Meet Matt Garcia
Meet Matt Garcia
An area where God is helping me live by faith in Him is in overcoming loneliness. I started life with the greatest advantage possible; Godly parents who taught me the gospel and prayed for me constantly. But growing up as an only child with two working parents gifted me with a lot of alone time whether I wanted it or not. Sometimes I found myself wanting a little brother or sister. School was challenging for me. I was a natural teacher’s pet and related to adults more so than to kids. I was bullied because I was ahead both academically and physically for my age (6’1” 235 lbs. at 13) but would never fight back because I didn’t want to disappoint my parents or hurt kids who were smaller than me.
Besides the day I trusted Christ, the most wonderful day for me was in 1996 when I came to this church for the first time! I had never heard the message of grace expressed so clearly nor had I ever seen it lived out in the laboratory of life among teens the way I saw in our youth group. For the first time, I felt like I could be myself with people my own age! God used the youth pastors and volunteers to help me so clearly see the kind of Christ follower I wanted to be. They were always there for me no matter what I was going through. I wanted so badly to someday have the same influence in someone else’s life.
Today, having served for 20+ years in student ministry, I feel like the most blessed person on the face of the earth! I’ve had a front row seat to every major event in a student’s life you can think of. But the greatest blessing of all is to have helped several students trust Christ for the first time and watch them enter into the grace in which we walk so joyfully.
God has blessed me abundantly in ways that only He can. Because of Him, I have hope every day, no matter what. Because of Him, I have a church family to love, serve, and journey through life with. And because of Him, the kid without the little brother or sister he asked for lost himself in serving Jesus and found thousands of brothers and sisters in Christ! Fighting loneliness in different forms will probably still be a growing challenge in the years ahead. The assurance I have is that God is with me, and because of Him and His family, I will never walk alone.
Besides the day I trusted Christ, the most wonderful day for me was in 1996 when I came to this church for the first time! I had never heard the message of grace expressed so clearly nor had I ever seen it lived out in the laboratory of life among teens the way I saw in our youth group. For the first time, I felt like I could be myself with people my own age! God used the youth pastors and volunteers to help me so clearly see the kind of Christ follower I wanted to be. They were always there for me no matter what I was going through. I wanted so badly to someday have the same influence in someone else’s life.
Today, having served for 20+ years in student ministry, I feel like the most blessed person on the face of the earth! I’ve had a front row seat to every major event in a student’s life you can think of. But the greatest blessing of all is to have helped several students trust Christ for the first time and watch them enter into the grace in which we walk so joyfully.
God has blessed me abundantly in ways that only He can. Because of Him, I have hope every day, no matter what. Because of Him, I have a church family to love, serve, and journey through life with. And because of Him, the kid without the little brother or sister he asked for lost himself in serving Jesus and found thousands of brothers and sisters in Christ! Fighting loneliness in different forms will probably still be a growing challenge in the years ahead. The assurance I have is that God is with me, and because of Him and His family, I will never walk alone.
Posted in Faces of Faith