Last fall, Alexy Mondak, pastor and Southeastern California Conference (SECC) assistant director of summer camp, had an idea. She recalled attending a women’s retreat as a teenager with her mom and wondered what something similar could look like in SECC. As summer camp director, she had seen firsthand the impact of youth ministry in her territory—so what if she helped create a retreat specifically for teen girls?
Mondak recruited a team of female pastors who began dreaming of what a retreat could look like, particularly one that celebrated the female experience. “We knew we wanted to create something different,” Mondak said. “We wanted a space where these girls could feel empowered in their identity, their beauty, and their relationships.”
Those dreams came to reality on March 8-9 with the first-ever Bloom Conference, hosted at Camp Cedar Falls. Over 100 teen girls arrived to receive goodie bags, sing together in worship, and hear messages from Dilys Brooks, campus chaplain at Loma Linda University, on how to thrive as young women. They also enjoyed a range of breakout activities, from making vision boards and flower crowns to learning self-defense and relationship resilience.
“We wanted it to be a weekend where the girls didn’t just sit and listen but were actively learning together,” said Elizabeth McDonald, family and children’s pastor at La Sierra University church and a member of the planning team. “It was so exciting to see something that we had all worked so hard on actually come to fruition.”
Perhaps the highlight of the weekend was “The Bloom Experience,” a makeshift fashion show where the girls made outfits out of wrapping and tissue paper before walking down the runway to applause from their peers. “All the girls immediately became one at that moment,” McDonald said. “It went from a space of uncertainty to one where we were together.”
“The Bloom Conference was truly a beautiful experience,” said Autumn White, a teen from the Azure Hills church. “I made so many new friends and had so much fun. I cannot wait for next year's retreat!” Another attendee told Mondak, “You all literally thought of everything we like!”
“We wanted to give them something we didn’t have at their age,” Mondak reflected. “To know they felt their needs were met makes all of the stress and planning worth it.”
On a Saturday evening in late February, Southeastern California Conference (SECC) hosted the second annual Young Adult Night at the Crosswalk church in Redlands, California. The “Wonder”-themed evening drew more than 400 attendees, ages 18 to 39, from over 100 churches throughout SECC.
The event started outdoors with free food, a coffee bar, a photo booth, live music, and a DJ.
“We weren’t selling them on anything,” said Aren Rennacker, director of SECC youth ministries. “We wanted to create a space to connect with our young adults without pretense. It’s simple: We love them and want them to know it.”
Halfway through the evening, attendees were invited inside for worship, led by Laia and Jo Amaya. The pair organized a young adult orchestra and choir with over 30 participants. Attendees shared testimonies, followed by a short message delivered by Rennacker.
Recognizing a gap in engagement and a need for a shared space where young adults could connect, worship, and be inspired, the night aimed to serve as a catalyst for reigniting, launching, or relaunching young adult ministries in local churches.
“Part of my message focused on how we all come from somewhere—our local churches,” Rennacker explained. “The message was that when you return, pour into your church and grow young adult ministries there too.”
“I feel honored to be part of a movement within SECC to reimagine effective ways to make our young people feel valued by the Seventh-day Adventist Church,” said Rennacker.
“Our goal, both this year and last year, was to provide a space specifically catered to the wants and needs of young adults. We want our young adults to know that they’re a priority and that they’re seen and heard. We’re already excited about next year.”
For more information, visit seccyouth.com and follow their Instagram page @SECCYouth.
In December 2023, Southeastern California Conference (SECC) Youth Department held its second annual Teen FLOW event at Escondido Adventist Academy. This gathering aims to provide leadership and ministry opportunities for teens within the conference. The event saw a total of 170 attendees, including Pathfinder directors, church leaders, and 140 teens.
FLOW stands for Faith, Leadership, Outreach, and Witnessing. The objective of this ministry is to offer hands-on experience in outreach and leadership training for teens. When asked about the importance of Teen FLOW for the community, Meshach Soli, SECC associate director of club ministries, emphasized that the initial inspiration was to cultivate leadership at a young age. Many teens aren't exposed to outreach, so providing them with hands-on experience at an early stage lays a foundation for a better understanding of being a witness for Christ. "Every youth is already a leader,” said Soli. “Every youth has influence, so each of them is a leader.”
The one-day event featured sermons, breakout sessions, and an active afternoon outreach. Aren Rennacker, SECC director of youth and young adult ministries, and Taji Saleem, assistant director of youth media ministries, were two of the keynote speakers. Saleem, who is not in pastoral ministry, encouraged youth to pursue ministry in non-traditional ways by leveraging their gifts and passions as a means for effectively sharing the gospel. Additionally, the event included hands-on breakout sessions in which teens navigated obstacle courses to learn about faith-building puzzles as a group, highlighting perseverance and teamwork. In the afternoon, they had the opportunity to visit various homes and communities in Escondido, collecting non-perishable and canned goods to donate to Interfaith Outreach, their partnering organization. This engagement allowed the youth not only to hear about the impact of ministry but also to experience it firsthand.
Through Teen FLOW, SECC continues to pursue avenues of growth and empowerment for the youth. As this ministry is in its early stages, there are high hopes for the future. One aspiration is to eventually organize a Teen FLOW short-term overseas mission trip.
SECC hosts 7th annual Adventurer Campout
The 7th annual SECC Adventurer Campout welcomed over 1,400 adventurers, family members, and club leaders for a weekend full of fun and fellowship at Pine Springs Ranch, April 21 to 23, 2023. SECC Club Ministries is blessed to be able to host amazing gatherings like this, and we're already counting down for next year!
La Sierra Academy student recites 1000 digits of pi in annual recitation content
By Israel Carreón Jr
Joseph Nguyen, a 12th grade student, broke a new La Sierra Academy (LSA) record by reciting 1000 digits of pi. LSA holds its annual Pi Recitation Competition with junior and high school brackets. This tradition dates back to 2011. The previous record was held by LSA 2018 alum Ezra Sarmiento with an impressive 370 digit recitation. This year, the judges sieved through 16 pages before finally exhausting the numbers available to count. One thousand digits of pi had been recited.
Nguyen still had 111 memorized digits left in the tank.
What had first started out as an ostensible feat quickly evolved into a history-making moment unfolding before faculty and fellow peers. A crowd of few soon matured into a cheering assembly. Nguyen continued with assiduous focus.
“I tried to block out external conversations, but I couldn’t help but hear the exclaims of ‘How does he know all this?’ and ‘The teachers just flipped another page,’” said Nguyen.
Nguyen began his journey towards memorizing over 1000 digits of pi during Christmas break. He memorized digits in divisions of 10 and subdivisions of 5. Sometimes a pattern of numbers would appear. Patterns facilitated fluid memorization. His goal was to memorize 15 digits per day–totaling to 1325 digits by March 14–Pi Day, the day of the recitation content. “This was my commitment to consistency instead of procrastination.” He took his practice wherever he went.
Nguyen carries no measure of hubris in victory. Quite the contrary, in fact. He demurred at any assertion of being a mathematical sage. “I am no innate genius or math wizard. I only committed myself to consistency and perseverance to achieve this feat.”
Herein lies the true genius of Nguyen's talents–the proclamation not of inherent mathematical aptitude, but of dedication, discipline, and the grit to strive towards the achievement of an ambition. This type of genius is available to us all.
Nguyen no longer chooses to stay sequestered behind a computer screen. Along with picking up new record-breaking hobbies, he has traded the computer games for a table tennis paddle. He’s got a mean serve. He is currently applying to Seventh-Day Adventist universities that offer majors in computer engineering. His shortlist includes Walla Walla University, Union College, and Andrews University. He attributes his decision to pursue this major due to his enjoyment of mathematical thinking, analyzing problems, and crafting solutions. After setting a new LSA record, Nguyen was ready for some actual pie. He settled for lemon meringue.
Loma Linda Academy is launching a Strider Bikes Program which is the first of its kind in the Inland Empire. This program has been made possible due to the generosity of LLA graduate, Alexander Smith (‘04), of Malcolm Smith Motorsports. They recently donated 27 fully assembled Strider Bikes and an instruction bike for Kindergarten PE classes.
The Kindergarten PE classes will enjoy learning how to ride a bike along with many healthy life lessons that come along with it. PE Coaches Rhonda Bonney and Robert Castillo are thrilled with this new addition to the elementary PE program and the kids are excited to get riding.
-Trevan Osborn
Students at Laguna Niguel Junior Academy (LNJA) gathered for their first annual Entrepreneurial “Shark Tank” Academic Fair on March 10th. Modeled after the popular TV show, students were tasked with the assignment of coming up with a fresh invention that helps to solve a problem in today’s world. Alongside a class partner, each student came up with a creative concept, researched how to make it, how they would advertise and sell it, and prepared a presentation board along with a prototype to showcase. This was presented to parents, friends, and the community at the “Shark Tank” event held at the school campus on March 10.
The panel of “sharks” was made up of parents and school principal. They judged the presentations. Students entered the room for their presentations to the theme music of the “Shark Tank” show and dressed in their product’s theme or in professional attire. Many of the students in grades 6-8 had google slides or PowerPoint presentations to accompany their dynamic and often humorous presentations. After each presentation, the “sharks” each gave a critique and/or asked a follow-up question to each team presenting.
An invention from the K-2 class was a lunch pail tracker, which was a tracking device that goes inside student lunch pails, backpacks, water bottles, and other items commonly misplaced during a typical school day. One of the student teams from the grades 3-5 class featured a toothpaste dispenser that ensured just the “right amount” of toothpaste was dispensed onto a toothbrush with the slogan, “Clean the teeth that you want to keep!”
A dynamite team from the grades 6-8 class featured a “Firehead,” which was a ski pole that heated up so that the tip of it can melt any ice that is blocking your ski boots from being clipped out of easily due to snow stuck in the part where the poles clip you out. There were impressive product ideas, such as the “Wello,” an eco-friendly hydration tablet (instead of a water bottle) that kept plastic from being thrown in the ocean and harming animals when one is being active and out in nature.
This event was a wonderful time to celebrate the marvelous and innovative minds of young people today. Thank you to the parents and teachers that nurture and support this growth daily. By God’s grace, mercy, and guidance the students of LNJA will prayerfully continue to shine in their minds, hearts, body, and soul. It is their desire to have their talents used for God’s glory and to honor Him.
-Jessica Preece
Students in the Southeastern California Conference were blessed and inspired through two Bible Camps in February and March. After not being able to have either Bible camp last school year, students and staff were thrilled to come together again to grow closer to God and each other.
The Junior High Bible Camp for 7th and 8th graders was held at the Loma Linda University Church on Sabbath afternoon, February 26. Nearly 100 students from around SECC gathered for this powerful time entitled, The Experience. Through speakers and breakout leaders, these middle schoolers were given practical, hands-on guidance for walking with Christ. The focus for this year’s event was on the four spiritual disciplines: Bible study, prayer, service, and sharing faith.
The Junior-Senior Bible Camp was held at Pine Springs Ranch on March 13-15. Around 250 students from across all the Southeastern California Conference Senior Academies as well as three schools from Southern California Conference focused on the theme: “Movement.” Students not only developed a deeper relationship with God, but also grew in their leadership skills. Almost all elements of the program were led by students themselves including drama, worship leading, prayer groups, and facilitating “family groups” of about 15 students.
-Trevan Osborn
