Indonesian Youth Ministry

I recently took a trip to Indonesia (and Malaysia) to teach the final course in the Master’s in Youth Ministry course at the Jaffray Seminary in Jakarta. We were finishing up a program that started more than a few years ago with six students. Two of them made it to the end, having completed all of the requirements for graduation.

Nyoman and Mitchell persevered through many trials and did the hard work that was required of them to successfully complete the program, and they will be officially awarded their Master’s of Youth Ministry at the Seminary’s graduation this year.

While I was there, we had a celebration ceremony to honor them and their hard work as well as give them a certificate from Youth Ministry International. Nyoman’s words in this video (and the ones that both he and Mitchell expressed throughout the class) will stick with me for a long time.

I wanted to share a portion of what Nyoman said in this video:

I am excited about the future of youth ministry in Indonesia. These two guys and the rest of the team there (including David, the translator and program coordinator) are primed and ready to take youth ministry to the next level.

I am praying that they will continue to push through the obstacles and take the gospel to the next generation.

Last Doctoral Seminar

Wow! I can’t believe it’s been almost three years since I started my doctoral courses.

Last week I took my final (of six) seminar called “Foundations of Teaching.”

I’m a few steps away still from getting my doctorate, but the in-class portion is finished. Now I have some projects AND the BIG PROJECT to finish up and turn in, then I have to defend it, and then I will graduate (hopefully by December).

Thanks to all who have been praying for me during this time. It’s been a lot of reading, thinking, and writing. It’s also been a lot of fun and good relationships along the way.

Please pray that I can finish well and get the projects done in a timely manner.

Trip to Ecuador

I recently went on a trip to Ecuador for ministry. I was there to meet up with my former students, Edgar and Karyna, and to talk with a local Seminary about the possibility of starting a youth ministry program.

Here’s a video I made to document the trip.

Nuggets of Wisdom for our Kids

Have you ever heard the saying, “The best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time”? I’d honestly never thought of how to eat an elephant, mainly because it doesn’t sound too appetizing, but I understand the principle that to get something big done, you need to focus on a little bit at a time.

Parenting and teaching my children is one of the most overwhelming things I have to do in my life. I understand that the responsibility to train my children in the ways of the Lord rests on my shoulders as a parent, but sometimes it’s hard to find the consistent 20-30 minutes needed to have “family devotions.”

I’m sure I’m not the only one.
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When Your Plans Fail

We’ve had a few “failures” in our office lately, especially when it comes to getting visas. I was reflecting on that this morning and had a few thoughts, so I wanted to share them in audio form.

Hopefully they can encourage you.

If you can’t see the player above, you can click this link to listen on anchor.fm.