Please meet Alessandro! He’s the newest addition to Lighthouse’s staff and he’ll be serving as an intern, working closely with Pastor Francis in Beacon, our college ministry. Learn a little bit about him through these questions and answers, then give him a warm welcome! (agonzalez@lighthousesouthbay.org)
Tell us a little bit about yourself!
Ok, here we go… ^_^ I was born in Florida but grew up in Alabama and Nicaragua. By God’s grace, even though I wasn’t saved at the time, He led me to study at Fullerton College, CSUF, and then to Stanford for my Master’s degree. It’s a long story but I’d be happy to share it with you sometime as a testimony of God’s goodness, even as an unbeliever! God also led me to work for General Motors in Michigan which is where I was saved by God’s amazing grace! After working almost 9 years there, my family and I came to TMS. I just finished my M.Div. and I plan to start the Th.M. in the Fall.
My wonderful wife, Chenpei, is from China and she was also saved in Michigan while studying for her Master’s. We’ve been married almost 6 years and we have two little boys. Their names are John Rogers and Matthew Tyndale, named after Bible translators and martyrs. Their stories are amazing and encouraging!
What are your hobbies and interests? What do you do in your free time?
We don’t really have any true hobbies, although we love spending time with others for fellowship. We also enjoy reading and going for walks although we don’t do it as often as we’d like. At the moment, we’ve been watching videos online to learn more about Japan and the Japanese culture.
As you may know by now, the Lighthouse staff love food. What are your favorite foods?
We don’t discriminate against any delicious food! Hahaha We are pretty flexible and enjoy all Asian food including Indian. We also enjoy Mexican, Nicaraguan, and Middle Eastern food!
Are there any interesting facts we should know about you?
My dad is Nicaraguan but my mom is Chinese, although she was born and raised in Nicaragua. My mom’s family reunions are fun because it’s a bunch of Chinese people who speak Spanish! Since it’s usually in a Chinese restaurant, all that staff are usually looking at us with quite puzzled faces!
How have the first few weeks of being in the office been? What are you looking forward to?
The first few weeks at Lighthouse have been great! I’ve thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the pastors and staff and being encouraged by their love for Jesus Christ and God’s Word. Their example of being a doer of the Word and not only a hearer is very valuable to me and my family. I’m learning much that will really help shape my future ministry, wherever the Lord will have us serve Him.
What will your role be on staff at Lighthouse?
I’ll mostly be serving at Beacon alongside Francis and Seichi. I’ll be leading a small group and teaching/preaching several times throughout the Summer. There will also be some time set aside for exploring missions in Japan.
In what ways are you looking forward to doing ministry at Lighthouse?
I was saved and served in a small Chinese church in Michigan for about 7 years. We spent the last 4 years in Grace Community Church. Both have been a great blessing to us and they are also very different. Lighthouse is somewhere in between those two churches in many ways. I believe the experience at Lighthouse will be invaluable to me, especially in regards to the emphasis on relationships and application of God’s Word. I hope to use everything I’ve learned from all three churches wherever the Lord has us serve Him in the future.
How can we, as your church family, be praying for you?
Please pray that our time at Lighthouse will continue to be a very edifying time for our whole family. We have a hunger to grow in our walk with the Lord and I believe that doing this with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ at Lighthouse will be a blessing to our souls.
Please pray that we will know the Lord’s will with regards to where He wants us to serve Him in the future. As of now we are exploring missions to Japan and are praying that the Lord’s will be clear to us soon.
