As a Latina in California, Silvia is very familiar with the gaps between people groups due to different languages and cultures. She knows the barriers that exist between many Spanish speakers and English speakers in the US. “I’m a child of an immigrant family,” she shared. “I know the discrimination that Latinos face. So many have been put down, their self-esteem torn apart, being told again and again that they can’t do it, that they’re not worthy. It’s not easy to build community when people feel like that.”
According to Silvia, even in a place like Fresno, immigrants often feel uncomfortable and insecure in certain parts of the city, depending on their background, their language, and the color of their skin. However, she was also quick to recognize that she has been given opportunities that many Latinos have not. “I have English. I have education. I have legal status,” she clarified. “I’ve been empowered to help bring about change, and I believe that God is able to break down the barriers between us so we can experience unity.”
As a follower of Jesus, Silvia was inspired by the vision of togetherness in the Book of Revelation. She references the description in Revelation 7:9 of a great multitude that no one can number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and worshipping God together. “One day, this will be our reality,” she said. “So why not now?”
In 2020, Silvia was almost finished her master’s degree in Ministry, Leadership, and Culture at Fresno Pacific University, and she prayed, “Okay, God, I’m almost done here. What’s next?”
At the time, she needed one more cross-cultural experience before her degree was completed. So, she contacted Galen Wiest at Multiply. That meeting quickly led to an open door in Mexico when Silvia stayed with Multiply workers, Israel and Sandra Chavez, in Guadalajara, which led to an opportunity to serve with La Cantera Church among migrants making their way north to the US border. One day, as she walked along the railway tracks among hundreds of needy people, Silvia came face to face with a two-year old boy named Alexander who was homeless and living near the tracks with his mother.
“It was his birthday,” she recalled. “Our team gathered around this little boy, and we sang happy birthday and prayed for him. When I looked into Alexander’s eyes, in that moment, I saw the brokenness of humanity, and I was confronted with God’s voice in Isaiah 6:8, saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’ And I told God, ‘I’ll serve you with Multiply, and I’ll do whatever I can to help churches become unified, so you can be glorified. Vamos con todo. Let’s give it our all!”
When Silvia joined Multiply in 2022, she left her position as youth pastor at Iglesia Adonai, her Spanish-speaking home church in Fresno, where she had served for the past six years. With Multiply, she was eager to get involved in programs that brought different cultures together in collaborative mission efforts, like the SOAR program.
This past summer, when Silvia hosted SOAR Mexico, there were ten participants from California who spoke both Spanish and English, and eight participants from Washington who only spoke English. “At first, they didn’t know what to expect from each other,” she said. “It was awkward and difficult. They didn’t know how to interact.”
According to Silvia, it wasn’t just the language barrier. It was all the basic cultural differences around personal space, humor, and food. “In the morning, we’re all eating beans,” she recalled, “and someone says, ‘Where’s my cereal?’ It’s funny, but it’s real.”
Eventually, things changed. “As we did devotionals together, and ate together, and we did team building activities,” Silvia explained, “the ice began to break, and people began to feel more comfortable with each other.”
It still wasn’t easy, according to Silvia, but it was worth the effort. “They were speaking very basic Spanish, using sign language, and reading facial expressions, but they were able to work together. It was beautiful. By the end, they were embracing one another and experiencing a unity and harmony that goes beyond language.”
Later, when Silvia hosted SOAR Fresno, the theme was taken from Jesus’ prayer for his disciples in John 17:23, “that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know…” Her vision for SOAR Fresno was an equal partnership between Spanish-speaking churches and English-speaking churches in the Central Valley. For her, the word “fusion” came to mind, defined as “two elements coming into a state of completion.”
“It was a beautiful beginning,” she said of this year’s version of SOAR Fresno, which brought together over forty participants from Spanish-speaking churches and eight from English-speaking churches. “Again, we saw a diverse group of people working together in amazing ways. We saw fusion unity among the participants. But, in some ways, it was a small beginning.”
As the program director, Silvia also struggled with the growing pains of re-starting a program. “Honestly, I was disappointed at first that there wasn’t more balance in the numbers of participants from English and Spanish churches. But God spoke to me so clearly, inviting me to keep trusting him. I can be his hands and feet, but he’s the one who will do the work.”
As Silvia took God’s word to heart, she started hearing from churches, saying, “Let’s do SOAR again next year! We’re here to help you. How can we make this bigger and better than last year?” Her heart was encouraged, and she prayed again, “Vamos con todo.”
Silvia’s passion for God is evident, as is her hunger for unity. She sees so many positive signs of God’s faithfulness around her, among the churches, among co-workers, and on the campus at Fresno Pacific. “God is working,” she declared with faith and confidence. “Maybe sometimes we feel like it’s not at the pace that we desire, but good things are happening.”
Silvia is not only excited about the future of SOAR programs in Mexico and Fresno, but she is also pouring herself into other initiatives like a multi-church youth meeting called “Living Your Life on Mission” which is scheduled for November 15 at Reedley MB Church. She envisions two hundred people youth and young adults gathered to be inspired and trained to live for God wherever they are. “We’re bringing in missionaries, coaches, and different speakers who will testify about their own journey of faith and how they have embraced their calling into mission.”
Silvia herself has embraced that call. “God gives each of us a calling on planet earth that only we can fulfill,” she explained about her own journey, and her vision for unity. “And with that calling comes this passion, this drive, and you just have to be working at that, and striving to see it come to pass. That’s my ultimate vision—to see churches unified, celebrating diversity, and partnering in mission.”
As Silvia gives everything, she is inviting others to join her, “Vamos con todo. Let’s give it our all!”
SERVE
To learn more about SOAR Fresno and SOAR Mexico, go to multiply.net/soar
