Last weekend I was invited to Tuxtla, Gutierrez, in Chiapas, a state in the Southern part of Mexico. I went to teach a class at a Missions School and also to speak at a youth camp. It was a fun experience. I had never been to Chiapas before, so I enjoyed learning a lot about this region of Mexico.
I had a chance to meet Julio, a youth pastor who writes about youth ministry on his blog “Monologos de Julito.” I have been following his blog for a while now since I started ministeriojuvenil.com, and he is one of the few who publishes regularly on youth ministry in Spanish.
I had a great time speaking to his youth group about how they need to be God’s representatives in their local school. I shared about Esther and her decision to do what she was supposed to do even though it wasn’t easy, and the result was important for all of history.
(more…)
Yesterday, Amazon finally opened a Kindle store in Mexico. This is really good news for me because in May I wrote a book. I haven’t blogged about it here before because it’s is in Spanish.
It’s called “Corre para Ganar: 5 Disciplinas para Llegar a la Meta del Ministerio Juvenil.” In English, that’s “Run to Win: 5 Disciplines to arrive at the Finish Line of Youth Ministry.”
It’s basically a book about my thoughts on important steps to successful youth ministry, and it’s a compilation of much of what I’ve taught in Mexico these last 10 years. It’s been hard to sell on Kindle, though, because up until yesterday, my Mexican friends had to have an Kindle account (and credit card) from the USA or another supported country in order to purchase it. They also can buy a printed version, especially at events where I speak (also available on Amazon). All of that changed because Amazon finally opened a Kindle Store in Mexico.
I’m excited about this because there are a lot of youth leaders who could benefit from reading the message of “Corre para Ganar,” and I want to get it into the hands of as many people as possible.
If you are a youth worker who reads Spanish, I encourage you to pick up a copy. If you know youth workers who read Spanish, please tell them about the book.
We have been working a little with Youth Specialties Mexico, especially in helping them plan the annual Summit and other things. You might remember that earlier this year I gave a course at the Summit and organized the breakout sessions.
One of my favorite things that Youth Specialties does, which was actually an event that was happening before Youth Specialties Mexico existed, is called Trasciende. It is a bi-monthly youth leaders’ networking meeting that my friend Timmy started. The idea is that youth leaders can get together and talk about what is happening in their churches as well as find a sympathetic ear to help them with their questions. It is really informal but beneficial to all involved.
We had the latest Trasciende this past Saturday at a coffee shop near our house. I really had a great time, and I met some new leaders that I hadn’t really gotten to know in the past.
Please pray that Trasciende will grow. It is an event that we’re doing all over the country, including Leon, Zacatecas, Mexico City, and other cities.
This weekend we started another round of the Certificate in Youth Ministry at the Mexican Baptist Theological Seminary. Huberto, our first graduate from the bachelor’s program, is teaching this month’s class.
The Certificate level program was needed because there are many youth leaders in Mexico who are volunteers. They want and need training, but they still have jobs during the week. Many of them sacrifice to come to the program every Saturday for a year.
Saturday we had a student from Ixtapaluca, a suburb of Mexico City about 2 and a half hours from the Seminary (on Saturday in good traffic). Another student came from Morelos, a state about 3 hours south of where the Seminary is located. They are willing to make the trip to get training.
The classes are every Saturday morning from 9 to 1, and the program lasts a year. Please pray for these students and their professors as we spend this coming year teaching youth ministry to these dedicated leaders.
One of the best parts of this past weekend took place on Saturday at an event I was invited to participate in. It was a forum for parents and younger teenagers (12-16) that was designed to help them improve the communication between them, and it was organized by some of my former students, Oscar and Anna.
Oscar invited me to share with the parents, which was a little intimidating since I don’t have teenagers of my own. The topic of my talk was “10 Principles for Communicating with Teenagers.” We talked about many things while my friend Dante was sharing with the teenagers.
At the end, the pastor had the families come together and pray about how they could better communicate and get along with each other. It was a powerful time as parents were crying and hugging their children, and the children were hugging and affirming their parents. I was proud to be a part of an event that is helping families grow stronger.
(more…)
Last weekend we celebrated graduation at the Seminary here in Mexico City. We graduated 2 bachelor’s degree students, 2 students who studied almost all of the youth ministry courses at the Bachelor’s level, and 8 Certificate level students.
We are very proud of every single one of them. They all have incredible stories, and God is doing great things both in their lives and through their ministries. We wish all of you could meet them and hear their stories.
We are also grateful for Edgar and Karyna, our teammates and fellow professors, who have been helping us teach classes since January. They have been of much assistance to us both personally and professionally. We are excited to have them with us, training youth workers in Latin America.
