“Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.”
‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭12:13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The first 4 1/2 years of my life were spent living on a fruit farm. Most of my favorite memories are from my time on that farm.

Every spring the migrant workers would come back to the farm, from Jamaica and other areas. Two of the migrant workers were like my grand parents! I called them Uncle Buddy and Aunt Margaret and I loved them so much.

Even though my dad was brought up in a time of racism and racial tensions he had no prejudices toward people of color at all. And he didn’t raise us to be that way either.

Hispanics and people of Latin descent were a completely different story however. Not only was he prejudiced toward them, but he passed those prejudices onto my siblings and I. And I am utterly ashamed to tell you that I began to pass those prejudices on to my own children.

Then came Jesus! Once Jesus transformed me and became Lord of my life, those old prejudices began to melt away.

I had a beautiful sister in Christ from Columbia that the Lord gifted me with at our old church. She was the first Latin person I’d ever had a relationship with and oh how I love her and thank Him for that first precious relationship.

But then the Lord kicked things up a notch and He gave my husband and I a ministry with a minor league ball team. I had no idea at the onset of this ministry that God was going to transform my life so incredibly.

The number of Latin players on minor league ball teams is quite high. Although I could see the need for a ministry with the American players, we didn’t speak Spanish so I never dreamed that this ministry would become so important amongst the Latin players as well.

These young man came from everywhere…Panama, Mexico, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic and One by one, year after year, He would bring these young men into our lives. Young men thrown into a country where they do not speak the language, have no transportation, no support system and are utterly alone and longing for family.

We quickly became known as “American Mom and Dad”. I can honestly tell you that God transformed my heart so completely that I love these young men as though they were my biological children.

Our ministry with that ball club ended almost three years ago and I continue to pray for those young men.

In fact, whenever we are able, we still travel to see some of them and stay in touch with them through various types of social media and via phone.

God used us incredibly to impact the lives of some of those young man and He used those young men mightily to impact our lives as well.

How tremendously blessed and honored we are to be chosen by God to be “American Mom and Dad” to these amazing young men.

In 1 Corinthians 12:13 (as well as several other verses) it is clear that there are no prejudices with God. We were all created from the same Adam and we are either adopted sons and daughters (through our acceptance of Christ as our Lord and Savior) or we are not. There are no races, nationalities or prejudices and as followers of Jesus Christ( whose life we are to mirror) there should be none with us either.

I pray that today we would draw near to God and allow Him to transform any of the old thoughts, behaviors and prejudices that we once held onto and that we would love all of those around us with the supernatural love of Christ.

If you do not know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, I pray that you would go to our Life Preserver page and pray the prayer that is outlined there. I promise you that God can and will to transform your life and free you from those wrong thoughts and behaviors the way He did for me. Once you pray that prayer, please reach out to me at admin@forgiven-n-loves.com so that I can pray for you and help you grow.

Luv ya!