Dear Readers,
It is with great excitement and pride that I welcome you to the first edition of “Houston Latino Family Magazine.” This magazine is the realization of a dream; it is a project born with the purpose of serving our Latino community in Houston by celebrating our culture, strengthening our families and providing valuable information to enhance our lives.
At “Houston Latino Family Magazine,” we understand the unique challenges our community faces, and we want to be part of the solution. That’s why we are committed to offering content that not only informs but also empowers and motivates our families to reach their fullest potential.
I invite you to explore this first edition and make “Houston Latino Family Magazine” a part of your home. We hope you find something in these pages that resonates with you, inspires you and makes you feel more connected to our wonderful Latino community in Houston.
Thank you for joining us on this exciting journey. Together, we will build a space where every voice is heard, every story is told and every family is celebrated.
Our community is vibrant, diverse and full of stories that deserve to be told. In each edition, we aim to highlight these stories by addressing topics that truly matter.
FFamily means everything to me!
It is God’s perfect design and an extension of our lives. Through family, I see the legacy I leave on this earth and the inheritance for the future. Family has helped me grow in every way, giving me maturity and teaching me the true value of things, placing priorities in their proper order.
What values do you consider essential for keeping a family united and strong?
The respect and reverence of God in the heart and loving Him above all else. When we keep God present in our lives and in our family, everything makes sense. We can overcome any challenge and navigate each stage that comes our way by maintaining respect, integrity, truth, loyalty, consideration, tolerance, patience, and love.
How do you instill those values in your home? Are there any traditions or practices that are especially important to your family?
When we as parents love God, seek His guidance, and strive to live by His word, our children see it, they imitate it, and they know that we are genuine in our relationship with God. If we understand that we must tell the truth because His word says so, and we consistently practice this in our home, our children will know it, they will see that we live by truth, and they will follow this example because it is the common thread in our home. We cannot expect them to be a certain way if we as parents are not examples ourselves. Bringing them to church is also a gift because it strengthens their faith and nurtures their spiritual growth.
Could you share a family experience or memory that has deeply impacted you?
We have taught our children to pray about everything, and they have embraced this as a priority. When preparing to move to this country, we prayed every night for God’s direction, asking Him to open the way if it was His will for us to relocate. But not just then; from a young age, I have seen them seek prayer as the way to find God’s guidance in every area of their lives— whether in their studies, relationships, or personal desires. When we were seeking residency, we prayed together in unity for our legal status, and God blessed us, just as He did when we became citizens.
How do you handle challenges and conflicts within your family to ensure harmony and unity?
I am a woman of prayer, and I have discovered that my greatest ally is the Lord Jesus. My husband and I stay united, bringing every situation, conflict, or challenge before God, seeking His wisdom
to guide us in making the best decisions and emerging victorious. Additionally, it is our responsibility to communicate, work together, and make the necessary changes to find possible solutions and correct course when needed because victory is found in humility.
In your opinion, how has the concept of family changed in today’s society, and how do you adapt to those changes?
It is difficult to accept that the family is disintegrating each day and that fewer people are willing to keep it united. It is easier to dissolve a covenant than to maintain it. Selfishness and materialism cool love, and a lack of tolerance breaks unity. Faced with this challenge, we must stay close to the Lord, stand against this anti-family movement, and strive to nurture the bonds of love, good communication, and family unity. We need to listen to each other and value what each family member has to say or feel.
What role do the older generations play in passing on family values in your home?
An incredibly important role. Thanks to God, our parents instilled in us the value of hard work and left us a legacy of love and reverence for God. Their example has been key in guiding us, orienting us, and ensuring that we remain on the right path, caring for our descendants and preserving our legacy. We are not perfect, but we can recognize the areas where we need to improve, overcome patterns, and grow to provide a better future for our children and their descendants.
How do you balance professional responsibilities with family life to ensure both areas receive the attention they deserve?
This is an important point because balance and knowing our priorities are vital to keeping both aspects in their proper place. First and foremost, God should be in our hearts, giving us the balance we need and the humility to recognize our weaknesses and the desire to improve. Family always deserves attention; children and marriage must be cared for above all else. Titles, wealth, and possessions are meaningless if we cannot enjoy them with those who love us. Often, people focus on work and neglect their home to the point where they end up losing everything. But if we value family
The blessing of seeing our children develop their faith in God is a gift that no one can take away, as His word says: nothing and no one can separate us from the love of God.
and focus on what is essential, we can maintain both! Work should never replace the love of family.
What advice would you give to younger generations to strengthen family bonds in an increasingly digitalized world?
Family is the most important thing you have, and the satisfaction of seeing them grow will be your greatest reward. Enjoy every moment with them to the fullest; it’s not worth wasting time on arguments and disputes when true happiness is found in your home. Guard against the distractions of social media and the apathy of these times from contaminating your household. Strive to protect their hearts and keep the flame of love burning. Serving and being present for each one of them is a beautiful gift that is worth living.
What legacy do you hope to leave your children and grandchildren in terms of values and family traditions?
My greatest and most precious inheritance is that they love God and have an intimate and daily relationship with the Lord. He is the one who will care for them best, guide them in every moment of their lives, and bless them beyond what they could imagine. I have been blessed more than I ever thought possible and more than I deserve; His faithfulness has changed my future, and that is what I desire for my children, grandchildren, and descendants. Everything else they can achieve with effort, honest work, and by being good men and women. Being loyal, upright, and faithful to God brings the greatest satisfaction in life. Not everything is about money, and not everything is material; only God can fill the voids in the heart.
How does your faith influence family values and the way you raise your children?
The Lord is the center of everything! I cannot educate or teach my children if God is not with me, and if I am not a living example of surrendering to God, allowing Him to guide and control my life, my emotions, and govern my home. We are reflections of God, and that is what our children need to see and know about us. That they can see Christ in mom and dad. That they can say, “In the most difficult moments, my parents sought refuge in God, and He always delivered them. Even though my parents aren’t perfect, they always recognize their mistakes and strive to change because they want to please God and love us more each day.” This is what I want them to carry in their minds and hearts, because in this way, they will also seek to improve and remain close to God always. In our home, we raise our children this way, in love and respect for God, learning from His word so that it can correct and teach them. It is the greatest treasure we can have.
The Incredible Testimony of Texas Mother of Five
Who Died Four Times After Childbirth Says, “Heaven is Real.”
HARLINGEN, TEXAS—When pregnant 29-year-old mother of four Jodie Oviedo rushed to the hospital for premature labor on August 30, 2018, she never anticipated the medical horrors that awaited her—nor did she anticipate meeting her creator.
In a chilling interview, Oviedo walks readers through her journey of dying four times and experiencing the other side, including meeting Christ and an angel and witnessing Heaven and Hell. Her chilling testimony offers believers hope in an increasingly secular and faithless world.
Oviedo arrived at the hospital to find that her baby’s lungs were underdeveloped, and she needed to be placed on medications to stop her contractions and halt her premature labor.
The following morning, her doctor pulled her off of the medications to determine whether she would continue premature labor on her own.
Flooded by a peculiar, worried feeling, Oviedo phoned her husband—who was working in a different state—to ask him to head to the hospital. He arrived the next morning.
The mother promptly resumed the premature labor of her fifth child.
“I felt like it was time to push shortly after the doctor broke my water, although when he checked, I wasn’t very dilated. When he pulled his hand out, it was covered in blood,” Oviedo recalled with a shudder.
“I was freaked out. I had just finished nursing school and gotten my license as a vocational nurse, so I knew this wasn’t normal.”
She heard someone whisper the words “amniotic fluid embolism,” which is an emergent, lifethreatening childbirth condition. She repeated the phrase out loud.
Her doctor fell silent, and then he replied, “I believe this is a placental abruption. I need to get you in the operating room immediately for an emergency cesarean (c-) section.”
“I was freaked out. I had just finished nursing school and gotten my license as a vocational nurse, so I knew this wasn’t normal.”
Moments later, Oviedo’s husband was kicked out of the room. Her baby had fallen into distress, and she needed to be completely sedated and prepped for surgery.
The emergency c-section was highly traumatic for Oviedo, who had previously delivered four healthy babies through natural childbirth. Thankfully, the surgery was successful, and her baby was taken to the NICU for oxygen treatment to his undeveloped lungs.
“My husband needed to leave to see our other children, who were staying with my mom. I didn’t want him to leave. I was nervous and had a bad feeling about it,” Oviedo said. “I asked him to pray with me before he left.”
Then, he left, and Oviedo was alone in a room with three nurses. She began to feel short of breath and lightheaded, as if she would faint. She tried to tell the nurses, but they didn’t understand, and two of them left the room.
Panicking, Oviedo tried to look at the computer to read her vitals, but the remaining nurse was in front of it, blocking it. She told the nurse that she wasn’t hyperventilating; she couldn’t breathe.
“I saw one nurse coming in through the door, maybe running, I’m not sure. But I remember yelling, ‘I can’t breathe!’ Then, everything went black.”
Oviedo woke up levitating in a big, blue sky with scattered white clouds. She looked down to view her feet, floating. She was dressed in a beige gown, cut a bit above her knees. When she glanced up, she saw three beings that were unmistakably angels.
Each radiant angel was ten to fifteen feet tall, adorned in white gowns, gold crowns and gold gladiator sandals decorated with elegant gold leaves. Each also wore a gold tassel-like belt around their waist, resembling a rope that might tie a curtain, but less bulky.
“The middle [angel] zoomed into me, like a video, as if I were watching a camera zoom. I don’t know how to explain it,” Oviedo admitted, dumbfounded. “It’s like he was greeting me with his eyes, and in the middle of his pupil, I could see a flickering flame.”
“Then, the angels picked up these big, gold swords.”
Meanwhile, Oviedo had no knowledge that on earth, she had passed away. Back in the hospital, intensive care unit (ICU) medical practitioners frantically labored over her body, attempting to resuscitate and intubate her.
In fact, a doctor had been working on Oviedo’s body for so long that he later warned her husband that if she were to make it through her coma, she may be in a vegetative state due to no brain activity.
“It’s like he was greeting me with his eyes, and in the middle of his pupil, I could see a flickering flame.
After the angels picked up their swords, Oviedo, confused by their action, peered around. She stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of “three dark angels,” each clothed in tattered, hooded black robes.
Frighteningly, inside their hoods was nothing. Two of the beings were faceless abysses of malignant evil. The angel in the middle resembled the grim reaper, with the face of a skull and piercing red eyes. Oviedo knew him as the angel of death.
The three demon-like creatures pulled out massive, black swords and began to battle the angels. The sky morphed into a battlefield filled with the shrieking of metal and the clinking of swords.
Suddenly, a loud thunder cracked across the sky, shaking the arena. All of the angels, the dark and the light, halted.
An authoritative voice resembling that of thunder boomed, “She’s my child! She always has been!”
Instantly, Oviedo returned to her body. She had been placed in a medically induced coma in the ICU and was considered to be in extremely critical condition. The medical team was unsure if she would make it through the night.
Her husband still hadn’t arrived back at the hospital. A doctor phoned him, beckoning him to get to the hospital immediately.
When he arrived, her husband, who had worked in a nursing home for many years, noticed many nurses lined up by her room doorway. His heart dropped; he knew what that signified.
One nurse pulled him into a little room, and he said, “I already know something happened. So just tell me.”
Minutes later, Oviedo’s husband was on the phone with her parents, urging them to rush to the hospital.
“I was seizing uncontrollably when my dad and mom came. They saw me like that. My husband and dad embraced, and they were sobbing heavily, my mom later told me,” Oviedo detailed.
“Later that night, they were giving me a blood transfusion. My vitals were going down… maybe I had a reaction, I’m not sure, I coded again during the transfusion.”
He told her, “Do not be afraid. You will feel no pain. I was sent here to show you something.”
“I’m not afraid,” she responded. “Who are you?
“I’m a traveling nurse sent from Heaven to really sick people,” he replied.
Oviedo passed away and again returned to the afterlife. She saw herself in the same hospital bed, but the room was pitch black, aside from a single bright light shining upon her bed.
On her left stood a man, undoubtedly an angel, in white scrubs. His features were of a black man, but he wasn’t black; his skin was a highly pigmented, shimmering gold. Oviedo was immersed in the peace and joy she felt radiating off of him.
Oviedo’s eyes flitted down, and she noticed his small, gold luggage, which she described as similar to what someone might carry a weapon or money inside. She asked him what it was for.
“These are my tools and medications from Heaven,” the angel explained, smiling.
He was unshakably cheerful. Perhaps most interestingly, he spoke to Oviedo telepathically, rather than verbally. When she thought something, he would reply to her inside of her mind.
However, she could see his facial expressions and hear his laugh. His smile was strikingly beautiful, wide and kind.
“I remember looking for a nametag on him, and as I looked, the name ‘GABRIEL’ embroidered on him, one letter at a time,” Oviedo recalled. “‘Gabriel! Your name is Gabriel!’ I said.”
“Yes. Take my hand, and stay in the light,” Gabriel instructed Oviedo.
She took his hand and arose from her hospital bed. A dark tunnel materialized before them, and Gabriel guided her through it.
The tunnel was infested with creepy-crawly critters like snakes, scorpions, spiders and bugs. As they ventured through the tunnel, she began to feel heat, hear horrific screams and smell putrid stenches of melting flesh, sulfur and other gases.
As they neared the end, she saw dark spiderwebs, which merged forming a gate. She had an inherent knowledge that these were the gates of hell. Through the gates, Oviedo saw a vile, ferocious demon whom she described as similar to the Venom character from the Marvel movie.
She spotted six or seven deep pits in the ground, and inside, she saw molten lava with bursts of fire shooting up.
“I heard people shouting, ‘Help me,’ screaming It was horrible. I don’t anyone” Oviedo said, her with horror.
“Why did you bring asked Gabriel the Archangel. “I brought you here heaven and hell exist, to share this revelation There are many people who are losing faith the church, and you are continue to have faith. share that God’s love and forgiveness is declared.
The Lord had given Oviedo assignment: to share with as many souls as
Gabriel then told her woke up, she would be miracle, and many would
Oviedo returned to her medically induced coma. of the night, her fragile and died a third time.
She was rushed into room for an emergency surgery, where a opened her up and discovered pooling inside of her was hemorrhaging organ failure.
Further, Oviedo had a condition called intravascular coagulation one’s blood is no longer own. Once a person acquires prospects of living are
The surgeon put a trauma her body, underneath then the team threw as possible on top They went through so they had to acquire more another hospital.
In total, Oviedo received roughly 45 transfusions, and she lost five liters of blood. The human body only has five to six liters of blood, so she had lost essentially her entire body’s blood.
Simultaneously, Oviedo was on the other side, gazing at the back of a figure in a white robe and a gold sash whom she immediately recognized as Jesus. He waved his hand. “Come, walk with me,” He said.
She walked alongside Jesus, Him on her right side, and He began to speak. “I want you to remarry your husband,” He instructed her.
At the time, Oviedo and her husband had been divorced for approximately four years, and the dynamic had perpetually bothered her. He was the father of her children, including her recently birthed fifth child; she knew that they were living in sin.
“Yes, Lord,” Oviedo fervently agreed.
Like Gabriel the Archangel, Jesus proceeded to ask that she share her testimony with as many people as possible.
“One thing about Jesus is that, when you meet him, it’s like you just feel his love surrounding you, seeping through every pore of your being. It’s so hard to describe it because it’s so amazing and beautiful,” she said tearfully. “It transforms your whole body.”
“After that, I knew that my life was never going to be the same. I was in a coma for around 9 to 12 days, and when I woke up, the doctor was on his way to place a trachea on my throat to help me breathe. I’d been on life support since the first time I coded.”
When Oviedo awoke from her coma, she was overcome by emotion and the strong sense that she was meant to contribute something great to the world. For days, she laid in her hospital bed, listening to gospel music and weeping. She felt surrounded by the presence of God.
Then, the prophecy that Gabriel delivered, that people would know about her life being a miracle, came true.
Her room began to swarm with visitors whom she didn’t even know, people from downstairs and the lobby, secretaries, chaplains, doctors and even the anesthesiologist. Students came to visit her from her nursing school, and the school put together a donation drive of diapers and wipes for her baby.
People considered her a medical miracle; doctors had done everything medically possible for her, and she still was not expected to survive, let alone come out of her coma cognitive, aware of her surroundings and slowly recovering.
“That lasted almost a year and a half. That was a massive help,” Oviedo said gratefully.
“My husband didn’t go back [out of state]. He stayed here. He was off work for six months to take care of me. My father-in-law was kind, he actually paid for our car payment. I remember a few days after I woke up from the coma, when I was able to talk, because my throat was sore from the life support machine and the intubation of my throat,” she described.
“I told my husband, ‘I don’t care if we lose our vehicles, because none of those materialistic things matter anymore.’”
Yet God provided for Oviedo and her family. Her father-in-law took over the couple’s car payments for quite some time, and other family members were equally supportive. Her mother took care of her when she wasn’t able to pick up her baby for three to four months.
In total, Oviedo was in the hospital for 23 to 25 days, and when she awoke from the coma, she was completely dependent; she couldn’t walk, she was in diapers, she couldn’t control her bowels or her urine, and she had a catheter and a feeding tube.
“It was a very humbling experience,” Oviedo described. “After my stay, I still couldn’t walk, so I was dispatched to a rehabilitation center. My family visited me once or twice a week, but I was a far distance away. I was there for a month.”
“I remember having dreams that I was walking, and I knew that God was promising that I would walk again.”
In the rehabilitation center, Oviedo attended speech and physical therapy to relearn how to talk and regain motor functioning.
However, Oviedo’s health was still not clear. She quickly suffered two more run-ins with illness. The first was pancreatitis while she was in rehab, which took her out for a couple of days.
Then, near the end of October 2018, after Oviedo had been sent back home, she began throwing up uncontrollably.
“I was in the hospital for about a week. I had an excess amount of bile, and a doctor had to do an endoscopy,” she explained.
“Near the end of that week, I was asked if I wanted to return to the rehabilitation center. By that time, I was able to walk a little bit… I was still using a wheelchair, but my legs were strong enough to stand up. I said I wanted to go home. I missed my family.”
Oviedo went home. Two days later, she coded again. She died—a fourth and final time—in her sleep.
“My husband heard me breathing raspidly. He turned on the light and turned to see me take one deep breath and then stop breathing. He tried to shake me, but my eyes had rolled back, they were white,” Oviedo shivered.
“He called 911, put it on speaker and started performing CPR on me. He was praying to God, ‘Please, Lord, you brought her this far. Please don’t take her from us.’”
After roughly ten cycles of CPR, Oviedo jolted up, crying from severe chest pains.
“He knew that you’re supposed to do CPR on a hard surface, but he did it on the bed. I was already super fragile, just bones, basically,” she described. “Later on, doctors said that if he would’ve done CPR on a hard surface, my ribs would’ve broken, so I guess God knew what He was doing.”
Oviedo began to slip out of consciousness, but she vaguely recalled being rolled out of her apartment by paramedics. When she came to, she was again in the hospital.
“Later, my husband told me that when I’d arrived in the emergency room, my words were jumbled, and I was babbling. I just kept saying, ‘I love you,’ and that’s all I said. I didn’t know how to say anything else,” she said.
Her husband asked a nurse if she would regain the ability to speak normally.
“You’ll have to wait and see,” the nurse replied.
Following this final bout of medical turmoil, Oviedo began to heal.
Today, nearly six years after her first death, Oviedo has undergone tremendous healing. Although she’s not completely better, she’s regained much of her past functioning, and her body has mended itself from a state of multiple organ failure.
“If you saw me today, you would say, ‘She looks perfectly healthy and normal!’ I’m pretty good right now, health wise,” she said.
Now 35 years old, Oviedo remains steadfast in her faith and committed to sharing her story as a testament to the realness of Heaven, Hell and the Lord.
Her youngest child, once fragile and in the NICU, is a thriving five-year-old who will turn six in September.
By Eukarys Sebastia. Pastora de Carismah Church (Katy) y Casa de oración (Spring) @carismahchurch @cdospring
The Criteria for Friendship, and How to Actually Find a Friend
We’ve all entertained people in our orbs whom we call “friends.” The term is common, but do we truly comprehend its meaning?
In a search for the definition of the word “friend,” I found that it derives from the Latin verb “amare,” which means “to love.” For days and months, I’ve pondered this word, and I’ve reflected on what I expect from a true friend.
A friend should be someone who:
• Understands what we think, even when our mouth says nothing.
• Has the ability to encourage and motivate you to achieve your deepest goals and objectives, even when you yourself don’t believe you can achieve them.
• Sees the potential in you and believes in you, even when you might doubt your own abilities.
• Selflessly seeks your well-being and rejoices in your successes, yet feels your pain in your defeats.
• You can trust one hundred percent, who won’t criticize, judge, harm or belittle you.
• Knows your heart and deciphers your most unusual behaviors to guide you safely to the emotional stability you need.
• Has the courage to tell you the truth, even if it hurts, because they care about your well-being above all else. This is invaluable!
Without a doubt, a friend is an incalculable treasure, but however rare, they still exist. People say that we don’t need many friends, and just one will suffice if they possess these characteristics.
Nowadays, many who claim to be friends are superficial and only tell you what you want to hear out of selfinterest. Basking in their company is like eating a bite of food with poison inside.
Their friendship only looks beautiful on the surface, but its end is death. One day, while praying, I said this to the Lord:
The things I’ve lived; the things I’ve heard; the things I’ve seen; these experiences make me not trust anything or anyone. True friends don’t exist, or at least they’re hidden, but with You, it’s been different.
You’re the only one who understands my heart. You’re the one to whom I can reveal my most intimate feelings and thoughts. You don’t criticize me, you listen to and help me and you give me advice and path correction. A good friend isn’t the one who spoils you, but the one who’s there to help you see if you’re wrong or if you want to do something that could harm you.
“A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.” Proverbs 17:17.
“There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:13.
This confirms the definition I wrote at the beginning of this reflection. “Friend” derives from the verb “to love.” If they love you, they are your friend; if you love them, you are their friend!
You’ve taught me what true friendship is. It surpasses any circumstance and adversity, anchored in love and goodness. Nothing can stop it, and that’s how I want to be.
That’s when I said in my heart, I want to be like You, a sincere friend, offering as much loyalty as I can, because I believe in friendship.
I discovered that true friends do exist, the kind you dream of, the ones who lift your hands when you fall and whom you can rest on when you no longer want to continue. Sometimes, they’re so close to you that you don’t realize it. Perhaps you think they’re your enemies when they’re actually your allies, because they don’t tell you what you want to hear or don’t support you in things that could harm you.
In my journey to find the true meaning of friendship, I concluded that my best model of a friend is Jesus. His commitment, love and faithfulness to me day by day, in the good and the not-so-good, amaze me. He’s always there, never thinks of leaving and always offers me the best, even when I don’t give as much as He does!
Without a doubt, He is the best friend and ally we can have. He even fulfills my most intimate desires and does for me what no one else can. Today, I want to impart on you two things.
Firstly, good friends do exist around you; it’s just a matter of identifying them, seeking them out, valuing them and loving them without hesitation. They may be your spouse, your children, your parents, your colleagues, your family and others.
Secondly, you have an ideal friend in Jesus, who is available to you at all times. He’s just waiting for you to call on Him and open your heart to Him. Tell Him how you feel and what you want, and ask Him to draw near to you. Ask for a sincere friendship with Him, and I assure you, your life will change. He has done it for me for over thirty years, and I don’t regret His company in my life. I thank Him for being with me day by day and offering me a different future.
