Today was the last day of class at the seminary for this school year. I’ve got a flood of emotions inside. I’m excited, proud, reflective, a little sad, emotional, happy, and all kinds of other things that I can’t describe.
If all goes according to plan, and all of the work gets turned in, Huberto will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in youth ministry. He’ll be the first certified graduate in youth ministry in Latin America. In my opinion, he has definitely proven himself as a leader and great youth pastor.
I’ll write more about it later, but for now, I wanted to say how crazy it is that four years have gone by, and we are finally seeing some fruit from the labor.
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.
Before you talk about a subject, you should define terms so that everyone is on the same page. When I’m talking about global youth ministry, I have a concept in my mind, and I’m sure not everyone thinks as crazy as I do, so I wanted to define some terms for you, at least in my mind, when it comes to global youth ministry and global youth workers.
Global Youth Ministry – Ministry to young people throughout the world. I’m not talking about a U.S. based youth group going on a mission trip, while that can contribute to international youth ministry. I’m talking about the 97% of youth population that lives outside of the United States and deserves the same opportunity for care and ministry that the students in your local high school deserve.
Global Youth Worker – A youth worker who is aware of the need to minister to young people all over the world and is doing their best to actively participate in ministry to young people regardless of their nationality or geographical location. This youth worker sees beyond his own youth group and dreams about personally impacting students throughout the world.
There are reports that 87% of the 3.6 billion people who live in Asia do not personally know a Christian (link). One out of every four young people on the planet live in China. There is a great need for international youth ministry. The youth pastors I know are doing a great job of ministering to their students. I just want to see the same opportunity for young people worldwide.
How would you define global youth ministry or a global youth worker?
I was in a church in Cuba where the average person makes less than $20 a month, and the sign on the wall says “A church blessed to be a blessing.” I’ve always believed that we receive blessings (finances, opportunities, resources, etc) in order to be in a position to bless others.
The profession of youth ministry has been blessed to be a blessing. Many of us who are in youth ministry have received numerous opportunities. Some of us have been educated in youth ministry. We have experience in ministering to young people. We have learned a lot and been offered a lot. Now it’s our turn to be a blessing to others around the world.
Global youth ministry is important for many reasons. Here are some of them.
Because of the need
When we talk about the need for international youth ministry, I am often reminded of the statistics that I first heard when I was a youth ministry student at Liberty University.
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. In the United States, there is one trained youth worker for every 600 young people. In the rest of the world, there is one trained youth worker for every 400,000 young people.
While I’m not denying that the young people of America need youth pastors, the American church, who has focused on missions for quite some time now, has not yet turned its focus towards impacting the next generation with trained professionals in youth ministry.
Because of the blessings we’ve received
Training in youth ministry at either a graduate or undergraduate level is available from more than 140 accredited institutions in the United States (link). There are countless conferences, training sessions, and resources for youth workers. However, there are very few organizations who are focused on training and resourcing those outside of the English speaking world.
Because of invitations
New requests come in every day for training in other parts of the world. Youth Ministry International could use full time youth ministry trainers in all of the countries in which we are working right now, and there are other countries asking for our help.
We have invitations from at least three other countries in Latin America alone who want youth ministry training, but we are unable to respond to these requests for lack of trainers. There’s just not enough time or personnel to keep up with the invitations we are receiving.
Because of the commands.
God has commanded us to make disciples of all nations. Youth workers are doing their best to obey God and bring young people to follow Christ. If you’re a youth worker, I commend you for the work you are doing. I believe youth pastors are some of the most under-appreciated people on the planet. Thank you for doing what you do.
Now I’d like to ask you to consider what you are doing to be a blessing to others in the world who could benefit from your experience and training. We are praying that the Lord of the harvest will send out workers into His field. There are multitudes of young people who are in desperate need for people who have the ability to come alongside them and help them.
You have been blessed. Now be a blessing.
