Being Latino in Christ: Finding Wholeness in Your Ethnic Identity

By Orlando Crespo

Book Overview

Life as a Latino in America is complicated. Living between the two worlds of being Latino and American can generate great uncertainty. And the strange mixture of ethnic pride and racial prejudice creates another sort of confusion.

Who are you as a Latino?Who are you as an American?What has Christ to say about your dilemma?How can you accept who you are in Christ with joy and confidence?

Orlando Crespo has taken his own journey from Puerto Rico to an immigrant neighborhood in Springfield, Massachusetts, and back again to his Latino roots. In this books he helps you to reflect on your own voyage of self-understanding and on what it means to have a mixed heritage from the days of the original Spanish Conquest to the present.His straightforward approach also takes him to what the Bible says about ethnic identity--about a people who were often oppressed by more powerful cultures. He helps you to see how Jesus' own humanity unfolded in the context of a people who were considered to be inferior. Thus Crespo finds both realism and hope in the good news of Jesus.There is more, however, than merely coming to terms with who you are. Crespo also shows how Latinos are called to step out positively in ministry to the world. You can make a positive impact in on the world in racial reconciliation, in bicultural ministry and more because of who God has uniquely made you to be.Here is a book for all Latinos who want to live confidently in Christ.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0830823743
• ISBN13: 9780830823741
• Release Date: November 2003
• Publisher: IVP
• Length: 167 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Being Latino in Christ

I'm so glad I found this book! After reading it I wanted to find the author, sit at a Starbucks, and have a three hour conversation with him. So much of what he depicted was a reflection of my own experiences as a Christian Latina. It was brave, insightful, and well written. I have often referred back to it because Mr. Crespo put into words feelings and thoughts that I had but couldn't articulate. I now recommend the book to all my friends who thank me for it. Bravo, Mr. Crespo.Being Latino in Christ: Finding Wholeness in Your Ethnic Identity

Not just for Latinos

"If Christianity is for everyone, then what difference does ethnicity make?" The author shows that ethnicity is not something we need to overcome, but something that needs to be embraced. Rather than arguing a cultural perspective, Crespo speaks gently as a Latino American who stuggled to find his own personal identity and identity in Christ. If you're looking for a thoughtful dialogue on faith and culture from a personal perspective, this is a good place to start.

What the Latino community needs

I absolutely recommend this book to any and every Latino in the US. Orlando Crespo goes into what our history is as Latinos, the oppression that our ancestors have gone through, the struggles we go through with identity being part of two cultures and other issues we face. Using the Scriptures, he takes us through God's plan for us as an ethnic culture and how He uses our ethnic identity to reflect a part of who He is. I also recommend this book to those who are curious about the Hispanic Christian community and those wanting to minister in that area.