The Zone Gathering

Someone once commented to me that they did not have time to lead a small group. Overhearing this, Christina Borja immediately injected herself into the conversation: “I am building a coffeehouse, and I find time to lead a small group.”

You have heard about Ebenezers for a few years now. But who is the woman behind the mission? Today, we talk with Christina Borja about life, ministry, and her love of schedules.

What is your official title? And what does that mean you do at NCC?
Coffeehouse Manager currently. It seems to change for me every year or so around here! But I’ll be sticking with this one for the next while. So, it means that I have to figure out how to start a coffeehouse in the next month or two! It’s a fun and stretching challenge, but I feel peace in knowing that God will give me the strength to see it through – Ebenezers was His idea and He has great plans for it!

Tell us a little about the small group that you lead and how that experience has impacted you.
For 2005 my husband Dairo and I have led two Crown Financial groups and one Missions Team to Colombia group. All of them have been great! I’m really passionate about being a good steward of the resources that Christ has allowed us to manage while here on earth, and I think that learning how to properly think about money can save us from a lot of heart ache in life. As a couple we are passionate about missions – we met doing missions work and we both feel like learning about other cultures and serving others helps us know God better. It was so great for us to be able to take a group of ten “home” with us to Colombia this summer! (Dairo is Colombian and grew up in Bogotá.)

Where can you be found on Sunday mornings?
In the Grand at Union Station – Dairo drums there so I go to either the 9:30 or 11am service. I also sometimes do announcements in the 11am when needed.

When did you start following Christ and what have been some of the spiritual turning points in your life?
I became a Christian in Sunday school around age 6. My family didn’t know Christ at the time but I went to church with my cousin and learned about God there. A little while later, my parents accepted the Lord and my life at home changed dramatically. I would say that college was the time in my life where my relationship with God was truly made my own. After college I spent a year in Ecuador working with a missionary family and my faith was once again stretched and increased!

Tell us a little about your background.
I was born in Maryland (in the DC metro area) and lived in Lanham and then Bowie. While I was in college, my parents moved to Davidsonville, MD, which is just west of Annapolis. I went to Messiah College, a small, liberal arts, Christian school near Harrisburg, PA and studied Business Administration. I have two younger sisters, one who is in college in FL and the other is in high school in Annapolis. I met my husband Dairo in Cuenca, Ecuador (although he is Colombian – it’s confusing I know!) and come Dec 18 this year, we will have been married for 4 years!

What is your favorite Scripture passage?
Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4. To me this is a promise to help us be content. My job is to focus on Him. He will then either give me my desires or change them if they are not of Him (since I am focusing on Him and allowing Him to change me). It just keeps it simple for me.

What are your favorite books?
Well, generally I read books that help me with something I’m working on, probably so that I feel like I am getting something done. As far as fiction goes, recently I read the Left Behind series, the Da Vinci Code (had to see what all the hype was about a few years ago) and now the Harry Potter series (again, to see what all the hype is about). I wouldn’t say any of them are my “favorites” though.

What are your favorite movies?
I loved “Life is Beautiful.”

What is your favorite fast food?
Definitely Taco Bell – nacho supreme with no meat and a bean burrito with no red sauce!

What is something that most people at NCC would not know about you?
When I was a little girl, my parents tell me that I used to write out schedules for my morning/day that looked something like this:
7:30 wake up
7:32 brush my teeth
7:35 get dressed
7:36 put shoes on
7:38 pack my back pack
…
They say that your personality is innate – guess I can’t really argue with that!

If you were not working at NCC, your dream job would be…
Being a manager for some band the Dairo was drumming in and traveling around with him

Who is your hero? (besides Jesus or any other member of the Trinity)
I don’t think I have one besides them.

What do you do in your free time?
Work on the house (cleaning or other misc projects to keep it up), spend time with Dairo, work out, watch the Redskins games, and we tape 4 shows that we are watching this season, and we watch them at our convenience – Amazing Race, Lost, Survivor and Smallville.

In NCC:THE MOVIE who would play you? Who would play Pastor Mark?
Maybe Salma Hayek only because she’s the closet match for a look-alike that I can think of (not a very creative answer, I know!); for Pastor Mark, maybe Justin Timberlake since he can almost dance as good as Pastor Mark.

What is your favorite Pastor Markism?
I’m a both-and thinker

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 15th, 2005 at 8:29 am and is filed under News and Updates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.