“I've Come to Tell" is a testimonial hymn, a personal confession of love for the Lord Jesus describing feelings of joy and sorrow, happiness and peace. Juan M. Isáis (b. Zacatecas, Mexico, 1926) composed the song for a small church in Acapulco, Mexico; in 1967 the song was used during an evangelistic crusade in Lima, Peru. "Te Vengo a Decir" was first published in the Venezuelan hymnal Cante Conmigo (1971) ; it was also published in Celebremos I (1979), a Hispanic hymnal of the United Methodist Church in the United States.

A member of the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico, Isáis graduated from the Central American Bible Institute, Guatemala City, Guatemala, in 1952. He serves as director of the Latin America mission organization in Mexico and is involved in the evangelism in-depth program and an urban mission project, Christ for the Cities. He has published books and articles in English and Spanish and composed a number of hymns and choruses. Isáis has written two other stanzas to this song, retaining the second half of stanza 1 as a refrain:

2
Te quiero seguir, te quiero seguir, oh mi Salvador,
y darte mi ser, y darte mi ser, mi amigo, mi Dios.
Te quiero seguir, te quiero seguir, mi Rey, mi Senor.
Te vengo a poner todo 10 que soy; recibelo, oh Dios. Refrían

3
Doquiera Senor, doquiera Senor, yo te seguin;.
Yhasta el final, y hasta el final, tu siervo sere.
Enviame Senor, enviame Senor, doquiera yo ire.
Se que nada soy, se que nada soy, pero fiel te sere. Refrain

2
I'll follow you, I'll follow you, O Savior divine,
and give you my all, and give you my all, my friend and my God.
I'll follow you, I'll follow you, my King and my Lord.
Before you I place all that I am; receive me, O God. Refrain

3
Wherever you lead, wherever you lead, I'll follow you.
Until the end, until the end, your servant I'll be.
Send me, O Lord, send me, O Lord, and show me the way.
I'm nothing at all, I'm nothing at all, but faithful I'll be. Refrain.

Liturgical Use:
Similar to Old Testament psalms written in the first-person singular ("I"), this testimony hymn is suitable for various occasions in corporate worship.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

L. Frank Sawyer (b. Victoria, BC, Canada, 1946) translated the text into English in 1984. Then a Christian Reformed missionary in Latin America, Sawyer reminds us of the Spanish oral tradition, in which "there are many choruses like this. . . sung to the accompaniment of a guitar. Almost no one has any written music; local congregations sing songs they pick up from neighboring Christians. It is common to hear three or four variations to one tune." In 1986 Sawyer became a seminary professor, first for Iglesia Cristiana Reformada in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and more recently for Reformatus Teologia Akademia in Sarospatak, Hungary. A pastor in Zoetermeer, the Netherlands, from 1977 to 1980, he was also a missionary in Puerto Rico (1982-1985) for Christian Reformed World Missions. Sawyer was educated at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and at the Reformed Seminary in Kampen, the Netherlands.

Though marked for unison singing, TE VENGO may be sung in two parts, a common practice in the Hispanic tradition, by following the alto or tenor part in parallel below the melody. The harmonization by Dale Grotenhuis (PHH 4) in 1984 retains the Spanish flavor of parallel thirds and sixths. Use piano or a light organ registration or preferably more folk-like instruments such as the guitar, flute, and tambourine.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook