The last three years of my life have been invested in a project that has grown very dear to my heart. Last Wednesday, I had the opportunity to see thirteen of my favorite people in the world graduate with a Master’s Degree in youth ministry.
It has been a long journey. Personally, it has been an exhausting three years, traveling each January and June, arranging for visas, charter tickets, domestic tickets, raising awareness, translating, planning, preparing, and teaching classes. I personally taught 6 and a half of the 12 courses for the Master’s program in youth ministry.
For the students, it was 3 years of reading, pre-class assignments, post-class assignments, weeks away from family, amidst personal and professional struggles. Every student involved in the program is also involved in full time ministry, leaving little time for anything else.
But the culminating moment came on Wednesday, June 11, 2008, when they called the name of 13 of my friends, associates, and students to walk across the stage and receive their diplomas from the Santa Clara Seminary, or the Baptist Seminary of Havana, or the Baptist Seminary in Santiago, or from New Pines Seminary. To see the look of accomplishment and joy on their faces gave me an overwhelming sense of accomplishment and joy.
The investment of three years has more than paid off. We are seeing a mighty work of God in Latin America, and I’m humbled to be part of it.
In part 2 of this series, I’ll write about what these students are doing with their degrees. It’s amazing.
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I got back from Cuba on Saturday morning, after 12 long days of work there. We culminated 3 years of classes with the 4 seminaries with whom we were working there. I’ll write more. Right now I’m uploading pictures from the trip. I will be taking some time in the next few days to write about my thoughts, so stay tuned.
I’m writing this note from the office of the Center for Youth Ministry at the Baptist Seminary in Santa Clara, Cuba. We’ve had a great time with the team here, and we’ll be finishing up tomorrow morning with classes.
Everyone’s family is coming in for graduation that takes place tomorrow night. It is the graduation for the entire seminary, and the graduating class of 13 Master’s Degree students in youth ministry will be the largest group graduating.
It’s been 3 years of hard work, but it’s been great. I’ll write more later, but I wanted to let you know what’s going on.
I got tagged by Adam McLane, and I really have no excuse not to post my top 10 films.
So, even though I’m teaching in Cuba (I’ll be there when this posts), I give you my list of favorite films.
My List:
- Napoleon Dynamite: Brilliantly silly
- Dumb and Dumber: I still quote lines from this movie. It brings me back to “the good old days.”
- Antitrust: Geeky Suspense
- The Game: You never know what’s going to happen next
- Shooter: Twists and turns and highly skilled marksman.
- Back to the Future Trilogy: It’s really one movie in three.
- Hoosiers: I heart basketball.
- Rudy: The little guy everyone roots for.
- Mr. Holland’s Opus: I want to have that kind of impact.
- Hitch: Just plain funny.
The rules:
- List your top ten favorite films (in no particular order).
- If you’re tagged, you’ve got to post and tag 3-5 other people.
- Give a tag back (some link love) to the one who tagged you in your post
- Give a hat tip (HT) to Dan
I’m tagging:
- Tony
- Jim
- Brent
- Mike
- Sara
I love living in Mexico City. I love the fact that I can go see so many things here just by getting in my car or taking public transportation.
Most people would have to hop on an airplane and travel a long way to see these sites.
If you are ever visiting Mexico, here are five more places to visit in Mexico City.
- Chapultepec Castle: The Castle in Chapultepec is a great place to visit. It’s where Maximilian lived while he was emperor of Mexico.
- Anthropology Museum: An interesting place to see the history of all the different people that have lived in Mexico and who make it what it is today.
- Mexico City Post office: I love the post office’s building and architecture. Inside, there is a huge staircase, and it’s just a beautiful place overall. It’s located beside the Palacio de Bellas Artes (the Fine Arts Palace), and it won’t take much time to visit, but it is a work of art.
- Basilica de Guadalupe: The second most visited Catholic site in the world, after the Vatican, is a gigantic complex that will help you understand more about Mexico’s culture, religion, and people. Here’s a video of the Basilica de Guadalupe and the Castle of Chapultepec.
- Xochimilco – sort of like Mexico’s Venice, it’s a great place to experience traditional Mexico City. (Xochimilco pictures 1, pictures 2, video of mariachi band, video of more music in Xochimilco, another video of Xochimilco
See Part 1 of my “Places to See in Mexico City” series here.
Be sure to check out my other blog all about Mexico City at www.chilingo.com.
