My Home Background:
Hello Friends! I’m Elizabeth. Actually my first name is Graciela after my mother, but almost everybody calls me Elizabeth. I was born and raised in Brownsville, Texas. I spent every other year of my childhood wishing that I could grow up in a different city, but as soon as I moved away to college I became a big fan of Brownsville. My mother grew up in Brownsville’s sister city Matamoros, Mexico, but my father is from San Antonio, Texas. The only reason I’m sharing my parents home towns is because they both grew up in completely different cultures, and they came together to raise me in a house where it was completely normal to respond to a question asked in Spanish in English and to eat rice and beans with every meal including spaghetti. Both of my parents are followers of Christ, and they have been a tremendous example to me. I also have two younger brothers and two younger sisters. I’m very blessed to have grown up in a multicultural Christian home.
Spiritual Journey in a Compressed Nutshell:
I prayed to accept Christ as my Savior when I was about five years old, and my faith has grown in different phases since then. I think to a certain extent, I have had a heart for missions as long as I can remember. One specific night when I was eight years old, I watched an entire infomercial about starving kids in Africa. I sat in front of my television and cried, and then I spent the next ten years thinking of strategic ways to raise funds and feed
every starving child in the world. Needless to say, I still haven’t come up with the ultimate, immediate solution to world hunger. I find that a lot of times my own selfishness and pride gets in the way of serving others and ultimately the Lord. The God I serve is an amazing God. Despite my weakness and sometimes down right rebellion, He faithfully pursues me, and He is actively changing my heart to be more like His. I’m painfully aware of my own inadequacies and insecurities, but God has a special way of showing me how much He loves me.
The World Race?
The summer after my freshman year in college, I had the opportunity to go to Swaziland with my university, Dallas Baptist, to serve on Beat
the Drum teams. While there, we worked with South Africans who were part of a service year for Christ team. At the time, I remember struggling with whether or not I would be willing to take a year of my life to leave my comfort, and serve. I let the question hide somewhere back in the dark corners of my mind while I worked on finishing school. My sophomore year was a terrible disaster in which I probably chose the wrong choice in every decision I made, but (to make a long story short) the Lord carried me out of the dark pit I dug for myself, and healed me. As part of the healing process, He taught me how much He loves me. For the first time in my life I was overwhelmed by that fact that He loves me so much He DIED for me. I know that sounds basic, but that much love contrasted to the darkness I surrounded myself in shook the very core of my being. Since then, God has given me summer opportunities to share his love in the Philippines and in Ecuador. One day I was on the AIM website reading about what is going on in Swaziland, and I saw the information about the World Race. As I read, I thought the World Race was one of the coolest things in the world. But then I heard the Lord asking me the one question that I really didn’t want to be asked. Would I be willing to take a year of my life to leave my comfort, and serve? With all that He has done for me, I had to say yes. So here I am, overwhelmed and excited about following the Lord on this incredible journey.
A Few Things I Enjoy:
Reading, dancing, looking at/ watching good art, drinking tea with friends, playing at the beach, and cool lights (including but not limited too Christmas lights and fireworks).
