Leer la versión en español aquí: Desde Bogotá a Bloomington: la pasión de Norma Landgraff a servir a través de Iglesia Hispana
In 2020, Reyna Arely Geron-Gúzman wasn’t expecting any presents under her family’s first-ever Christmas tree. It was decorated with ornaments and twinkling lights. All that was missing were the gifts underneath.
Then, Norma Landgraff stepped in.
She crowdfunded 64 presents for Geron-Gúzman and her three children to open under the tree in bright Christmas-colored wrapping paper.
Geron-Gúzman's family discovered everything from toys to perfume. The presents continued throughout the year as Landgraff helped support Geron-Gúzman and her family after her husband was deported the year before.
"I know Norma was the one who promoted all that,” Geron-Gúzman said. “What she did was something very big, very beautiful for us.”
Landgraff’s goal is to help the community, which she does through her role as the coordinator of Iglesia Hispana, a local Spanish-speaking church she helped found.
“The story begins in 2010 when I asked God many times why he created me,” Landgraff said. “What is the purpose of my life? Was I born just to work and make money? Or for something more important?”
Landgraff came to Bloomington from Bogotá, Colombia, for the Intensive English Program at Indiana University in 2011. She studied for six months, and returned home at the end of the spring semester.
“In this moment, my English level was zero,” Landgraff said. “At 42 years old, I only knew some colors and numbers in English.”
In a conversation with her English professor, Gail Pontius, Norma said she wanted to come back to the United States as a missionary.
“Gail's first reaction internally was, ‘Well, good luck. That's not going to happen.’ It's kind of like there's no such visa for a Latin American to come to us as a missionary,” her husband Brad Pontius said.
Landgraff, who had a successful career as an architect in Colombia, received a similar reaction from her friends back in Bogotá.
“My friends laughed at me,” Landgraff said. “They asked me if the great architect was going to come and work at McDonald's cleaning and cooking, and if I was going to give up the good life I had there.”
But in her time in Bloomington, Landgraff met her now-husband, Tom Landgraff, who she calls her “Prince Charming,” in December 2011. The two met at a party hosted by a mutual friend and corresponded by email when she returned to Colombia. He visited Colombia and she returned to Bloomington to meet each other’s families.
“I was super happy with him,” Landgraff said. “What more could I ask for? In a moment, Tom sat under a beautiful canopy and I was standing up and he took out a little box with a ring and asked me in Spanish 'do you want to marry me?'”
After ecstatically agreeing in December 2012, Landgraff moved to the United States permanently in January 2013 with her husband.
Upon her return to Bloomington, she first worked teaching English to English learners at Broadview Learning Center, then transitioned to working as a global and local outreach assistant at Sherwood Oaks Christian Church. There, she was involved with the founding of Iglesia Hispana.
“I had several requests to begin something that would accommodate those who spoke Spanish only, because they wanted their spouses to be able to worship together, but it was difficult if everything happened in English,” Pontius said.
He brought the idea to Landgraff, who formed a Spanish-speaking small Bible study group. In 2014, the group moved to a full congregation, meeting in the chapel at Sherwood Oaks with Sunday morning services completely in Spanish. Landgraff said the church now has about 150 regular attendees.
“You arrive and find your family at Iglesia Hispana because our true family is back in our country,” Landgraff said. “So here the church becomes your family. It is the place where we celebrate your victories, where we pray, cry, or laugh together, where we grow.”
The majority of Iglesia Hispana’s congregation are first-generation immigrants who hold monthly lunches and weekly Bible studies. This winter, they have several Christmas parties and a hot chocolate party planned.
“We have received many blessings, and not only financial blessings and help, but also the blessing of knowing that I have someone else here who is not part of my family but who supports me, who is Iglesia Hispana,” Geron-Gúzman said.
Through shared experiences as migrants and a common faith, members of Iglesia Hispana navigate cultural differences and expectations within the church. Sergio Lema, Iglesia Hispana’s pastor, said the church tries to act as a sanctuary where anyone can feel accepted.
“There's a richness that everyone receives when cultures can get over their differences in worship together,” Pontius said. “It's so good to see even English speakers trying to sing songs in Spanish, or hearing the voices of people around you singing the same song in a different language.”
Beyond the walls of the church, Iglesia Hispana volunteers with both Habitat for Humanity of Monroe County and Hoosier Hills Food Bank.
“We don't think it should be just that they come on Sundays, sit down, warm the chairs, and leave until the following Sunday,” Landgraff said. “But we do want it to be an active church, a church that helps the community, that serves.”
Beyond the motivation of her faith, Landgraff tries to combat negative stereotypes against immigrants. She said Americans commonly see immigrants as coming to the country to take from it, but she seeks to challenge this idea and give to her new community. She also mentioned attendance has been lower due to attendees fearing detention.
“I'm not fulfilling my American dream because I had a good job back in Colombia as an architect,” Landgraff said. “I stopped building architectural projects, but now I am a part of those who build the kingdom of God in this city. In this way, I complete my purpose.”
In her role, Landgraff has been especially involved in welcoming newcomers to the church by greeting them when they come for the first time.
“She has got so much drive to connect with other women who are here, who just arrived,” Pontius said. “They may not go to a church at all. Doesn't matter. They get to sit together. They get to study together, converse a lot, pray a lot together, things like that.”
In the future, pastor Sergio Lema said Iglesia Hispana hopes to continue to be a place of growth and connection for the migrant community of Bloomington.
“We are not the place where all situations will be resolved, but I believe we are the place where all the seeds of transformation can be sown,” Lema said. “And I believe that is why we are important.”
Geron-Gúzman said Landgraff’s friendship is a major reason why she’s stayed in the church.
“I have no one from my family close, and in Iglesia Hispana I found a second family,” Geron-Gúzman said.
