{"id":268479,"date":"2026-02-23T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/?p=268479"},"modified":"2026-04-08T10:06:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T16:06:09","slug":"unified-in-diversity-how-god-has-moved-in-hispanic-communities-over-30-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/blog\/unified-in-diversity-how-god-has-moved-in-hispanic-communities-over-30-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Unified in Diversity: How God Has Moved in Hispanic Communities Over 30 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Growing up, Navigator Paul Reynoso<\/a> never felt fully accepted by the majority culture in his small town in Kansas. With parents originally from Mexico, he wasn\u2019t sure how he fit into his community, and he craved belonging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After high school, Paul was drafted and sent to the war in Vietnam, where he came to know the Lord through his roommate, a Navigator-trained Marine. When the war was over, Paul visited his friend in Texas and was introduced to The Navigators for the first time. Though he had no intention of joining staff at first, he began to get involved with the Collegiate ministry<\/a> in Texas and later continued his training by The Navigators in Alabama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Paul and Peggy Reynoso after they moved to Mexico to pioneer a Navigators Collegiate ministry.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere was a training center for The Navigators in Fort Worth, Texas, and as I got to know them, I thought I could really learn from them,\u201d Paul remembers. \u201cThey were really accepting and gracious to me.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1973, Paul and his wife, Peggy, got married. Three months later, they moved together to Mexico to pioneer a Navigators Collegiate ministry, where they ministered for 20 years. Paul realized that he felt more accepted in Mexico, and the culture resonated with his Latin heritage. \u201cBut even there, I was somewhat of an outsider because of being American,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the time that the Reynosos were living in Mexico, several U.S. Navigator Latino staff had the burden to reach other Latino communities for Christ, resulting in the birth of The Navigators Hispanic Ministry. Soon after, in 1995, Paul and Peggy were asked to return to the United States to serve in this budding ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t too sure about the idea,\u201d Paul explains. \u201cI liked living in Mexico, and all my close amigos were there. But God was clearly leading Peggy and me to make the move. I had the honor of leading the Hispanic Ministry for 12 years and have continued to be part of LaVida<\/a> as it has evolved since.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Place of Belonging<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For many Navigators staff and the communities they served, the U.S. Hispanic Ministry became a space of empowerment and innovation, a safe place to be themselves. Using the terminology \u201cfamilia,\u201d the Hispanic Ministry aimed to foster an environment where Latinos felt seen, heard, and valued for their unique perspectives and experiences. The focus? A sense of belonging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the U.S. Hispanic Ministry, I felt totally at home and understood<\/strong>,\u201d Paul says. \u201cWe all felt at home and understood, called to minister among others with similar values and struggles. We came from different backgrounds and life experiences but had so much in common and a heart to make a difference in extending God\u2019s Kingdom among our people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The late 1990s and early 2000s brought clarity of vision, unity within diversity, and significant growth in the midst of challenges as the Hispanic Ministry team experienced a \u201cfamilia\u201d commitment to the Lord and each other. The team was aware of and spurred on by the growing need to reach Latinos as they soon became the largest minority group in the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were Hispanics and Latinos, Protestants, Catholics, some bilingual, and others of Hispanic origin who didn\u2019t speak Spanish,\u201d Paul recalls. \u201cOur Mission included Latinos of every nationality, each with their own identity and culture from their country of origin. The work was widespread: from New York and New Jersey, to Los Angeles, San Antonio, Albuquerque, Houston, Dallas, and the Caribbean.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the Hispanic Ministry to LaVida: Impact Over the Years<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As God gave unity and joy in working together, the Hispanic Ministry grew in number and began to grow into a new shape: the LaVida Network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the original ministry kicked off, God brought former missionaries back from Latin America to join Hispanic Ministry staff and gave a vision to expand their influence into different areas. From the youth-at-risk ministry in Albuquerque to Catholic ministries in several locations to producing Spanish materials used for ESL programs and Bible study translations \u2014 God moved powerfully!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe continued to see people come into the Kingdom and the Kingdom advance in our communities,\u201d Paul says. \u201cWas it always good or easy? No \u2014 but God was at work through this team that loved, stepped out in faith, and paid a cost to advance His Kingdom among Latinos. This group is not so young now, but we remain committed to serving our Lord and are still impacting Latinos through The Navigators and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast forward to today, and The Navigators Hispanic Ministry is no longer a Mission, but a Navigators Network called LaVida. Though the ministry efforts of LaVida look slightly different today than they did a couple decades ago, the Lord is still faithfully growing a community of Hispanic disciplemakers across the U.S. and world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery individual and ethnic group can bring added value to understanding who God is and what He wants to do in extending His Kingdom,<\/strong>\u201d Paul says. \u201cAs Navigators, we are equipped to be lifetime laborers for Christ \u2014 in whatever context God puts us in \u2014 to carry out His calling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While our community of Hispanic disciplemakers has grown, it is still relatively small. Would you join us in praying that God entrusts The Navigators with more gifted and committed Latino and Latina disciplemakers to extend His Kingdom to the ends of the earth?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Discipleship Tip: <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Paul\u2019s story shows how embracing our unique cultural heritage can help us advance God\u2019s Kingdom. This week, ask God to show you the special ways you can make disciples in and through your own culture, fostering spaces of belonging where people feel truly at home.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
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Sharing the Gospel Like the First Church<\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Paul\u2019s story shows how embracing our unique cultural heritage can help us advance God\u2019s Kingdom. Want more insights into the connections between culture and evangelism? Check out this Bible study to explore how the gospel spread across cultures in the book of Acts.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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LEARN MORE<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hispanic disciplemakers serve faithfully in their communities, fostering a sense of \u201cfamilia\u201d that embraces the beauty of Latino culture and the unity of the body of Christ.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268467,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_helpful_pro_status":1,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,6337],"tags":[1483],"mission":[13004],"topic":[44],"class_list":["post-268479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-disciplemaking","category-ministry-impact-stories","tag-disciple","mission-navigators-lavida-network","topic-discipleship"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/022426-Article-Web.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"The Navigators","author_link":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/staff\/thenavigators\/"},"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268479"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":268643,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268479\/revisions\/268643"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268479"},{"taxonomy":"mission","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mission?post=268479"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=268479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}