It is with sadness that I report to our church family
about the death of Pastor Rafael Perez early this morning. Rafael has
pastored the Mountain View Spanish Church [CA] for about 14 years.
The family was travelling late last night from here to a reunion in Southern
California. An accident occurred around midnight near Gorman on the
grapevine. The report I have heard is that all four passengers were thrown
from the car.
Rafael was killed instantly. Lily, who teaches first grade at Miramonte, is
alert and expected to recover. She does have some internal injuries which
will be carefully watched. Principal Wayne Hughes has made arrangements
with Silvia Church to cover the classroom for the short term.
Their son Harold is in a coma, as the congregation was told at a service
at the church this afternoon, with little hope of recovery unless God intervenes.
I did speak with the pastor who has been attending the family in Southern
California, and he seemed more hopeful.
Harold's wife, Mirella (sp?) is pregnant. Doctors believe the baby is fine.
Mirella has some internal injuries and a broken arm. She is expected to recover.
* * *
Some personal thoughts:
Rafael and I have worked in the same district for more than 20 years,
first in Cutler-Orosi, then here. The Perez's came to our baby showers,
and we attended their weddings. We always thought the highest of their
family, and enjoyed the pastor-family sharing we did along the way.
Rafael is a great champion of Adventist education. I know he has raised
thousands and thousands of dollars to send worthy kids to school, and
many of them have not only benefited from the spiritual enrichment, but
also the opportunity to pursue professional degrees and have a higher
standard of living than they would normally expect.
He loved playing dominoes with the other pastors, loved beisbol [baseball],
and used to be a decent hitter (though he rooted for all the wrong teams).
He and I were close enough that we could share what was going on in our
churches without being judged (clergy have this jealousy/competition thing,
unfortunately). We would swap stories like a couple of moms proud of their
kids. He loved his church people, was stimulated and fed by them
professional and spiritually, and would marvel at their talents and
commitment. I knew just how he felt. I remember saying, "It doesn't get any
better than this, does it?" And he answered, "No, TeemMeetchell, thees is
good." I'm sorry--and happy--that, in a sense, he didn't have to leave the
flock he loved. His confidence in them is well warranted, based on what
he's told me.
Let's help MV Spanish any way we can in the weeks to come. For the
next six weeks they're going to have group meetings on Friday night at 7 pm
to deal with the loss. We don't know yet when Lily will be able to return to
the area, but we'll keep you posted.
-- Tim Mitchell (Sunnyvale SDA Church, CA.)
Previous Topic
Index
