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Inspiration
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My father was born in the mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico. He is a Zapotec just as the only aboriginal president of Mexico, Benito Juarez. For all intents and purposes he was orphaned at age four with only one great aunt to encourage him. At the age of fourteen he moved to Oaxaca City and began learning Spanish. Though he experienced much prejudice at the hands of mestizos, he finished elementary school in three years and moved to Mexico City at the age of seventeen. There he met Wycliffe Bible translators. Encouraged by their example, he studied to be an evangelical pastor in Guatemala. Upon returning to Mexico City he began a church with mostly children. My mother was born in California to Arkansas farmers. For all intents and purposes she was orphaned at 18 months with only one uncle to encourage her. As a teenager she began training to be a missionary working with migrate workers and learning to play various musical instruments. Upon finishing her studies at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, she moved to Mexico City to work with children. My parents married and had three children as my father continued to study high school and normal university. My family moved to Puebla, Mexico, where I was born and where my parents started a second church. My father began his career as a junior-high school history and civics teacher at the ripe age of 32 in nearby Tlaxcala, Mexico. Because of the political problems in Mexico in the late 1960's, my school teachers went on strike and I did not complete the first grade. My family moved to El Paso, Texas, where I began the second grade and my parents began a third church. Later my father earned two masters degrees and retired as a professor from a teacher's university in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and my parents helped begin a fourth church. My parents still work with senior citizens and with whomever needs their help. |
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Wednesday, May 15, 2024 jsal at utep dot edu |