For my St. Paul's friends, an update on my life...

Since going to Michigan to study in 1999 a lot has changed in my life, but a lot has also stayed the same. I have been back in KC for 3 years now since graduating in 2003. Thankfully my parents don't mind me living in their house. All they ask is that I cook once in a while - Chinese and Italian dishes are my forte. I'm also still a student and still in church. As for the changes:

After graduation I did volunteer work in a research lab for a year, then started work towards a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences at UMKC. The classes were stimulating and the research work interesting, but I soon found that research was not my calling. It happened that a year ago my advisor informed me and the other students in the lab that she would be leaving for another university. I decided then to try to apply to medical schools, which is the career that I have always felt God leading me to. I had two interviews, but no acceptance letters.

Now I will backtrack a little bit to talk about my spiritual journey through this time. My four years at Michigan exposed my faith in God, and found it to be much weaker than I had thought it to be. By the time I graduated I had almost convinced myself that I was an agnostic. God wouldn't leave me alone though. My first re-encounter with Him was at Peru in the summer of 2003. In a Wednesday meeting at my uncle's church, during the worship time, God shook me and told me, "Don't forget, I'm real." This experience left an deep impression in my life, but it did not convince me immediately to devote my life back to Jesus.

Back in KC, I attended Olathe College Church with my parents, then in late 2004 my father was asked to lead the hispanic group of the church, to be a pastor again. For a year, as the number of people grew from 10 or so to 40 members, I didn't attend their services. I continued attending the main english services though, and through the sermons of Pastor JK Warrick, God slowly worked on my heart. At home as well, my parents talked with joy about the things that were happening in the hispanic group, how people were being restored, children being healed.

The turning point for me came when 7 members of the hispanic group were baptized in front of the entire Olathe College Church congregation. I taped that wonderful occassion for my parents, and they asked me to come to the hispanic service to show the tape to that congregation. It just happened that that Sunday was also the first Sunday Manuel Marquez would be leading the music for the hispanic group. He played the keyboard, someone else the bass and someone else the drums - there was nothing fancy about the set-up. However, when someone that has been called by God and blessed with musical talent leads worship, wonderful things happen. I have no recollection of what we sung, but the Lord touched me again through music, and this time I felt Him calling me to join Manuel up on the stage. In two more Sundays I was up there playing the trumpet. This happened about a year ago (late 2005).

Now back to my medical school story. This summer, the news that I wasn't accepted hurt a lot. Dissappointment and failure are a part of life, and we are not immune to these things. However, the spiritual journey I described above also continued during this time. God was calling me not to just play the trumpet in church (as I had done in St Paul's), but to be a true worshiper of God. This meant giving my whole life over to Him, my future career, my future ministries, my future relationships. Over and over Jeremiah 29:11 comes to mind, and this verse continues to give me strength for my future.

Currently I am taking classes at Johnson County Community College so that I can work as a medical interpreter at hospitals. Medical school is still my goal, but I will be patient and wait on the Lord as to when the right time will be to apply. As for my involvement in church, I am helping with Sunday School, helping to organize activities for our small youth group, and helping the worship team. Manuel had to leave us earlier this year, but someone else came a month ago to fill his place at the keyboard and as worship leader. Cristian Cardona is only 19, a freshman at MidAmerica, but with the same anointing and talent as Manuel. Now I am playing the acoustic guitar (yeah, you heard me right), my brother Esteban (yes, that Esteban!) is playing the electric bass, a high school freshman is playing the electric guitar, a high school junior the drums, and a junior higher the congas. All from the hispanic group, all with the desire to truly worship the Lord!

Well, that is a little bit of what has been happening in my life these last 7 years. For all of you former St. Paul's people that may read this, I think of you often. I rejoice in what I hear (through my parents mostly) about you, how God is working in your lives in one way or the other. Know that I will be praying for each of you more frequently now.
I'll also try to be in contact with at least some of you more often. One of the posts in Scott W's Blog talks about the church and community, what happens when the doors close. St. Paul's youth group left a deep impression in my heart, and that is a community that I have missed in many ways. It's doors never really closed though, and the fact that many of you continue to keep in touch is a testament to this. God bless all of you, and as you continue your journeys through life, always remember Jeremiah 29:11.