Mission High School alumna in town for book signing
A Mission High School graduate will return to the Valley this weekend to celebrate her most recent book.
Cyndy Bartelli, a San Antonio-based author, will be at the Viva Life Christian Book Store in McAllen tomorrow for a signing of the Spanish translation of her 2017 non-fiction book, “The Heart Healer,” which will now be released as “El Sanador de tu Corazón.”
Bartelli will be accompanied at the book signing by Yesenia, an international Spanish gospel singer who resides locally.
Cyndy Bartelli. Courtesy photo
“It’s about this amazing response God has for us when we pray for our hearts to be healed from wounds in our past and present when we experience something traumatic,” Bartelli said of her book. “It shows us how to pray and be able to trust that God is responding to give us peace and calm in the midst of what we are dealing with.”
“The Heart Healer” was published in 2017 and is a collection of short stories based on Bartelli’s life experiences and of 16 other people who spoke to her about a difficult time in their lives and how they turned to prayer to overcome it.
Each chapter features a bible scripture that corresponds to the story as well as a personal prayer and journaling pages.
“The Bible says God is near to the brokenhearted and saves those crushed in spirit,” Bartelli explained. “When we pray, he will heal our hearts and give us a chance to live in more peace with our past. I have a lot of experience with this and put it in a book. As a result of my experiences, I’ve turned to God and knew that if anything was going to help me through all those aches and pains, it would be God.”
After the book’s initial 2017 publication, Bartelli said she was approached by friends and colleagues to consider releasing a Spanish translation of it to reach a wider audience. She decided to do so after a friend doing missionary work in Spain and Mexico told her of the need for books such as hers in Spanish speaking communities.
By translating the book in Spanish, Bartelli is keeping with the book’s theme of helping others through prayer.
“I’ve had people pray for me and that was so amazing that I began to pray for others as well to pay it forward,” Bartelli explained. “I was fortunate enough to be involved with other ministries and saw that enough people don’t realize that God is there with them. We don’t have to live with the influences of those who have wounded us. It’s why I wrote that book, I wanted to share that information with other people.”
The Spanish translation was done by the same publishing house who translated the 2002 best-selling Bible study book “The Purpose Driven Life” in Spanish. The book has been translated in 85 countries and sold 32 million copies since its publication, according to an NBC news article.
The date of the book signing is a special one for Bartelli as it is happening on the 60th anniversary of the grand opening of Mission Minimax, owned by her father Carl Waitz. The Mission Minimax eventually became Carl’s Supermarket and had seven locations across the Valley before closing in 1999.
“I always hear stories of people who shopped there and it makes me feel so connected to the Valley,” Bartelli said. “Many of my important years were spent in the Valley with wonderful memories and the city of Mission has always been very supportive and I still have very good friends there. We have lots of cherished memories and want to share this book with as many people as possible.”
The book signing for “The Heart Healer” and “El Sanador de tu Corazón” is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 1 from 10 a.m. through 12 p.m. at Viva Life Christian Book Store located on 6601 N. 10th Street in McAllen.
This article originally appeared in the Friday Jan. 31, 2020 issue of the Progress Times.
