Where do we go from here?

Where do we go from here?

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)

Sounds in Motion Tour

Sounds in Motion Tour

This weekend, I helped at a concert that our local church and two other churches put on with one of the primary purposes being to raise money for an evangelistic concert on October 19.

Basically, the idea was that if you attended the concert on Sunday, you could get in to the other concert as a VIP. I’m not sure exactly what it means to be a VIP at the other concert, but it’s going to be a huge concert, so I’m thinking preferential area, etc.

The cool part was to see how the youth pastors interacted with each other and worked together. I just met 2 of them, and they seem like great guys. I’m looking forward to seeing how all of this works for the future.

It’s great to see different churches from different denominations come together to reach young people for the Kingdom of God. This is something that I’ve noticed is not very popular here in Mexico, but things are changing, and this concert was a good start.

Weekend Wrap Up – Dimension Juvenil

Weekend Wrap Up – Dimension Juvenil

This weekend I had the enormous privilege of attending a youth conference called “Dimension Juvenil” with my students from the seminary.

It was two days of training, fellowship, and networking. We had a great time together. Some of the highlights were: traveling on the subway with my students, acting crazy at the concerts, learning lots of great things at the conferences, and meeting new prospective youth ministry students.

I met Josh McDowell (as you can see in the photo), and I caught up with some other friends of mine who are involved in training youth workers throughout Latin America.

Overall, it was a great conference. I had a great time.

Mission Trip in Cuba


View the entire photo album on Facebook

“Hello, friend. I just finished a mission trip with 60 students that was stupendous, thank God. It was explosive, dynamic, and was very cool. Thank you for teaching us. I’m sending you the link so you can see the photos and download them if you want so you can have them. A hug…your brother.”..Giancarlos.

I received that email from one of the students in Cuba. He’s the middle school pastor of a local church who has seen incredible things happen in the last three years.

His group went on a summer mission trip that he planned using the principles we taught in Contemporary Youth Missions.

I’m extremely proud of him and the work he’s doing.

You can see a video interview with Giancarlos here.

Opportunities in Latin America

Opportunities in Latin America

You wouldn’t believe the amount of opportunities we have to minister in other parts of Latin America. God is opening doors and giving us new contacts everywhere we turn. It’s a great thing.

Today, we got word about more ministry opportunities, and Huberto, part of our team in Mexico, told me last week about all of the invitations our Center for Youth Ministry in Mexico is receiving to train youth workers throughout central Mexico.

We need wisdom to decide what God wants us to do in each of these situations. It’s a great situation to be in, but it’s also an important time for us to establish some guidelines as to how we will advance the work that we have been given.

We’re also always looking for new members of our team. If you’re a youth pastor and feel God calling you to train other youth workers or to missions, I’d love to talk with you about possibilities with Youth Ministry International.

(Thumbnail by alfon18 on flickr)