About three years, God began directing me in a path that I had never expected that He would. A pastor of a local Spanish church called me and asked if I would come and teach guitar at his church.
Although I had been praying for some time for an opportunity to teach guitar classes again, I had never thought about doing so in a Spanish church. The only Spanish that I had had was one semester in Junior High, so I was quite surprised to get such an opportunity.
As I began teaching the class, I soon became convinced that I really needed to learn Spanish so that I could communicate better with my students and teach them better. I began trying to learn Spanish, especially terms related to guitar and music theory.
Although trying to learn the language proved very challenging, God gave me many encouragements along the way. In spite of my having found it hard on several occasions to understand from a larger perspective why God would lead me in this direction that had never occurred to me, I did come to realize early on that learning Spanish and ministering in Spanish makes great sense for me because of how popular the guitar is in Spanish contexts.
Starting to Read the Bible in Spanish
As I continued to teach guitar classes in Spanish and have some opportunities to minister musically in a few churches, I became more convinced that God was directing me to learn Spanish for the sake of ministering in Spanish. I praise God that He blessed me with wonderful fellowship with many dear brethren throughout this time!
I began trying to read the Bible in Spanish and found it to be very difficult. At times, it would often take me many minutes to read and understand even one verse. Still, I managed in 2012 to read the book of Psalms in Spanish.
In 2013, I continued to try to learn Spanish on my own. I finished the Gospel of Matthew early in 2013 and made it through James, Galatians, and First, Second, and Third John by the end of the year.
Reading Through the Bible in Spanish in 2014
I began 2014 with an intense desire to read the entire Bible in Spanish this year. Reading in the Old Testament, especially in the Pentateuch, was incredibly hard, and I wondered if I would make it through.
God remained faithful to me even though there were times that I would find myself wondering again what am I doing trying to learn Spanish and minister in that language. In spite of many difficulties, God has allowed me to make much progress during the year so that my reading speed has continued to increase substantially.
Praise God, last Sunday, on November 23, 2014, I was able by the grace of God to finish reading through the Reina Valera in 2014! Wherever God leads us, as He has done with me in leading me down the completely unexpected path of learning Spanish for ministry, He is faithful to give us the grace to follow!
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