Personal Journey

A few months back I was sitting in Jesse Rincones’s office, and as we were talking about ministry, life and his iphone we got on track about something he had read in an article about growing ministries. The summary of the article was that we needed to get people in leadership that were not only good at doing their job, but were excellent at training others to do the job as well. For example I should not only hire a youth minister, but a youth minister that knows how to disciple others to minister with youth as well. How amazing would it be to be at a church with 10 youth ministers, 5 music ministers, 7 administrators, 12 children’s ministers, and 4 people who were able to preach? How about having 100 missionaries serving from your church and seeing them impact your city, your state, your nation, and other countries??This has been on my heart for a few weeks now especially as Community Heights is praying about what are purpose is. ?I remember my first staff retreat while I was a youth minister @ Getsemani in Fort Worth, we were challenged “to work ourselves out of a job.” Brother Julio had challenged us to develop leaders to be in ministry with us and instead of building a ministry around myself to build it around a team. I began to disciple leaders to teach Sunday school, discipleship training, and even began an intern program and had 2 young men who were called to ministry fill those positions. Before I knew it we were impacting more lives and I was free to do more things. In fact on Sundays I didn’t teach a Sunday school class or Discipleship class for the youth. The more people that were working with us, the more lives we were able to impact. When I got to Getsemani in October 1999 we had about 10 youth in our core group and I was the only youth worker. When I left in October 2005 we had 14 youth workers and we ministered to over 80 youth in the DFW area. There was no way I was going to be able to reach that many youth by myself, and when I left Getsemani the greatest part was that the ministry kept growing. In fact the my last year there we took about 55 to Congreso, the year after I left Getsemani to 75 (that was a little humbling, but in a good way).?The idea Jesse and I had talked about a few months back was not a new way to do ministry, but was the first way of doing ministry that I was taught. As a pastor I am praying how we as a church can be leader makers and multiply the workers that we need. I believe that is the purpose every church and every minister need to focus on. When we do church like this Great Commission won’t be a dream, it will become a reality. Ok it is almost midnight, time for Tiny to let his computer get some rest.

-TINY

Yesterday was the last day of the 2009 Hispanic Senior Adult Summit.  About 170 Hispanic Senior Adults registered and gathered at the First Mexican Baptist Church of San Antonio for 3 days of fellowship, worship, training and fun.  It was a refreshing time!  I enjoyed spending time with this great group of hermanos, so full of life and love for God and each other.  Many of them have known each other since their youth!!!  Our lives were truly blessed as we served them (Isn’t that always the case?).

The theme for the Summit was “A Cheering Cloud” and was based on Hebrews 12:1-2.  Through seminars, music and sermons, seniors were challenged to serve as witnesses to and supporters of those generations that follow them; to live a legacy worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

On Tuesday morning, during the devotional time, participants reflected on the subject of legacy.  The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines legacy as “something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor.”  What are we transmitting to today’s generation?  What are they receiving from us?  If I died today, what would I like to be remembered for?

When a trainer is teaching youth how to improve and give their best, he may use three main techniques.  First he says, “Others have done, and you can do it too.”  Second he says, “Just think how much it will help you physically to do this.”  And then he says, “Now, look a others - see how they do it.”

The author of Hebrews in chapter 12 verses 1 & 2 uses these same techniques to encourage us in the Christian race. 

First he says, look at the winners (v. 1a).  The great cloud of witnesses was presented in Hebrews.  They are the heroes of the faith.  Now, the idea was not that these men and women are in heaven watching us, like in a stadium, as we run the race.  The word “witness”, in this context, does not mean “spectators”. 

A martyr is “a person who sacrifices something of great value and especially life itself for the sake of principle.”  And the New Testament word for “witness” comes directly from the Greek word for “martyr”.  These people, the cloud of witnesses, the heroes of the faith, are not witnesses of what we are doing; but are giving witness to us that God will help us finish the race.

What a beautiful legacy!  Telling others, “Others have done it, you can do it too.  I have done it, you can do it too.  The Lord is with you!  You are not alone.”  When was the last time you shared these words with a younger Christian?

Secondly, he says look at yourself (v. 1b).  Athletes used to wear training weights to help them prepare for events.  No athlete would compete using the weights since they knew they would only slow them down.  Also, too much weight would affect the runners endurance. 

As part of the legacy that we leave those that follow us, it is necessary that we get to the point of sharing with others where we have failed and encourage them not to make our same mistakes.  For this, we must be honest about our weaknesses, and have a heart full of love and compassion for those younger than us.

Lastly, he says look at Christ (v. 2).  Why must we look at Christ?  Because he is our supreme example, and He is the only one that can make it possible for us to finish the race.  

Some say: “It is not how you finish that matters, but how you live.”  This I heard said of Ray Combs, the host of the show Family Feud from 1988 to 1994, who committed suicide in 1996 after several business failures.  He had done many good works during his life, and somehow they were supposed to eclipse the manner of his death.  Others say: “It is not how you live that matters, but how you finish.”  Have you ever heard someone say this?  “I’ll live my life however I want to.  I’ll make Christ my Lord when I’m old or about to die, and then do the right thing.”

These two ways of thinking are wrong.  It is equally important how we live and how we finish.  Why?  Because how we live and how we finish is part of our legacy to those that come behind us.

We must constantly, every minute of our lives, point others through Christ through our words and our actions.  He is the supreme example and has all the power to help us finish the race victoriously.   

Louis Pasteur, the pioneer of immunology, lived in a time where thousands of people were dying of rabies every year.  Pasteur had worked on a vaccine for years.  When he was about to begin experimenting on himself, a nine year old boy, Joseph Meister, was mauled by a rabid dog.  The boy’s mom asked Pasteur to experiment on her son, but he struggled with the decision.  Experimenting on Joseph involved significant personal risk since he didn’t have a license to practice medicine and he could face criminal charges if something went wrong.  But after seeking counsel from his colleagues, Pasteur proceeded to inject Joseph with the vaccine.  After 10 days, the boy lived.  

Decades later, among all the things that Pasteur could have asked to be put on his headstone, he only asked for three words: Joseph Meister Lived.  All he wanted to be remembered for was that Joseph Meister lived.

Truly, the greatest legacy we can leave behind is those that live eternally, those whose lives are transformed because of us.

I know that most of us are not senior adults, but without a doubt, we are all aging everyday and everyday are getting closer to our death.  With that in mind, what do you want to be remembered for the most?  We will all leave a legacy.  The question is, what kind would it be? 

Tomorrow (10-2-08) is the 40th anniversary of the Tlatelolco massacre in Mexico City (http://events.mx.msn.com/Matanza68.aspx).  Interestingly, I was there!  I was only 3 years old but I was there.  I often saw students who would overturn city buses and burn them in the street as demonstrations, police who would respond with tear gas.  My mom, my brother and I would be walking down the street and she would grab us to run for cover.  Students would often run from police into churches to hide.  On October 2, 1968 my parents and I were at a revival in a church from where we heard the shooting of the Mexican army that killed untold numbers of unarmed students.  Some students came running into the church during the revival and heard the gospel preached.  Some people say that the reason Mexico did not become communist like Cuba is because president Diaz Ordaz squelched the student revolution.  But these students were unarmed and were not looking for a military revolution but for a demonstration that would bring about change.  Today, 40 years later, there is still political, economic and religious turmoil and uncertainty in Mexico, the U.S. and in most of the world.  There are still young people who are looking for change and for an answer.  The only hope and the only answer is Jesus Christ.  Let us pray for our children, our youth, our nation and our world that they may come to know the true answer! (John 14:6)  Let us strive to find ways to bring about social justice in the name of Christ that there may be peace on earth!

I am 26 at the time of this writing and some might say the Journey has just begun for me and I would have to agree.

Salvation Experience

I responded to the Lord at the age of 12. I attended a pre-teen camp in Huntsville called Trinity Pines Baptist Encampment. Our church counselor, Blair Montgomery, took a small group of us boys from Broadway Baptist Church in Houston, TX to camp this particular summer. The worship artists was Jami Smith and the speaker was Scott Crenshaw who was an evangelist at the time but is now working as Singles Leader for Lakewood Houston if you have ever heard of that church. I know this because four years ago I set out to meet this man who led me to the Lord during his evangelistic ministry. We talked for about ten minutes and he was excited about what the Lord was doing through me.

At 18 yrs of age, I surrendered my life to ministry at Mt. Lebanon Baptist Encampment during Campamento. I was there as a counselor for IB Houston under Johnnie Musquiz’s leadership. Before this experience I had not prayed inside of the church and I certainly had never led a bible study lesson. It was then that Alex Marin took me under his wing and spoke power truth into my life, he really encouraged me to dream big and put all I do in God’s hands. I started to lead bible studies, and really I was teaching all that I was learning since I didn’t have any training but I did have a calling and I believe that God uses people who are called and gets them trained to do greater things. I started to speak on Wednesday nights in the Sanctuary and the youth group started to grow and students would come from other churches as well. Things were going great until I had to take a college course on Wednesday night. So my friend Matt Musquiz and I sat down and started to discuss the possibilities of started a bible study on Friday nights. It was then that the idea of Refuge Bible Study was created and from 2/1/01 forward, we had a bible study every Friday night in Houston from young people all over the city. See the website www.refugebiblestudy.com.

Congreso

My first Congreso that I ever attended was in Corpus, two years later I would serve as President. This was the first time I met Gus and Leticia and other Hispanic Baptist Leaders. I was still in Houston working full time for a large energy company called El Paso Corporation, formerly known as Tennecco. I’m grateful for El Paso Corp, because they paid for my junior college years or they reimbursed me. I am also grateful because they hired me at 16 years of age when Enron wouldn’t, well we all know how that cookie crumbled. So I worked for the pipeline dept as a Strategist Assist for 6 years before moving to Dallas.

Gus

One day I received a call from none other than, Dr. Gus Reyes. He called only to tell me one thing that afternoon, it was to ask me how long it was going to take me to finish college taking 1-2 courses a semester working full time. It’s funny how he asks questions that he already knows the answer too, but thats his way of teaching or mentoring. So that was my first mentoring session of many to come with Gus and of course like all sessions, I was left having to make a decision, do I quit my job and go full-time to HBU or DBU which were his suggestions. I was just excepted into the College of Business program at the University of Houston and I decided that I was going to answer my calling of ministry and attend DBU to take Christian Studies courses. So I moved and turned on the jets and completed 80+ hours of course work in two years, starting in Jan ‘04 finished in Dec ‘05 with a 3.0 GPA which is the mininum requirement for Graduate School and it was just enough for them to accept me into the Management Program. So after 2 1/2 years I am going to receive a Masters of Arts degree in Management and this time I am going to finish with a 3.85 GPA. This will take place May 15, 2008 at DBU. The best part of graduation is that I finished paying cash for school and not taking out student loans.

My wife Andrea and I have been married for eight months and we are debt free everything but the mortgage. I now want to share with people steps they need to take to get out of debt, my financial blog is www.debtfreehispanic.com I get to share tips, ideas and random thoughts about money. Why is this important to me? Because I want to change my family tree and I want for my children to not have to work as hard during their college years. I want to pay for their school from start to graduation. Plus I want to retire with dignity & money.

Future

My wife Andrea, who works for Guidestone Financial, is looking to pursue her PhD so we are looking at schools where she can attend. I’m going to take a break since i’ve been in school since I graduated high school in 1999 but I will look into pursuing a PhD further in life. I would like to do some consulting work helping organizations know the difference between Hispanic generations.

I currently work for the Baptist General Convencion of Texas where I am in charge of web content and the Spanish website which is www.bgct.org/espanol.  This summer Andrea and I are giving leadership to Hispanic Singles by overseeing Hispanic Singles Camp www.bgct.org/singlescamp .

Our Journey has just begun. Let HIS light shine through us. - Fabian Ramirez

     At the age of seven I accepted Christ during Vacation Bible School.  One of the key elements that made me realize the need of Christ on that day, and still impacts me today, was when my teacher told the group that “the love for Jesus was so strong that he did not pay attention to the pain He suffered for us.”  This has influenced my life and my commitment to become more like Christ.  I strongly believe that through true love and its attributes one can find the path to success.   As I work and relate today with Christian leaders my first and most important objective is that people will experience or see the love of Christ in me. Even though being a friend of Julio makes it difficult (Se te quiere chavo!).

     Another important aspect of my childhood and part of my adolescent years was my participation in the Royal Ambassadors of Christ.  This organization helped me develop strong Christian habits and friendship.  Obedience to Christ and self-discipline was highly encouraged in this organization. One of the important influences of this ministry was the confidence I gained in my social skills. This confidence has allowed me to be able to relate with other leaders in today’s ministries. I have learned the importance of social skills as the bridge that will allow results to happen. Also, I have been able to grasp how the elements and dynamics of relationships play a crucial role in my spiritual journey. 

     The Royal Ambassadors experience also helped me discover how self-discipline and trust are crucial in obeying God.  Even today, as I encounter the different situations and different personalities, I still practice the focus on God and His principles instead of allowing the present moment determine my final decisions. Discipline has helped me reflect on my values and keep God’s love as my goal instead of the emotions I might have at the moment.

     While the above stories give a glimpse of some elements I consider important in how I practice leadership today, it was the following experiences which led me to concretize how my purpose would be implemented. My father has been a pastor for 43 years.  I have been able to experience first hand the amount of challenges and injustices that ministers go through in their vocation. I observed how it affected my mother, other ministers that I knew through friendship with my parents, and my brothers and me. I saw my parent’s frustration when they failed to accomplish their visions as a result of lack of skills, resources, and even ill intentions of others. On the positive side I also became aware that ministries through the use of networks (support systems), following God’s principles, and encouragement were able to accomplish their visions.

     The other side of this experience was also the difficulty that my father, and at times my mother had in balancing ministry and family. I know the pain this created in my siblings and me as my parents struggled to make time for the home and ministry.  These experiences gave me a desire to help and serve ministers.  Also, having an inside look at the ministry dynamic in addition to the opportunities God has provided me to understand the leadership environment, motivated me to make a commitment to God to serve, equip, and challenge those who have devoted their lives to expand His Kingdom.

I answered a call to salvation when I was nine years old and a call to vocational ministry when I was about 15 years old in 1975. I am a third generation native Tejano born to Baptist Christian parents. My family first heard the gospel in the 1930’s as migrant workers picking cotton near Snyder, Texas. Edwardo P. Gonzales was the church planter/missionary who announced the gospel to our family. Francisca Rodriguez Reyes responded in faith and the gospel that came to us went through us and each of her children. My mother was a Roman Catholic when she and my father were married. They began attending Primera Iglesia Bautista in Corpus Christi before I was born. Ignacio Gonzales was their pastor and discipled my dad.

After I was a year old my family moved to California in an effort to raise us in a part of the country where discrimination was not so prevalent during the early 1960’s. We joined Iglesia Bautista Emmanuel where my mother and older brother, Gus, came to faith in Christ and were baptized. The family later joined Memorial Baptist Church in Rialto, California under the leadership of Leonard Roten and later Bill Thornton, a transplanted Texan. I came to faith in Christ and was Baptized under Rev. Thornton’s ministry. My younger brother, Fred was also born in California. He is married to Sharon and they have three children: Ahnna, Caleb, and Seth and live near Nashville, Tennessee. Gus married Leticia Lozano and they live in Dallas with three children: Andrea who is married to Fabian Ramirez, Gus 2nd, and Samuel.

We moved back to Texas in 1970 to be closer to our families, the Reyes’ and the Garcia’s. We returned to my father’s church PIB in Corpus and Rudy Hernandez was the pastor followed by Rudy Sanchez. Those were wonderful years of growing up at PIB, learning Spanish and the culture. Those were the years that Primera was a softball powerhouse at Alto Frio and Mount Lebanon during the Texas Baptist Mexican American Youth Camp. I answered a call to vocational ministry as a 15 year old at Primera in Corpus and began to preach when I was 16. Bro. Rudy put me in charge of the Children’s worship and I found myself in leadership roles in the youth ministry.

During those years I sang in the Ambassador Quartet and went with Bro. Rudy Sanchez as he preached in churches around South Texas. In one of those churches, Beeville, I met Belinda Ruth Alvarado, whom I would later marry. I saw her again at youth camp where we began our courtship.

I graduated from Mary Carroll High School and went to Angelo State University to earn a BBA in Management. Belinda went to Baylor University and earned a BS degree in Speech-Pathology. We were married in 1982 and then moved to Fort Worth to attend seminary. I graduated with an MDiv in 1989. In the meantime, Belinda earned an MS in Communication Disorders and a PhD in Communication Disorders and Human Sciences from UT Dallas.

During my seminary years I served as pastor at Home Gardens Baptist Church in the Hispanic mission, Iglesia Bautista Amistad and after graduation from seminary I served as pastor of North Temple Baptist Church in Dallas. I enrolled in the DMin program in 1991 and graduated in 1995 with a DMin in Missiology. In 1992 we sensed a call to El Paso, Texas to plant Pueblo Nuevo Community Church until 1999 when I was called to Hispanic Baptist Theological Seminary to serve as president. I really thought I was going to retire at Pueblo Nuevo in El Paso and HBTS in San Antonio but the Lord had other plans. HBTS went through certification to grant degrees, accreditation, a name change, and the purchase of a new campus in seven years. It was a phenomenal time of growth and miracles. During those years I enrolled in a PhD degree program in leadership at Andrews University in an effort to enhance BUA’s potential for accreditation and certification to grant degrees. I am doing my dissertation on “Exploring Organizational Transformation in Higher Education: A Study of Executive Leadership Reflection.” This is an exploratory qualitative case study on my tenure at BUA in light of its 60 year history.

In 2007 I began my current assignment as president of Buckner Children and Family Services, Inc. in Dallas. I have to say that I am fully engaged and fulfilled in this role. I have felt this way in every Kingdom assignment the Lord has given me. I think it it important to be faithful in one’s assignment, focus on building skils, competencies, and providing leadership where we are. Rather than looking for the next career move, I have made it a practice to radically invest myself where I was with a 100% commitment to give up my life for what the Lord has called me to.

Belinda is my best friend, bar none. She has been a wonderful partner in ministry and in life. She is a fantastic mother to Joshua, David, and Thomas. These guys are a blessing to me even if I am not cool during their teen years. We love each other and Belinda and I work hard each day to help them learn how to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord.

You can read more about my stuff at www.pandulce.typepad.com especially if you look at February of 2007. There may be more info there than you want to know.

Ellis Orozco, Josh Guajardo, John Roman, and serveral other friends from across the state starting talking about what it means to be both Latino and Baptist at the same time back in the early 1990’s. Ellis mentioned this in his entry. Today the tribe has grown and I hope we make room for lots of emerging leaders who will make a positive impact in the Kingdom for years to come.

My mission is to develop kingdom leaders from my circle of influence to the ends of the earth.

    I dread writing these things, but since the great Ellis and Julio have done it I have to keep up I guess. Well my real name is Daniel Dominguez and I was born to Ruben and Beatrice Dominguez in Denver City, Texas where I grew up. (got the name Tiny at youth camp when I was 15) In high school I played football and ran away from cheerleaders (at least that’s how I remember it). After high school I went to play football at the University of Texas-El Paso. That soon ended due to knee injuries and I transferred to Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas, were I am finishing my degree. While I lived in Wichita falls I was active in the BSM and served as president for two years. I also served as youth minister at Iglesia Bautista Emmanuel and also Iglesia Bautista Ebenezer. I enjoyed living in Wichita Falls and thank God for all the leaders and minister in the area that encouraged and mentored me in ministry and allowed to speak at their events. I believe God used my time in Wichita Falls to mold me, teach me, and encouraged me in my calling to ministry. It was during this time when I became a camp officer for the Hispanic youth camp in Chaparral Baptist Assembly and also Congreso president.In October 0f 1999 I left Wichita Falls and moved to Fort Worth when I accepted te call to be the Associate Pastor with Youth at Iglesia Bautista Getsemani AE DJ (After Ellis, during Julio). I served there for 6 years and I am very grateful to be a part of a wonderful, loving, and caring church for that long. leaving Getsemani was really one of the hardest things I ever had to do in ministry, but it has been a blessing seeing that the youth and singles ministry is still impacting lives. I worked at the BGCT during the restructuring as the Hispanic Evangelism Associate where my duties were coordinating the statewide Hispanic youth and singles events (Congreso, Campamento, Convocation, HEC English Track, etc.) Currently I live in Lubbock and I am now the Pastor of Community Heights Church. I can’t believe I am pastoring, sometimes I feel like I have no idea what I am doing, then again that;s how I have felt during my entire ministry so I guess all is well. I do love Community Heights, it is a unique church. I love the members and miss them when I am out with other speaking engagements. It has een a blessing seeing who our church is reaching and also seeing these young couples serving the Lord. One of the blessings about my ministry that I thank God for has been my role as a communicator. I have had the  honor of being able to speak at several churches, Baptist universities, youth camps, Congreso, YEC and other events. I enjoy being able to meet people and also the ability to minister world wide. Hope this gives you a better idea of who I am.    

I think Ellis’ idea of beginning by telling each of our stories is a great one. Even though we may know a lot about each other. It is always surprising to find out things about each other through means like this. Having this kind of background will help us understand each other better and the context from which we engage the dialogue.

So here’s my story:

I was born in 1965 in Mexico City (DF) where my parents had felt called to do evangelistic and discipleship work with the students at the University of Mexico. I was a toddler when I had my first experiences with guerilla-style student protests and with the Olympiads (1968 at the Aztec Stadium). My father, Carlos Julio Guarneri, was born in Monterrey, studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Nuevo Leon and was converted from Roman Catholicism through a student movement led by an independent Anglo missionary (Emil Aanderud) and by a Baptist teacher (Mariluz Gutierrez). He surrendered to the ministry and was prepared for it by intense one-on-one discipleship with Bro. Aanderud. My mother, Elizabeth Martinez, was born in a town near Monterrey, graduated as an early childhood educator; having grown up Presbyterian, she was involved in the student movement and was hired as a missionary by Bro. Aanderud’s mission. My parents married on April 1st 1964 and moved to Mexico City where I was born.

After five years, my parents moved back to Monterrey in order to continue working with students and in order to plant a house church. It was at this house church at the age of 7 that I made a clear commitment to trust in Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior under the leadership of my mom who was teaching the Children’s Bible class. Children’s Bible classes, Vacation Bible School, Bible Clubs, the life of the congregation and late-night college student fellowships at my home were all part of my formation as a young believer. I was baptized by my father at the age of 12 in a river about 1 hour north of Monterrey where our congregation would have a day of celebration outdoors.

Shortly after I was baptized, I went to Mexico City with my parents for a missions conference. At that conference Mexican believers were encouraged to leave Mexico and be missionaries to another country. My dad felt that call was for us. The options were Argentina, California or Texas. After prayer and deliberation, the decision was made for Texas. In 1978, we sold most of our belongings and moved to Edinburg, Texas. Though my father’s initial plan was to plant house churches to reach Hispanics for Christ, he ended up pastoring established Hispanic Baptist churches. He supplied the pulpit at various Hispanic Baptist churches in the Rio Grande Valley and eventually was called to pastor the Primera Iglesia Bautista in Beeville, Texas. It was through this church that I was introduced to the “big 3 C’s:” Convencion, Congreso and Campamento. From age 10 until about this time (age 15) I really felt distanced from God, hung out with the wrong crowd and experienced a period of rebellion and disillusionment which ended up in a reaffirmation of Christ’s lordship on my life. If Ellis’ biggest sin was chasing cheerleaders, then he’s a saint compared to me but I won’t go into that here. It was at Congreso 82 in Houston that I surrendered to God’s call on my life for vocational ministry. In 1983, my dad accepted the call to pastor Calvary Baptist Church in Freer, Texas. That was my senior year in High School. In May of 1984, I graduated from Freer High School and was licensed to the ministry by First Baptist Church of Freer. That summer, at youth camp, I would meet Monica Soria, who would later become my bride. (Actually, I had met Monica 2 years earlier but that’s another story). Later that year, my dad accepted the call to pastor the Hispanic department of Parkdale Baptist Church in Corpus Christi. Calvary mission of Freer asked me to stay as their pastor. So began my vocational ministry, attending college in Corpus Christi and commuting on the weekends to Freer.

I was later called to be the youth minister of Calallen Baptist Church in Corpus Christi (an Anglo congregation). It was during my ministry there that I married Monica. Monica’s father, Jose Isaac Soria, was a bivocational pastor of Hispanic Baptist churches and a Spanish teacher at Robstown High School. In addition to these churches (Primera Odem; Primera, Rockport; Primera, Sinton, etc., etc.), Monica and her parents, (Diana Munoz Soria is her mother) were members of Primera, Corpus Christi; Segunda, Corpus Christi and El Mesias, Corpus Christi.

Subsequently, I pastored Primera Iglesia Bautista in Taft, Texas; planted the Shalom Baptist Mission in Corpus Christi under the sponsorship of Iglesia Bautista Mesias (Salvador Cervantes was the pastor; it was this church that ordained me to the ministry); and served as minister of education and youth at the Segunda Iglesia Bautista in Corpus Christi, before coming to Iglesia Bautista Getsemani in Fort Worth (A.E.; “after Ellis”), where I have been for the last 14 years.

I graduated from Texas A&I (now A&M) University (Kingsville, Texas) with a Bachelor in Secondary Education in 1990 and from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Fort Worth, Texas) with a Master of Arts in Religious Education in 1998. I am currently at the end of my third year in the Ph D in Leadership Studies program at Dallas Baptist University.

Monica, who has been my wife and companion, graduated from the same university as I with a Bachelor in Elementary Education and from Texas A&M in Corpus Christi (formerly CCSU) with a Master in Mid-Management. She has been a school teacher, housewife, and ministry companion. Together we are parents to Joshua (21), a junior at Dallas Baptist University; Rachel (13), a 7th grader tennis player; Mia (10), a 5th grader who loves cheerleading; and Stevan (8) a 3rd grader who is a die-hard Star Wars aficionado. Our two male English pointers, Canelo and Espresso, keep us on our toes also.

I thank God for my family and for the opportunity to serve him in our church which has really been a second family to us.

Beyond the local church, I have been part of a couple of exciting groups: LeadersEdge, TarrantNet and Plaza Global. These have to do with sharpening leaders with a vision to transform their community and their world. I look forward to being a part of this on-line community! Thanks for the opportunity.

Julio Guarneri, Getsemani, Fort Worth

I graduated from SWBTS in 1992. In 1994 a few of us started meeting every year to “think together” on the issues that affected Hispanos.  We called it Network 2000 because that’s all it was … a loose network of friends who enjoyed thinking and talking about the same things … and because we planned on meeting only until the year 2000.  It’s been a while. I’m excited about thinking together again with my old friends from Network 2000 and with a bunch of new friends. 

After seminary I pastored a bilingual congregation in Corpus Christi for seven years.  I was active in the work of Convencion, Congreso, Hispanic Youth Camp, Hispanic Singles Camp, etc.  Over the last eight years I have pastored a wonderful congregation in McAllen that is predominately Anglo-American (95% when I got here).  I’ve been pretty much consumed with learning how to be the pastor of a church that is very different from what I had previously experienced.  All this to say … I feel somewhat “out of touch” with what is happening in the “Hispanic Baptist” world.  I continue to go to Convencion … but I still feel out of touch. 

For this reason … I will probably have a lot more questions than answers or advice.  I would love to get straight to the questions (always a good way to get a conversation started) … but feel a need to catch up with old friends … and get to know my knew friends a little better.  For this reason I’d like to ask each of the writers on this blog to please give me a brief synopsis of your life, call, and ministry experience.  It would really help me on the journey we are taking together …

I’ll be glad to start …

My name is Eleazar (Ellis) Orozco. I was born in Houston, Texas on October 4, 1961 to Antonio Alvardo Orozco and Carmen Flores Orozco.  My father was originally from Monterrey, and my mother from Houston.  I accepted the Lord as my Savior at the age of 14 and was baptized in the church I grew up in, Templo Bautista, South Houston.  I graduated from South Houston High School, where I played football, ran track, and chased cheerleaders (I didn’t catch very many).  I graduated from Texas A&M University (where they don’t have cheerleaders) with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering.  I worked as an Engineer in Houston for a few years before God called me to ministry.  I earned an M.Div. from SWBTS and a D.Min. from Truett Seminary. 

I met my wife Priscilla (Castro) Orozco while I was at SWBTS. She graduated from Baylor University with a degree in Elementary Education.  She is a school teacher.  Her father is a retired pastor (Marcos Castro) and her mother, Ruby, went to be with the Lord when Priscilla was only 12 years old.  My wife comes from a wonderful Christian family and I am truly blessed that she married me.  We have three children … Gabriel (15), Michael (10), and Celeste (9).  Gabriel is a freshmen in high schoold and is beginning to carry on the legacy of chasing cheerleaders.  I think he’s going to catch a lot more than I did.  Michael is brilliant, and Celeste is beautiful (like her mother). 

Along the way I was Youth Minister at … Templo Bautista (South Houston), Primera Iglesia Bautista (Fort Worth), and Iglesia Bautista Getsemani (Fort Worth) – B.J. (before julio).  I’ve pastored two churches: Iglesia Bautista Gollihar (Corpus Christi) for 7 years, and Calvary Baptist Church (McAllen) for the last 8 years.  They are both wonderful churches with some of the greatest Christians I have ever met.  Calvary has some of the strongest and most brilliant leaders in the entire Valley.  I am truly lucky to be their pastor.

I look forward to reading a little about each of you. 

Blessings,

Ellis