WEBVTT 00:00:03.532 --> 00:00:06.533 Well, good morning, Valley View. 00:00:06.599 --> 00:00:10.733 We, normally work through a book of the Bible at a time. 00:00:10.733 --> 00:00:12.865 We've been working through the Book of Proverbs. 00:00:12.865 --> 00:00:18.365 We've taken a break from that for the summer for a couple of weeks to hear from a few folks. 00:00:18.365 --> 00:00:20.565 And today is we're going to continue in that theme. 00:00:20.565 --> 00:00:23.033 We're going to start back to the book of Proverbs next week. 00:00:23.033 --> 00:00:26.733 But this week we're going to do something even a little different. 00:00:26.733 --> 00:00:29.765 A few months ago, our Sojourners were meeting. 00:00:29.765 --> 00:00:31.399 They meet about once a month. 00:00:31.399 --> 00:00:35.232 There are more experienced group at the church. 00:00:35.232 --> 00:00:37.500 They meet for fellowship, encouragement. 00:00:37.500 --> 00:00:39.732 Eddie Lee heads up that group. 00:00:39.732 --> 00:00:53.566 And that week in particular, so this was a couple of months ago now, she had asked Isaac Sanchez to share his story, his background with the group, how God led him to the U.S., how they ended up at Valley View. 00:00:53.566 --> 00:00:56.899 And it was a really encouraging story. 00:00:56.899 --> 00:01:01.633 I was there for it, and I left there very moved, very stirred, very encouraged. 00:01:01.633 --> 00:01:05.799 And I thought, I think the whole church needs to hear his story. 00:01:05.799 --> 00:01:10.700 This was about the same time that we brought Isaac on as our worship pastor. 00:01:10.700 --> 00:01:14.733 You know, Isaac has been here on staff about ten years now. 00:01:14.733 --> 00:01:19.165 I think at this point he's been around a lot longer than a lot of our staffs. 00:01:19.165 --> 00:01:27.665 Maybe not Eddie Lee yet he's hasn't reached that status, but he's been here a while, and I think a lot of people will be very encouraged to hear his story. 00:01:27.665 --> 00:01:29.832 So if you would, let's welcome up Isaac Sanchez. 00:01:29.832 --> 00:01:30.766 Isaac, would you come on up? 00:01:40.700 --> 00:01:42.799 John. 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:44.233 Appreciate it. 00:01:44.233 --> 00:01:46.200 Appreciate church. That introduction. 00:01:46.200 --> 00:01:47.299 Thank you, pastor. 00:01:47.299 --> 00:01:52.332 Thank you to the elders for giving me this opportunity to talk to you this morning. 00:01:52.332 --> 00:01:59.900 I, usually come up here with, a guitar in my arms, and that gives me a lot of security. 00:01:59.900 --> 00:02:07.000 So today I'm a little bit nervous, even though I'm on stage every single week, I don't usually get to talk this much. 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:12.332 And, and I don't I don't want you guys to be here for two hours hearing my rambling. 00:02:12.332 --> 00:02:21.900 So I really, really concized it into, hopefully a coherent, story of my life and my family's journey here. 00:02:21.900 --> 00:02:37.400 And, I'm sorry to disappoint you, church by, not having the first, having the first person in three weeks with a little bit of hair on their head, all jokes aside, thank you, Troy. 00:02:37.400 --> 00:02:41.932 And thank you, Colby, for bringing the, the word to us this past two weeks. 00:02:41.932 --> 00:02:45.900 We really appreciate hearing from God through all of you. 00:02:45.900 --> 00:02:53.800 But this morning, church, I want to church, share a little bit of my background, share a little bit of my family's history. 00:02:53.800 --> 00:03:02.233 And if you notice a little bit of my accent, I don't have the pleasure of having some of y'all’s southern drawl or country accent. 00:03:03.966 --> 00:03:06.566 But the accent comes from from Cuba. 00:03:06.566 --> 00:03:15.133 I was born in, Havana, Cuba on May 13th, 1995 was just a long time ago. 00:03:15.133 --> 00:03:16.165 I now feel like. 00:03:16.165 --> 00:03:29.733 And I think we have some images on the screen that might pop up here in a second, showing, me and my family as little kids, where you can see here on the side screens. 00:03:29.733 --> 00:03:32.733 That is me and my very young parents. 00:03:33.432 --> 00:03:38.699 They had me when they were about 21 years old, which is very old for Cuba. 00:03:38.699 --> 00:03:43.432 Honestly, usually is not much younger. 00:03:43.432 --> 00:03:44.233 Me and my family. 00:03:44.233 --> 00:03:46.032 And there's a couple more images here. 00:03:46.032 --> 00:03:46.966 They'll come up. 00:03:46.966 --> 00:03:48.599 Me and my family live there. 00:03:48.599 --> 00:03:51.366 I come from, from my dad's side. 00:03:51.366 --> 00:03:55.332 I come from a background, a pastoral background. 00:03:55.332 --> 00:04:03.233 My great grandpa, he was, one of the founders of the denomination that I was a part of in Cuba. 00:04:03.233 --> 00:04:08.233 And my grandpa follow suit, and he also became a pastor in that denomination. 00:04:08.233 --> 00:04:12.733 My dad, though, he wanted to be the black sheep of the family. 00:04:12.733 --> 00:04:17.533 He saw the, the struggles, and he saw the hardships. 00:04:17.533 --> 00:04:22.833 But it comes from, being in ministry, being, on staff at a church. 00:04:22.833 --> 00:04:25.632 And he just wanted to be a musician. 00:04:25.632 --> 00:04:29.899 He wanted to just play the piano and lead worship. 00:04:29.899 --> 00:04:33.565 So that's where I get some of my family's background. 00:04:33.565 --> 00:04:36.565 That's, actually our home in Cuba. 00:04:37.033 --> 00:04:38.733 That's our front porch. 00:04:38.733 --> 00:04:41.899 So you can see it needs a little bit, a little, a little bit of paint. 00:04:43.065 --> 00:04:47.899 And that back there is, my actually my grandparents house. 00:04:47.899 --> 00:04:55.800 We lived in a multicultural, multi-generational, home where we live with our grandparents as well. 00:04:55.800 --> 00:05:06.466 But, dad, he, taught himself how to play trumpet and piano and, but God knew that that wasn't all he wanted for him. 00:05:06.466 --> 00:05:14.865 So a couple of years into me being a baby, we, he actually accepted the call to become a pastor as well. 00:05:14.865 --> 00:05:20.199 So from a very young age, I was blessed to grow in a Christian home. 00:05:20.199 --> 00:05:35.100 I was blessed to, be at church all the time, go through all the motions that comes with that, from being in students, to, getting to, middle school and elementary. 00:05:35.833 --> 00:05:37.533 And it was such a blessing. 00:05:37.533 --> 00:05:55.600 I'm telling you, if you are a teenager now, if you're, a student and you have the privilege to be here today and to go and to be raised in a home that loves the Lord and brings you to church, you have no idea what a privilege you have in your life. 00:05:55.600 --> 00:05:58.600 So really hold on to that as you grow. 00:05:58.600 --> 00:06:13.100 And for those of you that are, the parents that are raising kids in the church, I, I hope that you take some out of my story, out of the story of my family as we came to the States. 00:06:13.165 --> 00:06:18.033 But, my dad, ended up being a young pastor. 00:06:18.033 --> 00:06:22.533 He, started to become, like, an interim pastor. 00:06:22.533 --> 00:06:23.865 I guess you would call it here. 00:06:23.865 --> 00:06:34.699 Where he was sent to different churches to, you know, give vacation time to the pastors, the time to be with their families. 00:06:34.699 --> 00:06:36.733 Maybe it was a transitional time in the church. 00:06:36.733 --> 00:06:44.833 They were looking for a new pastor, so we were sent all over, all over the city of Havana. 00:06:44.833 --> 00:06:49.533 So from a very young age, I learned to have a lot of hats. 00:06:49.932 --> 00:06:57.600 In every church that I went to, I was either, playing, the accordion, kind of. 00:06:57.600 --> 00:07:07.365 I was either having a tambourine in my hands or maracas or whatever it might be, or it might be just a chair that I found to have some some sound to it. 00:07:07.365 --> 00:07:11.533 So from a very young age, I was just immersed in that life. 00:07:11.533 --> 00:07:18.300 Later on in life, my grandpa, my dad, gets assigned to move to the countryside of Cuba. 00:07:18.300 --> 00:07:21.932 And the next photos coming up here, show a little bit of that. 00:07:21.932 --> 00:07:29.333 So we went from being in the city and, place with four walls and, fans. 00:07:29.333 --> 00:07:30.766 We didn't have ac but we had fans. 00:07:30.766 --> 00:07:32.533 This is Cuba. 00:07:32.533 --> 00:07:37.399 To sometimes be in and doing church in a place like this. 00:07:37.399 --> 00:07:40.233 I'm the one that kind of have has his hand up. 00:07:40.233 --> 00:07:44.533 And if you see, I'm playing the chair as a little drum. 00:07:44.533 --> 00:07:48.800 So from a young age, I was really interested in playing drums and music. 00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:50.533 On the right side corner. 00:07:50.533 --> 00:07:54.466 There's my mom and some of my grandparents there as well. 00:07:54.466 --> 00:08:07.165 And there's another picture there that shows what, vbs looked like, for me growing up, my mom is leading the kids, and, on the corner, maybe with the pink dresses. 00:08:07.165 --> 00:08:08.533 You see two girls there? 00:08:08.533 --> 00:08:09.865 Those are my sisters. 00:08:09.865 --> 00:08:12.132 They're two years younger than me. 00:08:12.132 --> 00:08:14.199 You saw them in some of the pictures as well. 00:08:14.199 --> 00:08:30.533 But we went from city people to when we walked in the first day They handed my dad a horse, and they were like, this is your horse now, you got to feed it and you got to make sure it doesn't die. 00:08:32.100 --> 00:08:38.600 So we went from walking in faith streets to having to take care of a horse and learning how to farm. 00:08:38.600 --> 00:08:45.700 But in that time, man, God showed us so much of his provision for us. 00:08:45.700 --> 00:08:47.500 We did not know how to farm. 00:08:47.500 --> 00:08:50.500 We didn't know how to garden. 00:08:50.700 --> 00:09:07.633 And every single day, we never went without food or something to have for breakfast a day in our lives when we were there, because whenever we didn't have it, God will wake someone up in the middle of the night and tell them that they needed to bring us food. 00:09:07.633 --> 00:09:11.832 And all of a sudden some, some beans would show up in the front yard. 00:09:11.832 --> 00:09:13.932 Some eggs would show up in our backyard. 00:09:13.932 --> 00:09:24.332 And God provided for us in that time of need, so much and, that we would have never, experienced. 00:09:24.899 --> 00:09:29.066 But being in the countryside, there was no, no schools. 00:09:29.066 --> 00:09:32.432 We had, we had no schools. 00:09:32.432 --> 00:09:35.265 There was basically just an elementary school. 00:09:35.265 --> 00:09:43.799 So we had to make the decision that I had to move back to the city, in order to continue my education. 00:09:44.265 --> 00:09:48.399 So I was a little sad, but I was very excited. 00:09:48.399 --> 00:09:50.299 I was getting to move with my grandparents. 00:09:50.299 --> 00:09:58.633 And if you've ever stayed with your grandparents, you know that you can get away with a couple more things than you would with your parents. 00:09:58.633 --> 00:10:08.066 So, even though I was missing my family tremendously, I was actually very excited to kind of be a little bit away from them. 00:10:08.066 --> 00:10:10.166 I was enjoying my independence. 00:10:12.633 --> 00:10:16.232 But at the same time, I found myself. 00:10:17.399 --> 00:10:22.066 That I was kind of steering away from God, just because I didn't have that routine. 00:10:22.066 --> 00:10:32.432 I didn't have my parents there to, to make me go to church when I didn't want to, if I was sleepy enough or if I played that I was a little bit sick. 00:10:32.432 --> 00:10:34.332 I could just stay home. 00:10:34.332 --> 00:10:41.299 So, in that time, even though I had great independence, I started to fall way back from God. 00:10:41.799 --> 00:10:45.666 I didn't have that routine that helped me focus. 00:10:45.666 --> 00:10:50.799 I didn't have that community that, strived to raise me up whenever I was down. 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:53.533 So I began to question my faith. 00:10:53.533 --> 00:10:56.166 I had been my whole life with my parents. 00:10:56.166 --> 00:10:58.466 They have guided me, my grandparents. 00:10:58.466 --> 00:10:59.765 I've always been at church. 00:10:59.765 --> 00:11:04.533 So this time, being away, it really made me test my faith. 00:11:04.533 --> 00:11:07.166 I don't know if any of you can relate to that notion. 00:11:07.166 --> 00:11:23.399 Maybe you went to college and you had a tough time, but I really had to trust God, to to show up and to and to give me, show me that he was there with me, even though I didn't quite believe it at that point. 00:11:23.399 --> 00:11:36.732 Well, it was, sometime where I went back to, the church, our church home, which was, a couple miles away from my grandparents house for, like a little youth event. 00:11:37.533 --> 00:11:45.799 And in this youth event, there was a guest speaker, and he, spoke about his testimony, just like I am doing right now. 00:11:45.799 --> 00:11:49.033 He said that he was, a teenage criminal. 00:11:49.232 --> 00:11:51.832 He was someone that hated God. 00:11:51.832 --> 00:11:56.765 He was someone that would get in trouble, steal from people, hurt people. 00:11:56.765 --> 00:12:03.466 And one day he had stolen some goods from store, and he was being chased by the cops. 00:12:03.466 --> 00:12:05.865 So he was running, and he was trying to get away. 00:12:05.865 --> 00:12:08.865 And the cops were threaten him to send him to jail. 00:12:08.865 --> 00:12:11.832 And he was jumping fences and backyards. 00:12:11.832 --> 00:12:13.332 Chickens were following him. 00:12:13.332 --> 00:12:14.832 It was it was crazy. 00:12:14.832 --> 00:12:26.966 And, he jumps over a fence and, I don't know if you ever did this as a kid, but his shirt got stuck and he was dangling in the fence just like like this. 00:12:26.966 --> 00:12:28.666 And he couldn't. He couldn't get away. 00:12:28.666 --> 00:12:29.832 The cops were running. 00:12:29.832 --> 00:12:31.799 They were trying to find him. 00:12:31.799 --> 00:12:39.633 And in that moment, he remember what his grandma taught him, about the Bible. 00:12:39.633 --> 00:12:50.466 He remember that he could cry out to God, and God would help him even in, in this moment, which he was being bad, and he probably deserved to be caught by the cops and shown a lesson. 00:12:50.466 --> 00:12:52.033 He cried out to God. 00:12:52.033 --> 00:13:01.033 He asked for repentance, and he asked God that if he would free him in that moment, that he would turn away from his, from his path and follow him. 00:13:01.033 --> 00:13:06.432 And lo and behold, his shirt ripped open and he was able to escape. 00:13:06.432 --> 00:13:13.265 Later on, he returned to that store and he returned the items at his store, asked for forgiveness. 00:13:13.265 --> 00:13:17.232 And from that point forward, he promised to follow God. 00:13:17.232 --> 00:13:21.200 And he was now a guest speaker at a youth conference. 00:13:21.200 --> 00:13:28.265 So God has shown in his life, and he was kind of showing us, what God can do through us. 00:13:28.265 --> 00:13:32.232 Man, this, this testimony resonated with me. 00:13:32.232 --> 00:13:38.332 I don't know exactly what it was, but in that moment, I felt the presence of God speaking to me. 00:13:38.332 --> 00:13:40.865 I felt that loneliness. 00:13:40.865 --> 00:13:44.365 I felt everything just came crashing down. 00:13:44.365 --> 00:13:46.432 I was being bad at school. 00:13:46.432 --> 00:13:49.432 I was not following Christ how I should. 00:13:49.633 --> 00:13:58.700 And in that moment, God spoke to me and I felt his presence for the first time, for the first time I wept, for like what felt like hours. 00:13:58.700 --> 00:14:03.500 I just feel his presence and the Holy Spirit speaking to me in that moment. 00:14:03.500 --> 00:14:12.633 And I knew that God wanted me to turn away from my the path that I was kind of going into and to follow him, with all my heart. 00:14:12.932 --> 00:14:20.332 So from that point forward, church, I decided to give my life to Christ at the age of 11, and I could not be happier. 00:14:20.332 --> 00:14:32.066 I remember telling my parents, whenever I got home, calling them because they lived in a different, a different city. And, I could not wait to get baptized. 00:14:32.066 --> 00:14:45.133 So that summer, I went and visited my parents, and, my dad orchestrated, trip to the beach, and I was able to get baptized by my dad. 00:14:45.133 --> 00:14:47.000 Here's a picture of me. 00:14:47.000 --> 00:14:50.865 Anyone else got baptized in the beach at some point? 00:14:50.865 --> 00:14:53.166 I see one hand. 00:14:53.166 --> 00:14:53.765 That's awesome. 00:14:53.765 --> 00:14:58.633 We didn't have a fancy baptismal like this with heater, heater and water. 00:14:58.633 --> 00:15:00.865 So the beach was the best we could do. 00:15:00.865 --> 00:15:05.232 So I got baptized there with four other, folks. 00:15:05.232 --> 00:15:07.265 And I could not be happier. 00:15:07.265 --> 00:15:28.966 So, I had to experience what it was like to find my faith for my own, to be away from the things that I knew, to be away from my comfort zone in order for me to truly believe God. 00:15:28.966 --> 00:15:42.765 So, later on, we, I told you guys that I come from a family of, three generations of pastors that is on my dad's side. 00:15:42.765 --> 00:15:45.000 On my mom's side. 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:48.000 My mom had barely become a believer. 00:15:48.732 --> 00:15:50.133 By the time he met. 00:15:50.133 --> 00:15:51.932 She married my dad. 00:15:51.932 --> 00:16:04.166 So by the time I was a little baby, while mom was very fresh in her faith, and also almost all her family there were not believers, like, on my dad's side there were. 00:16:04.166 --> 00:16:14.200 So when my grandpa one day came to us and told us that he had played the lottery, that came to no surprise with us. 00:16:14.200 --> 00:16:17.200 He was always playing Little Scratch. 00:16:17.265 --> 00:16:25.799 Scratch offs and and doing things that we didn't really could relate to because, you know, we weren't in that lifestyle. 00:16:25.799 --> 00:16:30.600 So he told us that he not only played the lottery, but he had won the lottery. 00:16:30.600 --> 00:16:32.232 We were amazed. 00:16:32.232 --> 00:16:34.399 Now, this wasn't a money lottery. 00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:38.232 I'm not a hidden millionaire or anything like that. 00:16:38.232 --> 00:16:38.732 No way. 00:16:38.732 --> 00:16:41.500 We would have, huge LCD screens already. 00:16:41.500 --> 00:16:46.932 Right now we would not have a broken projector, if that was the case. 00:16:48.466 --> 00:16:54.100 But, we won, well, he had won-- it's called as an international lottery. 00:16:54.100 --> 00:16:57.432 And this basically is a visa opportunity. 00:16:57.432 --> 00:17:07.032 So you can win, you can enter your name, your family's name, and you can enter for a chance to win the opportunity to come to the States. 00:17:07.032 --> 00:17:07.865 Can you believe that? 00:17:07.865 --> 00:17:16.133 Like there is something out there internationally that people are wanting to come to the place where y'all live already to have a better life? 00:17:16.133 --> 00:17:18.965 So that's what my grandpa entered to. 00:17:18.965 --> 00:17:26.299 And this would secure us a legal pathway for not only him, but my family to come to the States. 00:17:26.299 --> 00:17:37.932 Now, I said, how poor we were. Our house in Cuba was probably as big as from those steps to probably over here. 00:17:37.932 --> 00:17:51.133 We lived very poorly, and moving to America would give my family an opportunity to not only improve their opportunities, but also help the rest of our family, in Cuba. 00:17:51.133 --> 00:17:53.200 So we had a family meeting. 00:17:53.200 --> 00:18:03.333 The whole family gathered around, and he basically told us that he wanted to, come to the States, but he needed all of us to be bought in. 00:18:03.333 --> 00:18:31.665 He needed all of us to not only, help raise the money that he needed for plane tickets and to move to the United States, but also, for us to promise that we would at some point move to the States as soon as we had the opportunity to, so in 2000, 2000, he moved, to America. 00:18:31.665 --> 00:18:35.700 And I think I have a picture of our goodbye party to him. 00:18:36.532 --> 00:18:43.532 So on the side with his hands up, just like I was there is my dad and my mom and my grandpa. 00:18:43.532 --> 00:18:45.400 Frank is right there in the middle. 00:18:45.400 --> 00:18:46.165 He has the tie. 00:18:47.232 --> 00:18:54.665 And in 2000, he moved to the States with only about $500 to his name. 00:18:55.532 --> 00:19:05.333 He showed up in Miami, and he was met with people from the organization that, were going to help him out, but he showed up with only $500 in his pocket. 00:19:05.333 --> 00:19:14.400 He showed up, being an unbeliever, he didn't believe in God at the time. 00:19:14.865 --> 00:19:23.333 But I remember, we were able to communicate very briefly with him because international calling in 2000 was very expensive. 00:19:23.333 --> 00:19:24.865 So we knew that he was safe. 00:19:24.865 --> 00:19:27.432 And a couple weeks later, he called us. 00:19:27.432 --> 00:19:34.599 And, my grandpa is a very logical and academically, sound person. 00:19:34.599 --> 00:19:37.599 He was a college professor in Cuba. 00:19:37.900 --> 00:19:42.865 He taught internationally, in Portugal as well. 00:19:42.865 --> 00:19:49.633 This man can recite full sections of, of scientific books to you at a moment's notice. 00:19:49.633 --> 00:19:50.932 So this, this, this. 00:19:50.932 --> 00:19:54.133 My grandpa is a very logical thinker. 00:19:54.133 --> 00:19:57.700 So believing in God was something that was very hard for him to get to. 00:19:57.700 --> 00:20:13.032 I don't know if any of you have experienced that before, but I remember him calling my mom, and he said, he said Arelis, which is my mom's name, Arelis, I’m the happiest that I have ever been in my life. 00:20:13.032 --> 00:20:18.500 And my mom said, of course, you're in the U.S., of course it’s the happiest you’ve ever been. 00:20:18.500 --> 00:20:25.532 You have a little bit of money, you have AC, you have some food finally. 00:20:26.200 --> 00:20:26.799 Which is awesome. 00:20:26.799 --> 00:20:29.165 Of course, you are the happiest you have been in your life. 00:20:29.165 --> 00:20:33.365 But he said, actually, no, I am the happiest I've ever been in my life. 00:20:33.365 --> 00:20:46.965 Because for the first time ever, I got down on my knees and I prayed to God and I thank him for how he brought my whole family and he brought me here without me believing in him. 00:20:46.965 --> 00:20:52.732 He set out many different paths so that I could make it here in this moment. 00:20:52.732 --> 00:20:57.165 So at that point, my grandpa started working through his faith. 00:20:57.165 --> 00:21:08.032 It took him being away from everything he knew, being away from his comfort zone in order for him to truly experience God and His provision. 00:21:08.032 --> 00:21:15.633 I remember that he, he was given and he was going to be assigned a place to move to, like a, permanent residence. 00:21:15.633 --> 00:21:18.932 He was still in Miami, and this is right before my grandpa came. 00:21:18.932 --> 00:21:26.833 And my grandma came and reunited with him, and, he was trusting God in this process. 00:21:26.965 --> 00:21:36.732 He maybe started going to a church service or two, and the lady came and told him, hey, I have different places, different states that we can move you to. 00:21:36.732 --> 00:21:41.833 And, I'm going to name them off and you can move to, Louisville, Kentucky. 00:21:41.833 --> 00:21:46.700 You can move to Chicago, you can move to Texas, or you can move to North Dakota. 00:21:46.700 --> 00:21:55.066 I don't know, and he said that he, was trusting God in that moment, that God was going to put him in the place that he needed to be. 00:21:55.066 --> 00:22:01.400 So he just said yes to the first words that came to her, to her from her mouth, which was Louisville, Kentucky. 00:22:01.400 --> 00:22:05.700 So in that moment, he got assigned a place in Louisville, Kentucky. 00:22:05.700 --> 00:22:07.633 He was reunited with my grandma. 00:22:07.633 --> 00:22:10.633 And this is 2001. 00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:27.732 Well, my grandpa learned that he needed to stop relying on his own intellect, on his own human plans, and he needed to rely on God to move in his life and to tell him where he needed to go. 00:22:27.799 --> 00:22:29.532 Can you relate to that this morning? 00:22:29.532 --> 00:22:44.732 That sometimes our own plans, that own our own intellect, our own decisions can get in the way if we don't really trust God and we don't really, kneel down on our knees and ask him, God, what do you really want me to do? 00:22:44.732 --> 00:22:46.000 So that's what my grandpa started doing. 00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:49.965 And he started, growing in his faith in church. 00:22:49.965 --> 00:23:00.200 Nine years later is when me and my family got the opportunity to even have an interview in order to be able to come to the state. 00:23:00.200 --> 00:23:05.099 So in 2001, we were told that we were at some point we're going to move to the States. 00:23:05.099 --> 00:23:08.633 A month later, I asked my parents, hey, when are we moving? 00:23:08.633 --> 00:23:09.865 We don't know yet. 00:23:09.865 --> 00:23:10.932 A year went by. 00:23:10.932 --> 00:23:13.000 When are we moving? We don't know yet. 00:23:13.000 --> 00:23:18.700 Nine years of waiting went by for us in order to, get an interview. 00:23:19.633 --> 00:23:32.599 And church, this was the first time, of two times that I experienced time traveling, because I went from being and the hot line in order to get to the U.S. embassy. 00:23:32.599 --> 00:23:42.099 And when the doors open, I remember that cold AC just hit my face, probably for the first time ever. 00:23:42.133 --> 00:23:46.299 And I looked to the walls and I saw a flat screen TV in color. 00:23:46.299 --> 00:23:48.200 I had never seen that before. 00:23:48.200 --> 00:23:52.799 So in that moment I time travel basically 20 years in the future. 00:23:52.799 --> 00:24:01.732 Based on what I had been accustomed to in my life to not make this story long, we, we gather our papers. 00:24:01.732 --> 00:24:05.333 We were approved, and we were ready to move to the States. 00:24:05.333 --> 00:24:11.266 And this is another time that was very difficult for us because we had to say goodbye to everything we knew. 00:24:13.365 --> 00:24:16.099 The government seized our home. 00:24:16.099 --> 00:24:21.333 I mean, we we lived in a in a communist country, and the government basically controls everything. 00:24:21.333 --> 00:24:24.232 So even our home, it was seized from us. 00:24:24.232 --> 00:24:36.500 We had to basically, I remember they and this is a little bit off path, but they came and, did an inventory on everything we had in our house so that when we left, everything was still there. 00:24:36.500 --> 00:24:44.500 We had to leave everything behind because we were moving to the United States, almost like as a as a punishment. 00:24:45.566 --> 00:24:52.932 And I remember that we had to say goodbye to everything our cousins, our friends, our families. 00:24:53.165 --> 00:25:17.365 And this was a bittersweet moment at the airport because not only where we move into United States, but we were having to say basically goodbye to everybody we knew we had a huge amount of people there at the airport saying goodbye to us and, it was a lot of crying because we may have never see them again. 00:25:17.365 --> 00:25:21.299 At that point, international calling wasn't really a thing. 00:25:21.299 --> 00:25:22.365 There weren't cell phones. 00:25:22.365 --> 00:25:24.299 This is 2010. 00:25:24.299 --> 00:25:29.799 I mean, there were flip phones, but and FaceTime wasn't even a thing. 00:25:29.799 --> 00:25:37.465 So we basically when we said our goodbyes, we knew that we there was a big chance that we would never see them again. 00:25:37.900 --> 00:25:46.732 But at the same time, we were contrasted by the idea that we were moving to United States and we were meeting, reuniting with our grandparents. 00:25:46.932 --> 00:25:59.732 When I got to the Miami airport, I experienced time traveling for the second time because I walked in the bathroom and I experienced a self flushing toilet for the first time. 00:26:00.333 --> 00:26:02.232 Let me tell you, it was scary. 00:26:02.232 --> 00:26:03.532 I was not ready for that. 00:26:06.066 --> 00:26:11.465 But I think I have a photo here, of when we arrive to the States. 00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:19.133 Yeah, there's my sisters and my grandparents. 00:26:19.232 --> 00:26:29.799 There's me, and I don't know if you guys can see what I'm holding in my hand, but that was basically the only thing that I brought with me. 00:26:29.799 --> 00:26:32.799 This was this guitar right here. 00:26:35.232 --> 00:26:38.133 This is the only thing that I could bring from the States. 00:26:38.133 --> 00:26:40.665 And I decided to bring a guitar. 00:26:40.665 --> 00:26:47.532 God was already working in my life, and he knew that he wanted me to, be a worshiper. 00:26:47.532 --> 00:26:52.633 He knew that he wanted me to at some point lead his people in worship. 00:26:52.633 --> 00:26:54.432 So this is I knew that this was important. 00:26:54.432 --> 00:26:56.532 So I brought this with me. 00:26:56.532 --> 00:26:59.532 And I can't play it anymore, so I'll try to get it fixed soon. 00:27:01.965 --> 00:27:10.165 But it brings me so much joy when I, when I'm at home and I look at the wall and I see the guitar that I brought from Cuba. 00:27:10.165 --> 00:27:13.165 It reminds me of home. 00:27:14.900 --> 00:27:15.232 Is. 00:27:15.232 --> 00:27:18.232 I think there was another photo as well. 00:27:18.465 --> 00:27:20.500 Perfect. 00:27:20.500 --> 00:27:27.165 It was a super happy and emotional day to be reunited again. 00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:29.665 Well, time went by. 00:27:29.665 --> 00:27:33.299 And, the first our first Christmas came along. 00:27:33.299 --> 00:27:38.732 We we had never celebrated Christmas. Again, we lived in a communist country. 00:27:38.732 --> 00:27:49.965 And basically any outward display of religion any outward display of Christianity is is very persecuted. 00:27:50.566 --> 00:28:00.032 Our churches all the time got burglarized and we would be in the middle of service and people would throw rocks through the windows and break them. 00:28:00.032 --> 00:28:04.000 So Christmas wasn't something that we got to celebrate a whole lot. 00:28:04.000 --> 00:28:08.200 So when we experienced our first Christmas here, we were really excited. 00:28:09.432 --> 00:28:14.532 In the back of my head, I was more excited about the presents than anything else. 00:28:14.532 --> 00:28:16.965 But again, my family had just moved here. 00:28:16.965 --> 00:28:18.133 We had nothing. 00:28:18.133 --> 00:28:20.833 We moved into our grandparents house. 00:28:20.833 --> 00:28:31.965 Which is, if you guys ever drive down Third Street and you, if you ever been to Lee's Famous Chicken, has anybody has some chicken there? 00:28:31.965 --> 00:28:33.766 It's pretty good. 00:28:33.766 --> 00:28:34.599 It's pretty good. 00:28:34.599 --> 00:28:38.500 Well, our house was basically the one behind Lee's Famous Chicken. 00:28:38.500 --> 00:28:41.532 So if you look behind that fence, that was the house that we moved to. 00:28:41.532 --> 00:28:44.066 It was a two bedroom home and that two bedroom home. 00:28:44.066 --> 00:28:51.566 My grandpa split so that we could host about, at some point, 12 people in that house. 00:28:51.566 --> 00:28:57.766 So he split the living room in half and created rooms for, me in the living room and my sisters. 00:28:57.766 --> 00:29:02.365 And then he split his master bedroom in half so he could put a bed there for my parents. 00:29:02.365 --> 00:29:15.299 And my uncles and aunts. After later on, So whenever we knew that Christmas was coming, we knew not to expect a whole lot. 00:29:15.299 --> 00:29:20.266 But we heard of this program, that was in the city. 00:29:20.266 --> 00:29:27.432 And this program allowed families that were in need to partner with, families that could provide. 00:29:27.432 --> 00:29:36.066 And they had a little bit extra in order to help them with Christmas gifts, in order to help kids receive probably their first Christmas gifts ever. 00:29:36.066 --> 00:29:37.099 So we were ecstatic. 00:29:37.099 --> 00:29:41.900 We showed up in line and, everyone there was really excited. 00:29:41.900 --> 00:29:43.099 The workers came. 00:29:43.099 --> 00:29:45.532 And can I explain a little bit of how it all worked? 00:29:45.532 --> 00:29:52.365 And everybody, they told us that we could ask for anything, almost like if it was Santa Claus, we could ask for anything. 00:29:52.365 --> 00:29:54.932 So people were they were asking for cars. 00:29:54.932 --> 00:29:57.799 They were asking for, bicycles. 00:29:57.799 --> 00:29:59.532 They were asking for computers. 00:29:59.532 --> 00:30:01.965 Anything you could imagine because they told us we could ask for anything. 00:30:03.865 --> 00:30:12.133 Well, that didn't sit too well for me and all I really wanted church, was a skateboard. 00:30:12.133 --> 00:30:14.232 I grew up watching American movies. 00:30:14.232 --> 00:30:17.700 I grew up seeing how fun Tony Hawk was having. 00:30:17.833 --> 00:30:23.732 And I knew I wanted, in order to achieve that American dream, I needed a skateboard. 00:30:23.732 --> 00:30:24.965 And I just went up there. 00:30:24.965 --> 00:30:28.566 And when they asked me what I needed, I wrote down skateboard. 00:30:28.566 --> 00:30:34.532 Well, weeks went by and, we get a random knock on our door. 00:30:34.532 --> 00:30:43.633 I think it was two weeks before Christmas or so, and my sister, probably one of my sister's girls, went out the door, saw there was some people there. 00:30:43.633 --> 00:30:49.900 They were like, there's some white people in our front door right now. 00:30:49.900 --> 00:30:52.900 We don't know. 00:30:53.133 --> 00:30:54.732 Who's going to talk to? 00:30:54.732 --> 00:31:03.599 So, me being the person that I knew a little bit of English, I came up and I asked for, what they were there for. 00:31:03.599 --> 00:31:10.932 They asked to come inside our home, and somehow we let them in, and, they began. 00:31:10.932 --> 00:31:15.900 They had this huge bags, and they began pulling out presents. 00:31:16.032 --> 00:31:18.700 They pulled out backpacks for us to go to school. 00:31:18.700 --> 00:31:21.700 They pulled out books, pulled out notebooks. 00:31:21.700 --> 00:31:24.500 We pulled out some, probably some dolls for my sisters. 00:31:24.500 --> 00:31:33.133 And all of a sudden this random bag comes out and I open it and lo and behold, church, it was the skateboard I wanted. 00:31:33.133 --> 00:31:45.365 I was so excited because I could finally go out into the street, which was didn't have any potholes with all the street security, and I could ride my skateboard down the street. 00:31:45.365 --> 00:31:50.500 So God has really provided for us in ways that we could never imagine. 00:31:50.500 --> 00:32:01.400 And this wasn't this wasn't just about, This wasn't just about God providing us with the necessities. 00:32:04.165 --> 00:32:13.066 But when he delivered Christmas gifts to us, we believe that this was God showing us that he could take care of us more than what we, what we absolutely needed. 00:32:13.066 --> 00:32:14.232 We didn't need it. 00:32:14.232 --> 00:32:15.133 Christmas gifts. 00:32:15.133 --> 00:32:18.365 We didn't need to have a skateboard. 00:32:18.732 --> 00:32:26.266 But God so graciously saw how faithful our family have been, and God wanted to bless us. 00:32:26.266 --> 00:32:44.232 17 it says, if you then, who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father in heaven give good things to those who are those who ask them. 00:32:44.232 --> 00:32:56.333 So this for us wasn't something material that we could receive, but it was God showing us that he wanted to provide for us and give us abundantly in our lives. 00:32:56.333 --> 00:32:58.932 So we praise him for that moment, and we rejoice. 00:33:01.133 --> 00:33:09.700 This is something that myself and my grandpa Frank and the rest of my family experienced, and it was a huge part of our story. 00:33:09.799 --> 00:33:20.833 God provides for us no matter what our circumstances are, and in turn, that teaches us to rely on his timing and his trustworthiness. 00:33:20.833 --> 00:33:23.732 And now today church. 00:33:23.732 --> 00:33:28.833 I think we have a picture of my family today, but not church. 00:33:28.833 --> 00:33:32.099 We have a growing family in our midst. 00:33:32.965 --> 00:33:36.066 As you can see, there's a couple more people that have been added. 00:33:36.066 --> 00:33:40.465 Some of our cousins from Cuba were able to come to the states. 00:33:40.500 --> 00:33:45.000 We were able to reunite each other, my uncles and aunts. 00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:55.599 And if you go to the next picture, you'll see that we have also added to our family as well, my sisters and myself, we've all had little babies. 00:33:55.599 --> 00:34:08.065 So our, our, my, my parents are more than ecstatic that we finally have a growing and thriving family here in the US, and it's only because of him. 00:34:08.065 --> 00:34:24.199 So in conclusion, church, my faith journey heavily involves my grandpa Frank and the sacrifices that he made to bravely jump into the unknown to a new country to lead our family into a better future. 00:34:24.199 --> 00:34:34.333 You see, one thing that my grandpa and I have in common is that we both had to be taken out of our comfort zone in order to truly experience God for ourselves. 00:34:34.333 --> 00:34:38.233 I'm sure that many of us here today can relate to that. 00:34:38.233 --> 00:34:40.465 My parents did everything the right way. 00:34:40.465 --> 00:34:43.565 They taught us how to faithfully serve the Lord. 00:34:43.565 --> 00:34:49.300 They taught us how to, know him, how to pray to God. 00:34:49.300 --> 00:34:52.300 But that wasn't enough. 00:34:52.465 --> 00:35:00.699 We knew, that they model well, they model for us what it was to be a true believer. 00:35:00.865 --> 00:35:10.199 And although I believe in God and had accepted him as my Savior, I didn't necessarily know him to trust him because I didn't have a personal relationship with him yet. 00:35:10.199 --> 00:35:16.000 I had a small seed of faith that needed to be nurtured, or it would die. 00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:32.766 When I moved away, and my grandpa moved away, we were able to, know and find God for ourselves, find the faith that was in not only what was modeled and taught, but it was real for us. 00:35:32.766 --> 00:35:38.500 And when the times when we ask ourselves, God, are you really good? 00:35:38.500 --> 00:35:40.300 Are you really trustworthy? 00:35:40.300 --> 00:35:51.099 What I want to tell you today is that if you really lean in and trust him through the hard times, God will become as real to you as he is to me. 00:35:51.099 --> 00:35:55.099 He has been so amazing in my life, more than I could ever imagine. 00:35:55.099 --> 00:36:02.199 I have seen him show me the right people to talk to and the right doors to walk through, over and over again. 00:36:02.199 --> 00:36:18.733 This little Cuban boy would have never thought that he would be right here in the States, speaking to probably 100 or so hundreds of American people in English, I would have never thought that this would be an opportunity I would have. 00:36:20.532 --> 00:36:38.865 But if you can take anything away from this is that this is part of God's promise to us that he will respond when we seek him and he would answer to us when we cry out in Psalm 34, verse four, it says, I sought the Lord. 00:36:38.865 --> 00:36:43.565 And he answered me, and he delivered me from all my fears. 00:36:48.333 --> 00:36:53.465 Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. 00:36:53.465 --> 00:36:58.900 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and he saved him out of all his troubles. 00:36:58.900 --> 00:37:10.932 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good, blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. 00:37:10.932 --> 00:37:17.632 My family is proof of that reality that God is with us in all things. 00:37:18.233 --> 00:37:20.432 So I want to leave you with this last verse 00:37:20.432 --> 00:37:27.233 31, therefore do not be anxious, saying, what shall we eat? 00:37:27.233 --> 00:37:28.632 Or what shall we drink? 00:37:28.632 --> 00:37:30.432 Or what shall we wear? 00:37:30.432 --> 00:37:36.500 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly father knows that you need them all. 00:37:36.500 --> 00:37:45.500 But seek first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 00:37:45.500 --> 00:37:53.199 So let's promise God to invite him into our busy weeks and to the hardships that we may go through. 00:37:53.199 --> 00:38:05.333 Let's promise to invite him into our lives and to guide us in, through, through every circumstance that we may go through, not only this week, but for the rest of our lives. 00:38:05.333 --> 00:38:11.500 Because he will respond and guide us down the path that he's already laid out for us. 00:38:11.500 --> 00:38:12.132 Thank you, church.