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Cultural Immersion Project: Interview Paper
Charity Morton
School of Behavioral Sciences, Liberty University
Author Note
.I have no known conflict of interest to disclose
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to
:Email
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Abstract
Interviewing others from a different culture provides the opportunity to learn firsthand and hear
personal stories that helped the person be who they are today. The two interviews provided
information on Hispanics and the personal experiences of these two individuals. One interview
was with a church pastor, and the interview encompassed several topics, such as the purpose of
the pastor's agency, provided services, areas of need, and social justice in the Hispanic
community. The other interview was with a Hispanic girl, entailing her background story and
discrimination experiences. In addition, after the interviews, the exploration of the emotional
reaction to her story and how to apply the gracism sayings to this cultural group occurred. Each
shared a unique story, but in the end, there were also similarities between the two interviews. By
learning through these interviews, one can change how they interact with others because of the
immersion experience and potentially apply it to other populations.
Keywords: Hispanic, interview, immigration
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Interview
The Hispanic community is a large part of the United States and is continuously growing
(Mcgoldrick et al., 2005). Because of this, being able to interact with them is crucial. This paper
will provide an overview of two interviews, share personal stories from interviewees, share
similarities and contrasts between the interviews, and share what one can learn after interacting
personally with members of this population.
Agency/Organization
Purpose of Agency
The purpose of Faith Baptist Church is to reach the Hispanic community and present an
option to those who speak better Spanish than English to have the chance to know Jesus and
grow in their walk with Him. (A. Cervantes, personal communication, October 17, 2023).
Because the church is in San Fernando Valley, California, there is a large Spanish-speaking
population. In addition, it exists to help preserve U.S.-born Hispanics/Latino's Spanish and
culture. Their ministry is unique because a majority of the parents in their congregation primarily
speak Spanish, but their children do not. With their ministry, they can help the children
understand and further develop and preserve their Spanish.
Provided Services
To help reach the Hispanic population, the church primarily relies on its bus ministry.
Because of the many cultural and relational barriers, the church utilizes the bus ministry to help
with transportation, especially since some of their congregation have not been in the United
States for very long. Bus workers help build relationships and provide information on resources.
They try to make a cultural and language oasis that is free of shame so individuals can ask any
questions they may be too scared to ask because of embarrassment. In doing so, they build
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relationships and trust. In addition, through the bus ministry, they can bring them to church; it is
both a resource and a ministry. In addition, with the church, there is also a school for children
from preschool to 12th grade that is a resource for Hispanics. Having a school attached to the
church the family attends may help ease the parent's worries and gives the children a Christian
education.
Members and Services
The church notifies individuals about the church’s services primarily through the bus
ministry. Every week, the bus teams go to designated areas to pass out fliers advertising events
and information about the church services and share the gospel. They also stop at bus benches to
promote the church. The church also uses its website and its YouTube channel to publicize the
church. They use fliers with the church’s information, a picture of the building, the address, and
the schedule of services to help promote the church. Faculty promotes the school by mailing out
fliers to homes. In addition, through the school, they publicize school functions, such as back-to-
school nights and school bashes, to bring more students to the school. Also, by competing with
other schools in sports, they can promote the school even more. In doing so, the faculty contacts
parents and builds relationships to help promote the school and the church.
Areas of Need
In the church, the areas of greatest need are more volunteers and faculty to help with
multiple roles. Because of the reality of ministry, there is not as much funding to pay for more
leadership positions. Because of the lack of workers, many individuals have to multitask and
have more than one role in the church. The youth pastor in the church is not just the youth pastor;
he is the worship music leader and oversees a myriad of events every week. The church needs
more people to help. Within the population, there is a great need for more counseling. With the
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increasingly diverse role of the pastor, there is a need for more training in biblical counseling. In
today's day and age, there are more individuals with anxiety, depression, and many other mental
health issues. To effectively reach them, more training and education are necessary. With the
older generation, it is harder for them to seek help because of the fear of shame. With more
training, faculty and pastors can help their congregation more.
Challenges
One of the challenges within this population is the cultural language gap between parents
and children. Because the parents come from another country and their children are born in the
United States, their children have a different experience from their parents. Examples of these
challenges because of the language gap include homework trouble, reading, and speaking. With
the language barrier, many children can use that to their benefit, such as using English to be
sneaky or discussing inappropriate topics in front of their parents because they know they do not
understand. In addition, because of the language gap and the strong family priority, the parents
may want to go to the Spanish-speaking service, but the children may not want to, so the parents
get pulled to the English service. To help with this challenge, most of the faculty are bilingual
and help build relationships even in the English-speaking service. In addition, while there is an
English and Spanish service, the church prioritizes uniting both services, which means the pastor
of the English service is over the Hispanic church pastor. At times, the head pastor preaches at
the Hispanic service and the Hispanic pastor will preach at the English service to help promote
unity.
Social Justice
With social justice, A. Cervantes (personal communication, October 17, 2023) shared
that traditionally and historically, respecting authority is culturally expected, which differs from
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how it is today with the younger generation. From what he observes in his congregation,
individuals 40 and above would say that challenges and racism exist, but God is bigger than
those issues. God is stronger than a corrupt government. Taking Paul from the Bible as an
example, he did not belabor or focus on the corrupt government but on the Christian’s
responsibilities. Whether or not another person does what is right, Christians should commit to
God’s Spirit and His Word. The older generation respects authority because of their position, not
their disposition. With the younger generation, social media heavily influences their views on
social justice. With the prevalence of social media, younger people are easily inclined to a
political party. Individuals with a biblical worldview have a distinct response to social justice.
Individual
Background
The interviewee, D. Godoy (personal communication, October 16, 2023), shared her
immigration story, how she battled being undocumented, the difficulties of living in fear her
whole life, and how God was with her throughout it all. She is from Venezuela and came to
America on vacation when she was four, but ultimately, her mom wanted her to be successful
and have a chance at a better life, so they decided to stay. She lived with her uncle and his
family, and she shared a personal traumatic event that occurred when she was eight years old.
Because immigration authorities denied her uncle's application for asylum, the immigration came
to the house while she and her cousins were alone at home. They were yelling, banging on the
door, and threatening her by saying her mom never loved her and that they would lock her up
and her mom would only see her once a week through a screen. They instilled fear into her heart.
She saw immigration police take her aunt away and had gas bombs thrown into her house as a
young child. Throughout her life, she had to hide her immigration status, so when she moved to
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Alabama when she was older, her immigration status became more evident, which caused her
fear to increase. While others got to get their licenses, go on trips, talk about college, and go on
vacations, she had to lie and keep up with her lies to ensure nobody knew she was
undocumented. She had immense pressure not to slip up. She heard classmates and teachers talk
about immigrants horribly and say that immigrants are the worst thing that happened to America,
that they are trash, rapists, lazy, and steal jobs from Americans. Because of these statements, her
fear of others knowing about her status grew. She had numerous times when she thought she
would finally get her citizenship, but each time, it fell through. It took a toll on her mental health,
and she felt alone, so she turned to drinking and smoking. After too much drinking and smoking,
she winded up in the hospital with stomach issues, and she realized she could not continue living
her life this way. Not long after, she ended up going on a mission trip, getting saved, and turning
her life around. She started to break free from her fear and found the courage to tell close friends
about her immigration status after finding out someone in a class above her was undocumented
as well, and other people knew. It was an eye-opening moment for her, and she realized she was
driven by fear her whole life, but she did not want to live like that anymore. She started opening
up to close friends about her status and her struggles with getting citizenship. She gave her
worries to God and continued to work on getting her citizenship. She shared the moment she got
the news about her residency. She was talking to God in a church bathroom and telling Him to
put her wherever He wanted her to go, even if it was not America. She walked out of the
bathroom and got a text from her step-mom that said they received her residency and to get it
whenever she wanted to, and she realized that was an answer to prayer. Now, she works on
educating others and owning her story so that others do not feel alone.
Cultural Events
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For this interview, the interviewee shared that celebrations are a great ordeal in her
culture. Celebrations such as Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are big days in her culture. In
addition, because Thanksgiving is not a holiday in Venezuela, her family incorporates that and
comes together to celebrate it, cook, and look back on the year and thank the Lord for what He
has done. She shared that it is a positive opportunity for her dad, who is new to the United States,
to celebrate a different holiday and start incorporating that into his life. She shared that
patriotism has been a positive interaction for her and her family. It is something her family
admires. They appreciate how Americans love and would die for their country and recognize
how different that is in comparison to other countries.
Regarding feelings of being different from other cultures, she did not realize how many
of her experiences differed from her American friends until she went to college. She noticed
differences in expectations, food, and upbringing. With hospitality, she saw differences in
looking out for the needs of others compared to her American friends and shared that in Hispanic
culture, they are overwhelmingly generous and hospitable. Another difference she noticed is
respect towards adults and authority figures. She shared stories of having to teach her American
friends to be respectful towards her parents by telling them it is respectful to greet her parents
when they enter the house and how shocking it was for her to have to teach them basic manners.
With her school experiences, she went through many encounters of discrimination and racism
because she attended a primarily white school. She knew her skin color was different and that
she looked different, but because she put on an “American” look at school and a “Venezuelan”
look at home, she did not notice the difference culturally at first. She had different worlds in her
head, depending on where she was. At school, she got comments about being an immigrant and
border jokes such as, “Go back to your country,” or statements such as “I bet you jumped the
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border.” She would also notice people looking at her because she stood out. At times, she would
get charged more at restaurants, and when going to Walmart, the employees treated her poorly.
Emotional Reaction
As she shared her story, I became emotional, especially after hearing her traumatic story
of the immigration officers being rude and mean towards her. I was shocked that anyone would
treat a little eight-year-old girl in that way and threaten her in the way they did. As someone who
works as a teacher, it shocked me so much because I could not imagine someone doing that to
one of my students. I honestly started tearing up as she shared her story. Despite my mom being
from the Philippines, I had no idea the process was as extensive and challenging as it was for her.
I felt sad and upset for her because of the number of times she had false hope that she would get
her citizenship. I felt sad that she had to go through this challenge alone and had no one she
could talk to about her struggles. With that, I also felt proud of her for overcoming her struggles
and owning her story. She is proud of who she is and thankful that God brought her out of those
struggles. Because of that situation, she can help others not feel lonely and educate others on the
reality of immigration status and how hard it is to live undocumented.
Added Information
I did not realize the importance of celebrations for this cultural group. It makes sense
because family and being together are important aspects of this culture. In addition, celebrations
invite an opportunity to do that and make memories together as a family. It is also interesting
how some Hispanic individuals will move to America and adopt American celebrations like
Thanksgiving, even though that is not something in their culture. In addition, regarding
hospitality and generosity, I did not realize how crucial those two aspects are for this culture. In a
way, because respect is a vital component of this culture, being generous and hospitable
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communicates respect. Concerning respecting authority, it is shocking that despite what the
immigration officers did to her and her family, she still spoke about them with respect, and her
family treated them with respect at that time. It showed that despite what they did to her, they
still prioritize respect and authority in Hispanic culture. They still treated them with respect
because they were in charge, which is an aspect that is very different from America.
Gracism
In the book,IGracism: The Art of Inclusion,Anderson et al. (2023) share eight sayings
that gracists adopt, which are the following: I will lift you up, I will cover you, I will share with
you, I will honor you, I will stand with you, I will consider you, I will celebrate with you, and I
will heal with you. The statements I will cover you, I will stand with you, and I will celebrate
with you all apply to the Hispanic population. Because they view respect, celebrations, and
family as important, these six statements apply to this population. As an individual not a part of
this cultural group, engaging as a Gracist would be to protect them from embarrassment. An
example would be if English is not their first language, it can be scary for them, and they can feel
embarrassed at the thought of messing up, but as a gracist, I can provide a safe space for them to
not feel scared about speaking English and messing up. Because celebration is a vital aspect of
this culture, I can engage as a Gracist and celebrate with them no matter what. Unity and
harmony are crucial in this culture, and celebrating with them no matter what shows I care. The
statement I will stand with you also applies to this group, and as a Gracist, standing with them
means empathizing with them and standing up for them, especially during unfair situations, such
as my interviewee's experience at restaurants when employees charged her more solely because
they were Hispanic.I
Summary
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Compare and Contrast
There were some similarities between the two interviews, such as both acknowledging
the importance of respecting others and authority no matter what. In addition, both
acknowledged the struggle with English as a second language within this population and how to
show compassion and help them. Both interviews recognized the struggle of racism and
discrimination that Hispanics go through. They both acknowledged the difficulties of navigating
and dealing with discrimination in the United States. Another similarity is that both interviews
recognized how hospitable and relational this culture is. The pastor shared that his congregation
shows this by fellowshipping with others before and after the service and often having meals
after the service to provide the opportunity for people to spend more time together and bond over
a meal. The girl I interviewed also shared the importance of hospitality in this culture by sharing
how she and her family show hospitality, such as having others over for a meal and taking care
of guests by offering food or drink.
A contrast between the two interviews is that the pastor mentioned that many people in
his congregation strive to preserve their culture, but the individual I interviewed shared the
importance of adopting American events and celebrations into her family. Another difference
when comparing the two is how the pastor emphasized how his church prioritizes preserving
their culture and welcoming people as they are, but the girl I interviewed felt like that was
something she could not do. She emphasized how there was a persona for school and a persona
for home. She never let the two show at the same time because she was scared and did not want
to face discrimination or racism.
Surprising Information
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What surprised me the most from these two interviews is that both shared how important
respecting authority figures is no matter what. The pastor emphasized the importance of
respecting authority because of their position, not their disposition, and the individual interview
with the girl shared the importance of respect, even to the immigration officers, as they yelled
and screamed at her and took her family away. It is shocking because in America, everyone
focuses on earning respect and how some authority figures do not deserve respect because of
how they treat others. It is different from America’s standards. Another aspect that shocked me is
how long and elaborate the process is to become documented or to receive residency. Both
interviewees shared about the extensive process, and despite knowing how long it took, I was
still shocked to hear about some people's waiting periods.
Impact
Both interviews provided shocking information and taught me the importance of showing
more compassion towards this cultural group, especially if they have recently moved to America.
Others have no idea what they have gone through to get here, and they deserve and need
compassion, love, and patience. At the end of the day, it does not matter if they are documented
or undocumented because they are people, and they need love and kindness as much as other
people. Christians need to show them the love of Christ and treat them in the way Jesus would.
In addition, this experience taught me how crucial it is to know another language. It is foolish to
think everyone knows English, and with how big this cultural group is, it is vital to be able to
speak to them in their native language. Moving here is challenging and scary for them, so to limit
myself to one language is limiting my ability to share God’s Word and His love with this group
of people. Lastly, from this experience, I have learned to prioritize relationships. It is beautiful to
hear and see the love and importance of relationships in this culture and how it impacts them.
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Through their family and feelings of belonging, they cultivate long-lasting relationships that help
form their identity (Cahill et al., 2021).
Insights
After learning more about this population, some aspects apply to other populations, such
as how different groups communicate and their priorities. Knowing this, when interacting with
other cultural groups, it is crucial to remember that what I may deem as important or normal,
they may not. For example, some cultures emphasize the importance of time and punctuality,
while others prefer their guests to be late because that is more socially acceptable. Knowing this,
as a counselor, I can consider this and not only learn more about a culture through my research
but also talk to others within that culture and gain experience. Another aspect is learning a little
about someone’s native language to help bridge the gap. Rapport can be built by simply knowing
a couple of words in someone’s language to show you care and are willing to learn. Lastly,
providing others with the space to be themselves and potentially mess up an English phrase or
ask scary questions about American culture can cultivate relationships and communicate to them
that you are a safe person. It is hard to be in another country and not be fluent in the majority’s
language. By allowing individuals the space to be themselves, free from shame and cover them,
as Anderson et al. (2023) shared in their book, I can show them God’s love and help them so
they can help others.
Conclusion
Both interviews provided a large amount of information on Hispanic culture and
answered many questions that helped show more about this group and how one’s experiences
help shape who they are. The interview with the pastor helped shed light on what the Hispanic
community might find challenging as a group, and the interview with the girl showed the
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difficulties of being undocumented and how she got to where she is today. Reminding oneself of
the Gracist sayings and living through them allows individuals to interact with other cultures and
show them the love of God.
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References
Anderson, D. A., Heiliger, D., & McManus, E. R. (2023). Gracism: The Art of Inclusion.
InterVarsity Press.
Cahill, K. M., Updegraff, K. A., Causadias, J. M., & Korous, K. M. (2021). Familism values and
adjustment among Hispanic/Latino individuals: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Psychological Bulletin, 147(9), 947–985. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000336
Mcgoldrick, M., Giordano, J., & Garcia-Preto, N. (2005). Ethnicity and family therapy (3rd ed.).
Guilford Press. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/liberty/reader.action?
docID=406015
