José Garcia was raised in Fresnillo, Zacatecas—a central Mexican city famous for it’s silver mines and pilgrims who visit the famous Santo Niño de Atocha statue of the Virgin Mary with her baby that was brought over from Spain. However, young José never cared much for church. “We didn’t go very often,” he says. “In fact, my mother basically had to drag me to church. I went through the first three Sacraments expected of me—Baptism, First Communion, and Confirmation, and my mother hoped I would become a priest someday. But since I knew they never married, I wanted no part of that.
“When I came to the States to finish my schooling, I began feeling a need for God. So I went to Mass every Sunday for several months, but each week, I hated it more and more. One day, I stared at myself in a mirror and thought, You are such a hypocrite! You can’t wait to get out of Mass. In fact, you think the best part of Mass is when the priest gives everyone the parting blessing! After that, I quit going to church altogether for several years.”
No Greater Love
When he was 20, José was invited by a friend to attend a Bible study at a Pentecostal church. “We got started, and one of the ladies said something that really shocked me,” he recalls. “She said that God had told her something, and that she had said this or that back to Him. Can she really talk to God like that? I wondered. Then she began speaking in ‘tongues,’ but when I tried, nothing would come out.
“I decided that was not for me, but before I left, that lady gave me a beautiful book called No Greater Love, with a red rose on the cover.” He pauses for a moment, struggling to hold back the tears. “It still chokes me up, because after several months, I picked up the book and began to read, only to discover that it was a New Testament! I read the gospel books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John three times in as many months, and discovered that the story of Christmas was in the Bible. I never knew that!”
José says he experienced a level of peace, confidence, and love he’d never felt before as he read his Bible. He also sensed new power flowing into his life. “I didn’t realize that it came from reading the Bible,” he says, “but when I stopped reading, it went away. I went through a dry time for the next seven years, always searching for what I had lost.
Channel 40
José had been working for a pizza store, and on the first day he was promoted to general manager, he met Yolanda and fell in love. A year later, his district manager told him of an opening in Midland, Texas, and soon he moved to this new location.
“I’d barely gotten settled, and hadn’t had a chance to open a local bank account,” he says. “So when the cable man came to set up, I asked him if he took cash. ‘No, I’m sorry, but I have to have a check,’ he said. So I told him I’d call them back another time. I could still get four or five local channels, and since I hardly had time to watch TV, that was okay for awhile.
“Several years went by, and in 1999 my father passed away. At the time, I thought I was successful, but I was really a mess,” he recalls, “and with the loss of my father, I began wondering if I’d ever see him again. What is life all about, anyway? I wondered. Life is just a rat race—work, sleep, eat, work. When I die, is that it?
“I really began searching for meaning, so any time I saw someone talking about Jesus on television, I’d stop and listen. Some of them talked about prophecy, too, and that fascinated me.
“One night, I decided to see if there were any other channels available, and suddenly I found K40FJ channel 40, a 3ABN downlink station in Midland. Lo and behold, the first words I heard got my attention—Lyle Albrecht was talking about the Sabbath! I remembered that when I was 20 years old, I’d read that Jesus’ custom was to teach in the synagogues on the Sabbath. At that time, I thought, I wonder why Jesus went there on the Sabbath? And if He did, why don’t we?
“Since I had no one to ask, I shrugged those questions off, but when I heard the Sabbath mentioned on TV, I was fascinated. I watched 3ABN more and more; in fact, I’d stay up until three or four in the morning, knowing that I had to go to work the next day. I simply couldn’t shut it off, because after Lyle, Doug Batchelor or Mark Finley would come on, and I just had to watch!
“What they said about prophecy was so different than what I’d heard before that I became confused. It got so bad that eventually I stopped watching altogether,” he admits, “but the Holy Spirit kept urging me to watch 3ABN, so I finally got back to it. This time, everything seemed to make sense, but I looked up every Bible text they mentioned to make sure it was absolutely true!”
Seventh-day Adventist
About a year later, José says he heard something he’d never heard before. “Someone mentioned the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and I thought, What? There’s a church that teaches all this? I looked it up in the Yellow Pages and found the Midland church right here in town, so I called them one Sabbath, only to find out that their service had already begun. I didn’t go that day, but I drove there the following week. The services started at 9:30 a.m., but when I got there at 9:15, there were no cars, so I figured they weren’t having services that day. The next week I came by and saw the cars. However, I just drove by slowly. I just couldn’t seem to go in.
“Finally I got up the courage to go in on the following Sabbath, and I’ll never forget how I felt.” Again, José is overcome with emotion, and pauses to compose himself. “I was greeted by the most wonderful people who made me feel so welcome,” he says. “Right away, I felt like I was home. Every fiber of my being longed for this fellowship, and I knew that God had led me there. In fact, I felt like I’d been a part of their group ever since I began watching 3ABN, because everything they talked about, I’d heard on 3ABN before. I’d already made changes in my diet and lifestyle, and when I heard them speak about tithes and offerings, I smiled. I’d been sending my tithe to 3ABN, since I had no church at the time.”
Although José had no trouble accepting a new day of worship, he says he struggled with the idea of not working on Sabbath. “I was working nearly every day, but I was being convicted about the Sabbath,” he admits. “So I decided I’d put whatever I earned on Saturdays into the offering plate. That went on for a while, but one day, as I was figuring up how much I’d put in for the Sabbath I’d worked, I heard God speaking to me, José, do you think I need your money more than your obedience?
“I was startled, and I knew that came from the Lord! So from then on, I made a decision to never work on the Sabbath again! That was an important moment in my life, because I realize now that I’d begun to justify my behavior!”
Purpose in Life
José and Yolanda were baptized on the same day and have been active members ever since.
“Our lives today are centered around our church community,” he says, “with many church activities throughout the week that culminate on Sabbath. I can’t imagine living any other way. Today, I have purpose in my life. I come to Jesus, and then I go for Jesus. I want to bring as many people as I can to Him.
“In the past, I upset some people because I didn’t know how to witness for Him. But I’ve learned that in order to witness effectively, the Holy Spirit must be present. He’s the One who convicts, and if He’s not present, then the Lord has not prepared them, yet. We must be careful of what we say, and how we say things.
“The next principle is to teach people by telling them stories and by asking them questions. That’s what Jesus did, and I’ve been blessed to learn this and share it with my fellow church members.”
Actively Involved
Pastor Abner Razon beams as he speaks of the Garcia family. “José and his wife Yolanda are very involved in church life,” he says. José is a church elder and often gives Bible studies and seminars on how to witness for Christ effectively. He’s involved in prison ministry, teaches Sabbath School, and even preaches from time to time. His wife Yolanda is the director of our Pathfinders and Adventurers Clubs, and his three daughters are very active, too.
“In addition to all this, our church and the Texico Conference sponsor satellite dishes with 3ABN for each of our new members—and José volunteers to install them. The Garcia family is truly a blessing to our church and our community.”
The Truth He Longed For
As he concluded, José had one more thing to say. “You know, at the time, I believe that the only 3ABN station around was right here in Midland, Texas. And there is no doubt in my mind that this was the reason the Lord made sure I moved here. It wasn’t for a job. It was so I could finally find the truth I longed for!”
Midland Seventh-day Adventist Church
Two years later, I was speaking at a church in Michigan and stayed after the meeting to greet a long line of people. I happened to notice an anxious little girl holding her father’s hand, in eager anticipation to meet me. Finally, when it was her turn, she gave me a big hug, looked up into my face, and said, “Miss Brenda, do you remember me? I’m the one who wrote you a letter!” Well, my heart began to beat a little faster. I could see how very important it was to her that I remember who she was, but she obviously had no idea about the enormous amount of letters I receive. I had never even met her before—how could I possibly know her name? Please Heavenly Father, tell me what her name is, I pleaded.
“My wife gave me a book on the fundamental beliefs of the church, and I began reading my Bible. Meanwhile, I was so sick that I wondered if I’d make it.
Unexpectedly, he began to agree with me, and before long he was begging God for forgiveness, right there in the kitchen! Now both of us were crying so much that we could hear the tears dripping onto the kitchen table. His wife and I were stunned as he confessed to her that he was to blame for his failures—something he’d never been able to admit before. Then, turning to me, he asked what he should do, so I gave him a link to some 3ABN Russian programs on relationships that had just been translated into Slovak.
“Then Sky Angel went off the air, and since I couldn’t pick up anything else, I thought I’d be without TV altogether. Oh, there were a couple of foreign channels that would occasionally broadcast on that satellite, but 3ABN was always there, of course. So when boredom eventually overtook my ill feelings, I began watching it, because it was all I could get on my satellite dish.
“We attended an Adventist church in Pensacola and were baptized together. That was one of the happiest days of our lives. But after a while, I began to feel uncomfortable, so I decided to go to the pastor with my concerns. He encouraged me to stick it out, and gave me a book by Ty Gibson called, Abandon Ship? 