THE AM QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER | 2021
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BUILDING WEALTH FOR YOUR FAMILY AND BLESSING THE KINGDOM By Jorge Montes, Esq. We’ve all heard these stories in the news: a little old librarian dies and shocks everyone with the millions she left behind for the local school or church. Most of these women weren’t rich, they just squirreled away money in bank accounts with compounding interest. This goes to show that you don’t have to be a Wall Street investment banker to thrive financially. Even with a modest salary, most people can improve their financial status if they become more financially literate. As Apostolics, we’ve been taught Scripture all of our lives, but perhaps not enough about better stewardship of the resources God gives us. His resources will build wealth for our families and bless the Kingdom of God. What follows are just a few basic tenants of wise stewardship. The first principle of Apostolic financial literacy is to commit to giving, because the Scriptures say, “it’s better to give than to receive.” Being faithful in tithing and donating from what the Lord gives us must always be a priority. At the end of each year, my wife and I review our level of giving. We become disappointed if we didn’t donate more than the previous year, both to the church, and our charities of choice. The second principle is to control debt, particularly in the use of credit cards. If managed wisely, credit cards can be a blessing, and you can even come out top with rewards and points. For many people, however, they are a curse, because of most cards’ high interest rates that rolls over month after month until the card holder is drowning in debt and only paying interest every month. A rule we live by in my family is: If we can’t pay it all off at the end of the month, then we don’t buy it. Never pay interest to credit card companies.
DIRECTORS & EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
JOHN FORTINO, CHAIRMAN AM QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER FELIPE LUGO, VICE CHAIRMAN EDDIE CAMPA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR JOSEPH V. RODRIGUEZ, DIRECTOR JORGE MONTES, DIRECTOR LEOBARDO MAFFEY, DIRECTOR GIL AGUILAR, DIRECTOR SUZANNE VALENCIA, DIRECTOR YVONNE VASQUEZ, DIRECTOR
The third principle is learning to budget. This take some discipline, but once you start doing it, stick to it, and see how less stressful your life will be. With a budget, you will never spend more than you make.
LOAN COMMITTEE
The fourth principle is to invest, even if very little, every month. Bank accounts generally do not pay significant interest. Look for alternative investment strategies, including certificates of deposit, money market accounts, and, if you can, mutual funds that you can purchase with the help of financial experts who are easily accessible and pay for themselves. The more you invest, the more sophisticated you will become. As you graduate to more complex investments that yield greater returns, you will require more experience to avoid too much risk. Often, you can do this through programs offered at your job.
FELIPE LUGO ELISEO RAMIREZ GEORGE LOPEZ MARTIN AMADOR CELEDONIO SALDAÑA
FINANCE COMMITTEE GIL AGUILAR SUZANNE VALENCIA ISAI BAEZA
COMPLIANCE COMMITTEE JORGE MONTES YVONNE VASQUEZ ERICKA JUÁREZ
STAFF
ABRAHAM MAFFEY, ACCOUNTANT ESTEBAN ROBLEDO, LOAN OFFICER GLADIA PACHECO, BUSINESS RELATIONS DAVID S. TELLYER, ASSIST. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR DOMINIC MOSCHETTI, CREATIVE DIRECTOR
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Along these lines, if you have young children, open a 529, college savings account, as soon as you can – even as your children are born – so that you can save for their college education. Setting aside even a little bit a month will snowball into significant sums by the time the kids are ready for college. Remember, we don’t know the day or the hour when the Lord will return so we must save as if He won’t be here soon.
THE AM QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER | 2021
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FEATURED ARTICLE
THE RIPPLE EFFECTS OF BLESSING EACH OTHER By David Silas Tellyer IT BEGINS WITH A RESERVE
More than forty churches in California’s Imperial Valley and San Diego County comprise the Southern California District of the Apostolic Assembly of the Faith in Christ Jesus. Bishop Misael Zaragoza, a fourth generation Apostolic, and Pastor of Christian Center of National City, leads dozens of pastors with his gifts of administration and leadership given to him by God, and developed over the decades in the military (Vietnam Veteran) and private sectors (General Dynamics). Over the many years as a pastor, Bishop Zaragoza implemented systems and structures within the church to realize two non-negotiables he learned from his father: 1. A leader has to be faithful to God 2. A leader must have good administration.
better return. When he learned about Apostolic Mutual, he states, “I did my research. I read all the articles,” and “I know the men leading the organization are ethical and have integrity with managing the monies.” Bishop Zaragoza wanted to take the risk of investing his money, because he wanted to bless his fellow Apostolic pastors, ministers, and missionaries by paying them instead of the banks. When he moved over his $100,000 from the bank’s 0.5% savings account to Apostolic Mutual, he purchased a Certificate of Deposit (CD) for 5 years at 2%. His first quarter payment grew from $45 per year to $400 per quarter and $1,600 per year. He reinvests this interest to grow the CD. Bishop Zaragoza’s investment acts like a pebble thrown into the pond of Apostolic Mutual. The $100,000 investment from the National City church creates cash flow that can be used to help fund loans requested by pastors and ministries of the Apostolic Assembly to help in emergency and non-emergency situations to improve, remodel, and build facilities for ministry throughout the United States. When purchasing CDs in approved states within the United States, more investment is created and more cash flow is available to help our co-laborers in Christ.
THE RIPPLE EFFECTS
Bishop Zaragoza did not take out this money, instead he doubled down his investment. His church now has $200,000 in CDs with Apostolic Mutual. And, before he retires in five years, Bishop Zaragoza will invest $100,000 per year to help the Apostolic church move forward. He stated, “If it blesses me, it creates a ripple effect, and we continued on page 4
These principles form the foundation of Bishop Zaragoza’s effective pastoral financial stratagem that includes being debt free, the biggest blessing to the church, 10% tithing to God via Tithes of the Tithes, and the rest of the 90% for the church. The 90% is split up with 75% for general operations, 5% for offering, and 10% for savings to build a reserve to help finance the goals of the church. This reserve becomes a pebble creating a ripple effect of blessing when invested into the pond of Apostolic Mutual and watering the fields of the Apostolic Assembly.
A PEBBLE OF INVESTMENT
Bishop Zaragoza recalls, “When I had the money in the banks…close to $100,000, one year we only received $45 in interest.” He did not receive much interest from the bank for his sizeable investment. He looked elsewhere to find a THE AM QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER | 2021
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...CONTINUED / BUILDING WEALTH FOR YOUR FAMILY AND BLESSING THE KINGDOM - By Gorge Montes, Esq. The sixth principle is, if you can, buy a basic term life policy. This kind of policy is especially beneficial for parents of young children, homeowners, and those with debt obligations. For those who can afford it, you can also purchase a whole life policy, which has a specific face value, and also accumulates a cash value, and works as an investment, as well. This is very important, because if the Lord calls either parent home, leaving an unaffordable mortgage, or other large debt, then an insurance payout will cover this avoiding a financial meltdown for the surviving spouse. There are many more principles of financial literacy that can be explored, but if we start with these the church will end up with a lot of members who live with less financial stress, and, will have more resources for their families and the church. I was listening to a story recently about the Mormon church, and one of their many funds. I was shocked to hear one had 100 billion dollars! I can hardly wait to see the day that we can say we have a fund with 100 million dollars. We could if we become more financially literate Apostolics. Jorge Montes is a principal at Montes & Associates, P.C. in Chicago. He is a third generation Apostolic and minister. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Apostolic Mutual.
...CONTINUED / THE RIPPLE EFFECTS OF BLESSING EACH OTHER - By David Silas Tellyer can bless a missionary, or a church can be built, because of my investment with Apostolic Mutual. If we manage correctly, then God can bless all of us together.” The First ripple effect mentioned by Bishop Zaragoza after he makes the investment is the blessing that he receives from the interest. His CD creates around $1,600 which is $1,000 more than he received from the bank where he kept his reserve for the same amount of time. The Second ripple effect comes in the form of blessing a missionary. Apostolic Mutual gives 10% of its net interest earned to be given to the International Missions department of the Apostolic Assembly. Last year, Apostolic Mutual contributed over $8,000. As investment in Apostolic Mutual grows, so does the capacity to invest in the mission fields.
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The Third ripple effect builds, remodels, or improves facilities for churches. Currently, Apostolic Mutual loans to over 32 Apostolic Assembly churches and ministries in California, Florida, Midwest, National Missions, New Mexico, and Washington.
TURNING RIPPLES INTO WAVES
When thinking about the future of the Apostolic Assembly, Bishop Zaragoza includes Apostolic Mutual in his vision for “the church to become debt free, help retire the pastors of the local church, and loan not just tens or hundreds of thousands, but millions of dollars, up to five and six million.” By continuing to increase the size of the investments into the church loan fund, the ripple effect of blessing one another will become waves of cash flow. He believes that everyone in the Apostolic Assembly not invested into Apostolic Mutual should ask, “Where is my money going? Am I getting my money’s worth, and then some? Blessings create blessings.”
THE AM QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER | 2021
AM QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER
DIRECTOR SPOTLIGHT Gil Aguilar has served as a director and our Treasurer since the inception of Apostolic Mutual. Born on January 23, 1961 in Tulare California, Mr. Aguilar’s parents immigrated from Mexico in the mid 1950’s. Mr. Aguilar’s father was a pastor for the Apostolic Assembly for nearly 30 years. Unlike his siblings who followed his father’s footsteps, Mr. Aguilar was called to the accounting profession where he has been able to help many Assembly churches, pastors, and organizations with their accounting and income tax needs. Upon graduation from California State University Fresno, Mr. Aguilar’s career with the Internal Revenue began where he served as both as Revenue Officer, then later a Revenue Agent until leaving government service in late 1993. Mr. Aguilar earned his Certified Public Accountant certificate in 1996. In 1998 Mr. Aguilar became a “principal” in his CPA firm where he has been able to use his God-given talents to help both personal and business clients. In addition to his professional endeavors, Mr. Aguilar also volunteers for numerous boards including Tulare Kings Hispanic Chamber, Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Tulare County, El Futuro Credit Union, and the Tulare County Planning Commission.
SAVE SOMETHING FOR RETIREMENT “The wise store up choice food and olive oil, but fools gulp theirs down.” – Proverbs 21:20
This scripture reveals our temptation as humans to use up all our resources in the present. Why do we do that? It’s just easier! It’s easier to buy one more gadget on Amazon than to put money away for the future. Be wise, instead. During the Biblical times, 401ks, IRAs, pensions, and more did not exist. Because of this, you might believe scripture does not speak on the principle of saving for retirement. However, the Bible does speak about storing up, or saving. Retirement in the Bible, while different than we think of it today, is still present across scripture. Apostolic Mutual will be offering different types of Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) in the Spring of 2021. Gold Star, a third-party provider, will handle the administration of the retirement accounts. All retirement funds received in trust will be used toward the loan fund.
For answers to additional questions, please contact us at: 909.232.8874
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THE AM QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER | 2021
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THE AM QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER | 2021