Our Deacons
Philip Magallan
Philip was born and raised in Fort Bend County Texas. He met his wife Kristina while in high school and they were married in 2000. They have two sons, Sean and Matthew.
After years of living in sin, Philip was awestruck by the power of the gospel. God showed mercy to him and saved him in 2009. Jesus truly changed his life and now he has a passion for God, His Word, and His people.
Andrew J. Necker
Andrew grew up in Baltimore, Md. where he attended church regularly with his family. However, he did understand that he was a sinner who needed to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior until high school. It was during this time that Andrew was able to admit he was a sinner who needed Christ to enter his life. After college Andrew’s faith started to grow because he started attending a church that preached through the Bible verse by verse and book by book. Over the years, Andrew has allowed the Lord to change his heart
Andrew has been married to his wife Kelly since 2001 and they have one son. Andrew desires to see how the Lord is going to use the people of University Park Baptist Church for HIS glory. He routinely attends Fellowship group, helps on the facility committee, and chairs the Finance Committee. Andrew has a Civil Engineering degree from Clemson University and currently works in the Oil and Gas industry.
Sam Philip
I was born in Southern India and was raised in a nominal Christian home.
My earliest recollection of visiting churches was mainly during the Christmas season. I grew up along with Hindu and Muslim friends; some of them are still very dear to me. Like many Indians, religion was part of my culture. I never differentiated between deities or religions until I watched The Ten Commandments. It was for the first time that I was exposed to the majesty of God. I was 15 years old, and this movie created a desire to read the Bible from cover to cover. But I still did not understand the whole Gospel of our Lord Jesus. Many times, my purpose of turning to God was mainly to get deliverance from immediate crisis of basic needs. God graciously used our struggles to draw us near to him.
My sister was an influence in our family to follow Christ. Her friend first shared the Gospel and later on, I was baptized. I did not fully understand my depravity and God’s forgiveness in Christ until I was exposed to some sound teaching after coming to America. This journey has been ever growing on me. Coming to America has helped me further understand the Gospel sitting under some gifted teachers. I stand amazed at God’s saving grace in Christ on a daily basis.
Annie and I married in 2010 and are blessed with three children– Jonathan, Elijah, and Hannah.
Omar Hernandez
Bio coming soon…
Jorge Villarreal
Jorge was born and raised in Port Arthur, Texas. Jorge has been married to Esther since 1997, and they have four children – Megan (married to Johnny Olivas), AnaLisa, Daniel and Gabriel.
Jorge was raised in the church, but it was until much later in life that he truly accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior. God used Esther and a local bible study group to open Jorge’s mind and heart to Him, giving him true rest. Jorge desires to be a follower of Christ, and bring others to faith in Jesus Christ.
Robert Hohimer
I grew up in New Mexico with loving, gospel-believing parents and grandparents. I also have two older brothers and we all went to church every Sunday. I was a church kid and knew a lot about the Bible, but my proximity to the gospel did not make me a Christian. I definitely did not see my sin nor my need for a savior. But one day, by the grace of God, I heard that simple gospel message, the same message I had heard many times before, and on that day God transformed my cold, dead heart into one that lives, and loves, and beats for Him. That day God revealed to me his saving grace and I immediately believed it. He did that for me and He can do that for you. His grace is sufficient, his mercy is endless, and He loves to save sinners.
This is the message that I believe and want others to come to believe as well, that the gospel is the good news that God has made a way through Jesus Christ to have our sins forgiven.
This spiritual transformation drove me to get baptized and later intentionally involved with discipling the youth at my home church. It caused me to take an interest in a greek language course while pursuing a bachelors degree at UNM. And it eventually led me to attend Dallas Theological Seminary where I met and married my beautiful bride Aimee and graduated with a Master of Arts in Christian Education in 2013.
Through God’s providence we find ourselves at UPBC where Aimee and I help with the youth. I also work as an oncology registered nurse at MD Anderson Cancer Center and I enjoy coffee, reading, lifting weights, watching movies with my wife and the occasional camping trip.