Last week Manuel and Nancy Gonzalez shared the roots of their ministry with Siempre Familia, a Spanish speaking ministry dedicated to serving Ft. Worth, Texas. Here is more of Nancy and Manuel’s story:
Ever since losing the building in Fort Worth, we knew that we had a priceless opportunity from God to “start over” and to dream again. Then God brought us to Mission Alive! One thing that kept coming up in our initial conversations was Siempre Familia’s desire to be “outwardly focused and engaged while following our calling as disciples to mirror Jesus as he lived among us.” God made it clear to us that Mission Alive would be an organization we could collaborate with to accomplish this goal.
We are eternally grateful to the church that provided a place of rest for us and we know that the easy thing to do would be to stay where we are in a basically rent-free Anglo congregation. However, the Holy Spirit has convicted us to return to Fort Worth, seeking out His precious ones who are marginalized, overlooked, and searching for hope. Of course there are those who need Jesus in every community, however God has made it clear to us that our gifts and experiences call us to a specific type of community in need.
We are in the early stages of our walk with Mission Alive. We have yet to designate a specific geographical area of Fort Worth but we do know that reaching out to the Hispanic and immigrant communities will be a large part of our reimagined IFC. As IFC leaders We feel a great calling to continue to grow in our own faith vocation with the help of Mission Alive, and in turn, mentor others (Siempre Familia) as they also receive that great calling to a deeper union with God and neighbor. We humbly ask for your prayers that our service in His Kingdom would be one of continuous giving and of constant growth. What a blessing and honor!
