La Sangre de Jesús en Nuestras Vidas
“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
1 John 1:5-7 ESV
Three years ago my father left our family and moved away to South America to live a new life with a new family. My mother, my sister, and I would never be the same because of this, and we have had to adapt to an entirely different way of life. Holidays, birthdays, and all of our family gatherings felt like going to a never-ending funeral, and at some point, our tears didn’t feel like enough. I am going to share one of the many ways Jesus has healed me from this pain. I will share the ways in which the Lord has used the Wesley Foundation to open my eyes to the audacious forgiveness and grace that Jesus offers us all through his death and resurrection.
Before I begin it is important to mention my family background and ethnicity. When I typically answer the question “what is your ethnicity?” I usually begin with my mother and where she comes from. I explain it in much more detail than I do my father. My mother was born in São Paulo, Brazil; both of her parents moved to Brazil from Greece and started their family there eventually moving to New Orleans. My father was born and raised in San Pedro Sula, Honduras; located in Central America. I never thought twice about why I always began by explaining where my mother comes from first, nor did I ever wonder why I never put an emphasis on where my father comes from. It was through my experience during a Wesley mission that I was able to understand this more.
The Wesley Foundation community took part in our annual Fall Mission during the first weekend of our Fall break before Thanksgiving. Our goal was to share our lives through the Body and Blood of Jesus with the Hispanic community that resides in the Ruston area. During this mission, we were split into two groups. One group served through community outreach, fellowshipping with families in their homes. Despite cultural and language barriers, we were able to share life in a beautiful and unique way with these families. The second group served by going to Winnfield Correctional Facility to meet and share the Gospel with the 1,500 Hispanic detainees that are being held there. During our second day trip out to the prison facility, we were astonished to see that around 200 Hispanic male detainees had come to the chapel that day to worship with us. We sang Hispanic worship songs together, listened to testimonies from some of the men, and had our very own Nick Wagner share a sermon with them. The wonders that we would become witness to that day are something I will not soon forget.
I was asked to help with the music portion of this outreach, and I was thankful for the opportunity to help lead in this way. The difference from helping lead worship this time was that we would be singing worship songs in Spanish which brings me back to my childhood every time. My family used to be members of a small Hispanic church that my father was the pastor of. My father would lead worship music by singing and playing guitar which was exactly what I was doing for Fall Mission. It all felt very nostalgic going up with my guitar with everyone on the mission team, singing songs I used to sing with my old church. When we first got up I introduced the team to everyone in Spanish. I told them my name and that my father is from San Pedro Sula, Honduras, being proud of where I come from. Tears began to fill my eyes after I said this because of the eruption from all the other Hondurans in the room yelling “Catrachos!” - a name that we call ourselves in Honduras. They were just as proud of where they come from.
As we were coming to the end of this amazing encounter with these men, we told them how thankful we were to be able to worship with them. Then as we were about to start leaving, one older man in the back started yelling out in a loud voice, and the 200 men responded by chanting out in a loud, powerful, unified voice “La Sangre de Jesús...El Rey de los reyes...El nombre de Jesús, El nombre que reinará” which translates to “The Blood of Jesus...The King of kings...The name of Jesus, the name that will reign.” All of us became overwhelmed with the faith, hope, and love that these men had. We had become witnesses to something incredibly beautiful. The witness that Jesus calls us to by sharing in His Body and Blood. It was healing to all of us in a variety of ways to hear those words being chanted by these men. For myself, it was healing because I know that I have been ashamed of where I come from. Ashamed of my Hispanic heritage. For quite some time it had been ingrained in my mind that Hispanic men cheat, and they always will eventually cheat. That included my father, and that included me. By going on mission with the Wesley, sharing in the witness of Jesus, I have been healed, and I will continue to be healed by Him through His Church. The process of healing has been painful, but I would never trade that pain. My mother told me recently:
“God held you up in your times of weakness and you can’t forget that. He never lets go. WE are the ones that are unfaithful and let go of Him. Don’t, don’t ever forget what he’s done for you.”
The intimacy Jesus has shown me, the forgiveness that He has shown me, and the ways he has renewed my mind in how I see my father has been invigorating. It has brought me life.
I will forever be grateful for what the Wesley has been in my life. People come and go, and circumstances in life change. However, The Blood of Jesus, The King of kings, The name of Jesus, the name that will reign has never changed and will always be apart of the Wesley and all of our lives.
“The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The LORD protects the simple-hearted; when I was in great need, he saved me. Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you. For you, O Lord, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living.”
Psalm 116:5-9
Cris has been familiar with the Wesley since before he even became a student at Tech. He is a senior Human Development and Family Sciences major who loves playing soccer, singing and playing guitar, and spending time with friends. Cristian's joyful presence fills up any room that he enters into and we are thankful to have him in our community.