“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands” Revelation 7:9 (NIV).
When Anissa Haynes started her freshman year of college, she knew she wanted Christian community. Growing up in a Christian home, she had briefly heard of The Navigators in high school. By the time she stepped onto the University of Arizona campus in Tucson, she knew The Navigators would be a community where she could grow — and she wanted to belong.
What she didn’t realize was how God would use that community to heal internal cultural insecurities she’d long been avoiding.
Half Mexican and half white, Anissa came into college assuming her cultural background wasn’t something she needed to think about. “I thought, I’m a Christian, I’m not going to talk about my culture,” Anissa remembers. “But in reality, that came from a place of deep insecurity. And while it’s true that being a child of God is my first identity, in that moment, I was just trying to hide from God. I didn’t want to let Him into processing that area of my life.”
Anissa’s perception began to shift when she joined a small cultural study for Latino students led by a Navigators staff couple called “Navicanos.” During one discussion, someone casually mentioned praying in Spanish.
“In that moment, something clicked,” Anissa recalls. “For some reason, it didn’t hit me until that discussion that God speaks Spanish.” Though she had always known God as her Creator and Savior, realizing that God met her within her culture made her feel seen and known in an entirely new way.
That sense of being seen was reinforced through something simple but powerful: shared meals. “In college, you’re constantly eating alone or sitting at small tables,” Anissa says. “So to sit at a table that was actually full was so special.” Around that table, surrounded by other Latino students with similar stories and backgrounds, she experienced a community that felt like home.
Mosaic: A Community of Cultural Unity
As the group grew, so did the vision. When the original staff leaders stepped off, the ministry transitioned into something new: Mosaic — a space where students from any cultural or ethnic background could explore how their faith and culture intersect through Scripture.
The name reflects the heart of the ministry. Inspired by Revelation 7:9, Mosaic celebrates the beauty of distinct pieces coming together to form one unified picture — similar to how people from every nation, tribe, and tongue will one day worship before the throne of God.
When the opportunity arose for Anissa to lead Mosaic, she hesitated at first. She didn’t see herself as the “right” person for the role. In her head, there was a mental checklist she believed a leader should meet — especially when it came to culture. Food, language, traditions, appearance — everyone seemed to rate authenticity differently, and she felt insecure about how she measured up.
But God met her reluctance with an invitation.
“The Lord pressed upon my heart 2 Corinthians 12:9, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness,’” Anissa says. “It felt like He was leading me to lead in weakness, to put my insecurities on display, so other students could feel seen. And it’s been sweet to see how the Lord used that.”
Since then, Mosaic has become a place of healing and discipleship. Students gather regularly for “heritage nights,” which begin with a shared meal featuring a cultural dish — from Filipino lumpia to Chinese potstickers to Mexican food. Students introduce the dish and its cultural background, then move into small groups centered on Scripture and guided discussion.
Within Mosaic, students use a simple discipleship framework to reflect on their culture through the lens of the gospel: Where do we see God’s creativity and beauty in cultural diversity? How have cultural experiences been affected by sin and brokenness? And how does Jesus bring redemption to both?
“At The Navigators, we love to talk about how the gospel relates to all of life,” Anissa says. “At Mosaic, we get to talk about how the gospel relates to your cultural identity.”
Embracing the Diverse Kingdom of God
Through Mosaic, Anissa has watched God bring freedom where there was shame, security where there was insecurity, and healing where there were deep family and cultural wounds.
“There is such insecurity and shame when it comes to cultural identity, and I just know the Lord wants to bring healing,” Anissa says. “It is no accident that we are uniquely made within a cultural group, and God has a purpose and will for us within that unique design.”
For one student, who is half Navajo and half white, Mosaic became a space for healing. In her matriarchal culture, inheritance traditionally passes to the oldest daughter. However, when her mother died, that inheritance went instead to a fully Navajo cousin. The hurt lingered — but through Mosaic, she began to see her story differently.
“She told me, ‘I know my inheritance with the Lord is secure and will never be taken away from me,’” Anissa explains. “For her to have this hurtful experience, but for it to be rewritten through the lens of the gospel and the hope of the inheritance to come, is so beautiful. She was able to see gospel themes in her lived experience with her culture, and that’s what we hope for.”
Mosaic has transformed not only how Anissa sees herself, but how she imagines the Kingdom of God.
“Being a part of Mosaic, the Lord has opened up my mind to what I thought heaven would be like, now when I imagine heaven, it’s so much more lively and beautiful. There’s people worshiping in different styles and languages, and it’s not just one cultural group, but the nations that are made up in heaven.”
Anissa Haynes
Anissa’s prayer is that more campuses would offer spaces like Mosaic — places where students can encounter gospel truth in a way that honors how God uniquely designed them.
“At The Navigators, we really want students to walk with Jesus, not just in college, but for their lifetime,” Anissa says. “We want them to be walking with Jesus until kingdom come. Mosaic plays such a beautiful part in casting that vision. We have a big God who is God of the world, God of the nations. And so I encourage you, give students the big and real picture of the Kingdom of the Lord. Let’s not settle for a small picture.”
Discipleship Tip:
Do you sense that God might be calling you to host a gathering like Mosaic in your own community? This week, ask God to show you some simple ways you could bring people of diverse backgrounds together to learn from and encourage each other as disciples of Jesus.
Building Discipling Relationships Through Storytelling
When people come to a new group, they wonder: Will I fit in? This discipleship tool will show you how to make people feel welcome and build trust by asking storytelling questions.
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