Alabando al Señor en Español

Hey friends and family! Sorry for the irregular pattern of blog posts so far. My plan from now on is to have a blog posted every Monday. On another note, it’s story time!

So the day after we arrived in Nicoya I was sitting outside by the kitchen with Pastor Basilio, his sons Deglyss and Axel, and Jessica (one of my squad mates). Basilio was asking me if I could sing, so I said yes. He then proceeded to ask me to sing for him right then and there. For those of you who know me well, it’ll be no surprise to you that I looked down, smiling nervously, with an “oh no” coming out of my mouth. I honestly don’t know why, but whenever people ask me to sing for them right in the moment, I get nervous about it. But then something happened. Pastor Basilio started singing, and dang he can sing. Still feeling slightly awkward, I got over it. Deglyss handed me the guitar and I played one of the only songs I have memorized on guitar: Reckless Love; or Amor sin condición. In that moment I stepped out of my timid self and into my confidence in the gift God has given me. It was a sweet moment…

The next day Pastor Basilio came to me and said something like, “Estas cantando este domingo.” I just stood there and said “okay.” How could I say no to him? It was something I was interested in anyways. Oh sorry I forgot to translate! He told me that I was going to sing the next Sunday for church. It was his intention for us all to be involved with the church in some way, which includes worship. So the day after that I was talking to Deglyss, who is in charge of all things worship, and he asked me to prepare for two songs. He said I could sing them in English if I wanted to but I told him I wanted to try and learn them in Spanish. Therefore, I spent time learning those two songs during the week. Lo and behold during our practice for Sunday, it was decided to take off one of the songs I learned and add on 5 more songs that I didn’t even know in English. It kept me on my toes and reminded me of the necessity to always be flexible. The Lord for sure tested me in that moment, seeing that I had but a day of time to learn the other songs in Spanish. 

In the end God came through as always. It was a honor to be apart of leading worship en Iglesia del Evangelio Cuadrangular and in a different language! God had his hand on the moments leading up to Sunday as well as in that moment. I didn’t even know some of the words I was singing, but we were praising the Lord all the same. That’s what’s most beautiful in being in community with believers in other countries, a language barrier can be torn down instantaneously when the name of Jesus is spoken by every tongue present. Nothing is more powerful then when two or more are gathered in God’s name. You can find that truth in Matthew 18:20.

Well that’s it for now! There are some photos below from this past week with descriptions. Love you all, please continue to pray for the hearts of myself, my squad and the people of Costa Rica! Nos vemos! Chao!