We can’t believe 2008 is already coming to a close. It has been exciting to see all the things that have happened this year. This year has brought many great things, and we want to thank you for your support, prayers, and encouragement throughout the year.
You can download our Christmas Newsletter right here (PDF).
We are looking forward to 2009 and what God is going to do in our personal lives, our family, and in the ministry in Latin America. We are attempting great things for God, and we are expecting great things from Him.
Keep coming back here to ymimexico.org to see what is happening in our lives and in the ministry. You can also subscribe to our RSS feed here.
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Thanks again for your interest in our family and the ministry of Youth Ministry International in Latin America.
If you ask a typical church member if they would like to improve their prayer life, they will likely answer yes. I mean, who doesn’t want to improve their prayer life?
Recently, in a quest to improve my prayer life, I started praying through my contacts (both my address book and my Facebook friends).
What I do
- I pray for a letter of the alphabet every morning (sometimes two letters, depending on how many people I know with that particular letter and how much time I have).
- I write a little note to most of the people I pray for that day (either an email or a Facebook message – I prefer email) telling them I’m praying for them and asking for specific requests.
- Throughout the day, I usually receive emails back from those people and pray for their specific requests, which causes me to pray again for my friends.
- I file the emails in a special folder in gmail that I can review later.
- I mark the requests that are time sensitive on my calendar so I can remember to pray again on specific dates.
What I’ve Noticed
- It has helped me think about my time with God first when I wake up in the morning.
- I actually find myself praying for these people throughout the day, not just in my specified “prayer time.”
- When I write the email or a facebook message, almost everyone responds, both to thank me for praying for them and to give me specific prayer requests. I also have gotten a few responses that include, “Tell me how I can pray for you.”
- Many people have situations in their lives for which they need prayer but have nobody to share them with. I have a lot of ministers on my list. Sometimes they are the loneliest people and have nobody with whom to share their requests, so it’s good for them to have someone ask them for specific prayer requests.
I’m wondering if anyone else has any creative ways to pray for their friends. Leave your ideas in the comments.
I’ve written about the opportunities for youth ministry training in Latin America before, and it seems like more and more people are becoming interested in youth ministry training.
I just got another email from a graduate of ours who recently went to the Dominican Republic, and of course he talked about youth ministry training while he was there. He writes to me, saying, “The people in the Dominican Republic are very interested in taking the experience we had here to their country, and I think it would be a great place to invest in because they have very little ministry to young people. It’s almost zero.”
There are at least 4 countries on the horizon for us in Latin America. We need to know where to go. We need to know what to do. Things in Mexico are picking up. We have a certificate program planned to start in January, and we are working with our Seminary to start a Master’s program as well.
So, where do we go from here? That’s a good question. Please keep praying with us about these things. Pray for wisdom. Pray for resources (both human resources and financial resources).
These are exciting times.
(Photos by: oui c’est moi! on flickr)
I’ve been thinking a lot about many things lately, and I’ve had a heavy heart for a few situations that are happening right now. Will join me in praying for these things?
- A family member of a friend has been kidnapped.
- One of our students left the seminary because of personal issues.
- One of our students is in the hospital (she had emergency surgery)
- One of our ex-students has a problem with his eyesight that is affecting him greatly.
- One of our ex-students is looking for a house to rent for his family and is not finding one.
- The dean at our seminary just had twin boys, and one of them is still in the hospital (he’s too little to leave).
We are living a battle. There are so many things that are happening to discourage and destroy. Please pray with us, remembering that the prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.
It seems like Cuba can’t get a break lately. Yesterday I got an email from one of my friends down there asking us to pray for them as they face this deadly hurricane.
My students are spread all over the island, which means that last week as Gustav rolled through Pinar del Rio and Havana, I was praying for some specific people there.
Now, as the eastern part of the island is getting slammed by Ike, I have a whole new set of people who are in danger.
Having been there before, it makes me understand the danger a little more than just by seeing it on television. With many of the houses already standing for more than 50 years, the terms hurricane force winds and storm surge seem unreal. I don’t know how they will handle a natural disaster of this magnitude.
Please pray for Cuba and the people who are being affected by these terrible storms.
Hurricane Gustav hit Cuba pretty hard yesterday, forcing evacuations of more than 300,000 people. Having gone to Cuba a few times, some of my favorite people in the world live in Havana and Pinar del Rio, the two major areas that got hit by the storm.
Please pray for the country as they recover from the storm. I haven’t heard much from them, but I’ve been in the old buildings and have no idea how they could stand up to 150 mile per hour winds.
Here are some pictures from the BBC that show the preparations and damage in Cuba.
