Letting “Juan” speak for himself: South Georgia pastors gifted Wesley’s works in Spanish

As the fiery spirit of the Wesleyan revival moved into the Spanish-speaking world during the late 1800s, many new churches began and countless lives were transformed. Yet, there were few ways to access the vast majority of John and Charles Wesley’s writings, apart from some collections of sermons and hymns. The Spirit-inspired evangelism, worship, and service were all present, but most people could not read the foundational documents of the movement itself.

In the early 1990s, the Wesley Heritage Foundation began as a way to create the first large-scale, scholarly translation of a large portion of John Wesley’s writings into Spanish. Sermons, hymns, letters, diaries, treatises– key documents of all types were translated by a team of academics and church leaders.

The result of this work, the 14-volume Obras de Wesley, is monumental to the Spanish-speaking world. Its initial distribution marked a before-and-after point for countless churches and individuals who were now able to read “Juan” in their own language.
 
The Hispanic pastors of the South Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church are the newest recipients of this work. 
 
On February 27, Will Faircloth, director of the Wesley Heritage Foundation and the Instituto de Estudios Wesleyanos, twin ministries that provide resources and training to Spanish-speaking churches in the wider Wesleyan/Methodist tradition, presented the latest edition of John Wesley’s sermons to Rev. Daniel Medina, director of Hispanic/Latino Ministries in South Georgia. Each pastor will also receive a collection of works in Spanish of the classics of Methodism. 
 
“This latest edition represents an achievement in translation into Spanish, but also into standard Spanish for all Latin America in an everyday vocabulary,” said Rev. Medina. “In addition to Wesley's sermons, the donation includes several books on Wesley, the history of Methodism, Wesleyan theology, and discipleship from the Methodist point of view.”
 
The Wesley Heritage Foundation is a board dedicated to the editing, promotion, and rescue of works about John Wesley and Methodism that operates in Latin America. Their operations center is in the city of Columbus, GA, and they supply their resources to all denominations of Wesleyan heritage. 
 
“We thank the Wesley Heritage Foundation for this incalculable donation that will reaffirm our ministries into our Wesleyan emphasis and legacy,” said Rev. Medina. “Receiving the latest edition of John Wesley’s sermons in Spanish is a valuable and historic present.”
 
Excerpts taken from the Wesley Heritage Foundation website. Learn more at www.wesleyheritage.org.