Four out of Eight

world_outline_map_01.gifYouth Ministry International exists to train local church workers globally. We are actively involved in five countries. One of the ways we train local church youth workers is through a seminary program called a “Center for Youth Ministry.” There are 8 Centers for Youth Ministry operating outside of the United States. Four of those are in Latin America.

Here are some numbers on the Centers for Youth Ministry:

Estimated students in Fall 2007 – 147
International Centers for Youth Ministry – 8
Graduates by May 2008 – 30
Students in Latin America – 49

It’s an exciting time for Youth Ministry International and the ministry that is taking place throughout the world. I’m happy to be a part of it.

Goosebumps from Group

groupmagcubaBefore I left for Havana, I was searching my house for some reading material to take with me on the trip. That’s not so much of a problem because I have subscriptions to magazines that I get sent to the address in Florida even when I’m in Mexico. So, there’s always a stack of magazines sitting around waiting to be read while we’re in the USA.

So, I picked up a random Group Magazine to take with me. It wasn’t until about halfway through my trip that I decided to open the issue and look at the table of contents. I noticed the name of Russ Cline, a friend of mine who lives in Ecuador. So I turned to his column, which was debuting in that issue. It was on Youth Ministry Heroes. It’s a column where he will profile different youth workers around the world.

As I read the name of the person he was profiling and looked at the picture, I realized it was one of the students involved in the very program that I was teaching at the time. I immediately felt the goosebumps on my skin as God was once again confirming what we are doing in Latin America.

El Cañonazo

Canon in HavanaBack in the 1700’s, Havana was a walled city ruled by the British. Each night, in order to signal to everyone that the city was closed for the night, they would shoot off a canon. The doors would be locked, and nobody would be allowed to enter or leave the city until the morning.

This ceremony is repeated each night in Havana at 9 pm. I had the chance to go see it while I was there. It’s really fun as you get to see the night caller come in and light the torches. Then the guards come in, perform their ceremony, and light the canon blast that can be heard throughout many parts of the city. There are still remnants of the old walls of the city that you can see. It’s a cool little ceremony.