Vivenciar.net USA Launches
In concert with celebrations marking 100 years of U.S. Hispanic ministry in the LCMS, LHM launched Vivenciar.net USA (vivenciar.net) at the 2026 VIII LCMS National Hispanic Convention at Concordia University Irvine in Irvine, California, on July 28–31. First developed by LHM staff in Latin America in 2017, Vivenciar.net reaches Spanish- and Portuguese-speakers. The website is a digital outreach hub where staff and volunteers can interact with users (age 18 or older) in live chat after they complete a basic registration. Once registered, individuals can chat and download free e-books. In addition to its interactive nature, the website includes resources like two-minute reads on various topics and videos for spiritual and personal reflection—all designed to offer Christ-centered help to users.
Coordinating operations for Vivenciar.net USA will be Katherine Sanabria. A deaconess intern, she serves alongside her husband, Pastor Miguel Sanabria, at Immanuel Lutheran Church & School, a multi-ethnic congregation, in Brandon, Florida. She sees Vivenciar.net USA as having the same heart and mission as its sister ministry in Latin America. “Vivenciar.net USA provides a safe place where people can be heard with compassion and introduced to the hope found in Jesus. Visitors can connect with trained volunteers through digital conversations and receive Christian encouragement. Vivenciar.net USA will address the unique realities and needs of the U.S. Hispanic community,” Sanabria says.
Currently, the Vivenciar team is developing plans to instruct and equip volunteers in Florida, California, Texas, Illinois, and Wisconsin, with more coming. These individuals are trained to respond to various concerns. “Besides struggles like depression, anxieties, and addictions, Hispanics deal with lack of family support and companionship, loneliness, migrant anxiety, and traumas,” says Rev. Germán Novelli, director of LHM’s Hispanic Ministries. “Vivenciar offers spiritual guidance in times of despair, bringing Jesus’ light to a world darkened by sin, bringing hope when there is not much collective support, and connecting people with Jesus and faith communities.”
Sanabria agrees that Hispanics face many stressors in the U.S. “Migration brings grief over leaving family, lifelong friendships, and familiar surroundings. Many experience loneliness and the stress of cultural adaptation. Families face generational challenges when parents and children disconnect due to language differences and cultural changes. Financial pressures intensify these struggles. In all this, Vivenciar walks alongside people by offering a compassionate, listening ear, the hope of Christ and, whenever possible, connecting them with a local Lutheran congregation to continue receiving spiritual care and encouragement through God’s Word and the Christian community.”