I failed this weekend in posting. I was a little busy. Friday night, I watched on NFL.com the sad results of the Dolphins’ game.
Saturday morning, I went down to Capital City Baptist Church to give a 3 hour youth ministry conference to the youth leadership team there. It is an English speaking church who is looking to jump-start its youth ministry. So, I spent the morning with them, sharing about philosophy of ministry and giving them some ideas as to what they could do. Saturday night, the youth group of Dios Es Amor was supposed to go to a concert, but that got postponed until next week.
Sunday was an all day workday. We went to church in the morning, went out to eat (at the new Sbarro’s), spent the afternoon with Rigo, and went back to church for youth group at night (more about that later).
We took a trip to the World Trade Center today for Expo Cristiana 2005. It’s an annual exposition here in Mexico City where all the bookstores, music stores, and other stores get together and show what they have for sale. They invite lots of musicians and conference speakers (this year John McArthur and Steve Green were there) to share as well. We just went down today to see what books and other youth ministry resources they have. It took us about 2 hours to get back home from downtown. Lesson learned: Don’t go downtown on Friday.
By the way, Hurricane Wilma looks like it is going to be devastating for Cancun and Cozumel and other parts of Mexico, as well as Cuba (and possibly Florida). Please pray for them as they endure this.
Other News: We got a call from Janell’s mom telling us that we received a bill from the hospital for Nathan’s birth. It was a LOT more than what our insurance seems to cover. We are praying for God to provide the money to pay this bill. If you’d like to help, please email us.
This week has been strange because Janell has been sick. Yesterday, Nathan got sick, too. It was the first time he has been sick, so we, the new parents, are a little on edge. He got a fever yesterday, so we gave him Tylenol like the doctor told us.
Last night, I had to preach at a Quinceanera birthday party. It was the strangest party I’d ever been to. Nobody seemed to want to be there. The majority of the family members don’t go to church, so it was awkward for everyone, including the gringo who was preaching (me!).
Today, we stayed home from church because of the sickies in the family. We watched the Dolphins lose to the Bucs, got McDonald’s for breakfast, and watched baseball playoffs. The good news is that Nathan seems to be feeling better, and Janell is feeling mostly better, too. I feel bad for missing church and youth group, but there were no other options.
Yesterday, I preached for the first time in more than a year at the seminary. The topic was vigilance, and the text was Matthew 24. It went well. I had my usual 2 classes, which are winding down for the quarter. We finish up this week with classes, and then next week are finals. I am giving my finals this week, so next week I will be spending preparing for the next quarter’s classes. We also had lunch with the pastor of Capital City Baptist Church and his wife. Of course, we ate pizza tonight, since it was Tuesday, two for one night at all the pizza places. I finished up the night carving a pumpkin. I’ll share some pictures later. This year I chose a Scooby Doo design.
Yesterday was my 29th birthday. Overall, it was a great day. I had already gotten my birthday present, so I was fortunate to go to Six Flags. We already have anual passes, so I didn’t have to spend too much money to get there. I had a great time with my friends, riding on the roller coasters and hanging out. When we got home, Janell had made chicken parm, my favorite meal. She also made a cake and banana bread, so it was doubly wonderful. It’s not too bad being another year older.
By the way, thanks to everyone who sent me cards and greetings for my birthday. It’s cool to open up your email and get lots of hallmark birthday greetings. It makes you feel good even though you are far away from “home.” Thanks for remembering me.
Who? We have been happily married since July 26, 1997. Dennis has a B.S. degree in youth ministry from Liberty University and is currently working on his M.A. in theology from Columbia Biblical Seminary. Janell has a dental assisting degree from Pasco-Hernando Community College. We lived in Florida before moving to Mexico. Dennis was a youth pastor and Janell worked for Nielsen Media Research. Nathan was born on April 25, 2005, in Florida.
What? Our ministry in Mexico City with Youth Ministry International is to train nationals for local church youth ministry. We do that through a formal training program called The Center for Youth Ministry at the Mexican Baptist Theological Seminary. We also train informally with workshops, seminars, and conferences. We are currently developing a model youth ministry at a local church in Mexico City. We direct YMI’s Latin America ministry and are looking to help in other Latin American countries as well as Mexico.
Why? Ninety-seven percent of the world’s trained youth workers live and work in the United States, ministering to less than 3% of the world’s youth population. That means there is one youth worker for every 600 young people in the United States. In the rest of the world, there is one youth worker for every 600,000 young people. Ninety percent of those who accept Christ do so before their 21st birthday.
The world is in desparate need for trained youth workers who can minister and help young people in the local church. The youth of Latin America are abandoning the church in record numbers. We must reach the next generation. We believe that we can help train people to do that.
If you have high speed internet and want to see a summary of what we do, check out this video from our first year and a half in Mexico.
Can I help? There are many ways you can help this ministry. You can subscribe to our email updates that come every other week. This will help you be able to pray for us. If you want to be a part of the snail mail newsletter, you can email us. You can also contribute financially through YMI’s website or by sending a check to YMI to the address listed on the sidebar of the website. Please let us know if you choose to do that.
