Solo Dios: Joi and Anna’s Story

“Toda palabra de Dios es purificada.”

If you grew up in a Spanish-speaking home like Joi “Fuzzy” Hernandez did, you know that the above sentence translates to: “Every word of God proves true.” That key truth transcends language barriers, because His word remains true no matter the dialect. The Gospel is the same in English, Spanish, Hebrew, and beyond. 

Joi learned to speak English in elementary school, and soon became bilingual. Eventually she enrolled in college at Abilene Christian University and found herself called to serve on summer staff at Silverado, Pine Cove’s elementary camp located in Central Texas. 

During Joi’s first summer at camp, a third-grader named Anna was registered to attend Week 10—the very last week of the summer. Anna spoke very little English, so the Silverado directors assigned her to Joi’s cabin. With her background in Spanish, “Fuzzy” would be the perfect counselor for Anna!

Anna thrived at camp, participating in activities, jumping at Club, and getting to know Joi. The two spent their hangtime together talking about camp, life, and the Lord. Anna, who knew a little bit about Jesus, had not yet given her life to the Lord, and Joi hoped to see that happen! 

“I shared the Gospel,” Joi recalls, “And in my flesh I was like, ‘I really want her to give her life to Jesus right now!’” Joi had been praying fervently for Anna to come to know the Lord, and continued to petition the throne for her salvation. “I wanted it to happen so bad because we’re at camp and I know she’s learning a lot, and I just feel like this is the time… but obviously it was not the time,” Joi laughs. 

The Lord had whispered for Joi to wait. She returned to Abilene, continuing to pray for Anna—and all of her campers—throughout the school year. 

When she returned to Silverado the following summer, Joi got some exciting news: once again she would get to have Anna in her cabin! 

Despite her family not being regular church attendees, it was clear that in the year since Anna was last at Pine Cove, the Lord had been at work in her heart. This time, Anna had a lot of questions for Joi, namely: “What do I have to do to win salvation?”

Joi was quick to assure Anna that there was nothing she had to do to “win” salvation. “You just need to believe in your heart and say it with your mouth that Jesus came and died for you and for me on the cross,” Joi explained. 

Although she was a fluent Spanish speaker, there were many Christian phrases and Biblical concepts that Joi only knew in English. So she did exactly what many of us would do in a similar situation: she Googled it! 

“I asked my senior counselor for her phone to see if I could look up scripture in Spanish because I didn’t have a Bible in Spanish,” Joi says. “So I looked up some scripture in Spanish, and then I’m just telling her the truth and sharing the Gospel the same way that I’m sharing the Gospel with the other kids, but in a different language!”

Now equipped with the vocabulary she needed to communicate the Gospel effectively, Joi told Anna exactly how she could be saved. “‘You just need to believe in your heart and say it with your mouth that Jesus came and died for you and for me on the cross.’ And she was like, ‘What? That’s it?’ And I said, ‘Yes, it’s that simple. Jesus wants to live in your heart forever!’”

As the truth continued to dawn for her camper, Joi realized there was an obstacle she might be able to help overcome: Anna didn’t have a Bible she could understand! 

After sharing Anna’s situation with the Silverado leadership team, the staffers ordered a Bible for Anna—one that contained both English and Spanish translations—ensuring it’d be delivered to camp while Anna was still on property. 

The Bible arrived on Thursday, and Joi excitedly brought it to Anna just before dinner. 

“I was like, ‘I have a surprise for you. I am so excited to give this to you!’ And I told her to close her eyes and put her hands out. So then she closed her eyes and she put her hands out, and I gave her the Bible. And I said, ‘Okay, open your eyes!’ And she opens her eyes, and she just grabs it and runs and gives me a huge hug and starts crying. And I was crying my eyes out because I did not expect that to be her reaction!”

Anna was overjoyed to receive a Bible: her very first. 

“She said, ‘I’ve always wanted a Bible! I even asked my mom for more camp store money so I could buy a Bible in the camp store!’”

Joi was blown away by Anna’s sweet reaction—one she’d never expected. 

“My heart was just so like, ‘Wow, this is such a childlike faith that we should live for.’ It was just super encouraged by her that she was that excited to get a Bible and learn more about Jesus.”

Dinner that night was only halfway over when Anna told Joi, “Hey, Fuzzy, I’m ready to give my life to Jesus!”

The two stepped outside the Wagon Wheel—the Silverado dining hall—and sat down for one more impromptu hangtime. 

“I basically explained to her again, ‘Do you know what Jesus did for you? Do you know why you’re doing this? Do you know the meaning behind this?’ And this was all in Spanish. And so she said, ‘Yes, I know that Jesus came to die on the cross for me, and I want to accept him as my Lord and Savior and live with Him forever.”

That evening a soul was won for the Lord. Anna became His child forever, joyfully accepting the free gift of salvation. 

Joi grasped Anna’s hands tightly and told her, “I want you to know that all of heaven is celebrating right now for you because this is the best decision that you will ever make in your entire life. And even if you go back home and your friends don’t follow Jesus, I want you to know that Jesus is still with you and will never leave you.”

Through happy tears, the two hugged and laughed, rejoicing in the fact that they were now sisters forever—daughters of the King. 

Looking back, Joi marvels at the timing of the Lord, and how it all happened on His timetable, in exactly the right way. 

“I wanted her to give her life to Jesus last year,”Joi reflects. “And then a year later, God is working in her heart. God is working maybe at home and through people that I don’t even know, and a year later, she gives her life to Jesus. That was God’s timing, and it wasn’t my timing, it was God’s timing.”

The rest of the week, Joi witnessed a girl who was on fire for the Lord, not wanting to stop reading the Bible for even a moment. 

“She was like, ‘I want to read my Bible. I don’t want to go to bed. I want to read it,’” Joi recalls. “I could just see how much she loved Jesus and how much she wanted to learn more about Him because of camp, and because of how much she’s been learning through all the Club talks, through all the Bible stories, through hangtimes, and just through us saying who Jesus is and what Jesus is doing in our lives and having spiritual applications at activity classes… all of it is coming to one thing, which is to glorify God and to make the name of Jesus known.”

While some might try to take credit for the role they’d played in such a story, Joi is quick to point to the Lord, insisting this story is not about her. 

“It was the Holy Spirit!” Joi says. “It was Jesus.”

Reflecting back on her summers at Silverado and the lessons the Lord taught her on waiting on His timing, covering her campers in prayer, and sharing the Gospel in another language, Joi marvels at the full picture of all He has done.

“She was the only one of my campers that I had that summer that gave her life to Jesus,” Joi shares. “The fact that it was week 10, the last week of camp, and in Spanish… just the way that God aligned everything to happen was just so surreal.”

Solo Dios.