Will you join us in praying that God will raise up a generation of youth workers who will be willing to share the gospel with these girls and disciple them?
Read Steve’s article at the YMI website by clicking here.
I’m taking a course for my doctorate called “Applied Empirical Research,” and one of the textbooks is called “Statistics for People who Don’t Like Statistics.” I’m one of those people.
Specifically because every year at YMI for the past eight years, I’ve had to fill out a statistical report talking about the progress of the ministry. I always kick and scream, complain, and throw a fit (okay…not that much) because I hate having to go to every one of my students and graduates and ask them for numbers about their ministries. Maybe it’s their fault. Probably not.
Anyway, I’m glad YMI keeps the statistics, even if I hate getting them for the report.
But I was looking at the YMI statistics since 2009, and I wanted to share them here with you. I think they are very encouraging when I think of all of the people and lives these numbers represent.
At YMI, we often quote 2 Timothy 2:2. It says, “And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” Our ministry exists to train those who can train others.
We call it “Training the trainers.”
These last few weeks have given me increased joy as I have had the privilege to minister alongside a few special people who I have trained.
When I was in Mexico a few weeks ago teaching the Youth and Family Class for the Mexican Baptist Theological Seminary, I brought Josue Lara along with me to co-teach the course. He had taken that course from me and said how much it helped him and Kareny, his wife, as they have been ministering in their local church the last few years.
As I sat in class watching him teach, I was excited to see how much God has been working in his life throughout the years and how much he has matured in the ministry. I sat and watched him teach as someone who has not only thought through the material from a theological standpoint but has also lived it in a ministry setting and contextualized it for Mexico. He is more than qualified and gifted to “teach others also.”
(more…)
I’ve been invited to participate in a missions emphasis month at Horizon Baptist Church in West Palm Beach, a church that has supported our family’s ministry for some time now. I will be there this coming weekend, sharing about our ministry with Youth Ministry International.
In the sheet they asked me to fill out to tell about our ministry, they asked what country we are serving. This is a standard question that I used to always answer with, “Mexico,” even though my official title has always been “Director of Latin America.” Since we moved back to the USA from Mexico two years ago, this answer has become even more complicated. We are involved in a global ministry that impacts many different places. It’s exciting!
I wrote something this morning on my Facebook page that sums up the answer to the question,
“It’s crazy to be getting emails with assignments from students from Mexico and Nigeria at the same time while getting a reimbursement for a missionary for a trip to Eastern Malaysia to do youth ministry training this week and planning on the best way to send someone to Tanzania to encourage youth workers. Oh…that and the conversations with missionaries to Ukraine and Romania in between–not even counting the time I had this past weekend talking about hispanic youth ministry training in Miami. It’s fun to be part of this movement.”
To be honest, there are even more countries that are being impacted by our ministry. I didn’t mention trips to Cuba or even what is happening in various Asian countries that we are not allowed to mention.
It is so fun to be part of what God is doing around the world. I still LOVE ministering in Spanish, but to be a part of ministry to Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America is an incredible experience. All of the activity that we have in our ministry is the result of what God is doing. We’re just along for the ride.
Please pray for me as I try to keep up with what God is doing through YMI. I have a lot of responsibilities and need as much prayer as possible. Thanks!
I spent an exhausting weekend in Miami with Darwin, one of my former students and graduate from the MA program in Cuba. He moved to Miami a few months ago, but he still has the vision and desire to train youth workers.
After surveying the situation in Miami, he called our office and asked if we would think about and pray about the possibility of training youth workers for the hispanic churches in Miami. We prayed about it, thought about it, and decided to at least do something to empower him and the 2 other graduates who live there now.
This past weekend I flew to Florida to be with Darwin and the Florida Baptist Convention at an event called the Cumbre de Estudio Biblico, or the Bible Study Summit. Darwin and I shared some Biblical principles of youth ministry. To everyone’s surprise, our 2 hour workshop was packed. We made a lot of connections and talked with many different youth leaders from Baptist churches in Miami.
Darwin, one of my friends and former students from Cuba, called me a few months ago to ask for YMI’s help to start youth ministry training in Miami. He also put me in touch with the Florida Baptist Convention’s hispanic division and they invited me to share a workshop at a conference they are having on March 11. I’ll be sharing twice in the morning and once in the evening at Darwin’s church.
While I’m there, I am going to take a week all over Florida to share about our ministry with Youth Ministry International.
Since we are support-based but live in the USA, we don’t have specific times to do “home ministry,” or time to get in touch with current donors and potential partners of our ministry. In the past we would come back to the USA from Mexico City to share with donors and those who were interested in our ministry.
This is a “mini-furlough” for me.
My goal for my trip is to share with as many people as possible about what is happening. Lately, I have been privileged to train youth workers in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and Europe, and I’m excited to share all of this with new people.
I wrote this on our Facebook page last week about how people can help my trip to Florida:
- Pray that I will be able to make appointments with the correct people while in Florida.
- Pray about the possibility of partnering with us financially. If you’re not in Florida and would like to be a part of our ministry by supporting our family financially, just respond to this email and let me know. If you’re in Florida, I would be more than happy to meet with you for coffee, breakfast, lunch, dinner, ice cream, a walk on the beach, or anything else you might want to meet over to talk about the possibility of partnering with our ministry.
- Consider hosting a dessert night with people who are interested in missions and/or youth ministry who may also be open to supporting our family financially.
- Put me in touch with leadership of your church to see if they would be willing to meet with me while I’m in Florida on this very specific trip.
If you live in Florida, I’m looking forward to connecting with you. Please let me know if we can get together.
(Photo by Bob Jagendorf)
