Quito, Ecuador

In the summer of 2009 it was my privilege to teach, in Spanish, at the Seminaro Teológico Nazareno Sudamericano in Quito, Ecuador. It had been my dream to be able to teach in Spanish in Latin America and so, with fear and trepidation, I accepted the challenge.

My assignment was to teach a class called Música Cristiana which included some church music history, church music administration, and music theory. I learned that the students had no textbooks so I spent several months preparing workbooks and resources in Spanish. I had twenty students in the class and additionally gave piano lessons to most of those. My Spanish was far from perfect, but the students were kind and patient and we were able to communicate.

As part of the class I emphasized the need for the development of indigenous music for worship and assigned the students to select a verse of Scripture and compose a musical setting. I recorded their songs, transcribed them, and on the last day of class we sang all of the songs. They were quite proud of their accomplishments. Here are a few samples.