All of the sudden, a dude with a camera shows up. I recognized by his familiar accent that he was from Venezuela.Very quickly he approached me, and as he was putting his camera on his shoulder he said “can I ask you a question for a TV show about 2012?” I had no idea what he meant. He explained “some people think the world will end in 2012… perhaps you have an opinion about it… maybe you’re a religious person… would you care to comment?” I smiled and told him what I thought– that I am a Christ-follower, and that I believe Jesus, God’s Son, will return again. I told Him that no one knows the time or the place of His return, so we need to live as if He were to return today.

I laughed afterwards. What are the chances? Here I was, whining about what God wants me to do, and He gives me the opportunity to talk about Christ on a Spanish channel! I have no idea how many people saw that, or even if anyone was impacted by what I said. But I had to trust God that He chose me to broadcast His message on a local Spanish TV station, even if for a few seconds.

Talk about being ready to give a reason for your faith! God taught me that I am meant to do whatever it is He wants me to do, even if for a few seconds. That He chooses us to serve Him however and whenever it is He wants us. That He is my boss and I need to be available to receive my marching orders, whatever those may be.

Soon thereafter I did. And I rejoice in my new marching orders!

We also got to encourage and spend time with friends who serve Jesus in that country, people like my youth minister John Dye and his family, my friend Jorge Lugo and his family, my uncle Fernando Torres who’s a youth minister at a Christian Missionary Alliance church (Iglesia Encuentro con Dios), and many others. My body was exhausted, but my heart was filled by the encouragement from all the people we spent time with and by what they are doing to expand the Kingdom. I was humbled that they wanted to hear what little we had to say, and by the many great things we learned from them!

The down side of going on a trip like this was the little time we got to visit with friends and family, but I am thankful for all the love we received and I know next time we return won’t be in 3 years but hopefully sooner.

At my home church my friend Lucio had a bunch of guys lift me up making me feel like a rock star! Actually, he did that to show that sometimes things may feel upside down, but God will never let go. It was a lesson he taught me in the same way 5 years a go when I left Venezuela, and it was very meaningful to hear it again and to look back at how God has been holding me in the last 5 years.

I hope to return there soon to keep encouraging them to do what they do best, and to reconnect with a bunch of people we didn’t get to see.

Here’s the video of the baptism:

To see pics of our trip, click here:



In the last 20 years or so 12 Christian churches have been planted by a group of missionaries from Team Expansion. I myself am the product of one of these churches. They trained me, cared for me, and blessed me when I left for the US. Now, the vision is to have Venezuelan leaders plant 120 churches in and outside of the country by the year 2020! (Hence the name-VISION 20/20), and this year’s retreat will be a time to encourage young leaders to be a part of this vision.

Now, I am not an expert in church planting, nor am I a Bible scholar or a great speaker. So, why am I going?

I am going there to encourage them. I am going there so they can see someone who started out like them and is now part of a great adventure. I am going because I know them, I have a relationship with them, and I speak Spanish well (actually, I speak it perfectly, it’s my first language!). I am going to let them know that two church-planting churches like The Pursuit and Central Christian Church are praying for them and hope to help them in any way possible (Central is making it possible for us to go, and The Pursuit is sending us with care packages for each camper!). I am going because God has commanded me to go, and this is just another example of Him using the unlikeliest of people for the task.

So, pray for us, and if you have any words for these young leaders that you’d like me to pass along, leave me a comment!

Back to School Supplies Drive to Benefit Children’s Harbor, Inc. Foster Home
Saturday, August 1, The Pursuit will collect much-needed school supply donations from shoppers at Wal-Mart on Pines Blvd. and 184^th.  Our goal is to provide 50 to 100 book bags filled with back to school necessities for the residents at Children’s Harbor, Inc. in Pembroke Pines, FL.  Children’s Harbor, Inc. provides homes and a stable environment for children referred by the State of Florida’s foster care system.

Birthday Party in a Bag to Benefit Children’s Harbor, Inc. Foster Home
So that “every child can celebrate his birthday,” The Pursuit is providing residents of Children’s Harbor, Inc. with gift bags, each of which will include: one cake mix, one can of frosting, candles, balloons, party hats and favors, candy, unwrapped small toys, coloring books and crayons.  Our goal is to provide 50 Birthday Bags.  For just $10.00 you can bring cheer to one foster child with food, toys and decor for a special day of fun. Please make your donation by Friday, July 31.

Care Packages to Benefit Ministry Camp in Venezuela The Pursuit is reaching out internationally to encourage campers assisting to Campamento Universitario 2009 in Higuerote, Venezuela by providing them with a journal, pen, Live Strong bracelet with camp theme (Unete al Movimient0), flashlight key chain, and a book mark, all packaged in a lime green paper bag. [More info about this camp will soon be shared on this blog. Stay tuned!]

Wanna help out? Join us this weekend (Saturday @ WalMart, Sunday @ The Pursuit Pembroke Pines).

Twitter. Most of the time it’s fun, sometimes it aggravates me. Here are some of the…

…things I like about Twitter:

- It enhances certain aspects of my relationships, especially in the distance. Having lived in 4 cities in the last 5 years means friends are left behind, and they want to know what’s going on with me and my family. Also, there are new friends I’ve met in conferences, at other churches, or online who also want to know what’s going down. At the same time, I am able to follow and see what other friends are doing, no matter where they are (even if they are local).

- It allows me to ramble on stuff I’m doing or on mindless things.

- It allows me to find useful links to blog posts, web sites, and other online goodies. Sometimes I find breaking news or events taking place in my region. If you follow sports teams, you can get some good tweets from them as well.

- It helps me celebrate people’s victories and mourn their losses.

- It is a great way of following people I admire. I personally tend to follow pastors and artists (both secular and Christian).

…things I don’t like about Twitter:

- It offers the temptation of replacing live interaction for Tweeter updates. It does not. Twitter should enhance certain aspects of your relationships, not replace them.

- Spammers. Ughh!

- There’s such a thing as too much self-promotion. I hate it when I see it. I hate it when I do it (guilty as charge). However, who doesn’t like to brag? (by the way, you can follow me at http://twitter.com/galexdiaz … ah the irony!)

- There are people on Twitter who absolutely despise other people on Twitter. Why are you on it then???

Truth is, I’ve been putting it off because of other stuff happening. In the last few weeks I’ve added a few things to my calendar:

- I’m teaching guitar classes at The Pursuit warehouse.

- Last Sunday I taught at church, and will keep doing so for the next two weeks.

- We’ve started a new team at The Pursuit called Big Idea Catalyst, where we meet to discuss ways to embody the Big Idea and take it outside of our building to fulfill needs in our community and inspire people to be like Jesus in their environments. We are still in the planning stages of our first efforts in that direction, but I’m excited about what’s being accomplished.

- I’m getting ready for a couple of trips this summer. One of them to Venezuela, where I have not been back in 3 years!

- I keep doing my regular stuff: music, planning for our celebration services, meetings, practices, hanging out with old and new friends, etc.

There’s a bunch of great stuff in the horizon. Stay tuned!