I’m going to tell you a secret…
by alishaquinonez 5 de February de 2021I am going to tell you a little known secret about myself: I am of American and Japanese descent. Not one drop of hispanic blood. And I’m going to tell you something I’ve learned in my few years here on earth: God likes to use you in places you feel insufficient. If I had to pick my own future based on where I feel the most comfortable, I would probably choose to sing in English, in the American world. Many times I feel incapable in the hispanic world- like Moses in the Bible. I feel like I don’t speak Spanish well enough. I feel like people might not listen to me since I’m not part of their race. (I guess this is kind of like Jonah- who told God no one would listen to him!). But I don’t pick my own path- I would rather follow where God tells me to go.
I don’t know what God is going to do with my life. I do know that many times He only shows me just enough to obey Him in my next step, but has never told me the entire story. Looking back at my life story, I can see God’s hand in it. I cared about the hispanic community before I could even speak Spanish. I sang on the hispanic praise team and only knew what I was singing because one of the singers would roughly translate for me before service! (I had just memorized the sounds of the words- haha). I got married to a Guatemalan and moved to Guatemala (which is a long story for another day). I lived almost 2 years in Guatemala. I learned about Guatemalan culture and hispanic pentacostal church culture. (I had grown up in an American Southern Baptist church). I learned there are good things and bad things in every culture. I learned that accepting someone else’s different point of view doesn’t mean I agree with them. (Another long story… hahaha).
Do you know what my producer told me after recording I Speak Jesus in Spanish first, then English? He said, ¨I thought that you would sing the same in both versions, but your voice has so much more authority in Spanish.¨ That night I cried on the flight, going home. I surrendered. OK God, for reasons I do not understand, You have anointed my voice in Spanish. I’m just going to take Your message to whomever you want.
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