I just received a call on how to produce accent characters on the Mac and realized this could perhaps be a helpful tip for those interested in Spanish/English ministry. Therefore, here is how it's done:

To produce accented vowels (á, é, í, ó, ú), simply hold down Option+e, then type the desired vowel. So, to make "á", for example, do the following:

1. Type the letter "e" while holding down the Option (or Alt, or ⌥) key
2. Release the Option key
3. Type the letter "a"

If you desire the letter to be capitalized, hold down the "Shift" key while typing the desired letter (in this case, Shift+a).

Hope that makes sense!

In the same vein, the ñ character can be produced by holding down Option and hitting the "n" key, then typing "n." In shorter terms:

Option+n, n

For the occasional umlaut (ä, ë, ï, ö and ü), hold down Option, type "u", then the desired letter. All of these codes can be found on your Mac by opening the Keyboard Viewer (if it's not in your menu bar, go to System Preferences>Keyboard and select "Show Keyboard & Character Viewer in menu bar.") It'll look like this when you open it from the menu bar:

When you hold down the "Option" key, it should look like this:

You can see that the gray button represents the Option key. The highlighted keys indicate that this key can be used in combination with a letter to produce the correct symbol. Have fun playing with all the different symbols available at the touch of a couple of buttons!

Perhaps you'll notice the logic behind this methodology: The most common letter to receive the accent or symbol is the letter used to invoke the symbol. The most common uses for the above symbols are "é", "ñ" and "ü". It really makes memorization simple.

In contrast, if you are using a Windows system, things are a bit more difficult to remember. To put it simply, symbols are accomplished in Windows by holding the Alt key while typing a combination of 4 numbers on the keypad. So, for example, to produce the "á" on a Windows machine, you must type Alt+0225. Upon releasing the Alt key, the á will appear. For a complete list of codes for your memorization pleasure, please see http://www.asciitable.com/. You can also copy/paste these symbols into a Notepad file and save it to your desktop for quick access if you have difficulty memorizing the codes (or buy a Mac ;).

¡Qué Dios los bendiga!

(That reminds me, to accomplish the "¡" symbol on a Mac, type "Option+1". For the "¿" symbol, it's "Option+Shift+?". Simple, huh?)

It's a slow process, but I really do want to turn this blog into something significant for the English/Spanish ministry community. In light of this, I'd like to post just a few thoughts I've gathered in the short time (6 years) I've been doing this, especially with regarding to the last year-and-a-half in which we've moved to an English-speaking congregation as a (mostly) Spanish-speaking group.

1) It is vital to strive early for people from both groups to get involved in the transition process, including signing up for activities the church is already involved with.
2) Do NOT try to be an advocate or mediator for Spanish-speakers. If they have issues or complaints, they should address them directly to the leadership (you can, of course act as translator.) It is important they feel like they are part of the church, not just "visitors". Make sure they are prepared to offer solutions to the problems they may have, including their personal involvement in the resolution.
3) Stress to both sides the importance of reaching beyond their normal peer groups to include others in activities (such as Sunday dinner, weekend activities, etc.)
4) Seek others in the English-speaking part of the congregation who may be able to translate and get involved.

That's all I can think of for now. We have been trying to implement some of these precepts, while others I've learned from trial & error. The best advice I can offer at this time is to lead by example. It sounds obvious, but we often feel like we should exert all our energy as a g0-between instead of modeling how integration should work by spreading out amongst the congregation as a whole. I pray this helps some while I try to get a bit more organized. A few topics I'd like to cover soon in this blog: bilingual worship, song availability, technology, sermon preparation, sermon delivery techniques in a bilingual setting, and a continually growing compilation of translated hymns (which I pray will receive contributions from others out there who've translated their favorites.)

In Christ,
LT

Here we go again!

This blog has been created with the intent of sharing insights into reaching out to Spanish-speakers in the United States with the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Along with this, I hope to share ways of using design and technology to bring English speakers and Spanish speakers together in worship of the Lord. By sharing resources, perhaps a repository of knowledge can be created combining hymns, lessons, sermons, activities and templates for Spanish/English ministers.