Welcome, Steve!

The Department of Business is excited to welcome Mr. Steve Board to its ranks beginning January 1, 2012.

Steve, a member of Maranatha's Board of Trustees from 2003-2011, will join the department after working as VP of Sales and Marketing for Carter Brothers, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to joining Carter Brothers, Steve was the Director of Business Development at Barton Malow Company, located in Sterling Heights, Michigan. With over 30 years experience in building design, project and facilities management, marketing and sales, and construction activities, Steve's "real life" experience should be an asset to him (and his students) as he teaches marketing and communication classes this coming spring. Additionally, Steve has served as a deacon, Sunday School teacher, and as the head of the jail ministry team at the federal prison in Hampton, GA.

Please pray for Steve and his wife, Pat, as they transition to this new ministry here at Maranatha.

Year-end Contribution: "Hold for 2012"

Question:

A church member made a contribution by check this past week and noted in the memo section “2012 donation”. Since they actually made the donation in 2011, what are our options? I know we can't deposit the contribution now and show it on the contributor's giving statement for 2012. Can a church "hold" the check until 2012 and deposit it then? What would be the ideal way to handle this?

Answer:

You could return the check to the donor to amend the issue date to January 1, 2012. I believe s/he should cross out the date with a single line, then record and initial the new, post-dated entry. Of course, a replacement check could also be drafted.

Coming Soon!

The Department of Business has been pretty busy since Mr. Miller retired last May. With semester projects due and final exams coming right around the corner, it looks like things will remain relatively swamped the next couple weeks.

Nevertheless, it is our goal to communicate announcements, job opportunities, and other on a far more frequent basis than we have in the past. As a matter of fact, we hope to post some very important and exciting announcements before Christmas, so come back soon!

In the meantime, we would like to invite you to send us YOUR updates and information. Drs. Pfaffe and Davis, Mr. Stevens, and Professors Drost and Fell (and the rest of the Maranatha gang) are very interested in hearing about what has been happening in your life, so please feel free to let us know about what's going on with you and your loved ones. We would love to hear from you!

Jessica (Aucoin) Asire (2007)

In April 2010, Jessica's husband Matt graduated from BM ‘A’ School in Yorktown, VA. He is now a 3rd class (boatswains mate).

Jessica says they now live in "Valdez, Alaska, a tiny little town on the border of Prince William Sound, in South Central Alaska. We are 5 hours from Anchorage, the nearest city. Our town consists of the Coast Guard, a few hotels, a few restaurants, a grocery store, a sportsman’s outfitters, and lots of fishing! People ask- you have a Wal-Mart right? And my response is, sure, about 5 hours away! To really get a feel for how small the town is, you should Google it. We love our little town though! It’s so beautiful here" (see picture).

Jessica works for Doyon Universal Services as the Badging Coordinator. Doyon is contracted by the Alyeska Pipeline to take care of security at the Valdez Marine Terminal (the very end of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline).

Jessica says, "I am really loving my job so far, and have already used so much information that I learned at college.

"When we found out we were moving to Alaska, I started looking up churches. Kim Terpstra contacted me via Facebook to tell me she grew up in Glennallen which is about 2 hours from Valdez. She asked if I knew a Becky Fickes (maiden name Smith) from Maranatha. I told her no. She proceeded to tell me that Becky graduated from Maranatha and lives in Valdez with her husband, Brian, and son, Jonathan. I added Becky as a friend on Facebook, and started praying that this meant there was a good church. Sure enough, I got to Valdez and met Becky, and her father-in-law is the Pastor of Valdez Bible Baptist Church. We have a wonderful little church that we have joined and become actively involved in. When Matt is home he has started helping with the Youth Group. I have become involved helping with the nursery and playing the piano. God really worked through this situation. I was praying for a good church we could be involved in, and Becky was praying for a young couple that would help with the youth group. God answered both prayers!!!"

Zach Mortimer (2004)

Zach is now an approved candidate for taking on a State Farm agency of his own. That was August 2. He asked for prayer as he considers various open areas. We have not heard in the last few weeks, but perhaps he has his own agency already. We're sure he will keep us posted!