A recent study by the Secretary of Work and Social Provision revealed that one in eight (more than 1 million) children between the ages of 5 and 13 work and 2,500,000 teenagers must work to help support their families.
Of teenagers aged 14-17, sixty percent work, and of those who do work, almost half (47%) work at least 35 hours a week, causing the number of teens who don’t go to school because they work to be more than 1.4 million.
Article in La Jornada (Spanish)
(Via: Vivir Mexico)
(Photo by: Javier Valdez)
The Mexican President, Felipe Calderon, at a recent meeting of heads of state in Latin America, said, “Hope must be offered to young people who don’t believe in anything.”
Even the President of Mexico realizes that young people need help. The interesting thing is that there are many people in the church (even in our Seminary) who think that youth ministry is a waste of time.
My students have to deal day in and day out with people telling them that they are wasting their time studying to minister to young people.
I tell them that there is a great need out there for people who really care about young people and who want to invest their lives influencing the next generation. It’s an ongoing struggle for them, but I know that they are committed to offering to these young people something to believe in.
It’s been a great week. I can’t wait to hear what my students say on Monday when they come back from their churches where they work. I know that they will be used this weekend as they offer hope to the hopeless generation here in Mexico.
(Photo of Mexican President and the President of San Salvador at a recent conference)
Obama won the presidency of the United States Tuesday night, which has huge implications for the entire world, as well as Mexico.
But, something else happened that day in Mexico City that impacts the future of this country’s politics.
A small plane crash landed in Mexico City Tuesday night. It was carrying Juan Camilo Mourino, the interior minister (like the Secretary of State) in Felipe Calderon’s government and one of the prospective candidates for the presidency in the next elections. He was also the person who used to be in charge of fighting drugs.
He was a good friend of the president, and his death has impacted all of Mexico and their government. It will be interesting to see what impact this has on Mexican politics. I know for sure he will be missed by the current president of this country.
In the midst of festivities to honor, mock, and laugh at death, Huberto and I had the opportunity to share the message of the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
It all happened when we went to the zocalo yesterday to observe the Mexican cultural celebration of the Day of the Dead. All around us, there were countless altars and skeletons, and in the middle of the main square was a giant statue of Mictlantecutli, the god of the dead.
There were also many Mexican high school students doing reports for class. One such group came up to me and did an interview, asking me what I thought about all of the celebration (I’ll try to post the interview later). After the interview, a lady came up to me and asked me more questions.
I told her that, when I die, I will not want to come back and roam the earth because I’ll be in heaven with God. Huberto and I continued the conversation, sharing the gospel from the Bible and finishing it with her accepting Jesus as her Lord and Savior.
There are many Christians who would wonder what we were doing down there in the first place, but I’m convinced that the light shines brighter in the darkness. We went down there with no agenda. We did not plan to preach the gospel to anyone, but we were ready.
People here are thirsty for something to fill them. They are looking in all the wrong places. We know the Truth. Please keep praying for us as we minister here.
This Saturday, Jon and I went to ExpoCristiana, a gigantic Exposition of Christian books, music, and everything else imaginable. We went with Huberto and some of the young people from his church.
While we were there, Jon and I made an incredible cultural observation: Mexican young people love bracelets.
I snapped these pictures on my camera phone for proof. We spent at least 10 minutes standing at this booth looking at the bracelets.
So, I guarantee that this is something I will use in ministry. I need to get some bracelets made up to promote the Seminary program and our website, or, the next time someone invites me to preach at a camp or something, I need to get some bracelets that have to do with the topic.
After all, you have to identify the culture to use the culture to reach the culture.
