Why Spain
Why Spain
Hello, my name is Emmely, I‘m 19 and I am a missionary’s child.
My full name is Emmely Haniel Estrada Cruz. I’ve lived in Spain for 7 years with my family in the city of Malaga, in a village called Alhaurín de la Torre. It is a very nice and picturesque place, especially whenever there is a celebration like Christmas or a fair, the decorations are lovely.
I live with my father Daniel, my mother Eloisa and my big brother Oseas Daniel. I’m Mexican and I lived in my native country for 9 years. My father was the pastor of a church in Mexico City in a neighborhood called Jamaica. Then I moved to the United States because my father had to do his Master’s degree. I did not want to go there. I barely knew how to speak English, but I was forced to learn it quickly because we stayed there for the next 2 years. I was in school, and the adaptation process to my new American school was kind of hard because it was very different from the Mexican ones. For example, I had different teachers for every subject. I got very sad as a result of the multiples mocks and the rejection my classmates and some teachers would make to me. But thanks to God, my family and one teacher, who helped me reading and writing
in English, I moved forward and finally I graduated from 5th grade. But then I stopped going because we were doing the deputation process so we could go to Spain to continue with our missionary job. That was a tough year, we practically lived in the car and hotels, or different brothers and sisters would let us stay in their homes.
And finally, when the time of moving to Spain arrived, I was 11 years old, and the school year had already started so I had no friends. In addition, I disliked the food and hated living there; it was a harming and tiring process. Most of my culture shocks were due to my personality, I am very loving in contrast with the Spanish, who are so cold. I didn’t know how to communicate with them so most of the time I was drawing and painting alone. The first days of school were a mess as I didn’t understand their Spanish, which is very different from the Latino one; there were a lot of things I didn’t comprehend and expressions I keep learning until now. They speak so fast, and they cut words which was so frustrating to me.
But regardless of that, the thing that shocked me the most was family relationships: most of the children only had a mother or a father. They never are together; also, most of the Spanish talked in a very rude way with a lot of curse words and their tone whenever they talked was so high. Due to that language problem I had to repeat 6th grade as I failed half of my subjects, the kids and teachers would make fun of me. My parents didn’t know how to help me, so I just asked them to change school, which was a good decision. In the new school they treated me very well and they helped me pick up the language.
For the 3 first years I didn’t want to live there, I wondered why, always why and not “to what” (purpose)? Why God wanted me and my family in Spain? After that time, I understood everything. I understood why we were there with less money than we needed and with our residence permission. It all had a purpose: a plan that goes beyond our understandings. I had the opportunity to know wonderful people and share God ́s love. And I was there to support my parents in different ways, helping my father
with the church furthermore trying to cheer up my mother as she felt very sad in this new country because her family was far away. Also, my brother and I started developing both, mentally and spiritually.
In 2020 I understood that there is no comparison between man and God’s plans. A virus arrived which I think was heartbreaking for everyone. Sadly, this virus took away a lot of beloved ones like my paternal grandparents. Even then, I knew God had us in his hands and he wouldn’t leave us. In those difficult moments when you can ́t be with your family because of the distance is when you understand that following God is difficult, as Jesus himself had troubles. The enemy will always try to defeat you and make you stop preaching the Gospel, but these trials we went through as a family made me realize how important it is to support my father. Thanks to our job as missionaries, we had the chance to know a lot of countries like France, Israel, Morocco, Spain, United States and Mexico. These trips were not all for missions but to visit as well, like Israel. That was a wonderful experience. The trip was one of my father’s biggest dreams. It was a blessing for all of us because of other missionary families we met there that could relate to the life God has called us to. Going to Paris and Morocco was a holiday thing but we kept spreading our message and preaching the love of God. In Mexico, the US and Spain was God ́s work. What living in different countries has taught me was helping me be more outgoing and I have grown as a person. The things I learned in every country were the tools that had helped me in my life as a missionary. I wouldn’t change anything of what I’ve been through because it has been the reason I ́m like this and all the testimonies I can share with the others.
Regardless all the bad stuff I went through, I had wonderful experiences with amazing
people as brothers in Christ who cheered us going to Spain or the memories of my grandparents who wanted us to continue the good work in Spain. But also, my sweet Spanish friends that don’t refuse hearing about my faith which I think is nice and comforting. When I look back, I feel that God is always soothing us so we can be better every day.
Emmely Estrada Cruz
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