Author: Russell Lightner

So much more than Sunday morning

A strong, late summer thunderstorm blew through the Metroplex one afternoon a few weeks ago. I watched it from my office window, and it seemed to leave just as quickly as it came.

Even after the storm had moved on, I found myself staring out my window taking notice of little details that usually elude me because I’m so focused on my work. I watched the remnants of the storm clouds give way to clear blue sky. A bright red cardinal hopped from branch to branch in the tree right outside the window. I noticed the way the droplets left by the rain were resting on—and slowly rolling off—the dark green leaves on that same tree.

I was soon interrupted by a strained feeling from within telling me I needed to get back to work, but I allowed myself to stand there a few moments longer because I realized something that I wish I remembered more often: in those moments of marveling at the wonder of nature, I was worshipping. So before sitting back down at my desk, I thanked God for the tiny, beautiful things not only that He has created, but that He allows me to see.

Worship is so much more than the time when we sing songs during a Sunday morning church service. Worship is maintaining a mindset of gratitude and awe toward the Lord all day every day. Worship can (and should) happen all over the place—in the car, at the ballpark, at a dinner table with friends.

Psalm 150:1-2 says this:

Hallelujah!

Praise God in His sanctuary.

Praise Him in His mighty expanse.

Praise Him for His powerful acts;

Praise Him for His abundant greatness.

Based on this passage, here are four ways you can worship God all day every day:

"Worship is maintaining a mindset of gratitude and awe toward the Lord all day every day. Worship can (and should) happen all over the place—in the car, at the ballpark, at a dinner table with friends."

Jayson Larson Tweet

Worship Him by gathering with others

I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating: in a culture and at a time when we are more connected than ever through technology, our hearts have never been further apart from one another. Be intentional about gathering with God’s people “in His sanctuary” as often as possible, but also be present in each other’s homes and lives. We prove to be Jesus’ disciples when we love one another in such ways.

Worship Him through what He has created

Take time to stare out the window and notice all that God has created. The power and character of God, Paul writes in Romans, is “clearly seen … through what He has made.” But are you taking time to experience it, look at it, breathe it in?

Worship Him through testimony

What “powerful acts” have you seen God do lately in your life or in the lives of others? The problem is not that God isn’t at work—He is always at work. The challenge is in taking time to count your blessings and name them one by one, to Him in prayer and to others when you gather.

Worship Him for all His greatness

God is patient. God is kind. God is mighty above all things. God speaks and it is so. God is for you! Spend regular time telling God, and anyone else who will listen, how great He is.

“Attention,” author John Mark Comer once wrote, “is the beginning of devotion.” What will you choose to focus on today? To whom will you give your attention?

The 5: Blessing your pastor during Pastor Appreciation Month

I love pastors. They bear the weighty burden of caring for our souls (Hebrews 13:17). On top of that burden is more than two-and-a-half years of COVID craziness that has made pastoral work even more complicated. With October being designated Pastor Appreciation Month, I offer these ideas to honor those who have remained faithful through it all:

1

Give him a “book tree”

How you create “the tree” is up to you, but the leaves are all Amazon or Logos gift cards. Every pastor I know wants more books, and every one would like more funds to get them. If each of your church families gives $10 or $20, that gift would likely be substantial. If you want to delight your pastor in an unexpected way, give gift cards to his wife and children, too. None of them will forget that gesture.

2

Give him an extra week of vacation in 2023

These past few years truly have been exhausting, and most pastors are still figuring out how to shepherd a post-COVID congregation. It takes many of us most of our vacation to unwind anyway, so your pastor might especially welcome an extra week next year. In fact, I encourage you to consider offering your pastor a one-month sabbatical next year if he has served faithfully for a number of years.

3

Give him and his family a local gym membership

We want our pastors to be healthy and serve us for many years. Frankly, many pastors need to get more exercise—and perhaps they will be more diligent in self-care if our congregations give them this gift. If your pastor already has a personal membership (but not a family one), at least cover the cost of adding his family. Even better, do that, and cover the total cost for another year.

4

Give him and his wife a trip to Israel

I still remember my first trip there as a teenager (a long time ago), and I recognize today that my Bible reading has never been the same since then. My wife traveled with me for the first time several years ago—because of the generosity of other believers—and she still talks about her experience there. If your pastor and his wife have been to Israel, think about sending them to the area of Paul’s journeys.

Editor’s note: The SBTC will lead a “Walk in the Footsteps of Paul” trip in 2023. E-mail rkent@sbtexas.com for more info.

5

Give him the gift of your greater
investment in the work of your church

As a shepherd myself, I would be most honored by a member who says to me, “Pastor, out of love for the Lord and gratitude for you, I want to be more faithful in serving through our church. How might I serve that most helps you or our ministries?” My guess is this gift will surprise—and bless—your pastor.

Chuck Lawless is dean of doctoral studies and vice president of spiritual formation and ministry centers at Southeastern Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C. For more from Lawless, visit chucklawless.com.

Q&A: ‘We are primed and ready for the next great revival’

The path there, SBTC president says, is prayer—which will take center stage at annual meeting

Acouple of years ago, Todd Kaunitz—pastor of New Beginnings Baptist Church in Longview and president of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention—was weathering a season of personal discouragement when he decided to make prayer a priority at his church. Only God could do what the church experienced as a result. As he prepares to encourage churches across the state to make a stronger commitment to prayer at this year’s annual meeting, Kaunitz spoke with the Texan about how churches lose focus on prayer, and how prayer has not only changed his church, but himself.

In an interview with the Texan almost a year ago, you talked about leading your church to refocus on prayer. What are some ways prayer has specifically changed your church over the past year?

Todd Kaunitz: I would say it has changed everything about our church. We are sensing a deeper unity as a result of pursuing the Lord in prayer. We have seen a greater dependency [on the Lord] by our church members and going to the Lord in prayer with boldness. We’ve seen God answer prayers in ways that have really emboldened our church to be more prayerful. When you call on God’s name and He answers, that answered prayer is a faith-builder. But the biggest thing we have seen through this experience has been seeing how the power of the presence of God shapes us. It takes His Word and embeds it into our heart. You just sense it when you come on our campus. There’s just a different presence that we have that wasn’t here before we began to pray.

"We are primed and ready for the next great revival. Apart from prayer and apart from us coming to the end of ourselves and calling on the name of Lord, we will not see revival and we will not see that awakening."

Todd Kaunitz Tweet

What are the biggest threats to prayer in the church today? How do churches lose that critical focus?

TK: I think we live in a consumer age of the church, and in the consumer age of the church, we spend more time focusing on the product we’re producing than the presence and the power of God needed to make disciples, to grow men and women spiritually, and to reach more people for Christ. We spend way too much time in our church culture buying and selling methods of doing church, which the early church in Acts didn’t have. They didn’t have the bookstores and all of the commentaries and the church growth strategies. They had the gospel and they had the Holy Spirit and they spent time in prayer.

I’m a big strategy guy. I think having a strategy and a plan honors the Lord. But I think we can become so strategized and so focused on methods that we have completely just programmed the Holy Spirit out of our churches. What we need to do is get on our face before the Lord and cry out to Him. God did more through a praying church—120 believers in the upper room in the book of Acts accomplished more with no training, no conferences, no methods in just a short amount of time than most churches will ever accomplish in the history of the church, [yet] we have all of these tools and resources. So I think it’s that—becoming too man-dependent and not enough Holy Spirit-dependent.

In consideration of this year’s theme of “Pursuing Presence,” why do you think it is important for churches to attend the annual meeting?

TK: I think first and foremost, the annual meeting is a great opportunity for our network of churches to come together and just be encouraged by fellowship, by preaching, and by rejoicing and celebrating the great things that we’re able to see God do as we partner together cooperatively to advance the gospel.

Secondly, I truly believe we are at a crisis moment in the history of the church in America. By and large, if you look at the landscape of our culture, the power of the Holy Spirit is no longer resting on many of our churches. I believe we are primed and ready for another Great Awakening. We are primed and ready for the next great revival. Apart from prayer and apart from us coming to the end of ourselves and calling on the name of Lord, we will not see revival and we will not see that awakening. But because of the spiritual condition of our nation and many of our churches, we are primed for it. This annual meeting, we are praying that as we challenge churches and as we come together as a convention for the purpose of prayer and learning what it looks like to pursue the presence of God, that it just might be a catalyst that sparks revival—not just in our convention, but in our entire state and in our nation.

We need revival. We need the Holy Spirit to be poured out afresh on our churches, because that is what revival is. Revival isn’t just the lost being saved, although revival leads to that. Revival is a reawakening of the body of Christ through a manifestation of the Holy Spirit pouring Himself afresh upon the churches. We can’t manufacture revival. We can’t create it. We can’t program it. We can’t strategize it. But what we can do, we can put ourselves before the Lord in prayer and seek His face for it. And while we can’t manufacture revival, we can miss revival if we don’t seek His face and we don’t call on His name and we don’t pray.

So I would want all pastors in our state to really examine their own ministries and ask themselves a question: if they don’t have a weekly prayer meeting where their people are gathering specifically to call on the name of the Lord and invite the presence of God to move in their church and pray for revival in all the churches, what would keep them from rearranging their schedule? Would they be willing to make adjustments to whatever programming they have going on to make space for the people of God to gather for the sole purpose of calling on the name of the Lord and inviting His presence to move like never before?

That’s really what it means to pursue presence. It is to chase after the presence of God like our life depends upon it, because it does.

Corpus church accomplishing mission through community groups emphasis

Finding a new front door

Third Coast Church operates on the principle that “there are a lot more front doors to the church than the front door to the church,” said planter and pastor Joe McArthur. Each member’s home is a front door, an “extension of the church in the neighborhood.”

This philosophy has led to steady growth for Third Coast, even during COVID.

The Corpus church started seven years ago with community groups rather than a typical Sunday launch. By the time Third Coast met for its first official Sunday worship in 2016, 100 people had already been engaged in groups for a year.

Today, community groups remain at the heart of Third Coast. Facilitated by trained leaders, groups meet weekly and include Bible study, relationship building, and outreach. Studies are approved by the church, with RightNow Media providing much of the material.

“We value and love Sunday worship,” McArthur said, but “it’s not the ultimate with us,” adding that there are more people engaged in community groups than attend on the weekends.

“We are commanded to be together, but it’s not the only thing we are called to do … to get together on Sunday. We are called to do life together,” McArthur said. In Scripture, Jesus visits the home of Zacchaeus, he explained. “[People] don’t have to get introduced to God at a weekend service.”

"“We are commanded to be together, but it’s not the only thing we are called to do … to get together on Sunday. We are called to do life together. [People] don’t have to get introduced to God at a weekend service.”

Joe McArthur Tweet

The atypical model proved a blessing during COVID, when the church grew by 20 percent.

“COVID was the great equalizer,” McArthur said. “Our system worked,” he added. The emphasis on community encouraged continuity, growth, and evangelism as groups met needs among neighbors facing pandemic losses and struggles.

A preacher’s kid whose father pastored small Baptist churches, McArthur toured with bands as a drummer during his 20s. Now 45, he brought two decades of experience in pastoral ministry to the Third Coast Church plant, serving in various roles at Bay Area Fellowship, now named Church Unlimited. He was also senior pastor of Keller Harvest (now Journey) Church.

Today, Third Coast meets in space leased from a Corpus school. Attendance runs 200 with small group involvement 120 percent of that.

Whether growing up in a church of 75 or helping lead a church of 8,000, McArthur has observed that “the gospel sticks best when it’s done through relationships.”

Native Texan comes home to plant in one of the fastest-growing cities in the state

Building a Legacy

As planters peruse demographics studies to research where churches are needed most, Celina’s statistics scream out from the page.

It’s easily one of the fastest-growing cities in the Texas. Five years ago, Celina had roughly 10,000 residents. Today, the population has more than tripled to slightly fewer than 40,000 people. That kind of growth is expected to continue for years to come, with some estimating the population in this once-tiny town to touch 160,000 by the end of the decade.

Those statistics tugged heavily at the heart of Robert Welch, a native Texan who returned home earlier this year to plant in Celina after serving three-and-a-half years as senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Charlotte (N.C.).

Welch noted Celina has only two established Southern Baptists of Texas Convention churches—three once Legacy Hills launches. So the need for churches is already great.

"In a community like this, you’ve got to have churches to serve and reach all those people."

Robert Welch Tweet

“In a community like this, you’ve got to have churches to serve and reach all those people,” he said. “Celina deserves churches that will come and say, ‘This is our Jerusalem and we’re going to reach this city.’ What you’re seeing here isn’t just [people moving away from the Metroplex]. They’re coming here from all over. There’s an Asian population here, an Indian population here. There’s a California migration happening here.”

Welch said Legacy Hills is scheduled to hold its first “monthly preview service” this month, which will include worship, a sermon, and activities for families. Those monthly services will continue each month until February, when the church plans to begin meeting weekly at an elementary school.

Until then, he and his family—which includes two teenagers and a grade-schooler—will continue to sink deep roots into the North Texas soil. Legacy Hills has already made inroads in the community by giving gift cards to every teacher in the school district and buying ice cream for unsuspecting patrons at a local shop.

“Not to take away from the established churches I’ve previously led, but this is the most challenging thing I’ve ever done,” Welch said. “But what God has called us to here, and going on this journey as a family … it’s just been humbling and incredibly rewarding and fun.”

CityView is well on its way to goal of planting 100 churches in 25 years

Sending is in their DNA

CityView Church launched in February 2014 with a mission to multiply.

Since its inception, the church has sent out 12 planters to start churches throughout Houston and the surrounding communities including Alvin, Friendswood, Pearland, Tomball, plus Brazoria and Montgomery counties.

“For us, the goal is to make disciples of Jesus and to plant 100 churches in 25 years in the Houston area. That’s our vision statement,” said pastor and planter Jason Crandall, who also serves as church planting consultant for Send Network SBTC.

“We saw the growth of Houston … neighborhoods springing up everywhere,” Crandall said, noting that the name CityView suggests the church’s goal of planting neighborhood churches within the view of the city.

Currently, the church has its 13th resident planter in training. As many as three planters at a time have undergone CityView’s assessment and preparation process, Crandall said.

"“When we don’t have one for a period of time, our church just kind of lags a little bit. It’s part of our DNA that we’re always going to have someone with us getting ready to be sent out by us as a church plant.”

Jason Crandall Tweet

“When we don’t have one for a period of time, our church just kind of lags a little bit,” Crandall said. “It’s part of our DNA that we’re always going to have someone with us getting ready to be sent out by us as a church plant.”

Some of CityView’s plants have remained small, with COVID limiting growth at times. But West Oaks Church in West Columbia-Brazoria County runs some 200 weekly, despite being less than three years old.

Its emphasis on planting has given CityView a unique growth curve, Crandall said. Currently, the church runs about 140-150. When numbers reach that level, it’s time to plant another congregation.

“We grow for a while. Then we send a planter with some people. Then we grow for a while,” he said. The cycle repeats as attendance again approaches 200.

CityView recently moved into its own building, a welcome relief from “eight-and-a-half years of set up and tear down,” Crandall added.

The church has devoted five percent of its tithes and offerings from the beginning directly for Houston-area church planting, funds separate from Cooperative Program and associational giving, the pastor said, adding, “We decided we were going to live on less and see the gospel go.”

John 4 mindset propels The West Church into difficult neighborhood

Boldly going where others won’t

The southwest Houston neighborhood of Alief ranks among the highest nationwide for prostitution, and crime is high. The community lacks resources—both money and mentors—yet it’s the very place God has called The West Church to minister, propelled by Jesus’ encounter in Samaria recorded in John 4.

“A lot of people drive around the neighborhood in order to get to other places, but we sensed the Lord was calling us to not go around it but go toward it,” Ayo Omopariola, pastor of The West Church, said.

Omopariola was born in Nigeria and has lived in the U.S. since he was five. He and his wife, Amaechi, were part of a church plant years ago and remember it as a formative, “wonderful” time, he said. While he was serving as a church planting resident at City Church in Houston, God stirred his heart about Alief.

“The Lord started a work within our hearts to want to see that part of the city be transformed by the gospel,” Omopariola said.

The West Church started meeting on Zoom for monthly prayer calls during the pandemic. Each person on the call would share a verse, and the group would pray. After about eight months, they started interacting in the community, mainly asking people questions. The core group wanted to learn how people in Alief viewed church.

“God has been at work in this community for a very, very long time,” Omopariola said, “so we weren’t starting a new work. We wanted to find out what the Lord had already been doing.”

Despite the difficulty of the neighborhood, some groups had been working faithfully to reach it for years. They allowed The West Church to use their facilities, and they met Omopariola for coffee to answer questions.

The church hosted a vision meeting at a stadium in Alief in July 2021, and then they launched a Bible study that slowly picked up attenders. In January of this year, they launched at Best Elementary School in Houston with about 25 people. Now they have about 115.

“Outreach is such an integral part of what we do,” Omopariola said. “We’ve been able to build a lot of relationships with people in the community.”

The West Church has in a way adopted Best Elementary, the pastor said, ministering to the faculty, staff, and students. Church members have been mentoring students, building bridges which lead to reaching families.

“Our church is slowly starting to resemble the diversity that is around us. It’s going to be a long process, but we want to see the reality of John 4 in our church.”

Ayo Omopariola Tweet

After about five months of ministering at the school, The West Church received an award of appreciation from Best Elementary, Omopariola said.

The church also partners with The Landing, an anti-trafficking organization in the neighborhood. “They’ve been one of our biggest advocates in the community, and a lot of our missional outreach is in large part due to the relationship we have with them,” he said.

West Groups, the small group ministry at The West Church, has been “a source of life and community,” the pastor said. “We’ve been so impacted not only by what the Lord has been doing in the church but also outside of it.”

So why has John 4 become the missional thrust of the church? Omopariola says it is because Jesus viewed it as a divine necessity to enter a place so many avoided. Samaria, like Alief, was a place with so many difficulties, yet Jesus engaged in a theological conversation with a woman there in order to show His care for all people.

“She isn’t ashamed or even talked down to, but she’s encouraged to want to live a different life, and as a result of that, she becomes one of the greatest evangelists in the New Testament because after her interaction with Jesus she goes back to her community and tells them, ‘Come see a man who told me everything I’ve ever done,’” Omopariola said.

Alief is a community that has been neglected by most, but The West Church is striving to “bring the love and light of Christ into the community and be able to point people toward hope,” the pastor said.

“Our church is slowly starting to resemble the diversity that is around us,” Omopariola said. “It’s going to be a long process, but we want to see the reality of John 4 in our church.”

So far the response from people in the community has been positive toward the church, the pastor said, particularly because they sense church members are authentic about what they believe and how they practice those beliefs. “Surprisingly, they want more of it.”

For churches that want to reach out to hard communities, Omopariola advises developing a strong prayer strategy first.

“The needs are so great, and you feel overwhelmed all the time,” he said, “like there’s no way one single individual or one church or organization is going to be able to solve all the problems.”

A challenge to celebrate, consider, and commit

Can you believe how fast 2022 is flying by? It seems like just yesterday we were embracing the new year with anticipation.

This year has been great so far. We have witnessed God move in incredible ways across Texas. As I reflect on all that God has done, is doing, and we believe will continue to do, allow me to give three brief encouragements to you:

Celebrate

God is doing something among you! He is always at work. I encourage you to find those things and celebrate them in your life and in your church. At the SBTC, we are celebrating God doing great things through a couple of pastors’ trips over the summer. In July, the SBTC led 128 pastors and wives to Israel. This was an awesome time of seeing the Bible come alive. We had great opportunities to worship, fellowship, network, and learn together.

In August, 50 pastors went to New York together to study and learn about developing a culture of prayer. We spent time with and learned from prayer leader and pastor Jim Cymbala of the Brooklyn Tabernacle. This church is known around the world for its prayer ministry. Again, it was an incredible time of worship, prayer, networking, and equipping.

Consider

If you are an SBTC pastor, I would like you to consider a very special invitation. On July 17-26, 2023, I will be leading a pastors trip to Greece to “Walk in the Footsteps of Paul.” This will be an unbelievable opportunity to see much of the New Testament come to life. You will not only learn and go deeper in the study of the Scriptures, but you will connect with other pastors and build meaningful relationships along the way.

We have been able to work with our tour company to get the trip costs down significantly. The trip for a pastor is only $3,199, and spouses are $3,499. However, thanks to a generous grant provided by the SBTC Executive Board, pastors who have never been on a trip in the footsteps of Paul will be able to go for $1,999, and an even greater discount is available if your spouse travels with you. Space for this trip will be limited and grants will be given on a first-come, first-served basis until all the scholarship funds are allocated. The trip is restricted to two pastors per church and one grant per church. You can e-mail Randi Kent at rkent@sbtexas.com for more information. I hope you will consider experiencing this opportunity with us!

Commit

Our 2022 SBTC Annual Meeting is just around the corner, November 14-15 in Corpus Christi. We are anticipating a great meeting as churches from across Texas join together in worship, prayer, preaching, and celebrating all God is doing (and yes, we will do a little business, as well). The first session on Monday evening will culminate with a prayer service. We are anticipating a powerful night together. Over the two days, you will hear stories of how God is moving across Texas. You will also hear some future vision and goals for seeing a prayer movement across the churches of the SBTC. It is going to be a great time together. I pray you will clear your calendar and commit to being a part of our Annual Meeting. More details can be found at sbtexas.com/am22.

One of my favorite things is to tell the story of how God is using SBTC churches to “Reach Texas and Impact the World.” I love hearing from you and celebrating alongside you. I consider it a real joy and honor to serve you and to serve alongside our team at the SBTC. Please know that I love you and believe in you! I look forward to seeing you in Corpus Christi.

Creatividad en la creación

Niña de 9 años ilustra dibujo animado para compartir historias de la Biblia con sus amigos

Kamila Reyna siempre ha sido una niña artística.

Desde cantar frente a cientos de personas hasta compartir devocionales, esta niña de 9 años nunca ha tenido miedo de mostrar los talentos que Dios le ha dado frente a los demás. Sus padres -Jonatan Reyna, pastor de Paramount en español en Amarillo, y su esposa, Karla- siempre la han animado a usar esos talentos para Su servicio.

Recientemente, mientras jugaba con una aplicación de actividades para niños, Kamila aprendió que podía animar personajes y escenas, lo que le proporcionó otra vía para hacer precisamente eso.

“Encontré un botón en [la aplicación] Toca Boca que no sabía para qué servía y cuando lo pulsé, me di cuenta de que podía grabar mi voz y hacer un video”, dijo. “[Así que pensé], ¡quizás debería empezar a hacer vídeos!”.

Kamila envió su primer vídeo a su padre, quien se sorprendió de lo que su hija había creado. El 15 de julio, el pastor Reyna publicó el video en su página de Facebook. El video animado dura dos minutos y siete segundos y narra la historia bíblica de la creación del libro del Génesis. Kamila narró personalmente el clip y fue bien recibido por quienes lo vieron en la página de su padre.

“Mi deseo es que los niños conozcan a Jesús y lo reciban en sus corazones”

Kamila Reyna Tweet

“Pregunté en la publicación si sería buena idea crear un canal de YouTube con los dibujos animados de mi hija”, dijo el pastor Reyna, “¡y muchos me escribieron que me apresurara a hacerlo! … Como ella está haciendo estos dibujos animados y ha estado haciendo devocionales, esta es una gran oportunidad para combinar ambos para compartir la Palabra”.

Viendo una oportunidad para que Kamila utilice la aplicación y sus habilidades para ministrar y motivar a otros niños y personas de su comunidad, el pastor Reyna y su esposa han animado a Kamila a seguir creando videos con contenido bíblico. Una de las oportunidades potenciales que el pastor Reyna ve en la creación de dibujos animados como este es que pueden ser utilizados como un vehículo para la evangelización. Dijo que Kamila ya ha hablado de Jesús con muchos de sus amigos en la escuela, que se encuentra justo detrás de la iglesia.

Debido a su experiencia no sólo como profesor de música, sino en la edición de video y la producción de sonido, el pastor Reyna dijo que planea asociarse con Kamila para hacer más animaciones que seguirán utilizando un estilo más moderno de animación.

Kamila tiene ahora un canal de YouTube y está creando contenidos para niños de todas las edades. Ella y su familia dicen que esperan que Dios les siga abriendo puertas para impactar a los niños de su comunidad con el evangelio.

“Mi deseo es que los niños conozcan a Jesús y lo reciban en sus corazones”, dijo Kamila.

Getting creative about creation

9-year-old digitally illustrates cartoon to share Bible story with friends

Kamila Reyna has always been an artistic child.

From singing in front of hundreds of people to sharing devotionals, the 9-year-old has never been afraid to display her God-given talents in front of others. Her parents—Jonatan Reyna, pastor of Paramount en Español in Amarillo, and his wife, Karla—have always encouraged her to use those talents in His service.

While playing with a kids’ activity app called Toca Boca recently, Kamila learned she could animate characters and scenes, providing her with another avenue to do just that.

“I found a button in [the app] that I didn’t know what it was for, and when I clicked it, I realized I could record my voice and make a video,” she said. “[So I thought], maybe I should start making videos!”

Kamila sent her first video to her dad, who was surprised at what she had created. On July 15, Pastor Reyna posted the video on his Facebook page. The animated video lasts two minutes and seven seconds and recounts the biblical creation story from the book of Genesis. Kamila personally narrated the clip, and it was well-received from those who saw it on her dad’s page.

“My desire is that kids know about Jesus and receive Him into their hearts.”

Kamila Reyna Tweet

“I asked in the post if it would be a good idea to create a YouTube channel with my daughter’s cartoons,” Pastor Reyna said, “and many wrote me to hurry up and do it! … Since she is doing these cartoons and has been doing devotionals, this is a great opportunity to combine them both to share the Word.”

Seeing an opportunity for Kamila to use the app and its abilities to minister to and motivate other children and people in their community, Pastor Reyna and his wife have encouraged Kamila to continue creating videos with biblical content. One of the potential opportunities Pastor Reyna sees in creating cartoons like this is that they can be used as a vehicle for evangelism. He said Kamila has already talked about Jesus with many of her friends at school, which is located right behind the church.

Because of his background not only as a music teacher, but in video editing and sound production, Pastor Reyna said he plans to team up with Kamila to make more animations that will continue to utilize a more modern style.

Kamila now has a YouTube channel and is creating content for children of all ages (the channel is called “Kami’s Vlog”). She and her family said they hope God will continue to open doors for them to impact the children in their community with the gospel.

“My desire is that kids know about Jesus and receive Him into their hearts,” Kamila said.