As a musician with a longstanding love for music, it is hard to pick just one song that has the most important message to me. However, if I had to choose one, I would pick "Lord From Sorrows Deep I Call." This song emphasizes our ability to cry out to the Lord, even from the pit of despair. The song focuses on a variety of emotions, including having your hope shaken, feeling desperate, and being troubled and downcast. I can certainly relate to all of these feelings in different seasons of life! However, the song isn't just a depressing list of tough situations. Instead, it reminds the listener of the Lord's faithfulness throughout it all and His constant nearness, even in difficult situations. This is why I picked this song as having the most important message because it reminds me of the gospel and the Lord's help in difficult times. Ultimately, this song provides hope and that is something we can all use during these crazy times.

I was blessed to grow up in a Christian home in Mexico, however I learned early on that an understanding of the gospel was not common, even among people who called themselves Christians. In Mexico, most people are Catholic but they do not fully understand the gospel. This early childhood experience planted a seed for the importance of biblical literacy. When I was in middle school, my family moved to the U.S. I started attending public school knowing very little English. I pushed myself academically and excelled in classes and learning English. Before long, I was in regular classes with native English speakers. At this time, my family and I attended a Spanish-speaking church. I was thankful to hear teaching in Spanish, but I noticed a gap developing. I found myself primarily using English outside of the home; however, Spanish was the language at church. Many of my peers and I preferred speaking in English but we were forced to learn Bible truths in Spanish and from a Bible translation that was antiquated with hard to understand terminology. As a result, I saw more and more of my friends leave the church or drift away from their parents’ faith as we got older. They didn’t find it relevant to their lives and I believe a big part of that stems from the language used. When I was in college, I started attending an English-speaking SBC church. This is where my faith became more of my own and I was discipled one-on-one with the Worship Pastor. I had been actively serving in church from a young age, but this was the season where my understanding of serving and leading others really grew. It was also in this setting that I surrendered to a call to ministry and began pursuing an MDiv in Worship Leadership from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. These life experiences of mine have shaped my faith personally and impacted how I minister to others as well. Based on first-hand experiences, I understand the importance of communicating with people in their preferred language. I utilize this in my current role as a Hispanic Minister. I teach a Sunday School class in Spanish and often translate materials and the sermon, but I also put on bilingual events and disciple Hispanic young men in English. My ability to effortlessly switch between two cultures has made me a more effective minister. However, my background affects more than just the language used. The cultural understanding cannot be understated. Having spent the first 12 years of my life in Mexico, I understand the Hispanic culture and have those roots. Having spent the last twenty plus years in the United States, I have acclimated to the culture here and can interact with locals just as easily. Looking ahead, my heart’s desire is to create gospel resources for the Hispanic community, from the Hispanic community. As I have delved deeper into theological education, I have realized that there is a void of such resources. The limited resources that do exist are often translations of English works. While there is nothing wrong with that, I desire to see Hispanics lead the way in creating culturally relevant materials to help spread the Gospel throughout the Spanish-speaking world. I am also concerned about a generation of Hispanic young people who grew up in the U.S., speak English, but are being taught about Jesus in their non-dominant language (Spanish). I plan to pursue a PhD in Christian Worship to be trained to more effectively contribute to the field of worship, specifically in the Spanish context, and for the local church.