How I Spent my Sabbatical: From Pugnacious James to 21^st Century Black Church Tensions.”

We look forward to annually going to southern Oregon for Milo Adventist Academy’s graduation. This year Pedrito gave out almost half a million dollars in scholarships for WWU.

June:

One of the highlights of the year was the visit of His Excellency the
Governor General of Jamaica, Sir Patrick Allen, and his wife, Lady Allen, to WWU. He gave the Commencement Address for our graduation. They were the guests of honor at the annual potluck under the cherry tree in our backyard.

Pedrito taught his first graduate intensive on Perspectives in Cross-Cultural Worship, at the Robert
Webber Institute of Worship in Jacksonville, FL. What a great grad school; and what a fantastic group of students.

Another highlight of the year was the celebration of Pedrito’s 70^th birthday. Those who came to Walla Walla for the event included our children and their 

entire families; his sister Audrey, her daughter, Leondra, and grandson; his brother, Hugh (wife, Joy, and their children and grandchildren); brother, Dexter and wife. Ruth; and Natasha’s brother-in-law, Alex; and our friend, Lorraine. We had a blast!

After all of that excitement Pedrito needed to get away to get some research and writing done. Audrey’s Long Beach home was the perfect spot. Always so good to see his dear friend and cousin, Liz.

July:

The Ardmore Institute of Health invited Pedrito to be part of a small group to brainstorm on

integrating spirituality into their Oklahoma-based organization. The first meeting of the Spirituality and Health Advisory Task Force was at an idyllic vacation home in Sundance, Utah.

Pedrito II spent a week this summer circumnavigating Washington State on his motorcycle, including a few side trips into Canada, Idaho, and Oregon. We were glad that Walla Walla was part of the trek.

Mayamiko is 9 years old started 4th grade.  She is an avid reader and is currently on book number four of the Harry Potter series. Dalitso is 4 years old and graduated from her pre-school of 4 years :( to start Kindergarten!  And she loves homework (go

figure!). She is now at the same charter school as her sister. She’s also constantly drawing amazing pictures (we are biased, of course). Evans works as an audiologist at the Sam's Club Hearing Center in Gainesville.

Lloyd George, Pedrito’s cousin, invited our family to a big family birthday party in Orlando, FL. It was especially wonderful for

Natasha and her family to become better acquainted with many of the Reid side of the family. Audrey and Hugh were there; and that made it extra special. In addition, the trip to Disney’s Epcot Center with Natasha’s and Liz Bowie’s families was simply fun.

While in Orlando, Pedrito attended a Hispanic Diversity Conference (sponsored by the Council for Christian Colleges and University), with the theme, “Avance—Latinos & Christian Higher Education.”

If you have been following Pedrito’s Facebook postings, you would

be treated to the productive vegetable plot, and the flower garden that was stunning and vibrant this year. Go to this site to see them all: https://www.flickr.com/photos/143715478@N06/sets/72157680064641062.

August:

Pedrito had so many research and writing and speaking projects this year that he needed another week to hibernate in order to make progress. Gainesville, by Natasha, provided that space. (Bonus was having fun with the grands!)

Pedrito II's family went to China for a summer vacation trip, visiting Margaret's hometown Guiyang in Guizhou province and Hong Kong. 

Cabinet retreat with the Walla Walla University Administrative team is always fun, mixed with
serious, good hard work. We retreated at our beautiful marine biology campus at Rosario, on the Puget Sound of the Pacific Ocean.

We have to admit that in the 20 years that we have been leading

Mission and Cultural trips, the team this year that went to Thailand, truly earned the title, “Best Team 2017!” Simply awesome. Many teams came close. But with this team, everyone, was determined to be the best and they kept each other in check.

September:

Steve Constantine (and his wife, Pat), who pastors the Palo Alto church, invited Pedrito to give a three-part, one day, lecture series on “The Epistle of James.”  It was so well received that the live-streaming and recordings got a few thousand hits.

Pedrito has been traveling to Portland to teach at our School of Nursing since 1993. He loves it; and never turns down the opportunity when it is his turn. In the Fall he taught “Christian Ethics” there to a wonderful group of 40 nursing students.

Pedrito II’s firstborn, Jasmine, turned 16. She is in 11th grade, and Leo is in 8th grade, his last year in

middle school. They both continue to do well in their studies.  Jasmine completed her first season as part of the Issaquah High School gymnastics team earlier this year in the winter. This autumn she made the gymnastics team for the second year in a row!

Natasha ran her first national conference as the president of the Association of Counseling Center Training Directors in Denver. She missed the big hurricane that hit Florida. But Evans and the girls were safe and missed the brunt of the storm.

October:

The Ardmore Institute of Health Spirituality Task Force that we mentioned above in the July events, met with the Board of Trustees at their annual retreat in Carmel Valley, CA. What a great site, great conversation, and great fellowship.

Pedrito again was asked to offer the Prayer for Balloon Stampede pilots. We think it is a very special honor to be invited and to associate with folks outside the SDA and academic world!

Each year Pedrito looks forward to visiting and recruting at Kingsway College in Oshawa, and

Crawford Adventist Academy in Toronto, Canada. Spending time with Janice is extra special. He was glad to also spend some time with Noel and Ann (who tragically lost her sister, Doreen, in Jamaica earlier this year).

November:

The inaugural Consumed Worship Conference took place at the

Sligo Church on the campus of Washington Adventist University. Pedrito conducted two workshops and did a plenary session on Sabbath morning. The title: “Praising God Multiculturally.” It was splendid to spend time with Olive Hemmings, Joan Francis, and Mayra Malcom during the days of the conference.

The day finally arrived for the Distinguished Faculty Lecture. 

Natasha and her two girls were there. She did a splendid job in introducing her father. Pedrito II came down from Seattle, and Lorraine came up from Portland. The title of the lecture was, “Justice: A Radical, Prophetic Call to the Academy and the Pew.” You can see the little-over-an-hour lecture here: https://www.wallawalla.edu/academics/academic-administration/faculty-development-committee/distinguished-faculty-lecture/

Natasha and Evans moved into their new home. To help them move, Vie travelled with Natasha and the girls on their way back to Florida. They worked like beasts to clean up the old house and to move into the new one. That was their Thanksgiving! Just before that, Evans went home to Zimbabwe for the first time in eight years after the sudden passing of his grandmother.  We didn't know if he would make it back due to the political unrest, but he did!

Pedrito II continues to work at Amazon in Seattle as a Software Development Engineer. He received a promotion this year. It’s a great company to work for. This year Margaret continued to work as an Android Developer at Microsoft AI & Research. She is currently studying Machine Learning and has been busy organizing technical community organizations and events.  

The Adventist Society for Religious Studies and the Society of

Biblical Literature was held in Boston. Pedrito was so very proud of his former student, Olive Hemmings, who gave a stimulating Presidential Address. He was also delighted to spend some time with another dear student, Rachel Davies, who came all the way from Australia.

December:

Both Vie and Pedrito attend the Pastoral Evangelism and Leadership Council at Oakwood University this year. The two students who came with us were Troy Wallace and Peter Flores (who is this year’s president of the Adventist Intercollegiate Association). The preaching was out-of-this-world phenomenal! Pedrito also attended the West Coast Black Administrators Caucus.

ANTARCTICA! That’s where the year ended. We had the trip of a lifetime! Pedrito had it on his bucket list to visit the final of the

seven continents when he reached 70 years old. We flew to Chile (our first time there) and flew to Antarctica for a day. It was one of the warmest days of their summer. We got to see penguins, great glaciers, elephant seals, and much more. What a blessing!

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