FILLING THE VOID | Becky St. Clair

FILLING THE VOID By Becky St. Clair

David Montoya, Texas Conference of Seventhday Adventists executive secretary, never imagined he’d be a church administrator. In fact, he never imagined he’d be a church ... well, anything! Montoya was born to hardworking migrant agricultural workers who split their time between east ern Washington state, where they worked the fields, and Eagle Pass, Texas, where Montoya’s father was a furniture salesman. Though they attended a church of a differ ent denomination, the family was not at all religious. The one Bible the family eventually owned was nothing more than decor atop the coffee table. “I filled my days with movies, rock music, comic books and friends,” Montoya recalls. “I was enjoying my life, but something didn’t feel right. There was a void—an emptiness—inside me that I couldn’t explain.” Trying to ignore, stifle or crowd out the feeling, Montoya began

attending a martial arts class. One day, the instructor brought his sister, Mary Ann Garza, to class. They began chatting after class, and Montoya quickly realized that Garza was smart, thoughtful and respectful, too. Soon, Mon toya and Garza were a couple. About a year after they started dating, Montoya attended a ju nior college about an hour away. He was gone for most of the week but came home on weekends to see his family and Garza. “We had a routine,” he says. “I’d come home on Fridays, pick her up and we’d go out to dinner.”

One Friday, two years later, how ever, instead of being ready for a night out, Garza invited Mon toya in for singing and praying. He knew she and her parents had been attending a Revelation seminar at a local Seventh-day Adventist church. Montoya had previously heard some of the things they were learning, but he wasn’t interested.

“I thought religion was just for older people with nothing else to do,” Montoya says with a chuckle. “I found out later how untrue that statement is.” When Garza and her family were baptized and began keeping Sat urday as the Sabbath, the change in lifestyle was difficult for the relationship, so they broke up. “I was heartbroken,” he says. “We’d talked about marriage, and I couldn’t imagine life without her.” Feeling lost, he decided to talk to David Contreras, who was the pastor of the Eagle Pass Spanish Seventh-day Adventist church at that time. (Contreras is currently pastoring the Fort Worth Spanish East Handley and Forth Worth Spanish South churches.) Contre ras suggested Bible studies, and Montoya agreed. Within a week, he completed all 26 lessons, and, shortly thereafter, was baptized. “I had been trying to fill that void in my life with all sorts of things,” he recalls, “and I’d finally found what actually removed it: Christ. I was wholeheartedly convict ed. In the Bible, I found truth, purpose and meaning from the promises of peace and hope. But, more importantly, I found a God who loved me unconditionally. The void was finally filled, not by things, but an experience with the Lord.” His newfound faith and changed lifestyle brought him close to Gar za again, and eventually, about a year later, they were married. Feeling impressed by God, and encouraged by his pastor and mother-in-law, along with the support of his wife, Montoya en rolled at Southwestern Adventist University (SWAU) in Keene, Tex as, and graduated with a degree in religion and theology. “I truly believe it’s what God wanted for my life,” Montoya proclaims. “My relationship with

Him through constant prayer and Scripture reading has been such an important part of getting through the challenges of life.”

Montoya spent a year as a pastor before continuing his educa tion and receiving his Master of Divinity at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. He and his family then moved back to Texas, where they spent the next several years in various parts of the state, pastoring several churches at a time. They even ended up back in the Eagle Pass area as pastor of a four-church district. His parents faith fully attended church the week he preached in their area, even though they were not mem bers. Montoya found that the part he loved most about being a pastor was spending time with people in Bible studies, outreach and home visits. When the call came asking him to accept the nomination of executive secretary, Montoya hesitated. He wasn’t sure he wanted to give up his boots-onthe-ground situation. “I spent a lot of time talking to God about it,” he says. “I would not have accepted if I wasn’t ab solutely sure it was God’s calling. I never aspired to this adminis trative ministry, but God works in loving, mysterious ways. It’s a privilege to serve God and my church in this capacity.” Montoya especially enjoys joining

the office staff each morning on their knees seeking God’s guid ance. And he still gets to do what he loves: preaching at different churches throughout the confer ence and meeting, fellowshipping and worshipping with people. “I feel so fulfilled and rewarded,” says Montoya, “and have peace in my heart that I’m where God wants me to be. I so appreciate the wonderful wife He provided to journey with me.” _________________

Becky St. Clair is a freelance writer living in the California Bay Area.