Pete Sifuentes: Investing in other people's lives

For Lakeside resident Pete Sifuentes, life wouldn’t be complete if he didn’t help other people by investing in their lives.

Sifuentes has found multiple ways to invest in the lives of others and that makes him happier.

“Every person wants to find purpose and fulfillment,” Sifuentes said. “I’m satisfied because I have purpose.”

His purposes touch multiple points — Youth With a Mission, Cub Scouts and Mission Builders International top the list.

Then there’s his work. He’s one of two people in the Flathead Valley who continue to paint signs by hand. And he’s a custom auto detailer and painter.

Sifuentes and his wife, Fran, moved to the Flathead Valley in 1985 from Redding, Calif.

They chose Lakeside after meeting David Graham, who helped launch Youth With a Mission Montana.

“He told us about this startup in Lakeside, and we came here,” Sifuentes said.

AT THE TIME, Sifuentes owned and operated a sign shop in Redding that he’d opened in 1977. The family had moved to Redding in 1977 after Pete completed a four-year apprenticeship with a professional pinstriper in Whittier, Calif.

As a kid, Sifuentes was “always drawing.” In high school, he began experimenting with painting in pastels and oils. He also drew cartoon characters. Then he “got into hot rod stuff and pinstriping.”

He worked full time at Sears and Roebuck in Los Angeles and attended the Los Angeles Trade Technical College at night for two years. There, he met the professional pinstriper with whom he apprenticed. Sifuentes learned how to apply gold leaf paint and learned airbrushing techniques.

While he enjoyed his career, “I knew something was missing,” Sifuentes said. “I knew there was more.”

He prayed for guidance, met Graham and ended up in Lakeside.

“That’s it in a nutshell,” he says of the change in his life.

In the last 27 years, he and Fran have dedicated countless hours to Youth With a Mission, a Christian-based program that focuses on training adults for mission work.

THE LAKESIDE operation is a discipleship training school. Three semesters of training are offered each year to adults, he said. Semesters begin in January, April and September. Students live at the school during their semester.

The average enrollment at Lakeside is 25 students a semester, Sifuentes said. Students must apply, be accepted and pay an enrollment fee to attend the school.

Youth with a Mission has three arms: discipleship training, mercy ministry and evangelism, Sifuentes said.

Once a year, the local school organizes a mission trip, usually to another country.

Pete and Fran travel every year on a YWAM mission. “We’ve been to 33 countries,” he said. They’ll make a trip this year, but the destination hasn’t been determined.

In recent years local teams have gone to Haiti and New Orleans. He and Fran went to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and served with the Salvation Army effort.

In December 2001 they were part of a local group that traveled to New York City to set up prayer stations in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.

One objective of Youth with a Mission is to “show compassion to disaster victims,” Sifuentes said.

A prayer and support team raises finances for Youth with a Mission volunteers. That fundraising work helps pay for the annual mission trip abroad. The fees assessed to students and donations from supporters cover the day-to-day costs of operating the school.

SIFUENTES IS ALSO involved with Mission Builders International, an organization that connects people to mission building projects. These programs are shorter than YWAM missions, he said, and typically run a week or two.

With one of his grandsons reaching Cub Scout age, Sifuentes recently became a cub master. He enjoys working with youngsters and helping them develop into future leaders.

“Too many kids are aimless.” Working with those youths “is part of my fulfillment,” he said.

“I have a strong desire to be a part of training people,” Sifuentes said. “I enjoy the social aspect of investing in other people’s lives.”

In addition to his sign and auto work, last year Sifuentes hand-painted designs on large, metal safe doors that were reinstalled in the renovated Flathead County Courthouse, matching the style as close as possible to the original 100-plus-year-old designs.

“I can find fulfillment with my gifts,” he said of his wide-reaching efforts.

Sifuentes suffered a heart attack eight months ago, which made him realize “I want to finish well.

“I enjoy Youth With a Mission, painting, pinstriping, meeting people and sharing my faith,” he said. “There is much to enjoy about life.”

Reporter Shelley Ridenour may be reached at 758-4439 or sridenour@dailyinterlake.com.