We are a congregation of God's people who have placed our faith in Him and enjoy life in Him, 

who press on with a desire to be like Jesus, 

and who believe that His will for us is that we be seeking God and serving others. 

Jimmy Gaston has been preaching for over 45 years. He has been preaching at the State College Blvd. congregation in Anaheim since January 1993.  He previously preached in Texas (Houston and Dallas areas) and also in Colorado Springs, CO.  He is married to Debbie, they have three adult children and three wonderful grandchildren.  Jimmy enjoys reading a variety of material, especially mysteries.  He enjoys problem solving!  He completed Preston Road School of Preaching in Dallas in 1973, The School of Practical Evangelism in Arlington, TX in 1975, completed his BS in Human Development at Pacific Christian College in Fullerton, CA in 1997 and a Masters in Ministry at Hope International University in Fullerton in 1999. 

The glory of God’s infinite wisdom amid the uncertainty of life, is that there always lies a powerful invitation to grasp the intent of God’s love on humanity’s soul; should we be willing not only see to it, but to stand in awe of it. These sentiments find their truth in Policarpio Trujillo’s life. Growing up on the streets of Mexico, often selling whatever he could scavenge to help his siblings and ill father survive, Policarpio Trujillo could hardly imagine that he would one day become a minister of the Word of God, let alone dedicate his entire life to preaching about it. That was, however, exactly how God had imagined a life for Polo and his future family. Altogether, Polo would end up spending a total of 54 years of his life, and counting, as a preacher. Here is a brief rundown of this beautiful mystery.

Polo’s introduction into faith came through being born and raised into Catholicism within a family that was predominantly non-practicing. In fact, faith, education, or even mere playing, were not the main concentration of Polo’s upbringing–survival was. In fact, along with his 6 siblings and an ill father, absent his mother, most of Polo’s aim in life as a young child was spent simply trying to help his family survive the rampant uncertainty of an impoverished life on the streets of Monterrey, Mexico. Though Polo was born in Mexico, his mother was a U.S. born citizen of Mexican descent, which provided Polo with a potential option to live in the U.S. as a naturalized citizen later in life should they rekindle their relationship.

Sure enough, although his mother had left him at an early age, after having survived the streets of Mexico, Polo decided to reach out to his mother taking a chance to live with her in Texas around the age of 15. At that time, within his Mother’s new family and 2 new half-siblings, Polo began to accompany his younger half-brother to a local pentecostal church where he began to hear about a personal relationship with Christ, seemingly for the first time. It was there through the outreach of La Iglesia Santa Pentecostes, that his life took a turn for the better as Polo found purpose in his growing genuine love for God. Convicted by his newfound faith, Polo’s committed his young life to a life of service where by the age of 20 in 1965 he graduated with a certificate in preaching from La Instituto Biblico de Emmanuel in Monterrey, Mexico after already having been preaching since he was only 18 years old.              

With vigor and ardor towards his new mission in the world, Polo would be blessed shortly after graduating preaching school in 1965 to meet his soon to be wife, Juanita Lopez Castillo. They would marry on October 10^th of 1966 and will celebrate 51 years of marriage this year. To date, they have 4 children, 16 grandchildren, and 10 great grandchildren. At the time they had met, Polo had no intention of leaving the Pentecostal church, and indeed his new wife was a life-long Pentecostal church goer thus far, but Polo had been involved in bible studies with some preachers from the Churches of Christ that had begun to challenge his doctrinal commitments in a powerful way.

As a result, by the end of their first year of marriage, through a whirlwind of God motivated events, Policarpio Trujillo converted to the Church of Christ in 1967 and has honored his commitment towards preaching in La Iglesia de Cristo ever since for the past 50 years. At the time of his conversion, having already spent 4 years preaching in the Pentecostal church, the move to a new church was a bold and scary decision. For a young preacher starting a new family, having a conviction of conscience and deciding to change churches, was hardly the ideal place for any young preacher. However, Polo’s transition from the Pentecostal churches to the Churches of Christ was a defining moment in his spiritual life, which was aided by the lovingly and faithful support of his beautiful wife, Juanita.

Since then God has seen them through the last 50 years of service in preaching ministry in the Spanish Churches of Christ in the cities of McAllen, Tulia, and Del Rio, Texas to the cities of Indio, Hemet, Chino, and Anaheim, California. In addition to these Polo has preached in the city of La Paz, Mexico since 1985 and continues to preach there twice each year at the Church of Christ. For over 20 years Polo Trujillo was a regular contributor of articles to La Voz Eterna, a Spanish Church of Christ magazine now out of circulation with archives available online, and an ongoing contributor for the past 10 years to El Pueblo de Dios, a Spanish Church of Christ monthly paper out of Pecos, Texas.

Since the winter of 1991, Polo and Juanita Trujillo have had the distinct honor and privilege of serving the State College Church of Christ as witnesses to the glory of God’s infinite wisdom amid the uncertainty of life. It is here at State College where they attest to the truth, that there always lies a powerful invitation to grasp the intent of God’s love on humanity’s soul; should we be willing not only see to it, but to stand in awe of it, as they have faithfully been doing so for the past 50 plus years.