Last week Bridgeway’s Missions Ministry hosted a Hispanic Heritage Celebration. During the celebration, the Hispanic community of Bridgeway shared about their culture and heritage. We learned from their insights and were inspired by their stories. The diversity of Bridgeway’s Hispanic community is beautiful.

Below is an attempt to capture some learnings and some resources that may help you explore the diversity of the Hispanic culture further.

Insights and Learnings

The Hispanic community is very diverse. Eight different countries were highlighted in our discussion:

  • Honduras
  • Costa Rica
  • Cuba
  • Puerto Rico
  • Mexico
  • Chile
  • El Salvador
  • Peru

The diversity was expressed through different dialects or variations of Spanish. Each country and culture carries with it norms passed down from the previous generations, some of which are impacted by their environment (i.e., living in the mountains or the country)

There is also a bond that is shared among the Hispanic community. “Latino America is one big family!”

  • The importance of family is a considerable value.
  • There are similar foods available in many of the different cultures.
  • Passionate with caring hearts for others.

When building bridges to the Hispanic Community, avoid questions like, “what are you?”

  • While, “where are you from” may be somewhat better, be prepared for an answer like, “Maryland.”
  • Perhaps better questions are:
    • “What country of origin?”
    • “Tell me about your cultural heritage?”

The immigration process is complicated, and many don’t realize the hardships Hispanics face when trying to legally go through the immigration process.

Resources

“I Am From” spoken word by Juan Delgado:

Maria Momojara Story (Peru):

Oso & Sara Gomez are a part of the Bridgeway family and missionaries we support. To learn more about their ministry in Mexico, check out these links.

Missions Class: Bridge Building for Missions – Thursday, October 15th, 7pm.

Rapid Fire Questions

At the end of the meeting, we asked some quick-fire questions and tried to capture the responses with links below so that we can continue to celebrate with and learn about Hispanic culture.

Spanish hymn or worship song we need to be singing?

Pastor we need to know?

Worship leader or worship band we need to know?

Musician we need to know?

Actor/Actress we need to know?

Athlete we need to know?

Historical figure we need to know?

Author we need to know?