For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be bilingual. When I was a little girl I would play with my dolls or sometimes just sit in front of the mirrors and have pretend conversations in some made-up language that made total sense in my head. I would always be so fascinated when I’d hear people communicating in a different language. I thought it was the coolest thing ever.
When high school came around, I was pumped to have a chance to actually learn a new, real language! I chose Spanish as my sister advised me, because it would be the most beneficial. I loved the language and was able to pick it up quite easily, shout-out to Señor Wilson and my Spanish exchange student (brother) Miguel! The summer after freshmen year, my family spent six weeks in Spain as missionaries, which helped me put my Spanish into practice right off the bat.
Following the Spain trip, I knew I wanted to pursue fluency in Spanish.
I took Spanish 2 sophomore year, Spanish 3 junior year, and then tested out of first year AP Spanish and went right into second year AP Spanish my senior year. It was so difficult, but at that point I knew I’d be living overseas in Guatemala for three months just one year later and I was determined to make fluency happen by then!
After lots of studying and struggling, I took the AP test. I got a 3 on it. I was content because that meant that I passed and could get college credit, but I was also hoping I’d be capable of getting a 4 or (if a miracle happened) a 5.
After the AP test, I had the opportunity to take a bi-literacy test. If I passed, I’d have a badge on my diploma stating that I am officially bi-literate (not to be confused with bilingual) and can read/write in Spanish just as well as I can in English. This would be so helpful to have on resumes! I took the test but got the results that I did not pass. I passed the reading/writing portions but not the speaking/listening portions. It was a bummer but I was okay with it and moved on.
Then, I graduated and went a whole summer and 2/3 of my world race without any Spanish education or practice. The month before arriving to Guat, God started to place the Spanish language on my heart again. So, I downloaded Spanish podcasts and sermons on my phone, downloaded my Spanish music playlist, and screenshot old Spanish vocabulary notes from my old Spanish teacher’s website, shout-out to Señorita Tate! I spent a portion of each evening in the second month of India studying Spanish and praying that God would supernaturally grow my ability and help me to recall all that I had learned/studied over the years.
Well, flash-forward a bit and my squad and I landed in Guatemala! In my head I said, “OK, Lord, I’m here now! Show me what you can do!”
Y’all. He has practically granted me fluency. We stayed in a hostel in Antigua the first two weeks and I started talking to one of the precious employees and was shocked at how much we were able to communicate. I thought to myself, “Lord, you’re really about to let me speak Spanish, aren’t you?!”
When ministry started and we met our hosts for the first time, I understood almost everything they were saying and I was able to translate for my team. Whenever we go out to do home-visits, God gives me the ability to understand everything, translate for my team, and respond with ease. It’s not until afterward that I feel the exhaustion from my brain!
Every week I teach English with my friend Peyton and every day, without fail, God gives me the ability to joke around and communicate instructions with my students in Spanish. Every Wednesday we share bible stories with the kids in our village and every time God gives me the ability to translate so that the kids are hearing this message of the love and hope of Jesus in their language!
When the first group of people on the squad got parasites, I was able to go to the hospital with them to translate in their appointments.
God has allowed me to make new friends on public transport, establish relationships with the children in our village, regularly check in on a new mom in our village, minister to the amazing, hard-working cooks at our base, answer questions about the Lord, teach Spanish songs to my team, pray for healing, and offer words of hope and encouragement ALL in Spanish- ALL because of HIS faithfulness and goodness and grace! Sometimes if I have an English-speaking Guatemalan with me at ministry, I’ll intend to start speaking English and let them translate, but Spanish just starts coming out of me and I’m like okay!
I don’t deserve to be blessed with these language abilities. Shoot, I don’t even to deserve to speak at all. But God, in His kindness, has blessed me time and time again by allowing me to glorify Him and communicate with all these Guatemalan brothers and sisters of mine. He hears our prayers, aligns our desires with His, and blesses us. What a creative gift-giver He is!
You may be thinking, “Anna, this is nothing supernatural. You studied five years worth of Spanish and lived in Spain for a month and a half. You just know more than you thought you did!” But, I strongly beg to differ. I have the test results, the voice memos, and the classmates to verify that while I passed the classes I was nowhere near the fluency that my mouth is speaking here in Guatemala. This is from the Lord! He is allowing me to recall what my ears heard over the years and is blessing the amazing efforts of my teachers. This is a supernatural allowance from my Father!
I am forever humbled and grateful to get to serve with this new kind of depth in this country. I pray each day, and humbly ask that you do as well, that God would continue to choose to use me to speak Spanish for the sake of making His name known, whether here or at home or in Spain or wherever He sends me in the future! Praise Him!
With much love and joy,
Anna
