What the prey don’t realize is that they have fallen for a very clever trap set up by the lions. Male lions are slow & lazy and don’t want to chase quarry down. It’s the lioness that chase and attack the prey. The prey are unnerved by the fear of the lions roar and run in the opposite direction – straight into the path of the lioness waiting for them on the other side of the watering hole.

Sometimes we have to ‘run to the roar’ and do the opposite of what seems normal and confront fear. To face a tough situation head-on is often the best choice. Running away can make things worse. It’s really a matter of responding and not reacting! How do we do this?

First we must define what’s causing us fear. Often the ‘roar’ from a tough situation is so loud it creates confusion. Secondly – don’t overanalyze. This can actually lead to “analysis paralysis” as you freeze with non-action. And that’s not going to get you anywhere! And lastly, talk with others. Often just running your ‘challenge’ by another person with a brain will help unlock some new thinking and course of action. Proverbs 24:6 tells us: “For by wise counsel you will wage your own war; and in a multitude of counselors there is safety.”

When we stand up to fear, faith moves in – and when faith moves in, dreams start occurring. So what’s the riskiest or craziest dream you could run after? You see, faith gives a person the willingness to look foolish, and the results speak for themselves. Noah and his family were saved from a flood. David defeated Goliath. The Wise men found the Messiah. Peter walked on water.

If you aren’t willing to look foolish, you are foolish! Because, when you think about it

– it’s the fear of foolishness that stands between us and our dreams.

Social psychologists once carried out a study making distinctions between two types of regret. First there are action regrets — things you’ve done that you wish you hadn’t. And then there are inaction regrets — things you didn’t do but wish you had. What they discovered is fascinating. In the short term, we seem to regret actions over inactions 53% to 47%. Pretty much a toss-up. But – over the long haul, when we look back over our lives, we tend to regret inactions over actions 84%-16%. That’s huge!

84% of our regrets are going to be dreams we never took action on.

There was once a young high school student whose dad was a horse trainer. During his senior year he had to write a paper about what his dreams for the future were. He wrote about owning a 200-acre horse ranch with stable and tracks plus a large home – he even drew a diagram of the property and the design for his house. He turned the paper in. Two days later it came back with an “F” on the front and a note to see the teacher.

After class, the teacher explained to the boy that his dream was ‘unrealistic.’ The teacher said that if he rewrote the paper with a much more realistic dream, he would reconsider the failing grade. The boy went home and asked his father what to do. “It’s your decision,” said the father. The boy kept the paper for a week and then returned it to his teacher after class. “Here,” the boy said, “you can keep the ‘F’ and I’ll keep my dream.”

Brave kid. He ran to the roar. Tony Gaskins once remarked that “If you don’t build your dream, someone will hire you to help build theirs!” So…my final thoughts on this would be a verse from Psalms: “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.” Dreams give direction – God gives direction. Don’t live life without them.

Bob and Susan Beckett pastor The Dwelling Place City Church at 27100 Girard Street in Hemet. For more information, you may contact them at DPCitychurch.org

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The Soboba Sports Complex was transformed into a bingo hall with festively decorated long tables to accommodate the 400-plus guests who each paid $20 for a delicious dinner of either chicken alfredo or spaghetti with meat sauce plus four bingo cards. There were concessions for sale that included cupcakes and cookies baked by Val Saenz as well as popcorn, nachos, pickles and other sweet and savory snacks.

Proceeds from the event are earmarked for a year-end trip to Legoland for all 57 students. Soboba Tribal Preschool Administrator Lenora “Ponie” Mojado thanked the crowd for coming out to support the school to help them exceed their fundraising goal.

“It was an amazing turnout, and we have a great community,” Mojado said. “We plan to take three or four field trips throughout the school year and acquire new items for the school, such as Cricut machines for the teachers, a pressure washer, staff shirts and children’s shirts plus new school merchandise.”

Soboba Foundation’s Sponsorship and Higher Education Coordinator Andrew Vallejos hosted the event and was the official numbers caller from the stage. The first three games of regular bingo paid $250 cash to each winner and the final Blackout Bingo game winner was awarded $500. Of course, with the number of players in attendance, it was expected that there would be a tie or two. Tiebreaker games, facilitated by Corryn Salgado-Flores, were played with much encouragement and enthusiasm from the audience members.

The fruit roll-up challenge is a crowd favorite, and the first tie included Soboba Tribal Council Chairwoman Geneva Mojado, who came in second by mere inches. The second game was won by Amber Medrano after she completed a donut-on-a-string eating challenge that followed a two-way tie. Debbie Lotman was the sole winner of game three.

The final game, a total bingo card blackout, ended in a three-way tie after about 10 minutes of play. The fruit roll-up challenge between Sally Montoya, Maria Vivanco’s great nephew, Dominick Lara, 5, and Brenda Muñoz’s niece Autumn Ramos, 9, ended with Autumn finishing first and taking home $500.

Between the games, raffle winners were announced. There were three long tables, each filled with 25 or so wrapped baskets filled with a variety of gifts ranging from cookware to gift cards from local eateries and toys for kids to self-care baskets for parents. Guests were able to purchase a dozen tickets for $10 and place half of the ticket into the box corresponding to the prize they hoped to win, guaranteeing everyone whose number was called got the gift they really wanted.

Teachers and staff from the preschool, along with other volunteers, delivered baskets to the winning ticket holders that were seated throughout the room.

“I want to give a huge shoutout to all the families and the community for their incredible support! Many of you have a family member—be it a cousin, son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, or niece/nephew—who attends the preschool, and your contributions were essential in helping us reach our goal of 75 baskets,” Ponie Mojado said. “I especially want to recognize my team of teachers who made everything possible. And thanks to my assistant, Maria Hernandez, for coming in during such a busy tie and helping to get everything done.”

Another popular attraction of the three-hour long game night was a 50/50 drawing. At about 7 p.m., nearly an hour before the games were finished, it was announced that there was $967 available to the winner. Soboba Tribal Council Treasurer Mike Bentiste stepped up and bought enough tickets to take the total to $1,000 for the winner’s half. His granddaughter Natalia Girard attends the preschool, and 16 of his family members joined in the evening’s activities.

The winning 50/50 ticket was drawn by preschooler Love Salgado-Flores and the lucky ticket holder was Myah Saenz, who works for the gaming commission. She said her grandmother, Lynn Saenz, invited the whole family to support the preschool.

Many volunteers contributed their time and efforts to making the fun-filled event a smooth-running operation from beginning to end. Those included members of the Soboba Youth Council who served the food and helped out where and when needed.

The support from everyone who attended was appreciated. Along with Soboba Tribal members in attendance, there were others from the Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla Indians as well as team members from various departments at Soboba. Local community members also participated.

“A special thank you goes out to Leland and Yesenia Razon, Tara and Joey Placencia, Brit Covington, Nette Escalante, Taylor Bentiste, Hope Chacon, Carrie Garcia, Daise Burton, Beth Hamilton, Andy and Noami Silvas, the Silvas Family, Denise, Dondi, Ms. Yvonne, and Mr. Mojado for donating his casino giveaways. I also want to recognize our wonderful teachers, Julissa Garcia and Alaina Adkins,” Ponie Mojado said. “The outpouring of basket donations, time, and effort from our families has been truly remarkable. If I missed mentioning anyone, I sincerely apologize, but I want you to know how grateful I am for having such a supportive community that contributes to our preschool. Your generosity is greatly appreciated!”

In addition, she extended her gratitude to the following departments for their donations: Tribal Admin, Soboba Casino Resort, Tribal Family Services, Soboba RX, Soboba EDC, TANF Riverside, Noli Booster, Noli Beading Club. Gratitude was also extended to outside organizations Morongo Casino, Hadley’s, RossCo Promotions, Nike, and Stadium Pizza.

“Your support for the preschool means so much to us,” Ponie Mojado said.

The post Bingo fundraiser supports Soboba Tribal Preschool appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

After a welcome and heartfelt gratitude from Tribal Executive Officer Steven Estrada, who acknowledged all team members who volunteered their time, the first number was called by Sponsorship Coordinator Andrew Vallejos, who was being assisted by Loovi Herrera on stage.

The first game ended in a tie and Paul Johnson and Dione Kitchen had to take part in a tiebreaker contest facilitated by Corryn Salgado-Flores. She said it is a trending Tik Tok challenge to see who can get a three-foot-long Fruit Roll-up into their mouth the fastest without using their hands.

Johnson, who emerged victorious, donated half of his $250 winnings back to the preschool while the crowd applauded his generosity.

The second game ended in a three-way tie and the tiebreaker this time had contestants placing an Oreo cookie onto their forehead and without using their hands, working it down into their mouth. After several attempts, and many replacement cookies being handed out, Janis Ayal from Pechanga was the winner.

Gordon Placencia was the only winner in game 3 and the final Blackout Bingo game resulted in two players participating in two tiebreakers since the cash prize was $500. It was Chanel Zelaya versus preschool student Ignacio “Iggy” Alcala. After Chanel won the Fruit Roll-up challenge, they were both given a chance at an axe throwing contest, using plastic axes. Although they both got one axe on the target, Chanel was given the overall win after combining both contests.

Adding to the anticipation of the night were 80 outstanding raffle prizes, most of them in cellophane-wrapped baskets. Those who purchased raffle tickets deposited them into the boxes in front of the gifts they most wanted. There was also a 50/50 drawing that gave one lucky ticket holder $1,089.50 to take home.

But the biggest win of the night was seeing the community support for the preschool. Vallejos reached out to all the departments and requested volunteers and was pleased with the positive response.

“All these people came together because they wanted to see these children go to their year-end event,” Vallejos said. “I am so proud of these people and the team. This is why I work for Soboba. Unlike any other Tribe, this Tribal government is like a community, and you can count on them.”

From those who work at the preschool to Tribal and non-Tribal community members, each and every one of those who volunteered their time stepped up in a big way.

“It was a huge collaborative effort with a huge goal, and we made it,” Vallejos said. “I would like to thank Andy Silvas and the Parks and Rec team, Human Resources, the Soboba Casino Resort marketing team, Noli students, Soboba Youth Council, parents and grandparents and actually the entire valley for their assistance and support.”

He was also thankful to Estrada and his assistant Karla Valdez, Christian Aceves from the Soboba Tribal Environmental Department, Soboba Casino Resort team members, and Soboba Foundation President Dondi Silvas who said she was happy to volunteer her time to the event since she is a “Glamma” who has her granddaughter attending the preschool. “It was just so nice to see such a great turnout,” she said.

Vallejos also thanked the IT department as well as members of Soboba Tribal Council and Noli Indian School students who pitched in. Vice Chairwoman Geneva Mojado enlisted the aid of her two children to help where needed while she assisted with selling 50/50 and raffle tickets.

“Holy Smokes! What a great event!” Mojado said. “It’s great seeing the entire community here and not only those from Soboba. It’s heartwarming to see this kind of support for our youngest Tribal members.”

Guests were treated to a delicious Italian dinner courtesy of Chef Anita Morillo and her team, which included Lead Cook Jacob Rivera. It rivaled any fine dining restaurant with three choices of pasta entrees. Added to that were fresh vegetables, a salad and breadsticks. A corner was set aside for parents of preschoolers to host a sweet treats and bake sale, bringing in additional funds.

Carrie Garcia’s son Cygnus is a preschooler and her daughter, Clover, is in kindergarten this year. She was pleased with the turnout and is looking forward to going with her children to Legoland.

“I like to see this type of community support, and getting everything ready for this event it was nice to see the community’s involvement,” she said. “For me, having my children attend Soboba’s preschool is a generational thing. I went there when I was their age, and it means a lot to me to have them be students there.”

Vallejos said he was overwhelmed by the generosity of those that donated raffle prizes. From Chamber of Commerce members to Tribal Administration office employees and the Silvas and Placencia families, the donations added to the excitement of the night as guests decided where to best deposit their tickets.

Hemet Mayor Joe S. Males, who attended with his wife, daughter, son and a dear friend, said his wife was happy to win one of the raffle prizes she wanted. He said they all love playing Bingo and he couldn’t think of anything better than to spend time with his family and also support Soboba.

“We had a great time and were amused by all the great ideas for winning tiebreakers; we couldn’t stop laughing and we enjoyed all those who were helping and directing the evening,” Males said. “My overall impression of the event was that it was spectacular. The coordination of all the volunteers was right on and they were all volunteering with a smile. I believe that I had more fun at this Bingo Fundraiser than any other Bingo game I’ve attended.”

Vallejos said the coordination of the event was handled like any event for Soboba where they ask people from different departments to participate and get approval from their managers, who sometimes get involved themselves.

“Soboba is known for its community involvement,” Vallejos said. “Here at Soboba, the team is involved in the community, and if you’re invested into this community, you’ll be a lifelong employee of the Tribe.”

Soboba Tribal Elder Rosemary Morillo was impressed with the diversity of support shown at the event. “I love when our community and surrounding communities support our schools and I love that our preschoolers are benefitting from this event,” she said.

Hemet residents and friends for 25-plus years Rita Neisler and Dora Ramirez had been at a line-dancing event before heading to Soboba’s Bingo Night Fundraiser. They like playing Bingo and were happy that their fun night out was also supporting a good cause.

“At the end of the night when the guests had left, all the volunteers who were cleaning up were tired but so happy. They were proud of themselves, and deservedly so,” Vallejos said.

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