Connie Jeffery

When Judith Miranda and her husband, Job, drove to Malibu one Sabbath in 2001, they looked for the local Adventist church, to no avail. She called the Southern California Conference office only to discover there was no church there. “What? No Seventh-day Adventist church in Malibu?” she exclaimed. It became Miranda’s personal mission to plant…

On Jan. 1, 2019, Anita J. Mackey, celebrated her 105th birthday—a significant milestone for the distinguished, generous woman who loves her Lord, her church, and her friends. Born in Riverside, Calif., as one of eight children, Mackey lost her mother at the age of 10 and was raised by her father, a descendant of United States…

The scent of smoke was heavy in the air as the Camarillo church observed the 100th anniversary of Veterans Day on Sabbath, Nov. 10. The twin tragedies of the Thousand Oaks shooting on Nov. 7, followed within hours by fires that ravaged Ventura and Los Angeles counties were on the speakers’ minds and in the…

”What an awesome and wonderful gathering of 1,200 saints at White Memorial church!” said Nemuel Enriquez, coordinator of the church’s centennial celebration in October. Members from past and present gathered to celebrate White Memorial church’s (WMC) legacy and mission. The jam-packed weekend was themed “Homeward Bound.” The celebration began with an open house on Friday…

This year, the Gardena Genesis Community Church (GGCC) participated in the City of Gardena’s harvest festival for the fifth year in a row. Each year, the church has contributed in a different way, from offering medical services to free goodie bags and giveaways. This year was the first time that GGCC was in charge of…

How does a church provide special needs kids with a place to feel safe and to grow? The Santa Clarita church has found the answer in a special needs children’s ministry called My Friend’s House. Special needs teacher Delmy Calderon has been hired by the church to teach every Sabbath morning and during VBS week.…

A group of 13 children, ages 11 to 17, from SCC’s International church of La Verne and Loma Linda Filipino Socio-economic Uplift, Literacy, Anthropological, and Developmental Services (SULADS) in SECC, went for their annual VBS outreach to the Navajo Nation in Page, Ariz., in July. “These children have been doing this program for three years…

  Hye Won Moon, DDS, has a passion for ministry! For the past 20 years, she has been practicing as a general dentist in Koreatown, Los Angeles. Her daughter, a recent Loma Linda University graduate, has joined her practice, allowing Moon more flexibility to plan church functions and put on weekly programs at L.A. Central Korean…

In July, the Spanish American church in East Los Angeles held its second annual Math Academy tutoring program. “We had great success last year,” said Mario Melendez, Spanish American church community services director. “We are the only program of this kind in the community, and 35 children from grades 1-9 attended this summer. Twenty of…

After the Haiti earthquake in 2010, Fedly Bonneau, former pastor in the Southern California Conference, discovered his passion for helping provide access to proper medical care for people who cannot otherwise obtain it. A month after the earthquake, Bonneau stopped at a Red Cross office and asked how they were able to help people. “The…