Posted by: Omar C. Garcia | September 11, 2013

The View From The Back

Trinidad en route to Miami

I have lost track of how many times I have been in an airplane seat over the years — the number is somewhere in the hundreds. In my early days of travel I was exited to be seated anywhere on an airplane, even in those unenviable middle seats. The promise of adventure and discovering new places and peoples always mitigated any discomfort I experienced in an airplane seat.

Window seats were, at one time, my favorites. I loved having a vantage point that allowed me to survey landscapes and clouds and distant horizons. Having something to lean against was also kind of nice when I wanted to take a nap. Middle seats, on the other hand, offered no advantage and always made me feel confined. And then there were all those times I needed to make a quick trip to the bathroom only to be blocked by someone asleep in the aisle seat. Frustrating!

Over a period of time I came to prefer aisle seats. And, I discovered that my frequent flyer status gave me the added advantage of requesting and getting a coveted aisle seat. So, for years, I have enjoyed aisle, exit row, and bulkhead seating — all of which make it easier to get up and move about at will. Of course, when I get a complimentary Business Class upgrade it doesn’t matter to me where I sit. It’s all good in Business Class.

Back of the Plane
Today, however, I flew from Guyana to Trinidad to Miami on Caribbean Air — an airline with which I do not have any frequent flyer status or leverage for requesting and getting an aisle seat. I was assigned a seat on the last row next to the window on a full flight. And I must say that it was ok. Looking out the window reminded me of why I love traveling to the nations and why doing so is worth any temporary inconvenience, like not having an aisle seat. I didn’t mind being trapped in a corner of the airplane.

Blue View
Sometimes you have to take a step back, or sit in the back, in order to be reminded of why you love what you do and to reconnect with the core values that fuel your passion. Gazing out the window today and reflecting on the places I have visited and the hundreds of people who have traveled with me was refreshing. Thinking about all of the lives that have been changed was rewarding. Ultimately, for me, sitting in any seat on an airplane is about engaging in kingdom initiatives that will have a reach beyond my generation. “Thanks, Lord, for putting me in the very back of the plane today. I needed the view from the back in order to see ahead a little more clearly.”

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Posted in Guyana, Trinidad

Posted by: Omar C. Garcia | September 10, 2013

The Land of Many Waters

Georgetown, Guyana

Guyana is a beautiful paradise — a feast for nature lovers and a bucket list destination for adventure seekers. The Amerindians were the first inhabitants of this land that is a blend of the Caribbean and South America. The name Guyana is an Amerindian word that means “Land of Many Waters.” This morning, I was awakened in the land of many waters by one of the most intense rainstorms I have seen in years. It rained hard for at least two hours and when it finally stopped, the already saturated ground was covered in inches of standing water.

Rainstorm

I awoke to the sound of a heavy rainstorm this morning.

Earlier today, I had a conversation with our hosts, Drs. Peter and Michelle Shiwnandan. I asked them what they remember about Jonestown and the mass suicide orchestrated in 1978 by Jim Jones, founder of The Peoples Temple. They told me about seeing a steady stream of US helicopters flying overhead when the remains of the dead were being transported back to the United States. “For years,” said Dr. Peter, “Guyana was known by many all over the world only because of Jonestown.” That terrible incident obscured and replaced, for a time, the reputation of Guyana as the Land of Many Waters.

Dr. Peter and his wife Michelle, also a physician, are committed to starting life-giving ministries in Guyana. They would like to see their country become the Land of Living Water, the kind of thirst-quenching water that only comes from Jesus. To that end they hosted this week’s conference to help educate church leaders on the sanctity of human life. The rains did not keep people from attending. Every person who registered was in their seat ready to engage in the learning experience. Our teaching was made easier because everyone here speaks English.

Kurt

Kurt Dillinger, President of Life International, shared his journey as a life-giver.

Kurt Dillinger kicked off this morning’s session by talking about the journey of a life-giver and how God called him to engage in the global mission field created by abortion. I shared a session on the sanctity of human life and a session on developing a biblical worldview. Life International staff member Matthew Zoller concluded by talking about how to become a life-giver. The most encouraging thing about today was how those in attendance actively engaged with the issues under consideration. These church leaders are determined to become champions of life in the land of many waters.

Omar Teaching

I taught on the sanctity of human life this morning.

Please continue to pray for our team as we teach over the coming days. We still have lots of ground to cover, some of it pretty tough stuff like abortion procedures, sexually transmitted infections, post-abortion issues, and more. But all of this is a part of equipping church leaders for front line engagement in life-giving ministries. We trust that one day Guyana will no longer be remembered as the place where more than 900 people committed suicide in a jungle encampment, but as a place that values and protects life in one of the most beautiful natural settings in the world, the Land of Many Waters.

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Our praise and worship time this morning.

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Posted by: Omar C. Garcia | September 9, 2013

Champions of Life

Georgetown, Guyana

We do more than just talk about valuing the sanctity of human life at Kingsland, we are engaged in life-giving initiatives in our own community and around the globe. Years ago we formed a partnership with our friends at Life International in Grand Rapids. Life International is an evangelical Christian organization that multiplies healthy, Christ-centered, life-giving ministries wherever abortion is provided worldwide. The primary purpose of these ministries is to see people come to new life in Christ and pre-born lives saved from abortion.

Air Caribbean

We arrived in Georgetown, Guyana late Sunday night.

Kurt Dillinger, the President of Life International, is a dear friend whose vision for life is impacting the global mission field created by abortion. Kurt’s vision also extends to addressing other violations of the sanctity of human life. A big part of Life’s strategy is to call Christ-followers to become champions of life for a lifetime. To that end, Life International hosts Church Leader Training conferences to educate pastors and church leaders about the sanctity of human life, biblical worldview, and an intensive overview of life in the womb.

Life Lessons

We spent Monday in prayer, study, and preparation.

This week, I am in Guyana with Jon Davis, our Missions Associate, and Kingsland member Mary Whittington. We flew to Georgetown on Sunday to meet some of our friends from Life International to teach pastors here about the sanctity of human life. Today has been an intensive day of prayer, study, and preparation for the week ahead. Over the next four days we will lead 12 intensive sessions and conclude with a call to repentance and action. We expect to see many new champions of life come forward.

City View

The view of Georgetown from my hotel room.

The people of Guyana know something about the impact of a worldview that does not value the sanctity of human life. It was here that a man named Jim Jones, founder of The People’s Temple, led more than 900 of his followers to commit mass suicide in November 1978. I was just barely five months into the work of ministry when that happened. The events of Jonestown shocked the world and will forever stand as a testimony to the destructive end of a worldview that failed to value life.

Georgetown CLT Banner

We are here to promote life among the nations.

Reflecting on the events of Jonestown is one of the things that reaffirms why we must continue to educate people about the sanctity of human life. Life is without question, the greatest possession we have and the greatest gift we can give. Life is sacred. It should and must be respected and protected. I am looking forward to a great week with the fifty pastors and church leaders who have traveled to Georgetown to learn more about how they can become champions of life for a lifetime.

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Posted by: Omar C. Garcia | September 8, 2013

Planting Churches

Last month, I posted a blog entitled Kingsland’s Roots — a brief account of the birth of our church and how we have started and assisted new churches in Katy and beyond. To coincide with the first anniversary of Bethel Bible Fellowship, our third daughter church, our missions ministry has devoted our September newsletter to the topic of church planting. Kingsland members will receive a copy in the mail in the coming week, can pick up a copy in the commons area outside the worship center, or can access an online version of the newsletter.

GB Newsletter 09-2013
Church planting is a key component of our church’s vision statement. When I started my service as Kingsland’s missions pastor 8-years ago, Pastor Alex stressed to me the importance of fulfilling that part of our vision statement that states: “As a church that participates in the Great Commission we will continue to birth daughter churches as quickly as the Lord provides people and resources.” The generosity of Kingsland members enabled us to help start two new churches during that period and to assist many others.

I encourage you to read our next newsletter from cover to cover. You will enjoy reading reports from John Crowe of River Bend, Matt Powell of Crossings Community Church, and Paul Cockrell of Bethel. These are three really good men who care deeply about leading their respective churches to lovingly reach into every sector of our community. You will also read about why planting churches is strategic to reaching the six-million people who live in the greater Houston area and why we must remain committed to this greater vision of growing the kingdom.

We have included a family tree in the newsletter that will show you at a glance where Kingsland came from. Perhaps the most compelling thing about our church’s family tree is wondering what might have happened if those who came before us had not had a vision that extended beyond their respective campuses and beyond the immediate future. There might not be a church called Kingsland — a body of believers committed to loving God, loving people, and equipping the generations one home at a time.

My hope and prayer is that we will remain committed to a vision of reaching the lost, a vision that extends beyond our campus and beyond our lifetime, and a vision that compels us to invest in growing the kingdom. And, because the nations are coming to us, we must stretch our church-planting vision to include starting churches that will reach the one-million people among us who were born outside of the Unites States.

Thank you Kingsland, for having a vision that extends beyond our generation. Only heaven will reveal the full impact of our determination to be a church-planting church that plants church-planting churches.

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Posted in Local Missions Initiatives, Miscellaneous

Posted by: Omar C. Garcia | September 7, 2013

Just Run 2013

September is Human Trafficking Awareness month in Houston. Throughout the month, churches and faith-based organizations will host justice-related initiatives throughout the greater Houston area. This morning, Kingsland’s justice ministry hosted our Fourth Annual Just Run for a Just Cause — designed to raise awareness about human trafficking and the plight of the oppressed. More than 1000 people from our church and community showed up to participate in our 5k and 10k run and 1 mile family walk.

Just Run
As part of our efforts to educate folks about human trafficking, we set up our justice wall —a display that stretched sixty-feet across our parking lot. Each panel in the wall sequentially illustrates the story of how young girls are trafficked and how those who champion justice come to their aid. In the coming months, our justice wall will be on display at other justice events to help compel people to become champions on behalf of the oppressed. For many today, the story on the wall was their first exposure to the truth about a reality they may never see — the dark world of human trafficking.

Justice Wall
We at Kingsland believe that the church must be engaged in the fight against human trafficking. We also understand that this battle will not be won in our generation. We are, however, determined to do all that we can to make a difference. We are also determined to equip and pass the baton along to the next generation, those who will champion the cause and come to the aid of the oppressed long after we are gone. If the church is absent from the front lines of this battle, many will continue to suffer unimaginable horrors. We must be engaged in this fight.

Just Packed
I am grateful for Paul Crandall, our Recreation Pastor, and to Kingsland member and race coordinator Rebecca Kratz. They did an amazing job of mobilizing an army of volunteers and coordinating a thousand details to make this year’s race a huge success. I have to add that Josh Stewart, Ely Butuyan, and Breanna Derbecker sang one of the most beautiful renditions of the Star Spangled Banner that I have ever heard. Amazing!

Paul and RebeccaI am grateful that Kingsland is a church that refuses to be silent about human trafficking, that invests financial and human resources to speak and work on behalf of those who have no voice, and that is determined to stay on the front lines of this battle. The most convicting thing on our justice wall is a quote by abolitionist William Wilberforce: “You may choose to look the other way but you can never again say that you did not know.” We refuse to look the other way.

Just Run 2011 Quote

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Posted by: Omar C. Garcia | September 6, 2013

Diana Nyad’s Epic Swim

After four previous attempts to swim from Cuba to Florida, endurance swimmer Diana Nyad finally fulfilled her dream. On Monday of this week, she became the first swimmer to make the trek from Havana to Key West. And, she swam the 110 miles across the treacherous waters of the Florida Strait without the protection of a shark cage. What makes Nyad’s feat even more amazing is that she is 64 years-old.

long distance swimmer Diana Nyad
Fifty-two hours and fifty-four minutes after she jumped from the seawall of the Hemingway Marina into the waters off Havana, Nyad arrived in Key West — exhausted, dazed, and sunburned. Having learned important lessons from her previous attempts, Nyad wore a full bodysuit and mask at night when jellyfish rise to the surface. Although she knew this protective gear would slow her down, she believed it would help her go the distance by protecting her against debilitating jellyfish stings.

When she finally arrived at Key West, Nyad spoke briefly on the beach before being transported to the hospital for a check-up. Her message was simple but weighty because they came from her lips, the woman who had just completed an epic 110-mile swim across shark infested waters. Nyad said, “I have three messages. One is, we should never, ever give up. Two is, you’re never too old to chase your dream. Three is, it looks like a solitary sport, but it is a team.”

In days when so much of what we hear or read in the news is bad, it’s refreshing to read a story like Nyad’s. Although it took her years to fulfill her dream, she never gave up, she continued training, and she refused to let go of her dream. She also acknowledged that she was successful because she was surrounded by a great team of people who believed she could do something hard, even at 64 years of age.

Thank you, Diana Nyad, for setting such a great example of what it means to dream big, to persevere, to push through the pain, to learn from past failures, to stay afloat, and to keep moving through treacherous waters. You are indeed an inspiration.

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Posted by: Omar C. Garcia | September 4, 2013

Wordless Wednesday

An elderly Kurdish man. | 2008 | Kurdistan, Northern Iraq

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Posted by: Omar C. Garcia | September 1, 2013

The Passage of Time

I drove to the Rio Grande Valley this weekend to spend a couple of days with my Dad. On my way there, my wanderlust kicked in and beckoned me off the beaten path. So, I slowed down and turned on to some backroads near the rural community of Encino. Located along Highway 281, Encino is regarded as a “census designated place” and not a town because it does not have a municipal government.

Mesquite and Building
In 1832, a man named Luciano Chapa acquired a Mexican land grant called La Encantada y Encina del Pozo, translated “Enchanted Place and Live Oak in a Hole.” The name of the grant reportedly was derived from a large live oak around which animals seeking shade wore down the land under the tree. In the early 1900s, the Encino community was established at the site as a roundup point for cattle raised by Mexican cattlemen.

Encino Truck
Today, the backroads near Encino are accented by evidence of the passage of time — reminders that this is still hard country to tame. The proof is there in the form of windmills, old shelters that look like they are melting into the brush, and assorted rusting remnants left behind by a previous generation. These old time-tarnished sights are starkly juxtaposed with newer homes and vehicles and farming and ranching implements. Life in Encino today has more conveniences but the environment is still challenging.

Encino Windmill
When I finally arrived at my Dad’s home, I was glad that my brother Phillip was also there. The last time Phil and I were home at the same time was at Mom’s funeral in 2009. As soon as I arrived, Phil and I embraced and wasted no time in getting some things done for Dad around the house — cleaning gutters, fixing a plumbing problem, servicing the AC, trimming trees, and mowing the lawn. The hours flew by quickly as we tackled the items on our list.

Time does indeed fly. About the only things that do not seem to age or wear down or wear out are my childhood memories. I am fortunate that all of the memories that greet me when I come home are pleasant. There is not a single bully in the bunch. And although so many other things have aged and changed, my memories remain unaffected by the passage of time.

Mission Old New
Today, Dad and I drove from McAllen to the neighboring town of Mission where I was born. We stopped by the cemetery to visit Mom’s grave and then drove to the street where my grandparents had their first home. I had an old photo with me that recently surfaced of my grandfather with my sister and me on the sidewalk in front of their home. I held it up at the very spot where it was taken in 1959 and took a picture of it, juxtaposing the old with the new. While the passage of time has changed the neighborhood, it has not diminished the memory of happy times there with my grandparents.

In addition to any material things that we leave to our kids, we should also make it a point to make sure that we leave a legacy of good memories — the kind that remind them of their value, of what your family values, and of bringing glory to God. One day, those who come after us will likely wander off the beaten path and onto the proverbial memory lane. When they do, may they celebrate what they find, be refreshed by the sights, and then continue their journey with a determination to make the kind of memories that will bless those who come after them.

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Posted by: Omar C. Garcia | August 29, 2013

Kingsland’s Roots

In 1976, Alex Haley published “Roots, The Saga of an American Family.” Haley’s novel tells the story of his family’s journey to America, starting with an ancestor named Kunta Kinte who came to Maryland aboard a slave ship in 1767. “Roots” resonated with millions of Americans and made us curious about our own history.

There is a continuing interest these days in learning about our roots. Online services like Ancestry.com make it easier than ever before to make discoveries about those who came before us. Knowing something about our roots is important because it gives context to our existence and reminds us that we are here because of those who came before us.

Churches also have roots. Many years ago, the people of Baptist Temple in Houston had a vision to plant a new church to reach Houston’s westward expanding population. As a result, they started Tallowood. After a few years, Tallowood planted a church called Kingsland to reach the people living even farther west of their campus.

Cover Photo

John Crowe (River Bend), Matt Powell (Crossings), Paul Cockrell (Bethel)

Thirteen years ago, Kingsland planted River Bend to reach folks living in the Fulshear area. Kingsland also helped start Crossings Community Church. And one year ago, we launched a third daughter church called Bethel. In addition to that, our missions ministry has financially supported several other new church plants.

Perhaps the most encouraging part of this story is how each of the churches we have helped to start or supported also have a vision to plant churches. I was so encouraged when the people of Bethel set aside their very first offering to start a church-planting fund. The story started decades ago by the people of Baptist Temple continues.

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Houston Church Planting Network meeting at Kingsland.

Yesterday, the Houston Church Planting Network met at Kingsland. This network is a cooperative initiative that is committed to planting new churches that are focused on taking the gospel into every corner of the greater Houston area. Church planting pastors and pastors of church-planting churches met for lunch at Kingsland and to spend time in prayer for our city.

Planting churches is a strategic component of reaching Houston for Christ. Every week, 2,300 new people move into the greater Houston area. And, more than one-million people who call Houston home were born outside of the United States, represent more than 300 people groups, and speak more than 200 languages. The nations have come to Houston.

DSC_8188

Bruce Wesley, Senior Pastor of Clear Creek Community Church.

In order to reach the six-million people who live in the greater Houston area, we need more churches. Pastor Bruce Wesley of Clear Creek Community Church, one of the largest churches in our city, reminded us yesterday that “we need an infestation of churches that will reach and love their way into every sector of our community.” We need church-planting churches.

HCPN Group Photo

Grateful for these church planters and their efforts to reach Houston for Christ.

I’m glad that Kingsland has embraced our mission statement that states, in part, “As a church that participates in the Great Commission we will continue to birth daughter churches as quickly as the Lord provides the people and resources.” And I’m glad that we also give support to other new church starts. A couple of pastors in attendance yesterday made it a point to express their gratitude for Kingsland’s support.

In September, the next issue of our Go Beyond newsletter will be in the mail. This newsletter will feature updates from Pastor John Crowe of River Bend, Pastor Matt Powell of the Crossings, and Pastor Paul Cockrell of Bethel. I know you will be encouraged by their reports and to know that the story started by the folks of Baptist Temple continues. We have great roots and are leaving a great legacy.

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Posted in Local Missions Initiatives, Miscellaneous | Tags: , ,

Posted by: Omar C. Garcia | August 28, 2013

Wordless Wednesday

Dime Box Big House

If walls could talk. | 23 August 2013 | Near Dime Box, Texas

▶ Click on image to enlarge.

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