Manuel and Nancy Gonzalez are Mission Alive’s newest IFC leaders. Their church, Siempre Familia, is different than our other IFCs. Instead of establishing a new faith community, they are reimagining an existing one. It all started by a shared connection and a shared meal. The story of this community is a beautiful testimony of faith and perseverance. We’ll share it with you over the next two weeks so you don’t miss a thing about how God is working through them to bring about his healing power.
As told by Nancy:
We moved to Fort Worth, Texas, from Guatemala City in 2008 to be a part of a team to establish a new, Hispanic church in a predominantly Spanish-speaking area of south Fort Worth. From its conception, Siempre Familia has always been about family. Our tagline is: “A great big family; that loves, that serves, that sends the Light.”. Our impulse has always been to reach out, to “go”, even though we had a large building with plenty of space to fill.
Fast forward to 2023, the building had to be sold and the Lord provided a place of refuge for us during this time of transition. We are beyond grateful for this English-speaking congregation that opened wide its doors, giving us a safe place to land. For the past 3 years Siempre Familia has been in a type of wilderness as a church family—a land between. In this time, our church family has experienced brokenness, excruciating loss, and difficult trials. This time has also brought refining, restoration and renewal. Through this refining, the Holy Spirit has spoken to all of us and we are now ready to come out of the land between. We are longing for a renewed vision and mission—but one that is rooted within our DNA. We are ready to move forward and return to a community that needs the light and hope of Christ.
Siempre Familia is a family of believers who know what it means to be transformed by the love of Christ. These Jesus followers know what it’s like to have been in jail, to have fled for their lives, to have been beaten and abused, to have felt a thirst that no drink could quench. Yet, because of Christ’s love, they have tasted and seen that the Lord is so good and what it is to break chains.
Now, Siempre Familia is envisioning something new where we use our language, gifts, and experiences to give food to eat, clothes to wear, to sit with others and bandage their wounds—in a place where we can truly connect to our neighbor.
