When I think about transformative spiritual growth, I often find myself turning to Dr. Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, a leading voice in liberation theology, whose early work included the profound shift in consciousness and action that she describes below:

"I spent three years in the late ’60s in Peru as a missionary. Those were the most formative years in my life. I worked in a very poor area of Lima, and it was there that I had the enormous grace—I cannot call it anything else—of beginning to understand the importance for the people, in their daily struggle, of their religion."

"I went there with the old missionary idea of 'I’m going to teach them about Jesus.' With the help of those who were involved in the beginnings of liberation theology, I came to realize that the poor were the ones who had so much to teach me."

"I spent the three years there listening."