1 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:10,200 And this is unbelievable that 20% of Americans population is 2 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:13,760 Hispanic. Hispanic meaning Spanish 3 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:17,640 speaking people. That makes us the second largest 4 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:20,600 Spanish speaking country in the universe. 5 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:25,960 Is not Spain, not Colombia, not Argentina, is the United States 6 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:30,120 of America. Well, welcome back to the Grace 7 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:33,280 Church Podcast. It's Whitney and I here today 8 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:36,440 with one of our favorite friends, Brandon Garcia from 9 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:38,760 Iglesia. Gracia, how are you, Brandon? 10 00:00:38,760 --> 00:00:40,960 I'm. Doing good and thanks for asking 11 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:42,320 and thanks for having me. Yeah. 12 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:44,960 Thanks for coming and sitting down and give us a little update 13 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:47,480 on what's going on. And I just have one request of 14 00:00:47,480 --> 00:00:51,120 the two of you. I I would just ask that you 15 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:55,480 don't go off on your own little Spanish language and lead me out 16 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:59,480 of this conversation. See a lot of better well dia 17 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:07,560 Brandon is cassiquieres salir Ora estavian en espanol nuestra 18 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:12,040 premier episodio en espanol entonces Brandon cuenta la 19 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:15,040 gracia gracia que Paso en Las meses pasados. 20 00:01:15,320 --> 00:01:16,080 Now I'm just kidding. Yeah. 21 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:20,960 I knew I knew it'd be trouble. I thought about doing this solo 22 00:01:20,960 --> 00:01:22,960 and I'm thinking better of it now. 23 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:26,240 But yeah, Brandon, glad you're here so. 24 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:27,960 We are, we're, we're just kidding. 25 00:01:27,960 --> 00:01:30,800 Well, Cue and everybody here, Brandon, we really would love 26 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:33,080 for you to just introduce yourself a little bit, your 27 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:37,400 family, how you guys came to be here in Greenville and tell us 28 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:39,720 how many instruments you play somewhere in there as well. 29 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:44,840 Well, it's been 9 years since we moved from Costa Rica. 30 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:47,520 It was just my wife and I. Her name is Yanni. 31 00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:51,800 She plays the cello. I don't play the cello and it's 32 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:56,880 been a great experience for us to just get to know grace and be 33 00:01:56,880 --> 00:02:01,080 disciple over here and also be part of our mission to make 34 00:02:01,080 --> 00:02:05,160 disciples, especially on the Spanish speaking community. 35 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:10,720 Most of our churches immigrant. We're immigrants now. 36 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:16,680 We have 3 kids, Luca, Noah and Mia and it's a challenge to 37 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:20,560 raise them in a different country that we didn't grow up 38 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:23,640 in, in different cultures, right? 39 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:28,680 They speak Spanish but now even my oldest is saying I speak in 40 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:30,240 Poquito Espana. I'm like, come on. 41 00:02:30,640 --> 00:02:33,320 Come on. That's your first language, yes, 42 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:36,840 but at home, you know, he might call me Papi sometimes and Daddy 43 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:38,920 some other time. So we're embracing the full 44 00:02:38,920 --> 00:02:40,600 bilingual household. It's. 45 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:42,560 Gonna be so talented at such a young age. 46 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:45,040 And did you, did you say Costa Rica home country? 47 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:46,880 Costa Rica. So how do you get here from 48 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:50,120 Costa Rica? All right, so Robbie planted a 49 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:52,760 great church in Espanola at a time that now it's called 50 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:56,520 Iglesia Gracia, and he was looking for a worship leader. 51 00:02:56,840 --> 00:03:01,120 He has a recommendation from his friends and we got together. 52 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:04,440 I had a couple of interviews. I don't know how they were able 53 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:09,040 to understand my English at the time, but we ended up coming and 54 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:13,720 now it's been 9 years. And just kind of fun fact about 55 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:15,800 you learning English, how did you learn English? 56 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:20,920 Well, you know you had to take classes, but you actually don't 57 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:24,760 learn on those classes. But then you also can watch 58 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:28,440 shows with subtitles. On Netflix. 59 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:32,080 On Netflix, so that helps. Music too of course. 60 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:34,800 So if you want to learn Spanish, I want to give you that advice. 61 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:38,960 You can try the opposite way. You can so OK, so you come over 62 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:43,560 your your worship leader and but now you're a campus pastor. 63 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:45,600 So how long? Tell us about that journey. 64 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:50,920 That's right. So around 4 years ago, Robbie 65 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:54,760 had another challenge and opportunity that he pursued and 66 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:58,800 I took over the responsibility and the privilege and it's been 67 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:03,720 and it's been a lot. Yeah, I'm grateful for for being 68 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:06,800 part of what God is doing and in our church is specifically 69 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:11,320 because the culture in the upstate is is changing, is 70 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:15,000 growing the population in general, but then also the 71 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:17,000 Hispanic population is, is growing. 72 00:04:17,079 --> 00:04:18,320 Yeah. Well, let's talk about that. 73 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:21,440 Tell us, give us some insight into what kind of numbers does 74 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:22,440 that look like? Yeah. 75 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:27,520 So actually we had a leader retreat a few months ago and I 76 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:29,320 was doing some research for that. 77 00:04:29,840 --> 00:04:35,040 And this is unbelievable, but 20% of Americans population is 78 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:38,600 Hispanic. Hispanic meaning Spanish 79 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:45,520 speaking people, So that means that 65,000,000 Spanish speaking 80 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:50,040 people live in America. And then South Carolina is right 81 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:52,160 up there as far. As percentage, South Carolina 82 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:55,760 might be a little less than 20%, yeah, but still is a lot of 83 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:56,760 people, yeah. OK. 84 00:04:56,760 --> 00:05:01,480 So 65 million or 20% of the population is speaking Spanish. 85 00:05:01,480 --> 00:05:04,400 Yeah. You know what's unbelievable and 86 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:07,040 crazy about that? That makes us the second largest 87 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:10,000 Spanish speaking country and the universe. 88 00:05:10,160 --> 00:05:13,720 Wow, what's the 1st? Mexico is first, so you can find 89 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:16,640 more Spanish speaking people in Mexico and that's it, we're 90 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:19,240 second place. Okay, so we're bordered by the 91 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:21,200 largest Spanish speaking country. 92 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:22,880 That's right. And then the second largest 93 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:25,200 Spanish speaking country is within our borders. 94 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:28,680 That's right, it's us. It's not Spain, not Colombia, 95 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:32,160 not Argentina is the United States of America. 96 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:35,720 So in other words, you're on the cutting edge of a big cultural 97 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:38,600 change here, Yeah. And if I'm honest with you, when 98 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:42,280 we moved 99 years ago, I was not aware of that. 99 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:46,320 Yeah, it was just like a small step that an opportunity just 100 00:05:46,320 --> 00:05:49,600 came up and we took we we thought that it was a good idea 101 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:52,560 for our family. But now I'm realizing that, you 102 00:05:52,560 --> 00:05:55,040 know, it was, it was part of a bigger plan. 103 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:57,840 Yeah. So how does that growth affect 104 00:05:57,840 --> 00:06:01,200 the campus? Well, there are some studies in 105 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:05,560 the church world that will tell that after COVID, a lot of 106 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:10,280 Spanish speaking churches, they, they open their doors, they're 107 00:06:10,280 --> 00:06:14,640 saying that. But year 8, they're expecting an 108 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:18,280 average of 80 people attending their and their services, which 109 00:06:18,280 --> 00:06:19,160 is great. Yeah. 110 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:24,080 But what we've seen in Iglesia Gracia is that in over 11 years, 111 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:26,880 a little more than 11 years, we're having an attendance of 112 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:31,280 400 people on Sundays, well, not counting kids or students. 113 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:34,600 So you're saying that post COVID a lot of new churches started. 114 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:37,640 That's right. And that the average trend is 115 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:39,360 about 80 people after eight years. 116 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:43,920 So we have more churches, but they tend to be relatively 117 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:48,560 small. And through the work of Iglesia 118 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:52,200 Gracia, the church has grown. We've got, we've got folks 119 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:53,920 coming from all over, right? That's right. 120 00:06:54,840 --> 00:06:59,280 We have people coming from all over, meaning countries, but 121 00:06:59,280 --> 00:07:03,440 then meaning also driving from different counties. 122 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:07,080 Even inside the outside. We have around 15 different 123 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:09,200 countries representative in in our church. 124 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:13,120 So this is the example that I always give to someone when I 125 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:15,080 tell them that we have 15 different countries. 126 00:07:15,080 --> 00:07:19,800 Just imagine going to church with a guy from England and a 127 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:23,080 family from Scotland and then a family from Australia. 128 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:26,760 So you speak the same language, but at the same time your accent 129 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:29,880 is different, your culture is different, some of your words 130 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:33,600 are different. So that is that brings a unique 131 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:37,800 challenge for us. But then on top of that, even 132 00:07:37,800 --> 00:07:42,200 though we meet at Taylor's, not everybody comes from 5/10/15 133 00:07:42,200 --> 00:07:44,480 minutes, you know, driving distance. 134 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:46,920 We have people coming from Quinton. 135 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:49,880 Which is interesting. So can you explain a little bit 136 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:54,280 like what is causing them to drive so far to come to this 137 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:55,840 church? Yeah, that's a great question. 138 00:07:56,280 --> 00:07:59,200 Well, I would say that first of all, there are not a lot of 139 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:03,240 Spanish speaking churches around especially. 140 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:05,040 Compared to English speaking churches, that's right. 141 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:07,920 Especially compared to the amount that we can find in 142 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:11,000 English. But then historically, most of 143 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:14,720 the Hispanic churches tend to be either Catholic, Roman Catholic 144 00:08:14,720 --> 00:08:20,200 churches or charismatic. So we've seen that some of the 145 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:24,200 comments that new people coming to our church will will say that 146 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:27,280 that, you know, was one of the reasons they they stick 147 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:31,400 together. It's just the emphasis that we 148 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:34,960 put on the Bible, the Scriptures, and they'll start 149 00:08:35,159 --> 00:08:37,760 saying things like, well, I haven't been part of a church 150 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:42,159 where we just study one book of the Bible and we go into that 151 00:08:42,159 --> 00:08:45,800 detail in the context. And it's helping me see things 152 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:48,080 that I've never heard before. Yeah. 153 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:50,800 Or even I didn't know that I was able to read the Bible. 154 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:53,360 I thought that it was something that just the priest was allowed 155 00:08:53,360 --> 00:08:55,040 to do. And I just received from him. 156 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:58,760 Wow. So it's it is amazing to be part 157 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:00,920 of that journey for those people. 158 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:04,080 You are seeing a lot of baptisms. 159 00:09:04,120 --> 00:09:05,720 Tell us about that. Yeah. 160 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:12,360 So just to give you an example, in the month of April, we had 161 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:16,720 planned to celebrate baptisms. And when we tell our people, 162 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:20,280 when we tell our people that we were having baptisms, we had 163 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:23,480 that many people interested that we had to split in two Sundays 164 00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:26,880 back-to-back. So we celebrated 12 baptisms, 3 165 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:29,600 on each service because we have two services per Sunday. 166 00:09:30,680 --> 00:09:35,800 And it's, you know, it's showing the need for a good Spanish 167 00:09:35,800 --> 00:09:38,880 speaking church in the Upstate because the population is 168 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:43,160 growing, the hunger is there and we've seen the fruit of that. 169 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:44,880 Yeah. Did you say what average 170 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:46,640 attendance has been in the spring? 171 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:48,920 Yeah. So the average attendance is 172 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:51,800 around 400 people. Wow, yeah, that's amazing. 173 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:57,120 And OK, so for those of us who have never attended a service, 174 00:09:57,520 --> 00:10:01,440 how does the Spanish speaking services line up and, and, and 175 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:03,400 other programs with English speaking? 176 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:05,480 Are we, are you trying to do the same thing? 177 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:07,200 Are you doing something completely different? 178 00:10:07,680 --> 00:10:09,760 You know, are we getting teaching from Blake and 179 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:12,320 Schofield with Spanish subtitles like what are we? 180 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:15,480 What are we doing? I would love for having Blake 181 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:20,440 speaking Spanish in our services, but but no, we have, 182 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:22,360 we have teachers in our congregation. 183 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:26,600 So I got the privilege to teach around every other week. 184 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:29,120 And then we have Robbie who planted the church. 185 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:31,800 He's he's teaching in Harrison, who is on staff so. 186 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:34,760 You got a plurality of teachers just like English speaking just 187 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:38,480 like. English speaking and then we are 188 00:10:38,920 --> 00:10:42,440 really blessed by being part of Grace Church as a whole and 189 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:45,240 share the resources that we have as a, as a big church. 190 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:49,800 I am part of the teaching meetings and you know, I'm part 191 00:10:49,800 --> 00:10:52,680 of the conversations with Jim and Bill and Matt and Scoffy and 192 00:10:52,680 --> 00:10:57,240 Blake preparing for the same sermon series that we are having 193 00:10:57,240 --> 00:10:58,880 in the English speaking campuses. 194 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:05,080 So, so the service look a little bit the same in this in terms of 195 00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:10,000 teaching and songs, but there are a little bit of differences 196 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:12,240 like we're a little more passionate in worship. 197 00:11:12,560 --> 00:11:16,000 You might say meet and greets are longer because people keep 198 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:21,160 hugging each other. But overall, we have pretty 199 00:11:21,160 --> 00:11:22,240 similar services. Yeah. 200 00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:27,040 Are there ever any times that you guys choose to teach 201 00:11:27,040 --> 00:11:30,960 something slightly different for your campus just to meet them 202 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:33,440 specifically where they're at? Or do you always teach the same 203 00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:36,360 thing? Every once in a while during the 204 00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:39,200 summer, we might do something specific that we need to address 205 00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:41,560 as a campus. But that's a good question 206 00:11:41,560 --> 00:11:44,280 because that brings another idea. 207 00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:47,720 Even though we have the same teaching, the illustrations 208 00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:50,640 might be different, or the application might be a little 209 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:54,080 different based on our context. Sure, we have the same 210 00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:55,920 necessity. We need Jesus. 211 00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:59,960 We need to be confronted as we pursue comfort, as we pursue the 212 00:11:59,960 --> 00:12:03,360 American dream. But some of the way you present 213 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:05,240 that might might be a little different. 214 00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:09,160 And that's why we do We would want to have a completely 215 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:13,480 different teacher teach it in their own language to be able to 216 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:15,280 relate to a very specific audience. 217 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:17,640 Otherwise, I guess we could just subtitle Blake, But there's 218 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:20,080 something that is lost in the. 100%, yeah, that's right. 219 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:26,600 And my understanding is a lot of growth in children's ministry 220 00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:29,040 and even student ministry. Can you talk a little bit about 221 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:31,320 the the families? Yeah. 222 00:12:31,320 --> 00:12:38,000 So that creates a unique challenge that we're seeing in 223 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:40,320 his disciple in the next generation. 224 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:42,400 Yeah, within the Hispanic church. 225 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:47,720 And I've seen it in my house. And here's the idea that most of 226 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:53,760 us, we don't have relatives in the in the city. 227 00:12:54,040 --> 00:12:57,080 Sure. So I don't have my parents or 228 00:12:57,680 --> 00:13:03,240 grandma or brothers and sisters. So your family is actually the 229 00:13:03,240 --> 00:13:07,560 church, right? So we've seen the hospitality 230 00:13:07,560 --> 00:13:11,280 for us and in our context is not like a strategy that we have to 231 00:13:11,280 --> 00:13:13,280 pursue really hard. It's a necessity. 232 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:17,840 We just need to be surrounded by other people, especially when we 233 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:22,120 are raising kids. So if I'm honest with you, I'm 234 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:27,000 not 100% sure how the future looks like for us because we are 235 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:31,160 not pursuing to just protect our Hispanic culture and and 236 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:34,360 disciple our kids in loving the Hispanic heritage, right? 237 00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:36,760 So that's not the main goal. The main goal is for them to 238 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:39,000 follow Jesus and be faithful to Him. 239 00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:43,040 In this context. In this context, by having 240 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:46,680 parents that are immigrants, but most of them they were born in 241 00:13:46,680 --> 00:13:50,320 here, speaking 2 languages, going to school with people that 242 00:13:50,320 --> 00:13:52,840 look different than them, that they have a different experience 243 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:55,960 at home. But at the same time, you have 244 00:13:55,960 --> 00:13:57,800 the same gut. Yeah. 245 00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:00,440 And you have have most of the same issues. 246 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:04,880 So I would love to have more answers, but we're trying to 247 00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:07,440 figure it out as as we go. Yeah, no, I love that. 248 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:10,400 And thanks for bringing us into that, that tension. 249 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:15,400 It's a lot of us if we're not up close and personal with Spanish 250 00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:19,760 speaking culture, we may not, we may not think about it or or 251 00:14:19,840 --> 00:14:22,640 even worse, we have stereotypes that just aren't healthy. 252 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:27,600 They aren't helpful. So well, tell us a little bit 253 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:31,000 about, you know, you talked about being a a Church of 254 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:32,960 immigrants, mainly first generation. 255 00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:36,760 How does that help you connect with the story of faith and 256 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:38,880 follow Jesus, maybe in a unique way? 257 00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:43,440 Yeah, wow. I would say that as an 258 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:49,720 immigrant, you are aware that this is not home, because it's 259 00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:50,560 not. It's not. 260 00:14:50,600 --> 00:14:52,560 Yeah, this is. It's not Costa Rica. 261 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:58,920 Yeah, but at the same time, you have the opportunity to live as 262 00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:02,600 a missionary. So not just taking advantage of 263 00:15:02,600 --> 00:15:05,320 the city or the place that you're in, but also look for 264 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:10,360 opportunities to bless and serve and be light around the people 265 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:15,240 that is with you. But at the same time, as you are 266 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:20,120 reminded that this is not home, you're looking forward for your 267 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:23,240 how do you say in English, like your homeland? 268 00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:24,800 Yeah. Yeah, Homeland. 269 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:27,280 Future home. Yeah, you're looking for for for 270 00:15:27,280 --> 00:15:32,840 your homeland. And then as immigrants, you are 271 00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:37,280 also facing tough situations, hard situations that humble 272 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:40,360 yourself and remind you that you're not self-sufficient, that 273 00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:43,440 you need a guy. This is a personal story. 274 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:48,480 We were waiting for my wife's paperwork, like for four years, 275 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:52,840 and at some point I was leading the church and not knowing if I 276 00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:56,560 was going to be able to stay here the next year just because 277 00:15:56,560 --> 00:16:00,680 of the immigrant process used to allow her to work. 278 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:04,160 And that's just my story. But then you have other families 279 00:16:05,240 --> 00:16:11,680 crossing countries, fleeing away from their countries just to 280 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:15,600 look for a better future for their kids, crossing the border, 281 00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:20,880 crossing rivers, and then getting in here, realizing that 282 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:24,240 that better future that they were looking for is not as easy. 283 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:28,040 No. And they're realizing that it's 284 00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:30,120 not as promising. It's not everything that they 285 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:31,280 were looking for. Yeah. 286 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:35,120 So when you face all of that, you realize that, oh, So what I 287 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:38,000 needed, what I need is not in this country. 288 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:40,920 It's not at this system is in Christ. 289 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:46,600 So just seeing that first hand, it's, it's amazing. 290 00:16:46,600 --> 00:16:50,640 Because on any given weekend, you have, you already said you 291 00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:54,240 have folks coming from 15 different home countries, but 292 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:57,680 their situations are in the hundreds of where they're coming 293 00:16:57,680 --> 00:17:00,040 from. I mean, some folks are seeking 294 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:02,480 asylum. Yeah, I've heard stories, 295 00:17:02,480 --> 00:17:05,720 particularly coming out of some countries like Venezuela, just 296 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:07,400 really, really difficult situations. 297 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:10,319 Elaborate a little bit more on your personal situation with 298 00:17:10,319 --> 00:17:12,720 Yanni. When you come into the country, 299 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:14,319 you come in as a religious worker. 300 00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:17,599 Is that on a like a temporary visa? 301 00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:21,480 Yeah, like a two year OK. And so then you're going through 302 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:24,880 the process and Yanni's with you as your spouse. 303 00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:27,200 Not allowed to work. Not allowed to. 304 00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:28,840 Work is allowed to be with me. Yeah. 305 00:17:29,120 --> 00:17:33,800 And then how long does it take each of you to finalize your 306 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:37,200 paperwork? Well, in the middle of COVID, it 307 00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:42,840 took like close to six years for her to get her permanent 308 00:17:42,840 --> 00:17:45,800 residence residency, which is called a green card. 309 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:48,160 Yeah. But just picture this as we were 310 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:51,680 waiting for that process. We had kids, right, All of our 311 00:17:51,680 --> 00:17:55,120 families in Costa Rica. So we wanted our family to get 312 00:17:55,120 --> 00:17:57,760 to know our kids. Yeah, of course, and just hang 313 00:17:57,760 --> 00:17:59,760 out with them. And we wanted our kids to get to 314 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:03,120 know grandma and grandpa and aunts and uncles. 315 00:18:04,080 --> 00:18:07,880 So we were waiting over here not knowing if when that was going 316 00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:11,040 to happen. Because just to be clear, if she 317 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:14,200 leaves, she can't get back. She can't get back. 318 00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:16,440 Yeah. And while she's here, she can't 319 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:20,000 work, OK. But she's allowed to be with me. 320 00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:26,040 Which is good, but yeah, there's just so much complication and 321 00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:28,960 complexity to everything that you're describing. 322 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:32,560 And it does go to your earlier point that there's something 323 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:38,840 clarifying that not this country isn't home, but this world isn't 324 00:18:38,840 --> 00:18:41,520 home. Like we're not illusioned to the 325 00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:45,120 fact that everything we need is going to be supplied in this 326 00:18:45,120 --> 00:18:48,120 moment because you feel the tension of so many things are 327 00:18:48,120 --> 00:18:52,040 not working out to expectations. And you kind of alluded to that 328 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:54,560 earlier. I think you had mentioned like 329 00:18:55,160 --> 00:18:59,880 comfort and some of the things that your congregation, they are 330 00:18:59,880 --> 00:19:02,240 here in this country, things that they're seeking. 331 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:05,760 Can you describe a little bit more of that and just how you 332 00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:08,440 guys are having to lead your people through maybe some of 333 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:10,880 those idols that they have? Yeah. 334 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:16,680 So as you come here pursuing the American Dream, I've seen like 335 00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:21,320 two different outcomes of that. On one hand, you're pursuing 336 00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:25,200 money and stability, and you're sending money to your countries, 337 00:19:25,200 --> 00:19:27,560 to your family. Some people are sustaining their 338 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:30,840 family here and sustaining other families in other countries. 339 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:35,080 Wow. And actually, $175 billion, 340 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:37,400 yeah, are sent. With AB, with AB are. 341 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:39,720 Sent back, are sending back every year. 342 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:43,080 Yeah. So as you start making money, I 343 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:45,880 mean, you're working hard. Whatever it is that you're 344 00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:47,760 doing, you're working hard, but you're making money. 345 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:51,840 I've seen two outcomes. On one hand, you realize that 346 00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:55,240 that's not enough. And you realize I've heard 347 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:58,680 stories like, hey, at some point I remembered that I was taking 348 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:02,040 all the overtime possible, but now I'm not because I'm 349 00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:05,400 realizing that that's not it. And as you realize that that's 350 00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:10,320 not it, God allow you to get to know what is it that you're 351 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:13,120 needing. And that is Christ and that is 352 00:20:13,120 --> 00:20:16,760 being part of a local church and serve others and love others and 353 00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:20,360 lead your family. And when you see that, it's a 354 00:20:20,360 --> 00:20:22,800 beautiful story. But then on the other hand, just 355 00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:26,120 to be clear with you and tell you stories, I've seen people 356 00:20:26,120 --> 00:20:28,560 that as they're pursuing the American Dream and making money 357 00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:32,560 and pursuing more money and just just get absorbed in the system, 358 00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:39,120 their families just are destroyed and their relationship 359 00:20:39,120 --> 00:20:42,360 with each other is destroyed and their lives are destroyed just 360 00:20:42,360 --> 00:20:47,240 because they're pursuing. But it's not the need. 361 00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:53,440 Yeah, which so much of that can be specific to the population 362 00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:55,400 that you have, but even as you're talking about it, I'm 363 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:57,920 like, that's not really that much different. 364 00:20:57,920 --> 00:21:00,240 Yeah, not at all. Our English speakers, that idea 365 00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:02,880 of trying to maximize the country that we live in and get 366 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:06,440 everything that we can out of it and comfort at any cost, like, 367 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:09,200 yeah, I do. I want us to feel that tension 368 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:12,040 and send. That yeah, elevate work status. 369 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:13,880 Take that as your primary identity. 370 00:21:14,120 --> 00:21:17,560 Neglect family, neglect spiritual life, neglect 371 00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:19,360 physical, all that. Yeah. 372 00:21:19,360 --> 00:21:21,200 I mean, I think that's that is real. 373 00:21:21,280 --> 00:21:23,920 That is very real. So, yeah, it's interesting that 374 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:29,240 the commonalities despite the different origination points 375 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:31,480 and. And so you are. 376 00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:35,360 I was just thinking about you as a campus pastor and comparing 377 00:21:35,360 --> 00:21:38,000 you to our other English speaking campuses. 378 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:42,160 I mean, you're doing all the same work, but you are 379 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:46,080 contextualizing it. And so this specifically is an 380 00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:49,400 area around warning your folks not to seek comfort. 381 00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:54,960 What are what are a couple of of spiritual things related to 382 00:21:55,120 --> 00:21:57,560 ownership of their faith or the way church works? 383 00:21:57,560 --> 00:22:01,760 What are you seeing as areas of discipleship that you're trying 384 00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:06,560 to really lead your folks in? So continue with the same idea, 385 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:08,480 work. It's a big deal. 386 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:12,800 How do you manage your time? How do you see work as not the 387 00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:17,920 end goal, but just part of what you do to provide? 388 00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:24,720 But then how you don't forget your family of origin and your 389 00:22:24,720 --> 00:22:27,400 family in the faith? Family faith, yeah. 390 00:22:28,120 --> 00:22:34,080 So that is that is one thing. And then just to going deep in, 391 00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:39,080 in your faith, not just marking a check as a tradition, as a, 392 00:22:39,280 --> 00:22:43,760 you know, a religious tradition that you have as a family, just 393 00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:48,080 show up on Sunday, but you cultivate a relationship with 394 00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:51,520 the Lord that you're living. You know, our core values that 395 00:22:51,520 --> 00:22:53,400 you're being biblically oriented, that you're 396 00:22:53,400 --> 00:22:56,000 prayerfully dependent, you're serving others. 397 00:22:57,680 --> 00:23:00,920 So that is that is a challenge in this culture because you're 398 00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:05,040 you can get to absorb in what you need to do that you just 399 00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:08,600 give God what is left out. Yeah. 400 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:12,280 And falling back on a religious experience. 401 00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:15,080 And you know, for many of us that grew up in the South, we 402 00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:17,920 had our own version of a religious experience. 403 00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:20,960 And so again, we share that in common. 404 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:27,200 Tell, tell us just as we conclude here in the next 5 or 405 00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:31,840 10 minutes, what are what are you learning personally? 406 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:35,320 And then what are you really excited about? 407 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:45,160 So it is mind blowing just to see how God transcend your 408 00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:50,880 background, your language, your story, your immigrant 409 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:55,080 immigration status, whether you have Social Security or not, the 410 00:23:55,080 --> 00:24:00,280 color of your skin, your accent, He's above all of that. 411 00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:05,320 And just seeing in display with my own eyes, unifying the body, 412 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:11,720 not just within Iglesia Gracia, but then as a as a church as a 413 00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:15,640 whole. Yeah, it's something that that I 414 00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:19,000 am not getting used to yet and that I don't want to take for 415 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:22,080 granted. So that's something that I am 416 00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:25,280 learning. Yeah, How is First Corinthians 417 00:24:26,120 --> 00:24:27,840 played into some of those learnings? 418 00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:35,040 It's been great because even in our church we talked a lot about 419 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:38,520 families, you know, fleeing away from the realities in other 420 00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:41,200 countries and seeking for asylum and all of that. 421 00:24:41,520 --> 00:24:44,600 But then we also have professionals that they were 422 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:48,400 brought here by big companies, right, Because they were 423 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:52,320 brilliant people, engineers and and things like that. 424 00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:57,600 So we have different demographic, yeah, we have 425 00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:01,440 different economic status within Iglesia Gracia. 426 00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:03,280 Different gifts. Different gifts. 427 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:09,400 So how we are united in Christ in the middle of all of that? 428 00:25:09,800 --> 00:25:12,520 Yeah, it doesn't make sense, right? 429 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:18,360 If you think about it like a lot of Sundays, and I've seen that I 430 00:25:18,360 --> 00:25:23,200 have said this before, there is not a reason, original 431 00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:25,240 explanation why we're together this Sunday. 432 00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:27,600 Because if you look around, you're from different, different 433 00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:30,680 countries, different backgrounds, different social 434 00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:34,080 status. But yet we're here and we're 435 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:38,440 worshiping the same God while beside us at the Taylor's 436 00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:40,880 building, there are other group of people worshiping the same 437 00:25:40,880 --> 00:25:42,480 God in another language. Yeah. 438 00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:46,600 So that is, that is mind blowing and that is actually what 439 00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:51,120 excites me also for the future. Yeah, especially if I'm honest 440 00:25:51,120 --> 00:25:55,720 as I think about my kids and just the 90 kids that we have 441 00:25:55,720 --> 00:26:00,080 every Sunday that are just like my kids that they now have this 442 00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:06,120 bicultural by language culture. And that's how that's going to 443 00:26:06,120 --> 00:26:10,200 play out in the future in a country, you know, conformed by 444 00:26:10,200 --> 00:26:12,600 20% of the Spanish speaking country. 445 00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:15,720 I don't know if we if we need to do something different. 446 00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:18,680 Sure, yeah. And I am thinking about that and 447 00:26:18,680 --> 00:26:23,000 I'm passionate about that and just looking forward to what God 448 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:28,080 has prepared for and. There is this common idea now, 449 00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:30,800 like the idea of diversity is just popular, you know. 450 00:26:31,120 --> 00:26:34,600 But it does remind me when we were back in First Corinthians 451 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:38,280 12 and the idea of the human body has many parts, but the 452 00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:40,280 many parts make up one whole body. 453 00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:43,640 So it is with the body of Christ and it talks about some are Jews 454 00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:46,120 and some are Gentiles, some are slaves, some are free, some 455 00:26:46,120 --> 00:26:49,000 speak Spanish and some speak English and some were born here 456 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:51,720 and some were not born here. But we've all been baptized into 457 00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:56,560 one body by 1 spirit and we all share the same spirit and that's 458 00:26:57,120 --> 00:27:00,560 a beautiful like that is that's why diversity is good. 459 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:03,920 It's not just for the sake of it, but like, especially within 460 00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:07,560 the context of Scripture and the church, like there is beauty 461 00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:11,440 brought to the body by so many different kinds of people. 462 00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:14,400 It's really cool. Yeah, thinking about your kids 463 00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:16,880 and then thinking about my own kids. 464 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:21,200 I have two that really got infected, fell in love with the 465 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:23,600 Spanish language. One of those, my daughter who 466 00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:27,120 still lives in the Upstate, is a member, Iglesia Gracia. 467 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:31,520 So Whitney, just like you, very passionate about the language 468 00:27:31,520 --> 00:27:36,240 and the people, and I call it her superpower that she can 469 00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:38,880 translate, you know, that she can understand, that she can 470 00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:40,760 speak, that she can communicate, that she can do all these 471 00:27:40,760 --> 00:27:45,680 different things. So but speaking less to her and 472 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:48,600 more to me as someone who doesn't speak the language, 473 00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:51,440 listening to this podcast, I hear what you're saying. 474 00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:54,640 I'm super curious. I want to know, but I am 475 00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:57,560 intimidated. So what? 476 00:27:57,960 --> 00:28:03,080 What would you offer me as far as being able to come and see 477 00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:08,560 and engage with Iglesia Gracia? Well, I will encourage you to 478 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:12,880 just come and see and be part and you'll be surprised how many 479 00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:14,440 Americans are in our service too. 480 00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:15,240 Really. OK. 481 00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:17,680 Yeah, yeah. Well, first of all because we 482 00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:21,200 have mixed couples, so the husband might be American, the 483 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:25,920 wife is not or vice versa. But then some other English 484 00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:28,440 speaking people, they just want to be part and we're welcoming 485 00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:32,200 them and giving them hugs too. And what music's just good? 486 00:28:32,200 --> 00:28:34,440 And what kind of accommodations do you make for language? 487 00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:36,520 Yeah. So we have simultaneous 488 00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:39,000 translation. So we have talented people that 489 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:43,440 are listening what we're saying in real time and then speaking 490 00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:46,520 over your ear, OK in English. Yeah, sure. 491 00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:49,320 So you don't have an excuse, Just come. 492 00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:51,640 That's. Awesome. 493 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:54,960 That's awesome. And I think we talked about just 494 00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:58,520 with the the prevalence of the Spanish speakers in the area, we 495 00:28:58,520 --> 00:29:02,680 want to make sure that we're evangelizing and advocating for 496 00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:08,280 Iglesio Gracia as a as one of many church homes, but as one 497 00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:11,480 that has a lot of resources, life experience, and a lot of 498 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:15,120 love and care for our community. And so invite someone to be a 499 00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:16,760 part of that community. That's right. 500 00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:19,520 Pray. What can specifically we be 501 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:23,240 praying for? Just what we talked about, unity 502 00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:28,200 within our church and then for strength to live a godly life, 503 00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:31,800 not pursuing the distractions of this world of the American dream 504 00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:35,320 and for the future as we are just figuring out how to 505 00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:40,080 disciple the second and third generation that they are, you 506 00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:42,440 know, bilingual. Yeah. 507 00:29:43,600 --> 00:29:48,680 And as a whole, you know, just a reminder that our eyes will keep 508 00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:54,280 fixing Jesus because we're not pursuing the protection of our 509 00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:56,760 Hispanic heritage. That's not our our agenda. 510 00:29:56,800 --> 00:29:59,800 Yeah. We're here to just be faithful 511 00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:03,440 to God's mission, making disciples and, and be faithful 512 00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:06,720 to his Kingdom, not our culture or language. 513 00:30:06,720 --> 00:30:08,840 Yeah. Love that. 514 00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:12,920 Any final thoughts with? No, I, I just love it. 515 00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:16,600 I mean, I think something else that I'd love to mention, I'd 516 00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:19,080 love to shout out not the Richardson. 517 00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:22,480 She does so much translating for our women's resources. 518 00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:25,840 We get to send those to other countries and not just her. 519 00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:28,960 I mean, so many volunteers and people at Iglesias Gracia. 520 00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:32,200 Like there there's something about being a part of the 521 00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:36,040 greater church and just that God has been really kind and 522 00:30:36,040 --> 00:30:39,920 faithful to us and that we get to take these two brothers and 523 00:30:39,920 --> 00:30:43,240 sisters all across the world and support and love them. 524 00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:46,520 I know we've mentioned that several times, but I just, it's 525 00:30:46,520 --> 00:30:48,400 one of the coolest things I think we are able to do. 526 00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:52,160 So specifically translating resources and then sending them 527 00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:55,760 to some of these 15 different countries, being an extension of 528 00:30:55,840 --> 00:30:57,800 of Grace Church and encouragement. 529 00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:01,440 Even if we physically can't be present, being able to send 530 00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:05,200 resources because of what folks like you who are listening as 531 00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:08,360 you give to the mission of Grace Church or helping support all of 532 00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:11,000 these different things. We're asking you to pray. 533 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:14,080 We're asking you to come visit. And Brandon, thanks. 534 00:31:14,600 --> 00:31:17,240 Yeah, We really, really enjoy having you here and having these 535 00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:19,920 conversations, and we'll hope you'll come back soon. 536 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:21,280 Yeah. Thanks for having me. 537 00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:23,600 All right. Thanks for listening. 538 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:26,440 We'll see you again on the Grace Church Podcast. 539 00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:27,960 Oh yes.