Make Your Faith Visible
I love friendship bracelets. I love that they are sort of an invitation to talk to strangers and make new friends. I love that you can put words in them; words that have meaning like favorite songs, artists’ names, or, in my case, my core values. I have five friendship bracelets that I wear almost every day. The words that I chose for each one of them are “Family”, “Mom”, “Mama”, “Keep going”, and “With God.”
The “With God” friendship bracelet led to a very meaningful exchange in the least likely of places: the office. I was sitting in a conference room waiting for a meeting to start when the person next to me said, “Would you mind telling me a little bit more about your friendship bracelet, the one that says With God?” I was a little caught off guard by the question. The office is such a sterile place. There are so many restrictions to be yourself. You’re expected to be neutral, to be distant, and, to an extent, impersonal. It’s so easy these days to offend someone when you use the incorrect pronoun or the wrong word. The question about my faith was so personal. How do I answer it without getting in trouble? I didn’t have much time to think about the answer, the meeting was about to start, so I went ahead with a simple answer: my faith is very important to me, my life is better with God and for God. He nodded softly, the meeting started, and we moved on to another topic.
A couple of days later I received a meeting invite from the same person, no agenda. I showed up fully prepared on the potential topics we might discuss, except he wanted to talk about my faith again. We had a meaningful and candid conversation about what God had done in my life, and he felt comfortable to share his experience. His faith journey had been bumpy, and he didn’t feel close to God, but he saw the friendship bracelet and the conversation with me as a sign, an invitation from God to rekindle his relationship with him.
This exchange got me thinking about how to make my faith more visible, not as an imposition, but rather as part of me – a fundamental part of me. A month later at a work lunch with a large group of people, I noticed someone at our table deep in prayer. When we were done with our meal, I approached him and told him how moved I was to see him, a very senior executive, so immersed in prayer in such a public setting. He was clearly surprised, and, for a split second, I thought I had made a mistake, but then he said, “I would love to talk to you about your faith and your ministry.” Within two hours his assistant scheduled a meeting with me. In that meeting, I told him about my faith journey, about Build the Faith, and about its founder, Christina Dangond. By the end of the meeting, he was teary and emotional and asked me if it was okay to join him in prayer for Christina and her mom, Monica. I thought about the other people sharing the office cafeteria with us; it must have been an odd sight.
We now have monthly prayer meetings, where we simply pray for a few minutes and talk about the work of God in our lives. Over the last few months, there have been several exchanges like these two; complete strangers wanting to learn more about my faith and wanting to share their own journey, some more timidly than others. I strongly believe that in these rather confusing times, many of us are looking to be closer to God and to feel loved, protected, and guided by him. God’s love seems to be the one and only thing that never changes; it’s always there, no conditions and no questions. Collectively we are finding that, amidst all the chaos and busyness of modern life, God is truly the only source of peace. These seemingly random faith encounters are not random at all. They truly are the realization that, as the world gets more complicated, and for so many more painful, more and more of us need the peace that only God can give, and, finding God and the peace he brings can be easier and more fruitful if someone walks alongside us.
I invite you to make your faith visible, to share your journey, and to speak proudly of your relationship with God. So, so, many people are ready, and even more need it!
“Do not be afraid to open wide the doors to Christ.” ~ St. John Paul II

Maria Eugenia was born in Caracas, Venezuela, the oldest of four siblings. She lives in Bolton, Massachusetts with Alex, her husband of 22 years, and Rocky, their 2-year old French Bulldog. Alex and Maria Eugenia are parents to twin boys Carlos and Luis, 18, both college Juniors. Maria Eugenia was raised in a Catholic family, though her Catholic faith had not always been present in her life. Maria Eugenia was inspired by Christina’s journey and by the beautiful way in which her parents and close friends choose to maintain her legacy. Christina’s faith has reframed her perspective of life and has given her a newfound source of strength and purpose.