Feedback

It’s always good to get feedback from people. Youth Ministry International has recently asked us to get some feedback from the youth workers we are training. Here is an incredible response I got from a youth worker in one of the countries we are working in:

This time of studying has TOUCHED MY LIFE in a very special way because: it has made me study more seriously; it has given the ministry much more seriousness; it has helped us integrate a series of courses with content that we didn’t have before with a much more systemization; FINALLY, it has been a blessing that we needed in this moment in history and that we didn’t visualize where it should and could come from, but God in His immense love and care for us already had seen it.

You should know that this guy has been involved in youth ministry for 16 years. He is 46 years old and recently began studying in one of our seminary programs. It is awesome to see this kind of feedback. It humbles me to hear these words from a guy like this that I admire. I am privileged to get to work with him.

Step up to the Microphone

miclittle.jpgI just got out of an interview with one of the youth ministry students at the seminary. She has a radio production background, so we had a good 20 minute talk about youth ministry in general. We recorded it in the media center here. She’s done about 6 interviews with different people about youth ministry in the last few days.

The thing I’m excited about is the ability to create a Spanish language youth ministry podcast that includes some training in it. She is very open to doing this. In fact, she WANTS to do it. Now, I just have to set up a way to put it up online. I’m gonna revamp the ministeriojuvenil.com website to include this in it. Anyway, this could be the start of some really cool ministry stuff.

Broken…

abuse.jpgHere are some statistics I read today about middle school students in Mexico. They come from a study done by the National Womens’ Institute. It paints a pretty sad picture about reality for middle school students in Mexico. It makes me even more convinced that we need to come alongside these kids and help them through their problems. It makes me even more sure of what God wants the church to be in Mexico.

  • There are 5,894,358 middle school students in the Mexico.
  • Around 3 million middle school students in Mexico suffer abuse.
  • 50% have been emotionally abused.
  • 16% say they are physically abused.
  • 10% have been abused severely enough to be taken to a hospital.
  • 8% suffer parental neglect.
  • 4% have been sexually abused.
  • Half of those who have been sexually abused attempt suicide (175,000)

The Great Pumpkin

greatpumpkin288.jpg Halloween night passed with a TON of Mexican trick-or-treaters. When we drove through our neighborhood, there were easily 150 people walking the streets. It was crazy. They have a little song they sing that is much more elaborate than “trick-or-treat.” They basically chant “Queremos Halloween”, meaning literally “We want Halloween”. Of course, really they just want candy. It’s been interesting to see it evolve here in the last three years.

Some interesting things about Halloween in Mexico is that it is a huge family affair. They come in gigantic groups. The kids are very polite. The costumes have gone from only being ghosts and witches to some Supermen and Spidermen walking the streets, also.

Of course, Nathan is still a little too little to ask for candy, so we watched the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown together. He loved it. I’m so happy to have someone to watch it with, since Janell doesn’t really like it all that much. Anyway, we had a great time.