Contemporary Worship in Spanish

8 MP3 Songs
EASY LISTENING: Soft Rock, ROCK: Acoustic



Details:
An American Missionary

Gustavo Renovalez is a talented musician, singer, and songwriter from Argentina. He is an American missionary and ministers to the Hispanic population around Louisville, Kentucky.
Gustavo and his wife, Iby, lead the worship portion of the Hispanic services for one of the largest churches in the country, Southeast Christian Church. The church has over 15,000 members.
Gustavo told me how he first knew he had musical talent, and was to use that talent to serve God. âWhen I was six years old my grandpa brought me to the childrenâs Sunday school class. I sang âJesus Loves Me.â Iâve always remembered that moment. I knew that day the Lord had something for me in music. â
The thirty-seven year old father of two realized his God-given gifts a few years later. âAt the age of twelve, I discovered I enjoyed music. When I heard a song on the radio, I could analyze the structure of the music; the arrangement of the instruments and vocals even though I couldnât read a note of music yet. Mom bought me a guitar when I was fifteen because I talked about music constantly, and begged for an instrument. I seemed to learn fast because my ear taught me. The ear is the most important instrument. When you have a good ear you will never go wrong with music.â
âI played the guitar in my room all the time. I played along with bands on the radio or on television. I experimented with notes and chords. I recorded music videos I watched on television, and studied them while they played in slow motion. I had a friend who had a book of chords, and I devoured it. I formed a band in high school with friends who shared my interest in music. I wrote the songs for the band. We practiced alone in a garage for one year and then played locally. People liked our sound and eventually we became successful in Buenos Aires. Unfortunately, we mostly performed in bars seating up to two hundred people.
An incident during one of the bar concerts was a defining moment in Gustavoâs life. âAbout this time my mother was praying for me. She knew God had a plan for me. When I was twenty three, there was a power outage in the middle of our performance. Without electricity, we could not play our music. I remember hearing the voice of God in my heart saying âyou are mine.â Itâs like everyone around you is screaming and you can hear one voice coming to you. He then asked in my heart, âwhat are you doing.â I believe the power blackout was Godâs way of getting my attention. At this same moment, I recalled when my grandpa took me to the Sunday school class and I sang âJesus Loves Me.â The crowd in the bar was yelling and complaining about the power outage. I felt powerlessâI felt I had nothing to offer the crowd. The Lord seemed to tell me âeverything you have belongs to me; you have nothing if I donât give you the talent.â Just as the lack of electricity kept me from playing for the boisterous crowd, God showed me I could not play without his Holy Spirit.â Gustavo knelt behind his bulky guitar amplifier and offered himself and his music to God.
Gustavo began to change his life the next day. âI quit the band. I didnât play in bars anymore. The next day was Sunday and I made a public commitment to Christ. I had been going to church occasionally, but I never accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior. I starting playing in the church and writing music for Christ. For seven years I performed in our church. I became the worship leader and made a living working in construction, selling instruments in a music store, and other odd jobs. I met my wife Iby in the church. She was a singer in our choir. Iby has a beautiful voice. What captivated me was how she used her voiceâhow she ministered to the people through her voice. We started as friends singing in the church and after two years we married.â
Gustavo was 28 when he married Iby. For seven years after kneeling behind his amplifier in a darkened bar, there were no dramatic developments in Gustavoâs musical career. âI believe this was part of my desert experience. Through a friend, I started to work in the studio of an Argentinean Christian music studio as a guitar session player, background vocalist, and arranger. I met a lot of people in the Argentina Christian music industryâsingers, musicians, and record producers.
I participated in six CDâs by six different Argentinean Christian artists. I toured with many of these artists for three years. It was fun, but financially difficult.â
During October of 2002 a famous Christian artist Gustavo had performed with, gave him a $477 plane ticket to Miami (Gustavo says he will never forget the amount), he spend in Miami about 3 months looking for a brake. One of Gustavoâs friends knew someone who lead the Hispanic services at Southeast Christian Church. This person said Southeast Christian was searching for a Hispanic worship leader, someone like Gustavo. After a 24 hour bus ride to Louisville Gustavo met with the leaders of Nueva Vida ministry at Southeast, or âNew Lifeâ in Spanish. The leaders hired Gustavo in July 2002 as the Hispanic worship leader.
Gustavo and Iby have a six year old son and two year old daughter. Emiliano is a healthy boy, but Aldana has cystic fibrosis. This terrible disease is congenital and attacks the respiratory and digestive systems. It clogs the lungs with thick mucus and impedes the normal digestive process. If a person with cystic fibrosis gets any kind of respiratory infection, it can quickly turn into something very dangerous. Gustavo and Iby give Aldana daily respiratory treatments and medications. They must firmly clap her on the back to loosen the thick mucus.
You might wonder how Gustavoâs faith is affected by Aldanaâs condition. âI was devastated when I found out what was wrong. Before that day, I felt happy and safe with my family. Something like this changes everything. I now feel even more dependent on God. This disease makes me feel danger is around my family constantly. I feel that Aldana not only has cystic fibrosis; our whole family has the disease.â
âAt first I wept and asked God why He allowed this to happen. But I found help in the Bible. The Lord is walking with us even when we are suffering. He teaches us how to carry our cross. I live every day as though my child is a normal child. My job is to give her treatments, protect her, pray for her, and love her. I never stop thinking God will heal her one day.â
Gustavo finished his first solo CD in a Christian music studio outside Louisville. The studio is operated by a multiple Grammy award winning songwriter and producer. In the seven years he has been operating the studio, Gustavoâs work is the best heâs seen. Gustavo says, âMy songs are born from experiences I have with God. I want to share with people what God is doing with me; what He is teaching me. One of the songs Iâm composing is based on Psalm 15. This Psalm talks about the pure heart of a man who wants to come to the Holy Place and have an encounter with God. The song tells how we must prepare ourselves in order to come to Godâs Holy Place. I hope people can walk closer with God through my music.â
Gustavo prays his songs will change lives and heal sad hearts. He knows firsthand how God heals a broken heart. Watch for the release of his CD in summer 2006.
God Bless!!