Having a map always helps you out when you’re on a journey. Good maps have detailed roads, highways, exits, and in some cases rest stops. But there’s a catch when using a map: in order to know where to go, you have to know where you are. As Christians, our journey is to the kingdom of God in all its fullness, and our map is God’s living Word. This journey with Christ takes some through the highways and major roads. Others fly an airline. And still others take the subway. It all depends on who God made you to be and the path that he’s given you to follow.

LaFe ’04 was a time to celebrate who God made us to be as Latinos, but also a time to get to know the path we have been given in our journey by embracing our ethnic identity. Thanks to this celebration, I began to know the path that I’ve been given in my journey with Christ. Understanding who I am as a Latino in Christ has prepared me to be a living blessing to my family, friends, and my campus community.

During the LaFe ’04 celebration, we examined what it meant to be Latinas and Latinos in Christ by studying the life of Esther, who had the luxury of being in a situation that forced her to choose whether or not she would identify with her people. Thanks to all of the wonderful factors that helped her hear the cries of her people, she chose to identify with them. We had an amazing example to follow at LaFe ’04.

Embracing our Latino identity in Christ meant different things for different people at the conference. For some it meant the eradication of any shame over being Latino. The voice of God battled the voice of shame, defeating the lie that being a Latino means being inferior—with the victorious truth that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. For others, it meant breaking stereotypes they face in their lives. For me, it meant facing my family. In fact, at LaFe ’04 God gave me a specific mission: to love my family as Christ loves them.

My Abuelita¹ died five years ago in Puerto Rico, a home land that she always came back to at least once a year. She had 16 children and the boys and girls were split evenly—eight and eight. Today only 11 are alive, six in Puerto Rico and five in the U.S. The last time I saw my family in Puerto Rico was five years ago during my Abuelita’s funeral. After LaFe ’04, I went on a two week trip to Puerto Rico with the mission that God gave me in mind.

God knows that I know very little of my family’s story, so he blessed my trip with my loving Titi Rosa² She shared many parts of her life and told me about the Abuela whom I didn’t know that well. She took me to meet my other Tias and Tios³, and shared stories with me the entire time. As I got to know my Titi Rosa better, I realized that she too had the same mission: to love our family as Christ does. This was evident in the many loving ways she tended to my needs, and spoke to me about God, life, and the experiences of our family. It is good to have company on this mission.

On the first Saturday of my stay in Puerto Rico, my Titi Rosa had a celebration of the Three Kings at her house and invited everybody who she knew. She hired a DJ that played some Salsa music. Normally, I wouldn’t have danced because I’d be too busy wimping out, but God had this celebration in Puerto Rico in mind while I was at LaFe ‘04. There, God healed me of my paralyzing fear of dancing in front of people. Every night, there was a special dancing event, and the third night a few students taught us how to dance Salsa. I loved that this was available because dancing is a huge Latino cultural expression that is often suppressed in most Latino evangelical churches. I saw people face their own insecurities and dancing together, so I let go and invited an hermana⁴ to dance. The whole time I thought, “David danced to worship God, and if David were Puerto Rican he would dance Salsa!”

Because I danced at LaFe ’04, I was able to dance with family and friends at the Three Kings celebration in Puerto Rico, and it blessed my family tremendously because they knew me to be timid when music was playing.

Since the conference, in growing in love for my family and progressing on the path he’s given me as a Latino, I have referred many times to my entire LaFe ’04 experience. People have been praying for this national conference for years, and it provided everyone present with the safest environment to explore who God made them to be, and to experience things they may never have experienced at home or in their churches. We were able to experience God’s healing in many ways. Now we know where we are in our journey with Christ, and we have come to embrace who we are.

____________________
 
¹a cherished grandmother
²a favorite aunt
³aunts and uncles
⁴sister

—Jonathan Mendez is a senior print journalism major at Hofstra University. He hopes to enroll in the Journalism and Latin American and Caribbean studies joint program at NYU when he graduates. He enjoys laughing and taking strange pictures. He likes talking with his friends and watching television. Sometimes he watches television with his friends. And sometimes he talks to his television and watches his friends.