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Pastoring in the Midst of Immigration Raids
5 Plays3 months ago
Christina Foor is joined by Pastor Carlos Rincon to discuss what life is like right now in Los Angeles. Pastor Carlos shares about how he and his church are serving their community right now, the importance of showing up with compassion, and some ways you can pray for those in LA.
If you want to learn more about how you can get involved, check out CCDA’s Immigration Network at ccda.org/immigration. And for more information on the immigration process, watch our Immigration Law Basics webinar. Click here for prayer requests from CCDA members in Southern California.
Rev. Carlos Rincon is the CEO and president of Instituto de Avance Integral Latino Community Development Corporation. Carlos Rincon has been pastoring in Los Angeles for over 35 years and has developed strong ties with the community. He is also a member of many coalitions, such as COPALA, which works closely with Chirla, LA Voice, Homeboy Ministries, Jesse Miranda Center, and Assemblies of God Network. Pastor Carlos is also part of CCDA’s Flourishing Congregations Initiative.
Connect with Pastor Carlos on his Facebook page, facebook.com/vidavictoriosa.
Connect with CCDA on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Follow CCDA on YouTube.
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Overview
00:00:09
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the CCDA Podcast.
00:00:12
Speaker
My name is Christina Fora and I am the Director of Engagement and Mobilization at CCDA and I am your host for this episode.
00:00:19
Speaker
Today I am honored to be joined by Pastor Carlos Ricón, a pastor in Los Angeles and a member of our Flourishing Congregations Initiative.
00:00:27
Speaker
We will be discussing today what's been happening in Los Angeles, what it's like for his community, and some ways we can support our familia at this
Pastoring in Los Angeles: A Community Focus
00:00:36
Speaker
time.
00:00:36
Speaker
So, Pastor Carlos, thank you so much for being here.
00:00:39
Speaker
And to start off, I was wondering if you can just share a little bit about who you are and your community and give us a picture of that.
00:00:47
Speaker
Yes, thank you.
00:00:48
Speaker
Thank you for having me and giving me the opportunity to share not only what's going on in the city, but especially, you know, the things that we're doing to help the community.
00:00:58
Speaker
Well, my name is Carlos Rincon.
00:01:00
Speaker
Originally, I'm from Mexico.
00:01:03
Speaker
But I've been a pastor in this community for 28 years.
00:01:08
Speaker
Same church.
00:01:09
Speaker
My wife and I started the church about 30 years ago.
00:01:12
Speaker
Right after we got married, a week after, we started the church.
00:01:15
Speaker
So thankfully, we've been there, married to each other, happily married, but also married to the church and to the community, actually, because I don't see myself as a pastor of a church and, you know, within four walls, but I'm a pastor in the city.
00:01:28
Speaker
I pastor in a city and the city and the members of this community, you know, are my focus, my everything that I do is, you know, for the welfare of this community.
00:01:40
Speaker
And our church is located in a community that is called East Los Angeles.
00:01:47
Speaker
We recently, well not recently, about 10 years ago, moved there from downtown Los Angeles.
00:01:52
Speaker
So most of the members of our church are from downtown Los Angeles, South Los Angeles, and East Los Angeles.
00:01:59
Speaker
And those communities mostly are Latinos, recent arrival people, like immigrants.
00:02:06
Speaker
And we serve about 250 families.
Community Fears and Responses
00:02:10
Speaker
uh you know immigrants and their children we have first second even third generation Latinos mostly Latinos and we have one uh Japanese you know member that is married to a Latina you know he's a member of our congregation in the past even we used to have some people from Vietnam too but they moved from the city so it's a it's a inner city church that serves mostly Latino families
00:02:39
Speaker
because that's what we are surrounded by, you know, by Latino families.
00:02:43
Speaker
And how is your community kind of already experiencing escalation before all the kind of recent news and before it became national news?
00:02:50
Speaker
Like, how was your community experiencing these things?
00:02:55
Speaker
Well, before this new administration, you know, started the period, and even during the campaigns, you know, hearing the rhetoric about, you know, they're going against criminals, but, you know, they're
00:03:09
Speaker
some people didn't really realize that he was not talking about real criminals.
00:03:14
Speaker
You know, so people didn't pay much attention, you know, to that.
00:03:19
Speaker
There was, a lot of people just dismissed it as, oh, this politics, just, you know, empty words.
00:03:26
Speaker
But a lot of people know, they were really, including myself, you know, calling for, we need to get prepared.
00:03:33
Speaker
And a lot of the families were really afraid after, you know,
00:03:38
Speaker
This nail minister started even before because of the threats to our community.
00:03:45
Speaker
He was talking about massive deportation.
00:03:48
Speaker
So people started asking me, even people started asking me, Pastor, if I'm deported, will you take my children?
00:03:55
Speaker
Can I sign any documents so you can take care of us if we are taken?
00:04:00
Speaker
Some people started asking those questions.
00:04:04
Speaker
Because we have a nonprofit that deals with social economics development in the community.
00:04:11
Speaker
About the businesses.
00:04:12
Speaker
I'm very much involved in the community.
00:04:15
Speaker
very often go to the businesses, especially small businesses, which mostly are Latinos here in my community, and talk to the business owners.
00:04:23
Speaker
And I saw the fear in a lot of them.
00:04:26
Speaker
And it really impacted the community.
00:04:30
Speaker
I always say that, you know, where our church is located, we were experiencing a revival of food trucks.
00:04:38
Speaker
Because, you know, in a couple of lives, you saw, I'm not exaggerating, but probably about 30 or 40 different food trucks, all kinds of foods.
00:04:50
Speaker
So the streets were full of people, especially on the weekends.
00:04:54
Speaker
But after this administration started, you know, the streets were empty.
Changing Narratives and Immigrant Contributions
00:05:00
Speaker
People were afraid.
00:05:02
Speaker
Even, you know, the raising didn't start fully, but people were not going to work for a couple of weeks.
00:05:10
Speaker
Because there was a lot of apprehension and fear, real fear on the people.
00:05:13
Speaker
That's when people started realizing, oh, this is serious.
00:05:17
Speaker
You know, it's about, you know, it's about, you know, coming for everyone, not just for like, you know, we were promised for criminals, so-called criminals.
00:05:27
Speaker
But they started, they were taking everyone.
00:05:30
Speaker
So that's how, you know, people were, even before, you know, this administration started in January 8th.
00:05:37
Speaker
Yeah, I appreciate a lot of how you're talking about just like kind of humanizing.
00:05:42
Speaker
And you and I have talked a lot about what does it look like to change these narratives, right?
00:05:46
Speaker
Because we're hearing these narratives from the current climate of who immigrants are and how they're...
00:05:54
Speaker
Some were criminals and all these things, but then we know from living and working alongside and loving your community that this isn't true, right?
00:06:04
Speaker
These are people who are parents or family members or sons and daughters or business owners or people contributing to the community and
00:06:13
Speaker
What you shared even about the food trucks, I think I've heard from multiple people and CCD members in LA who said it feels like ghost towns because of just the fear.
00:06:23
Speaker
The tios and tias are the vendors on the streets that I see every day.
00:06:28
Speaker
They're not there.
00:06:30
Speaker
And so I'm just curious about what narratives do you wish people knew that are different from what people are hearing in the media or the news right now?
00:06:42
Speaker
Yes.
00:06:43
Speaker
First of all, immigrants are not criminals.
00:06:47
Speaker
I know that because I've been working with immigrants for the last almost 40 years.
00:06:53
Speaker
I have dedicated my life to work and pray and laugh and celebrate.
00:06:59
Speaker
And, you know, I helped through the church and the nonprofit, I started so many businesses.
00:07:06
Speaker
I have so many testimonies of immigrants.
00:07:09
Speaker
Even with no documentation, I started, you know, a lot of businesses here in the community, people that
00:07:14
Speaker
They not only are entrepreneurial, but they love this country.
00:07:20
Speaker
They feel that this is a place that they can raise their family.
00:07:24
Speaker
They see the opportunities in this country that they couldn't have.
00:07:27
Speaker
In my case, I'm from Mexico, Guatemala, or any other country.
00:07:33
Speaker
So they're hardworking.
00:07:34
Speaker
When they talk about the immigrants, people don't realize that they're, you know, families, a lot of mixed status, you know.
00:07:41
Speaker
If you take the parents, what's going to happen with the two, three, four, you know, or children?
00:07:48
Speaker
Who's going to...
00:07:50
Speaker
It's going to take care of them because they're Americans.
00:07:52
Speaker
So one of the spouses is documentation.
00:07:56
Speaker
And a lot of people also talk about why don't they get documentation?
00:08:01
Speaker
You know, they've been in the country for a long time.
00:08:03
Speaker
They've been in the country, you know, for.
00:08:06
Speaker
I have family in my church, families.
00:08:09
Speaker
that have been in the country for 30 years, and they try everything.
00:08:13
Speaker
They spend thousands of dollars trying to get legalized, you know, get documented.
00:08:18
Speaker
But it's impossible.
00:08:20
Speaker
You know, our system is broken.
00:08:21
Speaker
There's no way.
00:08:22
Speaker
People get on the line.
00:08:23
Speaker
There's no line.
00:08:25
Speaker
Literally, there's no line.
00:08:26
Speaker
Just to give an example, you know, I was one of the first in my family to become a U.S. citizen, and I petitioned for my family.
00:08:33
Speaker
And that was in the 90s.
00:08:35
Speaker
It took 40 years for them to get a green card.
00:08:39
Speaker
Right now, if I start the same process, it takes more than 30 years.
00:08:44
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:08:45
Speaker
So definitely, you know, people, you know, are in the shadows, not because they want to, not because it's, you know, it's because the system is broken.
00:08:55
Speaker
But when, you know, it breaks my heart when I see, oh, you know, they're, you know, taking advantage of the system, you know, they don't pay taxes.
00:09:04
Speaker
This is hardworking people that are paying billions and billions.
00:09:08
Speaker
You know, here in Los Angeles, they contribute close to 90%.
00:09:14
Speaker
billion dollars a year just in the economy here in the county of Los Angeles.
00:09:19
Speaker
So these are members, you know, that have been living, working, raising a family, you know, it's just regular folks that are trying to live a life.
00:09:29
Speaker
And also, they are grateful for the opportunity to be in this country.
00:09:34
Speaker
And they're...
00:09:37
Speaker
one of the most committed Christians that I know.
00:09:40
Speaker
And because a lot of my leaders, because in our church, we don't ask about documentation, you know, to be a member of our church, even to be in the leadership.
00:09:47
Speaker
You know, elders or leaders or in our church are some of those people that people call criminals.
00:09:54
Speaker
But they're helping families.
00:09:57
Speaker
They're changing the community.
00:09:59
Speaker
They're, you know, working
Advocacy and Personal Commitment
00:10:00
Speaker
hard even after they work 40, 60 hours, you know,
00:10:04
Speaker
a week, they commit another, sometimes five, six hours more just to help other families, to bring into faith, to believe in Christ, to be part of a family and help us continue serving our community.
00:10:18
Speaker
So these are the people that we do.
00:10:21
Speaker
It's my family.
00:10:22
Speaker
For me, this is personal.
00:10:23
Speaker
Some people ask me, why are you so committed?
00:10:25
Speaker
Why are you on the streets?
00:10:27
Speaker
Because they're taking away my family.
00:10:33
Speaker
They're, yeah, and I use this word very carefully, kidnapping my family, because in a lot of cases,
00:10:41
Speaker
And I know this because I've been in the streets.
00:10:43
Speaker
I've been in front of ICE.
00:10:45
Speaker
I've been in front of Border Patrol, you know, trying to ask and even in front of the, you know, National Guard or Marines.
00:10:52
Speaker
I've been participating in a lot of, you know, nonviolent because I'm a follower of Christ.
00:10:59
Speaker
You know, he said, blessed are the peacemakers.
00:11:01
Speaker
And I truly believe that, you know, even a couple of weeks ago, we were asking that simple question to the National Guard.
00:11:10
Speaker
You know, my wife, myself, and about 20 other clergymen in front of them, you know, National Guard, outside of a detention center here in downtown Los Angeles, just asking a simple question.
00:11:20
Speaker
Where are the families?
00:11:22
Speaker
Where are the families?
00:11:23
Speaker
That's all we want to know.
00:11:25
Speaker
Because once a person is taken, it's almost impossible to find where they are.
00:11:31
Speaker
Sometimes overnight, if they can, they just are deported without no process.
00:11:38
Speaker
especially from some countries like Mexico, because it's just across the border.
00:11:43
Speaker
But you want to help someone.
00:11:44
Speaker
Okay, we have lawyers.
00:11:46
Speaker
I'm part of a lot of different organizations in the community that are ready to help, to assist.
00:11:51
Speaker
But they take the people overnight to Louisiana, to Texas, and all different places to get the people isolated.
00:12:02
Speaker
So they don't have no one to help them.
00:12:04
Speaker
So it's horrible.
00:12:05
Speaker
We were asking just a simple question.
00:12:07
Speaker
Yeah.
00:12:07
Speaker
You know, where are the families?
00:12:09
Speaker
We want to help them.
00:12:10
Speaker
Just let, you know, allow us to help.
00:12:12
Speaker
Allow us to, you know, so they have the opportunity, you know, to defend, to present a case, you know, because a lot of them are somehow is going to take time, years, but there's a possibility that they can get legalized in this country.
00:12:27
Speaker
But right now, you know, they're incommunicated and a lot of the families still after weeks, they don't know where their, you know, husband, husband,
00:12:36
Speaker
you know, the grandparents, and even children, they don't know where they are.
00:12:41
Speaker
So hopefully people, you know, on the nation or whoever's listening to this podcast, you know, understand what is going on in our city and probably in other parts of the country.
00:12:53
Speaker
Yeah, definitely.
00:12:54
Speaker
And I appreciate, I think a lot of times I've been realizing over this, the course of this year, especially just that a lot of times we're conflating kind of what it is to see people on a human level and what it is to see people on a legal level.
00:13:09
Speaker
And we
00:13:10
Speaker
kind of lose our compassion and empathy when we conflate both of those.
00:13:16
Speaker
And so I think just even for our listeners on this podcast, we're trying to do a lot of like, how do we see our immigrant family as like other human beings that are worthy of the dignity and value that God has given all of us?
00:13:29
Speaker
And if you have legal questions, we can put our webinar in the show notes so you can learn more about what the legal process is because we could spend another two hours on this podcast talking about the immigration system alone.
00:13:44
Speaker
But I really appreciate you sharing about just like there's a lot of nuances in what is going on with families, what's happening with people's jobs, what's happening with people's kids.
00:13:54
Speaker
It's very, like, we have to just be considering that with the questions we even ask about what's happening right now.
00:14:02
Speaker
Like, why are we asking these questions?
00:14:04
Speaker
Like, who are the people that we're talking about really?
00:14:07
Speaker
Like, and what is a Christ-like way to respond as a result?
00:14:12
Speaker
I wanted to hear a little bit too about just what are some ways right now, I know you've shared some already about what you're seeing on the ground, but are there more things that you'd like to share kind of what's happening in LA that I know you've shared before that it's a little bit unprecedented from your 30 plus years here?
00:14:31
Speaker
Yes.
00:14:33
Speaker
Let me just give an example.
00:14:39
Speaker
It was two weeks, close to two weeks ago that there was a raid in a Home Depot.
00:14:44
Speaker
You know, people that are just asking for work.
00:14:49
Speaker
That's all they do, asking for work.
00:14:53
Speaker
And early in the morning, they were taken.
00:14:56
Speaker
And people in the community found out and they started congregating, not, you
Impact on Church and Community Programs
00:15:00
Speaker
know, dozens, but hundreds of people came from the community, neighbors and family that were, you know, concerned.
00:15:08
Speaker
And things started, you know, going bad because
00:15:15
Speaker
I don't know who it was, but it was, you know, from the immigration, Homeland Security, I don't know who they are.
00:15:22
Speaker
But they started shooting those people.
00:15:24
Speaker
And, you know, gas, you know, tear gas, those people.
00:15:30
Speaker
And I'm part of a coalition of pastors that we have committed to bring peace to our streets.
00:15:37
Speaker
So they call me, because I've been not extensively, but how training, deescalating those kinds of situations.
00:15:45
Speaker
So I went with my wife to just to pray on the streets.
00:15:50
Speaker
And there were thousands of people, you know, and, you know,
00:15:57
Speaker
What is my family?
00:15:58
Speaker
What are my parents?
00:15:59
Speaker
You know, don't, you know, please, you know, we want to know.
00:16:05
Speaker
And when we got almost on the front of this confrontation, in reality, it was people were hungry.
00:16:13
Speaker
You know, they were yelling and saying, you know, and they're angry, a lot of stuff.
00:16:18
Speaker
But mostly nonviolent, just yelling and, you know, we disagree, you know, don't deport, you know, our brothers and sisters, deport us, things like that.
00:16:29
Speaker
You know, people get offended for that.
00:16:30
Speaker
But, you know, when they're taking your family and you don't know where they are, people react.
00:16:36
Speaker
So I was in the midst of everything this and, you know, people started again, again.
00:16:40
Speaker
shooting bullets and gas.
00:16:43
Speaker
And it was mostly young people were gas and I saw some of them running, you know, away from that confrontation, just, you know, sitting on a gas station outside of the gas station.
00:16:55
Speaker
A lot of them just vomiting and some passed out.
00:16:58
Speaker
And I saw, you know, an old lady, you know, she was here on the forehead and she was
00:17:07
Speaker
Bleeding a lot.
00:17:08
Speaker
People were trying to help her.
00:17:11
Speaker
They saw me because I had my clergy attire, so people would identify me as a pastor.
00:17:21
Speaker
They started calling me, oh, please come and pray for us.
00:17:23
Speaker
Right there on the street, we had a prayer rally.
00:17:27
Speaker
You know, many people came, you know, from all backgrounds, but most of them were young people.
00:17:34
Speaker
Most of them were young people, let's say, to the first age.
00:17:38
Speaker
And then I remember a girl, like, I don't know what age, she got glasses because the gas, I never experienced, you know, tear gas, it's horrible.
00:17:48
Speaker
I was praying, crying, rubbing my eyes, trying to speak with the mask.
00:17:53
Speaker
I had to pull out my mask.
00:17:55
Speaker
So it was a chaos, but she came and she was in tears.
00:17:58
Speaker
She was shaking.
00:18:00
Speaker
Can you please pray with me?
00:18:02
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, of course, I can pray with you.
00:18:05
Speaker
It's because my father was taken.
00:18:09
Speaker
And I'm heartbroken.
00:18:12
Speaker
I don't know where they took him.
00:18:14
Speaker
just praying for her in the street until she felt a little bit better.
00:18:19
Speaker
And
Faith, Commitment, and Love for Los Angeles
00:18:20
Speaker
then we continued walking towards the center of everything, trying to calm people.
00:18:26
Speaker
I had a bullhorn, trying to calm things.
00:18:31
Speaker
de-escalate and when I was in front of, you know, Border Patrol or ICE or I don't know who they are because they all wear masks and glasses and, you know, they look more like soldiers going to a war.
00:18:46
Speaker
They saw me because I had my Clary attire and my wife also and I had a Bible, you know, in my hand and an American flag, you know, on the other hand.
00:18:56
Speaker
And I felt probably they're going to respect me, you know.
00:19:01
Speaker
Nah.
00:19:02
Speaker
They didn't respect it, they started shooting me.
00:19:04
Speaker
Thankfully, my wife was super fast.
00:19:09
Speaker
She ran behind a, you know, a list, she could escape, you know, concrete wall.
00:19:15
Speaker
She could escape the bullets, but not the gas.
00:19:20
Speaker
And the only thing is, when I saw my wife and I saw she was safe, the only place because bullets started, even I hear my ears flying all over and I started seeing people being hit and falling in the ground.
00:19:35
Speaker
And with the gases, I saw that people bomb it.
00:19:39
Speaker
It was a cow.
00:19:40
Speaker
So I was flying behind a tree.
00:19:42
Speaker
Thankfully, the tree saved me because a lot of bullets hit the tree.
00:19:46
Speaker
And when everything happened,
00:19:49
Speaker
I went with my wife and started praying with the people because that's who we are.
00:19:56
Speaker
We are pastors and this is our city.
00:19:58
Speaker
That is Vienna talk.
00:19:59
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:01
Speaker
There's too many stories like that.
00:20:04
Speaker
Even I was sharing with you, you know, a week after that, along with other pastors, we went to the detention center in downtown Los Angeles to pray and to ask a simple question.
00:20:16
Speaker
Where are the families?
00:20:18
Speaker
Because what they do, people, clearly, you don't know who they represent.
00:20:25
Speaker
Which department they represent, they only say police.
00:20:29
Speaker
And sometimes they don't even have no uniform.
00:20:32
Speaker
The only thing that they have are, you know, dark glasses, masks that cover the whole face.
00:20:38
Speaker
And they just randomly on the streets stop people, you know, even gardeners.
00:20:44
Speaker
I know of a family that the gardener was doing, you know, mowing the grass.
00:20:48
Speaker
And they just took him, you know, hit him and gassed him and took him away.
00:20:54
Speaker
Even though he was the father of three Marines, U.S. Marines.
00:20:59
Speaker
The only crime for more than 30 years living in this country was he doesn't have documentation.
00:21:03
Speaker
They took him and they don't know the family where he is at.
00:21:07
Speaker
So we were asking the question, where are the families?
00:21:11
Speaker
And we saw the, you know, they were, I don't know.
00:21:14
Speaker
I don't remember if it was National Guard or Marines at that time, both were in the city.
00:21:20
Speaker
And they were like, they're not ready to be policed, you know, to keep the tears.
00:21:25
Speaker
Because
00:21:27
Speaker
any movement, anything, the first reaction they have is they raise their rifles and put the finger in the trigger and aim at us.
00:21:38
Speaker
And it was mostly pastors there.
Supporting and Sharing Community Stories
00:21:40
Speaker
Wow.
00:21:41
Speaker
Even at one time, just to show that, you know, we're really here for, you know, nonviolent, just peacefully asking a question.
00:21:48
Speaker
A lot of us, you know,
00:21:51
Speaker
kneeled up and started praying, but that even scared them.
00:21:54
Speaker
Just to see all the pray.
00:21:56
Speaker
Uh, he was very scary mom because I thought that they want to start shooting us.
00:22:01
Speaker
Thankfully they didn't do it, but this is the things that are going on.
00:22:06
Speaker
And, you know, suddenly we were, you know, singing because we were singing this little light of mine.
00:22:12
Speaker
Sorry, I'm not a little singer, but those kind of songs, you know, we're just singing, you know, you know, make me a sanctuary, you know, you know, of your presence in this moment.
00:22:26
Speaker
A lot of songs, you know, special songs.
00:22:29
Speaker
that all faiths could sing, you know, because it was an all faith meeting, you know, trying to ask these questions.
00:22:37
Speaker
And suddenly, eyes came with all the tracks and with all the, you know, bands and cars that they use.
00:22:45
Speaker
And some people in the back that didn't belong to a group, you know, young people also started to hit with, you know, batons or something, you know, the cars.
00:22:56
Speaker
Wow.
00:22:57
Speaker
And it became again another pins moment.
00:23:03
Speaker
But what some of us did,
00:23:05
Speaker
we defended the bans and immigration because we're not there to cause any harm.
00:23:14
Speaker
So literally, I was asking questions to the National Guard about our
Closing Thoughts and Prayer Requests
00:23:20
Speaker
people, but we ended up defending the eyes of Border Patrol agents because that's who we are.
00:23:29
Speaker
We represent Christ.
00:23:33
Speaker
And, you know, we're not there to cause any harm or anything like that.
00:23:37
Speaker
But it was a very tense moment that I feel that I had to be there because the church has to be there when there is a need.
00:23:47
Speaker
You know, being a pastor in my city is about being there when there is a need, but being there with compassion.
00:23:55
Speaker
It's like Christ.
00:23:56
Speaker
The Bible says that he saw the multitudes and he felt compassion.
00:24:00
Speaker
So for me, I got to be there.
00:24:02
Speaker
But I got to be there with compassion if I want to follow Christ.
00:24:07
Speaker
So even if it means to protect a water patrol agent, it's the same.
00:24:13
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:14
Speaker
Thanks for sharing, Pastor.
00:24:16
Speaker
Those are just very powerful images and stories.
00:24:18
Speaker
And I know that those are just reflective of the greater kind of things that are happening in L.A.
00:24:25
Speaker
too.
00:24:25
Speaker
So I appreciate it.
00:24:27
Speaker
And even just the, I think there's so many glimpses of
00:24:31
Speaker
Just Jesus in those spaces that you shared in the midst of these chaos and confusion that it's just like really powerful for me to even understand like the ways that I'm understanding Jesus or the ways my paradigm is shifting as a result of that is powerful.
00:24:49
Speaker
I wanted to actually, this might be a little unprecedented for podcasts, but I actually wanted to pause a little bit.
00:24:56
Speaker
I think I sensed kind of like a heaviness of just the stories.
00:24:59
Speaker
And I know those were just a few, but I really wanted to take a moment and maybe we could pray for the families and for the families in detention or the people that are in detention centers for ICE and Border Patrol that I just, yeah, I just really feel that we need
00:25:17
Speaker
our powerful God to do something, you know, and to move, but also to mobilize His people and kind of not be scared in the midst of all of this fear to be able to ask where are our families or to be able to reunite people with their families and their communities.
00:25:36
Speaker
So I'm just going to take a little time to pray really quick and then we'll continue our questions.
00:25:42
Speaker
But Jesus, yeah, we come before you and we lay down kind of all of these things at your feet.
00:25:51
Speaker
We pray, Father, for the people that have been detained.
00:25:56
Speaker
We pray that you would...
00:25:59
Speaker
help families to find one another, that you would, Lord, make that way and those paths clear in some way, some miraculous way.
00:26:09
Speaker
Lord, I pray that you would let especially the families that Pastor Carlos has mentioned today be able to find their loved ones.
00:26:17
Speaker
We also pray for Border Patrol and for ICE and for the Marines and the National Guard that are all there in LA.
00:26:23
Speaker
I pray
00:26:24
Speaker
that they would have compassion too, Father.
00:26:26
Speaker
They would be able to use discretion and see one another as humans, see the people they're interacting with in the human way.
00:26:36
Speaker
I pray for people showing up in these peaceful protests, Lord.
00:26:40
Speaker
I pray for the pastors that are showing up for their community.
00:26:44
Speaker
I pray for protection.
00:26:46
Speaker
I pray for continued courage and boldness.
00:26:48
Speaker
I pray for hope in the middle of despair.
00:26:51
Speaker
And I pray for those who are still waiting, kind of wondering, especially people who follow you, wondering where to take part.
00:26:58
Speaker
I pray that you would give them the courage to combat whatever fear they might have to stand on behalf of justice for their neighbors, for their community.
00:27:08
Speaker
We pray this in your name.
00:27:09
Speaker
Amen.
00:27:10
Speaker
Amen.
00:27:11
Speaker
Yeah.
00:27:11
Speaker
And I could give you more examples.
00:27:13
Speaker
Also, now as a pastor of a congregation, how this is affecting the members of my church.
00:27:18
Speaker
Yeah.
00:27:19
Speaker
Yeah, last week on, I don't remember, Tuesday, Wednesday, sorry, I received a call or actually text from one of our leaders and
00:27:34
Speaker
So we have a department ministry that we call Bernabéas, Bernabé in Spanish, because that's how we help people that have needs.
00:27:48
Speaker
And she also is part of another group that we call Mateo 25, that help us with people right now in this moment, you know, with anything that has to do with immigration.
00:28:00
Speaker
So when there is a need, she's a person that people call for my congregation.
00:28:04
Speaker
Yeah.
00:28:05
Speaker
And she's an immigrant herself.
00:28:08
Speaker
And she started testing me, Pastor, there are families in our congregation here where we lived that they haven't been able to work for almost a week.
00:28:20
Speaker
They are so afraid of coming out because, you know, they may be taken.
00:28:26
Speaker
because they're taking people on the bus, they're taking people wherever.
00:28:30
Speaker
Just randomly, if you're walking on the street and you look Latino, they detain you or they take you away.
00:28:37
Speaker
That's something that people need to understand, just because you look Latino, literally.
00:28:44
Speaker
And they were not able, that's when, you know, a lot of the Marines and the National Guard, instead of just being in the federal building, started going on the streets.
00:28:56
Speaker
And she told me, I don't know what to do because people are texting me and calling me.
00:29:01
Speaker
They're desperate because they're hungry.
00:29:05
Speaker
They need to go to the market.
00:29:07
Speaker
But specifically, that's the word she used.
00:29:11
Speaker
There are soldiers, tanks of war, and all kind of, you know, soldiers surrounding Latino markets.
00:29:20
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:29:22
Speaker
If people go, they're taken away just because they're going to buy food for their families.
00:29:28
Speaker
So we don't know what to do.
00:29:29
Speaker
And I was in the midst of also doing something.
00:29:35
Speaker
So I said, okay, just give me a moment.
00:29:37
Speaker
But try to organize and do something.
00:29:40
Speaker
Let me just finish what I'm doing.
00:29:43
Speaker
When I got back, still agreed to the leaders of the church.
00:29:47
Speaker
Or what they did, some of them have, you know,
00:29:51
Speaker
children, you know, 12, 14, 15 years of age.
00:29:54
Speaker
So they are the ones that are going to the market and buying the food for the family because they're American citizens.
00:30:01
Speaker
Of course, they are taking the risk.
00:30:04
Speaker
And so that's how it's, you know,
00:30:08
Speaker
People are not able even to buy food.
00:30:11
Speaker
So last Sunday, yesterday, I gathered all the, because we have cell groups throughout the city, I gathered all the cell leaders and I asked them, you know, how are the people?
00:30:22
Speaker
What are the situations?
00:30:23
Speaker
Thankfully, we were able to organize and if anyone in our church has any need, if they want to go to the doctor appointment or they want to go to buy food or anything, you know, thankfully the church is...
00:30:35
Speaker
itself organically mostly you know helping each other and for me that's a powerful statement of you know being a family and but it's it has affected us in the church in so many levels of course attendance is way down compared to other times because people are not of are they don't want to leave their homes i have one of my
00:31:00
Speaker
leaders.
00:31:00
Speaker
He has a couple of cell groups in downtown Los Angeles, mostly with high schoolers and middle schoolers, middle schools, young people.
00:31:12
Speaker
They have about 30, probably 30 students working within small groups.
00:31:17
Speaker
And he's been, since the beginning, in his house, not being able to work.
00:31:23
Speaker
We started about two months ago after I finally was able to secure some funding, a music academy because I wanted to bring some of the children, because it's mostly for children from seven to 16 or 17, so they can learn piano, voice and all kinds of instruments because I wanted to, because some of the schools have stopped doing that.
00:31:43
Speaker
So I wanted to do it at the church and also a way eventually for us to make it bigger so we can impact the community.
00:31:51
Speaker
But, you know, it was a heartbroken for me decision to stop for one week because it was so unsafe to drive because you could see soldiers stationed in strategic places throughout the city, stopping people that I didn't want to take the chance.
00:32:12
Speaker
So it was sad to hear the stories of some of the members saying, oh, my child was so sad.
00:32:18
Speaker
you know, he's practicing or she's practicing here in the house, but it's not the same.
00:32:22
Speaker
They're, you know, so sad.
00:32:24
Speaker
So this week, we took the chance and I told them, if you don't feel safe, don't come.
00:32:30
Speaker
But if you want to come and
00:32:33
Speaker
You know, some of them risk beating the tape, but they brought their children to our music academy.
00:32:40
Speaker
And we organized ourselves there at the church, making sure, you know, the gate was closed and people outside in the parking just watching.
00:32:49
Speaker
Because you cannot do anything.
00:32:51
Speaker
You can just watch.
00:32:52
Speaker
Because if they come, because, you know, they are already threatened, you know, in the churches that they even can't go to churches.
00:33:00
Speaker
Yeah, they don't stop if it is a church.
00:33:03
Speaker
So it was so sad for me to be outside last Saturday, you know, being, you know, like, watching the streets, the outside, the parking, just because kids, you know, children want to learn how to play the piano, the drums.
00:33:24
Speaker
That made me super sad.
00:33:26
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:26
Speaker
That I had to do what I'm doing just because I want to see that.
00:33:30
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:32
Speaker
It's super hard.
00:33:33
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:33
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:35
Speaker
Just that image of watching because you don't want the kids or their parents to be detained or separate.
00:33:43
Speaker
It's just that's so heartbreaking to think that something so beautiful can be potential.
00:33:50
Speaker
I know.
00:33:51
Speaker
And it was something that we worked hard to be able to open, secure funding for more than a year to do everything.
00:33:58
Speaker
And then suddenly, boom, there is now...
00:34:02
Speaker
You know, just for bringing the kids to learn how to play the piano and, you know, do tune, tune, tune, you know, Christian songs.
00:34:13
Speaker
Because that's what they learned.
00:34:14
Speaker
Because our program is not only about music.
00:34:16
Speaker
They have a devotional before they start the, you know, the music program, because I wanted to be, you know, upfront as a Christian program.
00:34:25
Speaker
And it's not only about learning how to play the piano, but they are being described at the same time.
00:34:29
Speaker
So just for that, parents are threatened to be deported because they're taking the children to this program.
00:34:39
Speaker
It's super hard.
00:34:40
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:42
Speaker
I really appreciate your, like, I think I just hear so much of your just trying to be wise and just trying to figure out what is like wise for my community, what's wise for us, what's wise in this moment, but also like choosing to take courage at times to be able to provide those safe spaces or provide just a moments of joy when there's so much fear and uncertainty, even for your
00:35:10
Speaker
the families in your community um and i think that's saying a lot that the parents would risk you know to bring their children to a music class um i think that's saying a lot of just what they're looking for and hoping for or even the trust that they have in your church in the community for sure yeah it's it's
00:35:31
Speaker
I'm really amazed of some of them.
00:35:35
Speaker
Some stayed, didn't bring their children.
00:35:37
Speaker
You know, our attendance was about 60%, but still some of them chose to bring their children.
00:35:43
Speaker
And just when I saw them, I just, you know, embraced them and told them, you know,
00:35:48
Speaker
anything that I can do for you just let me know."
00:35:51
Speaker
Because they took a chance.
00:35:53
Speaker
They asked for bringing their children to learn how to play the piano.
00:36:01
Speaker
And of course it has affected a lot of the things that we do as a church.
00:36:05
Speaker
We stopped a lot of the ministry that we had, we had some meetings scheduled we had to postpone.
00:36:15
Speaker
A lot of the meetings, like, you know, we have a, we call it a women's network, men's network.
00:36:22
Speaker
We have already planned a lot of activities.
00:36:23
Speaker
We're not doing those anymore.
00:36:25
Speaker
Right now, we postpone a lot of those.
00:36:28
Speaker
We only are having a Wednesdays and Sundays, but still, you know, the attendance has been like last Sunday probably was about 50% of the people only that regularly.
00:36:41
Speaker
We have our service, yes.
00:36:44
Speaker
And not everyone is undocumented, but there's a mixed status families.
00:36:50
Speaker
You know, it's affecting everyone.
00:36:55
Speaker
Everyone in the community.
00:36:57
Speaker
And as a leader in the community, again, through the work that I do as a nonprofit that is focused on the School of Avance Latino,
00:37:08
Speaker
We focus more on economic development with small businesses.
00:37:12
Speaker
You know, in the city of Los Angeles, there are thousands of landscapers, mostly Latinos now.
00:37:18
Speaker
It used to be Japanese, but now our Latinos are the ones that are taking over.
00:37:22
Speaker
that industry.
00:37:24
Speaker
And they don't have an association.
00:37:26
Speaker
So they know the work that I do with banks and in the community.
00:37:30
Speaker
And they called me to help them organize.
00:37:32
Speaker
And we were planning also an event to bring resources and to train the people how to start businesses, how to apply for licenses, you know.
00:37:43
Speaker
And I have so many connections in the city.
00:37:45
Speaker
I was going to bring people from the county,
00:37:48
Speaker
you know, about, you know, applying other nonprofits, banks, investors, people that wants to bring resources to the community.
00:37:57
Speaker
And we thought that we were going to have a good attendance, probably about a hundred people who are going to come.
00:38:02
Speaker
We had to transfer that also.
00:38:04
Speaker
Wow.
00:38:05
Speaker
Yeah.
00:38:05
Speaker
Because no one is, no, no one will attend.
00:38:08
Speaker
Now we're trying to do something virtual.
00:38:11
Speaker
Yeah.
00:38:11
Speaker
Something like that.
00:38:12
Speaker
But, you know, we had to start a lot of activities that our church does.
00:38:16
Speaker
Yeah.
00:38:17
Speaker
That makes sense.
00:38:19
Speaker
I'm curious for you personally or even within your community, what are kind of things you're wrestling with with your faith right now?
00:38:29
Speaker
Or ways maybe you're seeing kind of scripture differently as a result of kind of the circumstances that y'all are in right now?
00:38:38
Speaker
I have a deeper commitment.
00:38:40
Speaker
That's how it has affected me even more.
00:38:45
Speaker
And not only me, but I, I don't know why my wife also comes with me to everything, but she says, if I don't go, you don't go.
00:38:55
Speaker
So.
00:38:57
Speaker
She's always protecting me.
00:39:01
Speaker
I don't know why, but it's like, no, if you go, I have to be there.
00:39:06
Speaker
So it has been bringing us together as a couple, literally, because we're praying for the same thing, we're doing the same thing.
00:39:14
Speaker
It has made us more committed to our city.
00:39:20
Speaker
I sometimes say I don't like that a lot of people talk about the city of Los Angeles, a place of, you know, it's a horrible city, you know, a lot of problems.
00:39:28
Speaker
And I don't deny that we have problems.
00:39:30
Speaker
We don't deny that there's a lot of need for housing, for, you know, a lot of things that could be different.
00:39:37
Speaker
But this is a beautiful city.
00:39:38
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:39
Speaker
It's a beautiful city because this is mostly people from all over the world being together.
00:39:48
Speaker
I remember once I was in a program in the University of the USC for faith leaders, and I don't remember her name right now, but she said once to the group that was attending her class, this is the only place in the world there are more than 110, 15 faiths live together in the world in peace.
00:40:07
Speaker
Wow.
00:40:08
Speaker
If you go to any place in the world that so many faiths are living together, they're, you know, fighting and they're, you know, totally in disagreement.
00:40:15
Speaker
No, literally, this is a very peaceful city, mostly.
00:40:20
Speaker
Crime is done from, you know, from 10, 20 years ago.
00:40:24
Speaker
It's expensive, things like that, people.
00:40:26
Speaker
But it is a beautiful city because, you know, there are another places you can, you know, eat fruit from all over the world in the same place.
00:40:35
Speaker
And being together, you know, when I talk about food trucks, you can go out a food truck with, you know, fusion, you know, Japanese, Mexican, and Korean together.
00:40:47
Speaker
So those things only happen here.
00:40:51
Speaker
and that's one of the things I enjoy the most you know trying different foods from people all over the world and yesterday no yesterday but Saturday was a refugee because it was a refugee international day so I was invited to attend and I went being among people refugees from all over the world you know from Africa from
00:41:12
Speaker
India, from a lot of different places.
00:41:16
Speaker
So it was a wonderful scene, you know, being all there together supporting each other.
00:41:21
Speaker
So Los Angeles is, in that way, it's beautiful.
00:41:25
Speaker
And for me, it's beautiful because this is where my family is, my wife is, you know, me and my wife are,
00:41:32
Speaker
We have committed to the city, even, you know, I'm not planning to leave or, you know, change, you know, my place of ministry.
00:41:40
Speaker
I'm committed to die in this place.
00:41:41
Speaker
This is my, this is what Jesus called me to be.
00:41:45
Speaker
So that's why, you know, my heart is broken to see, you know, what is going on to be, to see soldiers all over.
00:41:53
Speaker
soldiers a lot of them are like 20 21 years of age and a lot of them are you know mostly black and brown people when we were marching last you know not last Saturday but you know the Saturday before no king's day and I was there leaving a group you know we were chanting you know singing together people from all over the city and the soldiers were like
00:42:16
Speaker
I'm doing here.
00:42:17
Speaker
They even, you know, greeted us and, you know, tell us, hey, ESP, ESP.
00:42:22
Speaker
Okay, good.
00:42:23
Speaker
Some of us went and took pictures with them and say anything, you know, this is our city, you know, this is a safe place, you don't have to be here.
00:42:31
Speaker
And they were saying, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:42:33
Speaker
They didn't respond, but, you know, you can see that I don't know why we are here.
00:42:38
Speaker
That's what breaks my heart a lot.
00:42:39
Speaker
People have a barrier because of media, you know,
00:42:43
Speaker
They portray the city as lawless, run by criminals and run by immigrants that are killing and things like that, which is not true.
00:42:52
Speaker
This is a beautiful city that I love, especially because the people that make the city are beautiful people.
00:42:58
Speaker
Most of my adult life, I've been in this community.
00:43:03
Speaker
So I take it because this is my city.
00:43:07
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:43:10
Speaker
I love the way you shared about that because I feel like that's so much of also like just the heartbeat of CCDA of like, how do we really love the place that we live, right?
00:43:19
Speaker
And not just at a surface level, but we know the ins and outs.
00:43:24
Speaker
We know who the landscaper who should come over here.
00:43:26
Speaker
We know the food truck that we should send you to.
00:43:29
Speaker
Like we just know our city and we love it deeply.
00:43:32
Speaker
And we know our neighbors like that so much that it feels like
00:43:36
Speaker
my family is being affected, right?
00:43:39
Speaker
It's not just like my immediate family.
00:43:42
Speaker
It's like my familia from my community.
00:43:44
Speaker
And so I really love a lot of the ways you shared about that.
00:43:49
Speaker
And I love how much your church is a part of all of that as well.
00:43:52
Speaker
You know, that kind of church-based component of church.
00:43:55
Speaker
We don't exist just to be an insular or like only four walls.
00:43:59
Speaker
We exist for this community and for this city.
00:44:02
Speaker
And so I think that's been really powerful in the midst of all of the kind of chaos that's happening right now to see that those things ring true for you guys.
00:44:16
Speaker
Well, what about for prayer requests?
00:44:18
Speaker
Are there like two or three specific things?
00:44:20
Speaker
I know you've shared a lot already that I can already anticipate on what to pray for.
00:44:25
Speaker
But what about in this moment?
00:44:27
Speaker
What are two or three things we can be praying for you guys?
00:44:32
Speaker
For protection.
00:44:33
Speaker
Yeah.
00:44:35
Speaker
for protection of my wife and I, that we could continue on the streets.
00:44:40
Speaker
Because that's what we feel that's where we should be, at the streets.
00:44:46
Speaker
Because that's where the people are.
00:44:50
Speaker
But also pray for the church because we could be a target of hate people, you know, hate groups.
00:44:59
Speaker
You know, I'm very much aware of that.
00:45:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:45:04
Speaker
And especially pray for the children of the city of Los Angeles.
00:45:09
Speaker
There are so many children's hearts that are broken right now.
00:45:14
Speaker
Afraid, literally afraid of being separated.
00:45:19
Speaker
You know, last Sunday, yesterday, all family, they have five children.
00:45:26
Speaker
They, oh, Pastor, can I talk to you after the service?
00:45:32
Speaker
In front of the children, if we're taken away, will you take our family?
00:45:39
Speaker
And the children loved us.
00:45:41
Speaker
They love us.
00:45:42
Speaker
They're my children.
00:45:44
Speaker
Yes.
00:45:44
Speaker
My children, literally.
00:45:51
Speaker
For me, it was so hard to hear that they're telling me that in front of the children.
00:45:57
Speaker
So please pray for the children.
00:46:00
Speaker
Pray for those in detention because there's still many families, we don't know, love is
00:46:07
Speaker
Wednesday, I was in a meeting with our congressman here in the city, Jimmy Gomez.
00:46:13
Speaker
He's part of our district.
00:46:14
Speaker
He's, you know, the congressman from our district.
00:46:18
Speaker
And he was telling us that, you know, the places that finally I allowed some of the congresspeople to get into are horrible.
00:46:28
Speaker
are people there that for the last 10 days they haven't changed clothes, you know, they're sleeping on the floor, concrete floor, things like that.
00:46:37
Speaker
So praise for the family that have been detained and especially for all the people that are in cost and fear.
00:46:45
Speaker
Also, pray for the pastors in my city, the more pastors, you know,
00:46:53
Speaker
Stop being silent because they think I don't want to get involved with politics.
00:46:57
Speaker
This is not about politics.
00:46:58
Speaker
This is about our families.
00:46:59
Speaker
So pray for pastors for more courage and the spiritual leadership of this church.
00:47:08
Speaker
So for more people, especially from the church, because that's where I'm from, from the church, is thumb in the gap and help.
00:47:18
Speaker
I'm not saying, you know, being political or anything like that.
00:47:21
Speaker
Just help families.
00:47:24
Speaker
I want that.
00:47:25
Speaker
And especially pray for healing in our city to stop the raids.
00:47:30
Speaker
And especially now that you don't know who is taking the people.
00:47:35
Speaker
We don't know.
00:47:36
Speaker
Literally, we don't know.
00:47:38
Speaker
Yeah.
00:47:38
Speaker
Because they don't have no, you don't, it's, they don't have a, you know, anything that identifies them as being part of the government, but they're taking away people.
00:47:48
Speaker
They just go randomly in the streets.
00:47:51
Speaker
Whoever is walking that looks Latino, you could be taken.
00:47:54
Speaker
So please pray for healing.
00:47:59
Speaker
You know, I was kneeling, praying at the detention center, you know, about five, six, seven days ago.
00:48:07
Speaker
And a very known, his name is Jorge Ramos.
00:48:13
Speaker
He used to work for Univision.
00:48:16
Speaker
He asked me, Pastor, why are you praying, kneeling here in front of soldiers?
00:48:20
Speaker
Do you think they're going to listen to what you're saying?
00:48:22
Speaker
Well, I'm not praying to them.
00:48:23
Speaker
I'm praying to God.
00:48:24
Speaker
And I still believe in miracles.
00:48:25
Speaker
I'm a pastor.
00:48:27
Speaker
I still believe in miracles.
00:48:29
Speaker
You still believe in miracles?
00:48:31
Speaker
Even though you, you know, what has happened?
00:48:35
Speaker
If I don't believe in miracles, I stop being a pastor.
00:48:39
Speaker
So please pray for healing in our city and for peace.
00:48:45
Speaker
Yeah.
00:48:46
Speaker
Thank you for that.
00:48:47
Speaker
Those are powerful requests or even things to consider.
00:48:51
Speaker
I think a lot of times whenever someone articulates the really specific things, it helps me to be like, oh man, those are things I didn't even think about, right?
00:49:01
Speaker
I've wondered even what are ways that the church can be creative and protecting and supporting their community in this season too, I think is something we can keep praying for.
00:49:14
Speaker
How about like for a lot of the people listening right now are obviously not super proximate to LA, but I think a lot of us can attest to some of this, these raids and things that are happening, threats towards immigrants are happening in our communities.
00:49:28
Speaker
What are ways that we can like support your community or even things you think we should consider when supporting our communities locally?
00:49:38
Speaker
I think one of the things that people could do to support what we're doing is share the stories.
00:49:44
Speaker
More people need to know what's going on in our city.
00:49:49
Speaker
Because when I, at night, you know, I watch the news.
00:49:52
Speaker
Yeah.
00:49:53
Speaker
They picture a different, totally incorrect picture of what is going on.
00:49:58
Speaker
They like to point to the cars and fire and someone is standing with a Mexican flag.
00:50:04
Speaker
That's the image that I like to portray the city.
00:50:07
Speaker
Now share the stories, the real stories of what's going on, especially from clergy or for people that you trust.
00:50:14
Speaker
support any organization that you know of that is doing work in the community.
00:50:18
Speaker
Reach out to officials.
00:50:19
Speaker
Call your people in Congress, elected officials.
00:50:23
Speaker
Demand answers.
00:50:27
Speaker
don't look away when you see the stories.
00:50:30
Speaker
Just don't look, oh, no, no, I'm busy or this is political.
00:50:33
Speaker
No, don't look away to what is going on.
00:50:35
Speaker
You need to understand, you know, how families are being torn apart.
00:50:41
Speaker
Stay informed.
00:50:42
Speaker
Try to be part of the solution.
00:50:46
Speaker
And if somehow, you know, remember me, just pray for me and my church and all the people that are being involved helping our community.
00:50:57
Speaker
Awesome.
00:50:57
Speaker
Well, thank you, Pastor Carlos.
00:50:58
Speaker
We appreciate your time today.
00:51:00
Speaker
Thank you for sharing the stories and giving us a little glimpse into your world and ways that we can be praying and supporting you.
00:51:07
Speaker
I'm very grateful for you and your example for us today.
00:51:12
Speaker
Thank you for having me.
00:51:14
Speaker
And when people ask me why I do it, it's because I'm pastoring in my church.
00:51:18
Speaker
That's what I'm doing.
00:51:20
Speaker
I'm not brave.
00:51:21
Speaker
It just happened that suddenly things happened, but I'm not looking for any of these things that I share.
00:51:27
Speaker
It's just, you know, I'm trying to be a pastor in my city.
00:51:31
Speaker
That's what I'm trying to do.
00:51:33
Speaker
And everything that I say is with that spirit.
00:51:35
Speaker
Yeah.
00:51:37
Speaker
I think that definitely came across.
00:51:39
Speaker
I appreciate you again.
00:51:40
Speaker
Yes.
00:51:41
Speaker
And one day we'll have to have Indian food together.
00:51:46
Speaker
Yes, definitely.
00:51:48
Speaker
Definitely.
00:51:48
Speaker
There's a place here where I live in Artesia, Little One Bay.
00:51:53
Speaker
Oh, okay.
00:51:54
Speaker
Yeah.
00:51:54
Speaker
Yeah, yeah.
00:51:58
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:51:59
Speaker
Thank you for listening to the CCDA podcast.
00:52:01
Speaker
And thank you again, Pastor Carlos, for joining us.
00:52:04
Speaker
If you'd want to learn more about CCDA or get involved and connect with Pastor Carlos, check out the show notes of this episode.
00:52:11
Speaker
Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
00:52:17
Speaker
And this episode is produced by Sarah Callen in association with me, Christina Fore.
00:52:22
Speaker
We will be back soon with another episode featuring CCD practitioners who are committed to seeing people and communities experience God's shalom.
00:52:30
Speaker
We'll see you then.