Moms – Powerful Beyond Measure
Having lived among Hispanic women in Santiago Chile, I have come to learn more about their struggles, disappointments, cultural expectations and cultural barriers. I’ve also learned about their hopes, dreams and how the discovery of their identity in Jesus has led to their empowerment. My heart resonates with them and my desire has and always will be to be part of the empowerment and discovery of their identity.
Arriving in San Francisco over 3 months ago to be a part of BJM, God opened yet another opportunity to work with the Hispanic community and specifically with Hispanic women. My heart leaped with joy for what God was about to do. The beautiful women I am talking about are the mothers to the dance girls. I met these lovely ladies one afternoon as they waited for their girls during dance and I casually greeted each one of them in Spanish. The look of astonishment on their faces is something I will always remember.
One little girl told her mum, “Mama ella habla Español!” “Mum, she speaks Spanish!” Her mum then asked, “¿Porque?” “Why…?” I casually explained to her mom that for the last 5 years, I had been working with YWAM in Chile. Her facial expression then changed from confusion to excitement! Then as each mother walked in she gladly announced, “She speaks fluent Spanish,” and each mum asked, “Why?” I then had to explain to each one of them that I had been living in Chile for the last 5 years. Soon we got talking and a couple of weeks later we asked what they would like to do during their daughters’ dance classes and almost in unison they replied “Ejercicio!” “Exercise!” So we asked them when they would like to start, and they suggested the following week. And so the moms’ exercise class was birthed. The exercise class is space where the mothers can laugh, encourage one another, have some personal time while still getting fit. We sometimes share a snack and they’ve even joined in on the girls’ dance class. It was so beautiful to see the moms interact with their daughters as they gave their moms instructions, or just laughed at their lack of coordination sometimes.
Our desire is for this to be a Wellness Program, where we not only focus on the physical aspects, but also the emotional and spiritual aspect and how these pertains to day to day life, translating to family, friends and also community development. These women are fearfully and wonderfully made and are Image Bearers of God for great and marvelous things which were established before the foundations of the earth.
It’s vital for these women to discover who they are in Christ and live in the fullness of it. They are called to be leaders and also the voice of their community. We are in a season where relationships that were established over the years are now about to bring forth fruit and establish something new in the Tenderloin. The Wellness Program is only a step into what God has for these women.
Marianne Wilson expresses it beautifully when she says, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine,we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
As these women continue to see themselves through the eyes of Christ, I believe they will discover their voice and that they are POWERFUL BEYOND MEASURE.
