Today we’d like to introduce you to David Fraga.
David, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My name is David Fraga and this is my story for His glory! What I mean by “HIS” glory, is that everything I do and pursue is submitted under the authority of Jesus Christ. The starting point and one of the most pivotal points of my life started when I moved to Dallas in 2013 for the opportunity to pursue college soccer at Dallas Baptist University. Attending a “Christian” school, did not mean that I was a “Christian”, but I played because of soccer and because of scholarships that were given to me. I ended up playing there for 4 seasons, pursued/completed a bachelors in business management and a masters in business administration, and ended up graduating in December of 2018. During the end of my final year at DBU, I was interning at a commercial real estate firm in Ft. Worth called Marcus & Millichap and was thriving in the real estate realm, yet I knew that I wanted to make a true impact in the city of Dallas that would ripple to this generation across the nation.
Rewind three years prior, and I would be found lost in a bar somewhere, too drunk to stand, and letting life just happen to me. Never have I ever been so depressed, purposeless, and broken than I did in that moment. How could I be miserable, yet have everything I ever wanted? I was traveling the world playing soccer, having my education paid for, and got whatever I wanted, yet I was miserable. I was searching for identity in all of the wrong places and would try to fill a God-sized hole with alcohol, fame, and women. The lie I was believing was the life I was given was to get rich and famous, but really it was all to cope from a deep desire to be seen, known, worthy and to be enough in the eyes of family and friends. My value became based on what I did and not in who I was created to be. It says in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago”, which speaks identity into me. Furthermore, it says in Psalm 139:14-15, “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb”, yet I did not know this until 2015, when I got invited to an athletic retreat with other universities across the state of Texas. The event was held by an organization I started to get familiarized with called Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). I was invited by one of my teammates, who was diagnosed with lymph-node cancer the previous year, and when he invited me, I remember asking myself, “how could (let’s call him SAM) Sam ever want anything to do with GOD after being diagnosed at 19 years old with one of the most terrifying diseases? If that were me, I would hate everything and especially a GOD who would allow such a thing.” The crazy revelation though was that Sam was glowing with happiness and became the most loving and caring human being I have ever met.
I walked up to Sam and told him I wanted the drug that he was selling because I wanted to numb my deep pain, yet Sam smiled graciously and told me about his encounter with GOD while he was in the hospital and going through chemo treatments. Skipping ahead to the FCA retreat, I honestly do not remember a thing about the entire weekend, but one single moment where time felt like time ceased and the room was empty. In that instance, I remember looking down at the concrete floor and saying, “GOD… if you are real, because honestly, I do not thing you are, but if you are real… I need YOU to show up right now because otherwise… what’s my life worth?” And in that moment, I felt the physical arms of a Father embrace me, and I looked up in shock, yet no one was around me. Instantly, I began to weep and the LORD spoke to my heart in a whisper and said, “I love you as you are, I see you, I want you, and I am here at the door of your heart… will you let me in and allow me to be the LORD of your life?” And all I could do is weep and say “Yes Jesus, be my Savior, be my LORD.” My life has never been the same since that day, and my relationship, not religion, began with Jesus. See, religion is what I can do to earn something, and relationship is given and meant to be intimate and vulnerable. I could never earn true love, true peace, or grace, but Jesus freely invited us into a relationship that is a purpose-driven life.
Fast forward three years to 2018, I was walking around the DBU soccer field and I could not help, but wonder how could I use all of my skills and abilities to bring unity to a generation that is heavily divided? I decided to pray and ask the LORD one of the most dangerous questions I could ask, which is the kind of question where there is no turning back from when asking. The question began like this, “God, what is it that YOU want me to do in my life?” And as soon as I asked, I heard an answer, which was to stay in Dallas and serve my community. Seems simple, but not so simple when you are trying to make ends meet and work in order to pay for the essentials in life. So, here I was post-graduate, living out of my truck for the next five months, working landscaping jobs, and serving in every part of the city of Dallas, whether serving food, setting up events at my church, or setting up group meet-ups.
In 2019, I had developed friends who had a similar heart to unite people in the spirit of love and unity and we began to plan a concert with the primary focus to bring the people of Dallas together in different parts of the city. When we began to start the process and began partnering with other organizations, we realized that we needed to file for nonprofit status in order to receive funds and operate from a place of transparency. Within two months of filing for 501(c)3 status, we officially became a nonprofit and in March of 2019, Kingdom Initiative was birthed from a place of open hands and faith in believing it would be an organization to bring people from all kinds of backgrounds together. The name of Kingdom Initiative came about suddenly because of the heart and desire to create a community of leaders with a desire for this generation to encounter Jesus.
In other words, Ki creates a space and stewards the resources to initiate kingdom minded creative professionals to operate in their calling. We empower people by coming alongside them and doing life with them. The “how-to” aspect is based primarily on story-telling through media means. We are currently a network of creatives with the desire for people to experience GOD through media. We believe everyone has a story, no matter how big or small, but that person was given a specific story as a gift for others. Ki Media has a YouTube channel of a mini-series called “Our Story, His Glory”, which highlights people in the DFW area who are making a Kingdom impact through outreaches, missions, and local culture in creative and loving ways.
My role as the Executive Director is to steward the resources donated to us and to create a space for those involved in Kingdom Initiative to be healthy leaders. Because healthy leaders produce healthy people, but hurt people truly can hurt people. As an organization, we have gone through many obstacles, yet continue to persevere through the mind-blowing challenges we have endured. “One day at a time” is a comical, yet encouraging phrase we always quote at Ki because we never really know what challenges tomorrow could bring, yet today is truly a gift, which is why it is called the present. We are grateful and excited for what is to come as we continue to grow as an organization and we are encouraged by this passion-driven generation, as we can truly see Hope when we come together in unity.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Some of primary challenges as an organization was how to use our creative gifts together that would honoring of one another and not make it “me” based. Also, I believe that every good organization has to have healthy tension in order for the organization to sharpen its’ vision and direction. Just like when iron sharpens iron, the iron is rubbing against the other piece of iron, and in the midst of the sparks flying and iron chipping off, it is being formed into a valuable tool to use in an applicable manner for the purpose of effectively executing the vision of the organization.
Another struggle could also be the fund-raising aspect, sometimes it is okay to not be fully-funded as a nonprofit, because you begin to understand the cost of launching an organization. In the midst of money being a struggle, was the organization, in our minds, just a momentary desire to seek a platform or was it an actual passion and desire to impact a generation for Christ? And everyone involved has been working at Kingdom Initiative as full-time volunteers, which means everything and I mean everything we receive in donations goes right back into the ministry.
Kingdom Initiative – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
As a company, we specialize in bridging the gap for nonprofits who struggle with creating professional-grade content and we help put structure to their videos, marketing, and how to communicate their vision through media outlets. We love to come alongside small organizations with the desire to truly see a generation transformed and help connect them, build them up, and offer a network of filmmakers. What sets us apart from others is that we have a desire to help build up organizations who have the heart to impact this next generation for Christ.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
One of the most amazing moments has been when we had the opportunity to travel with Dj Overcomer to Mexico City and film the experience of two concerts there in Mexico back in 2019. We captured powerful moments where we saw over 1,000 people make life-changing decisions to follow Jesus! Such a fun trip where we were able to partner with a total of three other organizations.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kingdominitiative.org
- Phone: 9032628782
- Email: unifiedki@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kingdominitiative/
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl8Q5bKdHrUxxEof2xr3G2A
Image Credit:
Brandon Diaz & Joshua Guerra
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