I am the oldest of five children. I have four sisters (2 sisters from my mother/father’s side and 2 half-sisters from my father’s side). I was born in Moca, Dominican Republic in 1979. At the age of seven (7) my parents took me to the United States, New Jersey, where I lived for about 3 years. My parents when through separation and my mother decided to live in Puerto Rico in 1988. On September, 1988 I first heard the famous coqui frog in the Island and began to learn about the beautiful Puerto Rican culture. My childhood was greatly protected by God while raised in some of Puerto Rico’s bad neighborhoods. I lived in several places where drug addicts, illegal drugs and illegal weapons was the norm. By God’s mercy, I never used or trafficked …show more content…
While in High School, I formed part of an acting/dancing group. After we ended a theatrical tour in April 1996, I accepted an invitation from a dance group member to visit a local Christian church. I began to visit the church on Sundays and on the third Sunday I was fully convinced of God’s love for us through Jesus. It was the first time I heard the famous quoted verse from John 3:16. I believed for the first time His was crucified for my sins and that He resurrected on the third day; and accepted the altar’s call for repentance. That day I went to the altar with so much joy and sure of the God’s love for me that I went directly to the top of the altar and stood next to preacher! The pastor and deacons were so surprised to see me to me up there with them! Probably my appearance scared them. I was a sixteen (16) year old-teenager with long hair and wearing shorts, just extremely happy to accept Christ as my Lord and …show more content…
My teenage age years of fornication, idolatry, alcohol consumption, and partying left and His peace and fullness filled me with His love and forgiveness! My life before knowing Jesus Christ was without purpose, full of dissatisfaction and emptiness. When I didn’t knew Christ, I remember when Christian people said to me: "Christ loves you.", but I thought people say it to other people who had serious problems. Indeed, I did had the most serious problem of all: eternal separation from God. But I didn’t knew this until God’s Word was explained to me through those first weeks I started to visit this church. I remember counting up the days after my conversion, because I started to see the world through Him. God kept revealing His Word into my life and strengthening me through my college years, my new work and my new responsibilities as a later youth
In "A Partial Remmebrance of a Puerto Rican Childhood," Judith Ortiz Cofer explains what its like in her family of Puerto Rican Women. Cofer shares the traditions the women carry on in her family, such as, sharing stories and life events. Her story shows how involved the women are with one another and how important lessons throughout the generations are for them. Mama shares a story about a girl by the name of Maria La Loca. Mama says, she was once a beautiful girl and that on her wedding day she looked like a princess.
Throughout this memoir, Lauren Winner allows us a glimpse into her transition from Orthodox Judaism to Christianity. Due to her own intellectual pursuits, relationships with others, and strange and miraculous pursuits, she chooses to leave Judaism, despite the emotionally difficulty of the endeavor. As she grows in her understanding of her new faith and attempts to find her place among Christians and Jews, she realizes that Jesus has been “courting” her for years in many ways. She begins to see just how much the powerful Lord, Creator of everything, loves her and wants her to follow Him. Through her tale, readers have the chance to see that the Lord will work to bring you to Himself.
This autobiographical essay will define my experience as a Dominican immigrant living in New York City. Being an American citizen with a Dominican background are extremely relevant to the process of political socialization. My family background is founded on the principles of democratic values, which taught to me by my mother and father. In New York City, I found a “melting pot” of different immigrants that allowed me to feel more accepted as a Dominican living in the United States. More so, these aspects of the socialization process provided a foundation for my belief in democratic values throughout my life.
These words by poets Aurora and Rosario Morales, Puerto Rican Americans, reveal the struggle of the average Puerto Rican. For example, most islanders do not fully understand who they are or how to present themselves when someone asks, “What is your family’s ancestry like?” or, “Where does Puerto Rico get its unique culture?” These questions spark the idea of a questioning identity. This is because the island of Puerto Rico was formed with the help of many different cultures. Are the people of this island African?
As a member of a working class community, my life has been a struggle between resources and opportunities available for me. Having sparse resources has lead me to the constant push of working towards the things I’ve achieved. Social identities have become a guidance for my future goals and abilities. Being working class Latina, raised in a Catholic family has created many barriers and pathways into the future I wish to hold. Furthermore, taking all the social identities I have grew into have become the bases for my educational goals and identity.
From as early as I could remember I noticed I was not like the others kids. I had an interest for things most kids would not be interested in. I liked interacting with people, knowing about people and their life stories; I wanted to help in anyway that I could when I would hear everyone’s problems. I thought outside the box throughout my whole childhood and I wanted to make the most out of my knowledge. I told myself that I was going to dedicate my life to helping my community.
I come from an authentic Hispanic family, who is traditional in plenty distinct aspects. We treasure all the memories that have occurred to all of us and we laugh about the embarrassing moments we all had. We hold traditional customs and we accept new traditions as well. All of us are over protective of each and every family member, meaning that if anyone in the family has a problem we will not stop until it is fixed. To every family member, family is always first.
I identify as a Latina. I have always considered myself as a Latina, but throughout time, I believe that I have assimilated more into a white individual because of the privilege that I hold and because I have lived in the US most of my life. I have received mostly negative messages from those who are not from my ethnicity. My peers and I were told we wouldn’t graduate high school and be laborers for the rest of our lives. With the current politics, I believe that this still holds true where some people still hold stereotypes and give oppressing messages to Latinos.
Doning the title as a hispanic goes far beyond how one looks and speaks, but rather how one conducts himself through every step of their life. I greatly contribute my hispanic roots in shaping me into the young man I am today. The morals and traditions instilled in me such as my unparalleled work ethic and family values leach from my upcoming in a strong hispanic lifestyle. My Grandmother and her family immigrated from Mexico at an early age in a dire attempt to discover a life that bettered their quality of life. She had to tolerate working in fields to make money that then fed her at night.
C.S. Lewis once said, “I believe in Christ, like I believe in the sun- not because I can see it, but by it I can see everything else.” I have used this quote as a guide for myself throughout my journey to finding the Lord. Putting my faith into someone “intangible” and having faith in Christ has not been an easy task for me, given I was not raised in an extremely religious household. However, I was about fourteen when I discovered God’s word, felt my heart swell with happiness, and fell in love with Christ. That day changed my life entirely, and completely changed my outlook of the world.
It pointed me to Jesus who has made this possible by inviting us to share the relationship he has with his father. God’s abounding love is so amazing that through his son Jesus Christ, I am united with him despite of my sin and brokenness. It reveals to me that I am not an isolated individual but a member of my family, a member of my church, and a member of God’s big family. And we all share the same fatherhood! We are one big family and God is ‘Our Father.’
Without the traditional community they once would have had in Puerto Rico, there was no intervention to stop child abuse. As a teenage girl, Candy went against her father’s dominate role by running away. It was not uncommon for such instance to occur Puerto Rico. The family faced no shame by a runaway daughter as long as she allowed her lover to have complete control. Usually a girl would have the aid of her community to bring her to a new male-dominate household and away from her father’s abuse (2003: 219).
This experience gave me the truth and wisdom of who Jesus is. What is so significant, is knowing about the Gospels of Jesus Christ. In my reading, I’ve learned how the importance of knowing the New Testament, which is consist of the four Gospels that gives me the understanding and the revelation of who Jesus is. The New Testament has always been a question of how it happened, how it was found and how it was organized and developed. Reading about the background and content of the books of the New Testament gave me more understanding about the historical background, authorship and the religious ideas emphasized in each book and the New Testament as a whole, which helped me to understand scripture thoroughly and apply it to my life more efficiently.
To do this task, I went to the church with my two children to attend the Sunday mass. We entered the church, took the holy water on the left side of the entrance door and painted the sign of cross on our forehead. Then we bent to the holy altar and occupied a place to sit on. I pulled out one of the prayer books and started read it. In the meantime, there was a family sitting just in front of us and when we get in and sit; the woman turned her head and with a lovely smile she said good morning to my children.
My Conversion Testimony When I was young, I attend church with my neighbors and friends. When I became a teenager, my parents made me go to church. I loved church so I did not have a problem going, but I did not know the reason for attending church. I did not have a personal relationship with Jesus. After I became a young adult, I started partying and I did not want to go to church.