Lori Peckham says that one of her favorite days of the year is when Hugh and Brenda come to her feature writing class for a “publishing party.” As we deliver the OUTLOOK issue showcasing Union student writers, Lori gets a warm feeling watching the glow on her students’ faces as they flip through the magazine and find their piece. She remembers her own publishing break when she was 12—one of her poems won a local contest by the Palo Alto Times newspaper and appeared in print. Then one of her  poems got bought by Guide magazine, earning her a whopping $5 check. She couldn’t stop writing and continued pursuing that passion as a double major in English and Communication at Pacific Union College. During her time there, Deborah Anfenson-Vance, the associate editor of Insight, visited campus to put together an issue of the magazine. She invited Lori to write the guest editorial, and soon Lori was writing on assignment for Insight as well as writing a column for the college newspaper. After graduation, Lori earned her master’s degree in writing from La Sierra University, where she had a teaching assistantship and taught English courses, noting how much she loved teaching. When she graduated from that program, she accepted an invitation to be assistant editor of Insight. She headed across the country to Maryland to begin a career in publishing at the Review and Herald Publishing Association, helping to produce a weekly magazine for Seventh-day Adventist teenagers. When editor Chris Blake came to Union to teach, Lori became editor of the magazine, the first female to hold that position. She served at that for 10 years before becoming editor of Women of Spirit. She has also been the compiler and editor of 20 “Guide’s Greatest” book collections, earning her some recognition from middle grade fans.  Experiences and awards Besides magazines and books, Lori has worked on curriculum, Web materials, marketing campaigns, news pieces, scripts, and stylebooks. Clients have included ADRA, AdventSource, Guide, Insight, Little Saints Press, NAD Women’s Ministries, GC Ministerial Association, Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries, the Mid-American Union, the Columbia Union, Pathfinder Today, Pacific Press, Remnant Publications, Your Story Hour, and Christianity Today. She has won several awards, including a reporting award and an editing award from the Evangelical Press Association and an honorable mention from the Society of Adventist Communicators. Lori has enjoyed numerous speaking engagements, having conducted writing workshops at almost every Adventist university and been the featured speaker at women’s retreats, youth conferences, and graduations. She especially enjoyed traveling to Australia to present six talks on women of the Bible in the women’s tent at “Big Camp” camp meeting as well as presenting workshops on “Five Big Questions for God” at the Central California Conference camp meeting.  Stories as ministry Lori is currently the communication program director and an associate professor of communication at Union Adventist University, where her greatest joy is to watch students open a magazine such as OUTLOOK and see their work published. She has strived to show students that every person has stories and perspectives that can touch and enrich lives and that writing can be a powerful ministry. 2024 winner Ryan Teller Previous recipients:  Jodi Dossenko, Elder Ron Carlson, Savannah Carlson, Rajmund Dabrowski, and Jacqueline Biloff

Young people from Central States Conference churches across Iowa and Nebraska gathered in November 2025 at College View Academy in Lincoln, Nebraska, for the Great Plains Youth & Young Adult Federation. The event brought the theme “Fearless” to life through worship, fellowship, and spiritual growth. The main speaker for the worship service was Pastor Elijah Johnson. He currently serves as part of a ministry team in Iowa, leading the Philadelphia Seventh-day Adventist Church in Des Moines and New Life Christian Ministry in Waterloo within the Central States Conference. His message challenged youth and young adults to trust God even when life feels uncertain. He reminded them that faith is not about the absence of fear, but the courage to move forward in spite of it. Throughout the worship experience, the atmosphere was filled with energy, praise, and purpose. Youth and young adults lifted their voices, hearts, and hands in worship, declaring their boldness in Christ and their commitment to live out their faith without fear. Following worship, the evening continued with the AYS program, which featured powerful testimonies, creative expression, and a renewed call for youth and young adults to live “Fearless” every day. The program gave participants a chance to reflect, share, and be encouraged in their faith. Later in the evening, the focus shifted to fellowship and connection as local churches faced off in a friendly volleyball tournament. Cheers, teamwork, and community spirit filled the space, bringing youth and young adults together in a fun and encouraging way and strengthening bonds between churches across the region. The Great Plains Youth & Young Adult Federation was created to bring young people together for worship, community, and spiritual growth. It gives youth a place to connect, build relationships, and strengthen their faith in a positive and supportive environment. The purpose of the event is to empower a generation to live fearlessly for God and to remind them they are not alone in their walk of faith. The impact on participants was clear. The gathering helped ignite confidence in God, deepen a sense of community, and renew boldness to live out faith with clarity and purpose. “I believe the youth discovered that trusting God isn’t just a lesson but it’s a lived experience,” said Pastor Byron Wright. “And because of what they felt and saw here, they left knowing they can walk into life fearless and full of faith.” Pastor Byron Wright is the youth director for the Central States Conference and serves as pastor of New Beginnings Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Members of the Mid-America Union Executive Committee gathered on Nov. 20, 2025, for their regularly scheduled fall meeting to receive reports, vote on ordination recommendations, and discuss the preliminary budget for 2026. The 38-member group is composed of institutional leaders, pastors, educators and lay members from all six conferences in the union. The day began with a focus on prayer led by new Union Adventist University chaplain Mollie Duper. She reminded the group that “when we face mighty giants we must pray mighty prayers.” Pastor Mollie shared multiple stories of prayers answered in marvelous ways in her life and also the lives of students at Union Adventist University in the past few months. “Don’t just add prayer to your schedule; build your schedule around prayer,” said Duper before asking the group to spend time praying together in small groups. The day-to-day of accomplishing mission During his remarks, MAUC president Gary Thurber introduced new members of the committee. He also paid tribute to LouAnn Howard, former MAUC education director who passed away in September.  Thurber then shared updates from around the union, including the dates for constituency sessions happening in 2026 (two local conferences and the Mid-America Union). Members of the Executive Committee watched a video highlighting some of the 361 Pentecost 2025 projects in churches and schools taking place across the Mid-America territory. Over $1 million in funding for these projects has been received from the North America Division to date. Thurber also mentioned the newest General Conference evangelism initiative called OneVoice27. This initiative, as described by GC leaders, is a coordinated emphasis for September 2027 in which the Seventh-day Adventist Church will proclaim the gospel “to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people” through a unified message and an integrated use of media—by media ministries, local churches and individual members. One of the reasons 2027 has been chosen is that it marks the 2,000-year anniversary of Jesus’ baptism and anointing as found in Luke 3:21-22. Specific Bible readings and selections from The Desire of Ages are outlined to accompany OneVoice27. Membership, policy and finance Hubert J. Morel, Jr., MAUC vice president for administration, presented the union’s membership report in a printed format, which showed a slight overall increase YTD in membership. The current membership total for the union is 67,119. Morel also brought forward two names for ordination of individuals who serve as chaplains at AdventHealth Shawnee Mission. The chaplains have met with the Kansas-Nebraska Conference committee and followed the same preparation for ordination as other pastors. The committee also received a brief update from NAD undersecretary Jorge Ramirez. One of the things he shared was the creation of a new policy being introduced—NAD Working Policy S 83: Asian Church Building and Scholarship Fund. This recommended policy is designed to support the needs of the church’s rapidly growing Asian membership. Under U.S. Census and eAdventist definitions, “Asian” includes individuals with origins in the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent (e.g., Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam). The proposal suggests a future funding model tied to membership and tithe percentages (a 5% threshold) for Asian and other ethnic groups. The committee received the information as part of ongoing policy alignment discussions. Financial report During the financial report, recently-elected MAUC vice president for finance Roy Simpson reported a union-wide tithe gain of 2.14 percent YTD, as of August 2025. Simpson also presented the MAUC 2026 preliminary budget, which was unanimously approved. Collaboration is key In the report from Union Adventist University, presented by President Yami Bazan, she shared that the theme this year for UAU is thanksgiving and hope. “These two things must co-exist in the present,” she said, “as we look both to the past and the future.”  Dr. Bazan also shared new initiatives and a number of relevant statistics. She further said that plans are developing with Mid-America Union’s conference youth directors for student recruitment. Repeatedly, Bazan emphasized that collaboration is our key to the future. The focus on collaboration continued through reports from AdventSource and AdventHealth Shawnee Mission. New hires and new products and processes were highlighted by both organizations. AdventSource president Brad Forbes spoke about the upcoming leadership transition that will occur when he retires in 2026-27 and president-elect Pastor Andre McCloud begins to serve as president. Sam Huenergardt, Chief Executive Officer for AdventHealth’s Mid-America Region, reported on the new hospital that opened in Lenexa, Kansas. He also highlighted the significant number of AdventHealth leaders who have graduated from Union Adventist University’s business program. Now, due to the nursing shortage, AdventHealth has started a nursing internship program in their area and some of their interns have been Union students.  Education report Carisa Carr, newly-elected MAUC director of education, showed her passion for Adventist education saying, “Our teachers are growing the future leaders of our church and they are preparing the way for what is coming for the church.” Carr also continued the theme of collaboration in describing the partnerships of our Adventist academies with Union Adventist University. “We are stronger when we connect and collaborate,” she said. Carr reported that total student enrollment is stable at all levels including early childhood through grade 12. She also shared data from the John Hopkins School Culture Survey showing how the emotional and spiritual  classroom environments are strong across the Mid-America school system. The teacher shortage continues Currently there are 234 teachers in Adventist schools in Mid-America territory. Unfortunately, several schools did not open this fall because they could not find a teacher. Most of the schools in Mid-America are small schools (one to three teachers) where multiple grades learn in one room. Carr pointed out that Union Adventist University is the only Adventist university that operates a lab school, training teacher graduates to manage multi-grade classrooms. She stated that about 65 percent of our students come from Adventist families, which presents a big opportunity for supporting students on their spiritual journeys. A week of learning, worship, and presence The MAUC Executive Read more…

Every two years, intern pastors from across the Mid-America Union gather for a special retreat designed to support their growth, broaden their ministry perspective, and help them connect with colleagues from other conferences. About five interns from each conference are invited, though the number changes from year to year. The tradition has been in place for at least a dozen years. Craig Carr, ministerial and evangelism director for the Mid-America Union, shared that the goal is for each intern to attend at least once before ordination. Carr said the retreat is held to supplement the training that happens in local conferences and to bring pastors together as a union team. Each presentation was led by one of the local conference ministerial directors on important topics such as leadership, balance, Biblical teachings, and pastoral ministry. By meeting one another outside their usual ministry environment, interns are able to learn, share, and see ministry from a wider angle. He hopes the retreat helps pastors understand that they matter—not only inside their own conference, but throughout the union—and that strong support systems surround them personally and professionally. The impact of the retreat was clear in the testimonies of the pastors who attended. Pastor Lusajo Kasyupa of the Central States Conference said the materials and training shared by the ministerial directors were “priceless” and would help him grow as a pastor, a husband, and a father. “They will truly enhance my pastoral skills as a minister of the gospel,” he said. He also appreciated learning more about how the conference and union work together. “It gives me more insight into how the levels of leadership are orchestrated in the system. Coming to the Mid-America Union, I feel like we’re much closer together than we think.” Kasyupa said the hospitality made a strong impression. “From the moment you come to the front door, everyone has been so hospitable. After the tour, I felt like I belonged here.” Meeting interns from other regions was also encouraging. Even though they serve far apart, he found that many face similar challenges. “We realize we have so much of the same things we’re dealing with. I can reach out to any one of them to exchange ideas, ask for advice, or uplift them.” His only wish was for more time together. “I wish it was more than three days,” he said. Pastor Leif Lastine of the Minnesota Conference described the retreat as a deeply spiritual experience. He said listening to Pastor Brian talk about the need for balance in life and ministry spoke directly to him. “The Holy Spirit had spoken to me and broken through the walls of my heart in a way I hadn’t heard God in quite some time, he said ” The message about “practicing not being God” and not burning the candle at both ends was especially powerful for him. “It brought me to tears. It was exactly what I needed and had been waiting for for a very long time.” Lastine also valued meeting new friends and hearing the stories of fellow pastors who share the same calling. He said that intentional time to share personal journeys in future retreats would be very meaningful. He appreciated the practical help as well. “The books, the training, the tangible resources shared by the ministerial directors—those were invaluable.” Together, these testimonies reflect the purpose Craig Carr described: drawing interns out of their usual setting, helping them see a bigger picture of ministry, and strengthening them through connection, spiritual renewal, and practical support.