I am a child of God who is an ambassador for Christ. Born in Texas, my birthplace was a significant part of my identity when I was young. When I moved back to Texas as an adult after living in eight states and traveling to eight countries I realized that my heart had grown in a way that I felt most at home around people who lived in Texas but were from other cultures. I had developed a multicultural heart full of all of the cultures of people I had grown to love. I related best to people who understood a connection to more than one culture. For example, when visiting a local Spanish-speaking church in Texas, I found connection with a group of prayer warriors who prayed each Wednesday evening.
Spanish is my second language and when given the opportunity to speak it with native speakers it unlocks a joy within me, especially when speaking about the Word of God, singing praises, praying with others to God. It accesses a part of me that is tied to memories of travel and people who have shown me kindness and care who I love with the love of Jesus.
From 2002 to 2008, I had the opportunity to travel to Honduras, Chile, Spain, Peru, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Honduras and Mexico by plane, and I have "traveled" to many other countries from around the world such as Turkmenistan, Japan and Iran within my own neighborhood as I get to know my neighbors one conversation at a time.
My first few trips out of the country were to Honduras. There, I visited colorful schoolrooms with windows that opened to the outside. Children were well-behaved and "cariñosos," caring. They often walked to school from their homes, met by their teacher on the way up the hill to their classroom. Inside, there were smiles and eager minds to learn; however, there were limited supplies in the schools for reading and writing. Few children had books in their own homes to read. My prayer is that the books that I write will be a resource that mission groups can take to children as a gift and as a way to connect with children there, learning words in Spanish and teaching them a few words in English as together they seek the heart of God.
During my first trip to Honduras, I also walked with local evangelists outside homes that were just a one room shack with several family members sitting outside. The evangelists would greet the family and ask them if they would like to study the Bible. I soaked in this new experience of how laid back and open these families were to stopping what they were doing and having a conversation or study about the Word of God. I also loved worshipi
ng with the church in Honduras and discovered for the first time the joy of worshiping the Lord in Spanish. One big cultural observation I made was that church members greeted every person there, looking one another in the eyes. Women greeted with a kiss to the side of cheek and men typically greeted with a handshake.
On one of my trips to Honduras, I stayed with a family from a church in Honduras. The daughter of the family turned six while I was there. At one point I remember we were sitting in the church before service and a group walked in from the U.S. that had just arrived. My little Honduran sister said, "¡Mira, gringos!"- "Look, gringos (respectful term for foreigners with light skin)." A "gringa" myself, I smiled and realized she was talking to me like family rather than considering me a part of this group from the U.S. I had formed a connection in a way that I felt grafted in and part "hondureña" that week.
Another part of my heart is "venezolana." I traveled to Venezuela in 2004 during college. To prepare for this trip, I took a class on how to share the gospel in Spanish. It was also a joy that semester to join with other students from Mexico, Central America and the United State for worship in Spanish. I learned many worship songs in Spanish that I still sing today and a few of which I included in my first devotional book, Sing with Creation-Canta con la Creación.
The trip to Venezuela was one of the most formative of my life in giving me opportunity to learn how to speak in Spanish and share my faith. There, we would meet people on the streets of Barinas, Venezuela who were selling items like jewelry or cell phones or in a park spending time with friends, and they would allow us to set up a time to study the Bible in Spanish with them. One of the people we met was Deissy (far right in the photo above).
Deissy was 17 when we met her, and she was eager to study the Word and come to the worship with us. My most memorable time in Venezuela was singing "He decidido seguir a Cristo," "I have decided to follow Jesus," beside a river where Deissy gave her life to Christ in baptism. Fast forward over a decade, there have been so many times when I hear from Deissy via Facebook messenger when I believe God knew I needed to be reminded of His goodness, His faithfulness and His purpose for my life. I am so thankful for Deissy's friendship. Today she continues serving in the church in Venezuela with her husband and two children. Her oldest son recorded a verse in my audiobook, and I illustrated him on the front cover with the national bird of Venezuela over him. They are definitely a part of my multicultural heart!
In 2004 in the fall, I traveled to Chile for a semester abroad in Chile with students from Harding University. The diverse landscape in Chile of mountains, desert, ocean, glaciers
and lakes is amazing and spending time in nature felt like walking into God's greatest masterpieces.
We had the opportunity to be a part of the Chilean independence day festivities and see some of the traditional outfits, such as the huaso, or cowboy that this young boy is wearing.
We also had the opportunity to worship with the church in Viña del Mar a few Sundays when we were not traveling. My favorite memory was learning the song "Da una Sonrisa" from young girls from the church who