Meet Mosaico’s Melissa Cruz

Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Cruz.

Hi Melissa, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
At 17, I decided what I wanted my life story to be about, and although I can’t control all the twists and turns in the narrative, I have been focused on living out the overarching theme of bringing light to dark places. I have seen in myself a capacity for light as well as darkness, and I think that focusing on bringing a message of hope and healing to others keeps my own feet pointed down the right path.

I went to Mexico at 18 as a Christian missionary, and within months I was engaged to another missionary, a 20 year old Mexican national named Ramiro. After a bumpy start, we worked out some of the cultural, language, and personality differences between us and got to work planting a church in Chicago. We have been ministering together for the last 17 years, opening new Spanish-speaking churches in Chicago, Orange County, CA, and Nashville.

Most of the people at our church are immigrants, with about 25% here on refugee or asylum visas. Many of the children who attend, including my own, are second-generation immigrants- they were born in America to immigrant parents and primarily speak English. The cultural and language differences between first and second-generation immigrants often mean they will attend separate churches. Ramiro and I draw on our own experience as a mixed-race and multi-generation family to create a place where families like ours can worship together, serve together, and grow together.

What makes our church unique, and what our name reflects, is the drive to unify people of different ages, backgrounds, and cultures under the banner of God’s love. On Sundays, you will hear Spanish, English, and a lot of Spanglish in the lobby, but if you listen closely you will hear accents from around the world. We offer English translation via headsets, as well as bilingual worship and children’s ministry. It’s never perfect, but we are always looking for ways to erase the boundaries that keep us separated from each other.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road? Mosaico Church, like all churches this year, has faced a lot of challenges. Our experience and education did little to prepare us for a global pandemic. We tried to find ways to avoid spreading the virus while keeping in mind that for many of our members, the church is their only support system. People are thousands of miles away from their families, without health care, and they find themselves with reduced or no hours as businesses shut down.

Food insecurity, lack of access to healthcare, and isolation hit the immigrant community especially hard. As a new, small church with limited funds, we did what we could to be present and meet needs by dropping off food boxes, praying for people from their front yard, making masks, and checking in on people by phone. There were a few birthday car parades, which I wish would have continued after the shutdown!

A few months after we reopened after stopping in-person services for three months, the local government shut our building down again. Why? We wanted to follow the rules, so even though we were just putting up a simple wall to divide the lobby from the sanctuary, we requested a building permit. When the building inspector came, he found unrelated building code violations from prior tenants and shut the church down until the floors, ceilings, and walls could be opened up and thoroughly inspected. It took seven months and our entire budget for the year, but we were able to open in July of this year. I am very glad to have that chapter behind us!

Even though our building is small, my goal has been to create a modern, beautiful space that reflects the creativity and innovation of our community. Local professionals have held photoshoots, pop-up shops for creatives, and even filmed a music video in the space! The true beauty of the space is, of course, seeing diverse and broken people gathered and restored by God, forming a living mosaic.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Mosaico / (mo SIGH ik oh) / Spanish noun 1. Artistic work made with small, irregular, and broken pieces. Only when the individual pieces are organized by the artist do they take on form and beauty. 2. A church where you find diverse and broken people, gathered and restored by God to reflect the image of Christ in the world.

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
It would be sacrilege not to say the Bible and the Mosaico Church App! After Doubt, for those questioning their faith. Jesus Feminist, which has little to do with feminism and more to do with the force for good that women can be in the world. The Voice of the Heart for those seeking to speak the truth of their story and live more fully from the heart.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.MosaicoChurch.com
• Instagram: @mosaicochurch
• Facebook: @mosaiconashville
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2bqh9-IVHSOSJYO810Jf4w