Spanish students use their language skills for worship service

Seniors in the Spanish ll class prepared a full church service for the first time at Mountain View Seventh-day Adventist Church Spanish congregation for a Students with a Testimony (SWAT) trip last Sabbath, May 11.

As a class, they were challenged to present the song service, children’s story, special music, prayers, Bible readings, and testimonies all in Spanish.

Phoebe Mamanua, an actor in the children’s story skit, added, “I really enjoyed visiting the Mountain View Adventist church. I had a role in the skit for children story, we wore costumes and acting out in Spanish was a fun learning experience. The people there were very accommodating and I can tell even though we weren’t the most fluent they appreciated our efforts. The food was also really good.”

Abbygaile Waworoendang, who sang on the praise team, shared, “Preparing for the Spanish SWAT trip was very nerve wracking because we wanted to be able to pronounce the words right. Learning Spanish hymns taught me new songs which I have come to love. We may not have been perfect with our pronunciation but it was very fulfilling knowing we were able to spread the gospel to others even if we didn’t know the language fluently. It was a fun experience being able to lead out in worship and see how grateful the church was even though we weren’t Spanish speakers.”

A few native speakers of Spanish, who were not in the class, were asked to give testimonies. Elizabeth Shannon, one of the student speakers, reflected, “I was nervous to speak for the Spanish SWAT because I've never preached in Spanish before. The Spanish class did really well with the service and though I was nervous when it was my turn to speak, I felt like God helped me say the right words and calm my nerves.”

Jill Harlow, Spanish teacher, commented, “The opportunity to put on a church service at a Spanish-speaking congregation was the perfect project to culminate our class. The students were not only able to practice their language skills, but also experience how learning another language expands their ability to share God’s love to the hispanic community.”

Pedro Vieira, Student News Team