Arturo and Irma Zarate are founding members of the Longview Spanish Seventh-day Adventist Church in Longview, Texas. Arturo serves as deacon and music leader, while Irma serves as deaconess and has helped with children’s ministries. Both have been very active in their church, assisting with Vacation Bible School, youth clubs, maintaining the church property and various other church projects. They love God and they love their church.
Recently, the Zarates realized that part of being good stewards is to make sure that what God has given them goes to the right place once they are no longer here. They knew that each of them needed a will, a financial power of attorney, a medical power of attorney and an advanced directive, so they reached out to the Texas Conference for help.
Today, they feel at peace knowing that everything God has given to them will go into the hands of their loved ones and the church they love so much. Arturo and Irma say that getting the documents made was so easy, and now they don’t have to worry about it anymore.
Three trust officers serve members of the Texas Conference. Marshall Gonzales assists the Houston and East Texas areas. Deyvy Rodriguez assists Adventists in the Austin, San Antonio and South Texas areas. Uzziel Maldonado assists those living in the North Texas area. It is common to find one of these trust officers preaching at a church or presenting a workshop on Planned Giving & Trust Services or Stewardship.
Many persons express concerns about creating a will, as if it will shorten their lifespan somehow. The reality, though, is everyone has a Last Will and Testament. If you don’t create your own to specify what you want to happen, the government, through probate court, will do its best to guess. Wouldn’t you rather decide what happens to your finances and property? This is especially important if you have children. If you don’t formalize what happens to them in the event that something happens to you, they may go to someone that would not have been your preference.
Planned Giving provides an opportunity to leave a legacy gift to further the gospel in an area of your choice. If you are passionate about evangelism or Lake Whitney Ranch or Adventist education, you could specify a gift of a specific amount (or percentage of your estate) to that area.
The Texas Conference Planned Giving & Trust Services/Stewardship website, TexasGiving.org, shares a variety of resources as well as giving options. Church members are often surprised to learn that besides cash, they are able to donate life insurance, IRA rollovers, retirement assets, stocks, bonds, securities, real estate, vehicles, collections and more to the ministry of their choice, thus furthering God’s work today and beyond.
Lynette Ecord, Planned Giving & Trust Services director, has worked in this department for 29 years. “It is an honor to assist those who are preparing their documents, so their families know their wishes,” Ecord shared. “It is especially gratifying to see the legacy gifts further God’s work here in Texas.” All legal documents are reviewed by an attorney to make sure everything is correct.
If you are interested in knowing more about how we can assist you with your estate planning, email us at Trust@txsda.org or call 817.783.2223 x2105.
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Marshall Gonzales is the Planed Giving & Trust Services trust officer for the Houston and East Texas areas for the Texas Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.
A version of this article appeared in the May/June 2022 issue of the Southwestern Union Record. You can view the latest issue here.
