MSIA South Florida — Meeting the Challenges of the Pandemic with Spirit

In South Florida, we have been meeting the challenges of the pandemic with spirit by discovering many great blessings already present and more unfolding for us all. Long before the pandemic, we held MSIA Seminars and Ministers Meetings via Zoom as well as in-person, a hybrid of both. Since our MSIA community spans across three large counties, reaching out to our MSIA family via Zoom allowed us to stay connected more fully. When we had to move to Zoom-only gatherings, we were already comfortable in the Zoom platform and our meetings continued without a hitch.

We are grateful to continue to stay connected through Bilingual MSIA Home Seminars, hosted by Luis Mario Agudelo and Marybel Castaneda, local and statewide Ministers’ Meetings, email Light List managed by Judy Jackson, and WhatsApp groups for Ministers and MSIA Discourse Subscribers. Through these ways of staying connected, we reach out to each other daily with prayers, blessings, news, Light requests, humor, pictures, John-Roger and John Morton quotes of inspiration, and reminders of upcoming MSIA and PTS events. The love and joy in our group chats is a huge blessing, helping us feel close in our hearts when we can’t be close physically.

This past summer, we were blessed with a visit from Jsu Garcia who held a small in-person and Zoom Home Seminar on the outside patio of the home of Claudia Calle and Toto Gonzalez, followed by treats and music hosted by Miami D.J. Mr. Pauer (a.k.a. Toto). A few folks gathered on the patio while a bunch of us tuned in via Zoom, enjoying sharings, a John-Roger Seminar, and beautiful sounds of love and laughter.

Jsu performed the ordination for our newest minister, Gabriela Santander, in the home of Elsa Caballero, honoring safety precautions while welcoming Spirit’s perfect ways and timing. All went beautifully, bringing forward an abundance of unexpected and most welcome blessings.

During Jsu’s visit, several ministers stood by and supported Jsu through the transition of his beloved mother, Nicia Ferrer, a deeply loved member of our Florida MSIA community. Local ministers visited Nicia during her final days in this world, including Gaby on her first day after becoming ordained. In Spirit’s perfection, Nicia was in the hospice within the hospital where Gaby works!

For those of us who could not be physically present with Jsu or our fellow ministers, our WhatsApp group chats and email communications kept us close together in our hearts. We were deeply moved when we learned, just as we began our monthly Florida Statewide Ministers’ Meeting via Zoom, that Nicia transitioned at the exact time we were calling in the Light for our meeting. We then shared an abundance of loving memories of Nicia and the ways she blessed us all.

At this time, we continue to meet virtually while knowing our deep connections in our hearts. Throughout Florida, we have Ministers’ Meetings and Home Seminars each month, all via Zoom, and hosted by our Southwest, North, Central, and Palm Beach MSIA communities. We continue to provide Spanish-English translation in all our South Florida and Statewide gatherings as that is one of the blessings we choose to bring forward to experience the oneness present here and now. It’s always a sweet blessing to see each other in meetings and seminars, sharing our challenges, learnings, and gratitude for the teachings of the Traveler, that one laughing in our hearts and walking with us through this time and always on our way Home.