Christ with Me in the Barrio and Beyond: Reflections on a Mexican American Woman’s Spiritual Journey

An inspirational story of hope and healing, Christ with Me in the Barrio and Beyond shares author Janie Peña Menchaca’s spiritual journey, beginning with her childhood adventures in San Antonio’s West Side barrio during the 1950s and 1960s. Her capers in her quest to ＂find＂ God are vividly displayed.

Janie’s happy childhood and teenage years ended abruptly when she was kicked out of her home at the age of eighteen and ostracized by her family. Months later, she found herself pregnant and unwed, eventually leading to a marriage that shouldn’t have been.

In 1974, while living in Seattle, Washington, and thinking of ending her life, she experienced a personal and dramatic encounter with Jesus Christ. Her life now changed, she eventually filed for divorce and fled from a violent and abusive marriage.

The Lord, in his fathomless love and mercy, restored to Janie the years eaten away by the enemy, even reuniting her with her high school sweetheart who she thought had been killed while serving in Vietnam. After fifty years since meeting in high school, they were married in 2017.

The confluence of Janie’s rich Mexican American heritage, her Catholic experiences, and her struggles, sorrows, and challenges that connected the dots as an adult to knowing her beloved Savior, merge to become a delicately woven message of love, faith and hope.