Actress Alexa PenaVega recently discussed the significance of setting an example of having a “kingdom marriage” in Hollywood and how advocating for causes she cares about led her to become a celebrity supporter of World Vision. PenaVega, best known for her role in “Spy Kids,” recently visited the Los Angeles Dream Center to hand out toys and meet with children as part of her work with the humanitarian nonprofit organization World Vision.
This holiday season, she’s featuring her eco-friendly bracelets in World Vision’s gift catalog to raise money for the organization’s relief and development work around the globe. She told The Christian Post, “I’ve been a part of the World Vision family for years. I have a friend who works with different charitable organizations, and he reached out to me and said, ‘Hey, World Vision is doing a gift catalog this year. Would you like to be a part of it? I was like, ‘Are you kidding? I’ve been giving to them for years. I would love to be a part of it!'”
PenaVega’s family is from Bogota, Colombia, so World Vision partnered with artisans in Colombia who made the melon seed bracelets. She continued, “What I love about World Vision is, one, it’s a Christian organization. So they have Kingdom hearts, and they’re ready to serve in any way. Also, they want to help people to be self-sustaining. They don’t want to just give handouts and say, ‘Good luck.’ It really goes back to teach a man how to fish.”
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Last year, the singer and actress published her book “What If Love Is the Point?” This year, she’s starring in the new Hallmark film “Never Too Late to Celebrate” alongside her husband, Carlos. PenaVega said she wants to work on more projects with her husband so they don’t spend too much time apart, which happens frequently in Hollywood. She said, “We realized early on, this is something I learned actually from my family growing up in the industry, that our industry was not built for families to make it. They rip families apart constantly.”
PenaVega shares three children with her husband, who also works in the entertainment industry as an actor and musician. While the couple is committed to each other and uses their faith as their guide, PenaVega lamented that their busy schedules often pull them apart to different locations. She said, “What happens is you leave for months at a time to go film a movie or a television show where your family grows further and further apart. The industry is truly not set up for marriage or for family.”
PenaVega stressed, “We really do feel called to be in this industry. We feel like God gave us gifts to be a part of this industry. But that doesn’t mean we have to do what the industry does. We’ve taken all the Kingdom aspects that we’ve learned, and it’s not easy because there are plenty of opportunities that we’ve had to pass on or skip out on because we knew, [and pray], ‘God, I really don’t feel like you’re in this and I don’t want to be a part of it if you’re not in it.'”
The actress said they prefer having their three children in one place with both parents. “That was all God to make things work for us in this industry,” she declared. “We need to show the world what a Kingdom-hearted marriage looks like.” Although PenaVega says her marriage is not perfect and they have disagreements at times like anyone else, they fight for their marriage.