This weekend I’m going to a youth ministry convention with all of our youth ministry students here in Mexico.
It’s a convention put on by our friends at Dimensión Juvenil, and I’m excited that our students are going to get to attend. Many of the breakout sessions that will be given are exactly what they need to help them with their ministries. I’m hoping to learn some stuff, too.
I’m also going to network and meet new prospective students. Please pray that we have opportunities to connect with people who might be interested in the youth ministry training we offer.
I love hearing about what people are doing around the world, especially in youth ministry. Twitter has been a great way to get to know so many new people (follow me here).
I got into contact with Colleen on twitter and began to read her blog (Inner City Missions Experiences). I decided to ask her some questions and put her answers here.
Colleen works with Metro Kidz Baltimore, a youth ministry within Charm City Church in inner-city Baltimore, Maryland whose mission is to share the love of Jesus Christ by serving and providing for various needs within the community.
Here are my questions for her:
- How did you first get started in Inner City Missions?
Being from Kansas, I had never had much exposure to the inner city, I grew up in a family where money was tight, but I never had to go hungry or go without the things I needed, so when I moved to the Baltimore-Washington Corridor it was eye-opening to say the least to experience inner city. The drugs, crime, homelessness, prostitution etc. it all just happens here and no one really bats an eye. Where I grew up these things would be considered eyesores.
My first real exposure to the inner city was through working with the homeless. I met a man on Rt. 40 in Catonsville, MD who had just been dealt a rough hand, I passed him everyday and knew I needed to do something for him, so I went to the party store and bought seven party bags, yeah you know the ones, with big bright balloons, stars etc. and I filled them with food, personal hygiene items and notes of encouragement. Finally on the last day God really spoke to my heart.
I had no idea what to do, what to say, how to even approach this man, I mean I am girl from Kansas, stuck in this big scary world out here…so I pulled my car into a parking lot and sat in my car for an hour, I cried out to the Lord and begged him to give me the words, to lead me and he did. I found myself sitting in a diner with this man for hours. He introduced me to the homeless population, and I completely submerged myself these people that others found hard to love I loved more than anything in the world.
Two summers later I found myself in inner city Tampa, working with the Tampa Bay Dream Center, it was there that God laid it on my heart that I was supposed to completely surrender my life to missions. Two summers later I found myself spending nearly a month in Los Angeles (www.dreamcenter.org) and then finally in the summer of 2007 I found Charm City Church in Baltimore and God finally provided me with a place to serve, a calling and a path (www.metrokidzbaltimore.org).
- What is the biggest challenge to working with inner city kids?
I don’t think there is just one big challenge to working with inner city kids, I think everyday provides a new challenge, most of the kids that we work with don’t know the meaning of true unconditional love and it’s hard for them to open up and allow you to love them, or to love you back. The other challenge is you never know what you’re going to walk into, you never know if one of your kids or one of their family members lost their life overnight, you never know if one of them has fallen into the gang and drug war that we are consistently fighting.
- What has been the highlight of your ministry?
One of the biggest highlights of my ministry is success in our kids, watching some of these kids go from hard kids from the street to leaders within our ministry. As I write this I can think of five kids within the last month that have been given leadership roles within our Wednesday night Kidz/Youth program and to sit back and think about where a few of them were a year ago, makes my heart dance, and smile grace my face. I’ve gotten to watch kids come to Christ, kids be delivered from the city and kids develop into responsible loving and lovable young men and women. And at the end of a hard night to hear a kid say, “I love you Miss Colleen, thanks for helping me,” makes every hard day/night worth it.
- How can we pray for you?
Right now, we have two major prayer requests one is for a miracle to happen in our neighborhood over the past few weeks the crime rate has gone up significantly there are nightly gun battles on the corner, the dealers are out in full force, murders are happening left and right and people are afraid to even come out of their homes.
The other is for a financial miracle, right now we’re at a financial and church building crossroads and are really praying to God for a miracle.
I’d love to hear from other people involved in ministry. If you’d like to be featured here, please contact me.
Since we’ve been thinking about global youth ministry, you might be looking for more information on world missions. If that’s the case, then The World Missions Atlas Project, over at Worldmap.org, is a great resource for you.
The site contains different types of information, including maps, data sets, and descriptions of various countries and regions of the world. There are maps of various regions linked to the missions data that is known for that region or country.
You can download PDF files, maps, and data to share what is happening in the world of missions.
I haven’t had enough time to fully explore the entire site because there is so much on it, but if you’re looking for free maps for missions, the World Missions Atlas Project is definitely the place for you to begin your search.
Today is the first day of classes at the Mexican Baptist Theological Seminary. The Center for Youth Ministry has the largest incoming freshman class that we’ve had in the five years of our existence. There are (at least) five new youth ministry students entering this year out of a freshman class of 13.
I’m excited because we really worked hard the last year to promote the youth ministry training program at various events throughout the country. Our students are spreading the word about one of the only bachelor’s degree programs for youth ministry in Latin America (link to Spanish website).
Below you’ll find the list of names of the freshmen youth ministry students. Please pray for them by name.
2008 Youth Ministry Freshmen Class
- Victoria Castro Vázquez from Teziutlan, Puebla
- Gerson Hernandez Vázquez from Teziutlan, Puebla
- Josue Misael Lara Vázquez from Monterrey
- Kareni Sadai Méndez Galván from Monterrey
- Débora Osobampo Martinez from Sinaloa
Also be praying for the other youth ministry students who are beginning classes this week at the seminary. I’ll post more about each of them in the future. It’s going to be a great year of ministry.
Series: Global Youth Ministry
This post is part of a series on Global Youth Ministry. Be sure to check out part 1 – Why Global Youth Ministry is Important and part 2 – What’s a Global Youth Worker?
Some say that apart from church planting efforts, Global youth ministry training should be the top priority in global missions. I believe it’s a ministry that every youth worker should personally be involved in.
Obviously, I believe strongly in the mission statement of Youth Ministry International, which is “To train national youth workers for existing local churches within the people groups of the world.”
Every youth worker in the United States should be involved somehow in the training of youth workers internationally. Here are some benefits of being a global youth worker:
Five Benefits of Being a Global Youth Worker
- Personal obedience – everyone should be involved in world missions because God has commanded us to make disciples of all nations. Your participation in global youth ministry will strengthen your personal relationship with God.
- An example for your students. If you expect your young people to have a heart for missions, they need to see that you have a heart for missions. Being a global youth worker will allow them to see your burden for the nations.
- An example for your church. I always hope that my youth ministry can be an example to the church. If I am interested and involved in global missions, my students will be an example for the church through their support for global missions.
- Fulfillment using your gifts in global ministry. You may not believe me when I say this, but you have something to offer. You can pray more specifically by getting to know other youth workers overseas. You can come for a week. You can mentor long-distance. You could even go long term to train others. There are too many opportunities, and there are many different ways you can use your gifts.
- You can use your experience. Someone once told me that everything that happens to us is just part of the training for what God has for us in the future. You have experience and training that others do not, and this experience and training that you have had in your life should be put to use in the training of others.
If you’re interested in training youth workers internationally, please leave me a comment or contact me. Youth Ministry International is constantly looking for international trainers, and I’d love to talk to you more about the opportunities there are all over the world.
View the entire photo album on Facebook
“Hello, friend. I just finished a mission trip with 60 students that was stupendous, thank God. It was explosive, dynamic, and was very cool. Thank you for teaching us. I’m sending you the link so you can see the photos and download them if you want so you can have them. A hug…your brother.”..Giancarlos.
I received that email from one of the students in Cuba. He’s the middle school pastor of a local church who has seen incredible things happen in the last three years.
His group went on a summer mission trip that he planned using the principles we taught in Contemporary Youth Missions.
I’m extremely proud of him and the work he’s doing.
You can see a video interview with Giancarlos here.
