ELKHART, Indiana (Mennonite Mission Network) – Growing up Catholic in Texas could mean it’s not very likely you would attend a Mennonite school in Indiana.
For a Mexican-American woman, cumbia would be the dance of choice, not salsa, right? It’s also not common that she would travel to the Middle East to help others, knowing her familia would prefer she serve in her own community.
But to assume all of the above could also mean that you embrace stereotypes – something Lizzy Diaz, Mennonite Mission Network’s newest staff member, is dedicated to avoiding. Diaz is the agency’s Christian Service traveling recruiter and program assistant. She will relocate from New York City, where she served with Mennonite Voluntary Service as an advocacy officer with World Vision International at the United Nations. She then stayed in the “Big Apple” to work as a social worker in Harlem. Diaz aims to bring her great love for her Tex-Mex culture, curiosity of others, and an overall appreciation of diversity to her new role, which began Sept. 19.
A native of Arlington, Texas, Diaz is a graduate of Goshen College in Indiana, where she also served as its multicultural enrollment counselor. Her family moved to Goshen in 2003 when she was 13.
Crossing cultural lines to help others has been a natural desire for as long as Diaz can remember. It was at Goshen College that she came to fully understand and define her passion to serve people in this way. In 2010, Diaz spent a semester in Cairo and Asyut, Egypt, for her study-service term with 20 other students and a professor. It was her first trip abroad other than visits to Mexico with her family.
“Being around Mennonites at Goshen, I was able to put a name to voluntary service as what I wanted to do in life,” Diaz said.
Contrary to typical news media reports, Diaz said that she found that both Muslims and Christians often engaged in respectful interfaith dialogue. Egyptians were friendly and welcoming to visitors. The student group from Goshen stayed in a Christian church, but their tour guide was a Muslim woman named Heba.
“Heba is one of my mentors,” Diaz said. “She is a very strong woman. In the Western view, Muslim women are often seen as not being strong; she proves that this is not an accurate perspective.”
Diaz said that Western stereotypes swirled in her mind even as she boarded the plane.
“I went with a fear that it was going to be a hostile environment, but it was very different,” she said, adding that her family was equally concerned for her.
Ironically, Diaz, one of two Latinas in her majority White student group, also experienced indirectly the privileges of dominant group status. As she encountered Egyptians, they often assumed she was a native. In many ways, it was like visiting with family in Mexico.
“It was actually more convenient for me walking by myself,” Diaz said, adding that Muslim tradition discourages the idea of women being unaccompanied in public. “I didn’t draw as much attention as when I was with my group.”
Diaz said that her experience abroad changed her perspective on how she views things that she hasn’t yet experienced. This has shaped her personally and professionally.
“Working as a social worker in Harlem with marginalized communities, often we have a perception of those people that is incorrect as well,” she said. “I’m very relational. I really like to get to know people without creating an idea of who they might be.”
Like being a Mexican-American woman who loves salsa, the New York City Latin dance that Diaz first learned while, ironically, living in Goshen.
“Growing up in a Hispanic household, you have music on all the time,” she said, smiling and shifting in her seat. “You’re always dancing, even as you clean.”
“I’m excited about the position and what will come with this role,” she continued. “I do really feel passionate about increasing diversity in service and the Mennonite values that I’ve experienced.”
