Latin America | YMI Mexico

Archive - Latin America RSS Feed

The Greatness of a Seminary

October 27, 2010 in Center for YM, Latin America, Mexico, Seminary with 1 Comment

Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the numbers game when it comes to ministries. Seminaries are not immune to this problem. The first few years at the Mexican Baptist Theological Seminary were rough times for the youth ministry program. After having three students enter the first year to study youth ministry, two of them dropped out. Numbers were not what we had hoped. But we’ve learned a lot since then.

This video of Dr. Elmer Towns says it best. He is talking about leading Liberty University to be the largest Christian University in the world and about his thoughts on the greatness of the Seminary. I especially like what he says here (see clip), “The Greatness of a Seminary is not in the number of students you have. The greatness of a Seminary is what they do for God once they graduate.”

I’m excited to see what our graduates do for God after they graduate from the Seminary.

Check out the entire video here:

Ministry Happenings – First Quarter 2010

April 20, 2010 in features, Latin America, Uncategorized, YMI with 0 Comments

After last week’s whirlwind trip (I’ll write more about that later), we finally got around to turning in an overdue report to Youth Ministry International for the first quarter of 2010, which gives an overview of our ministry activity.

Here are some of the things that were accomplished in the first quarter of 2010, either by our family or a part of our YMI team in Latin America:

Met with a pastor in Cuernavaca about youth ministry training in his city, taught his youth group, and preached in his church (watch the video)
Taught an evangelism conference to a youth group in Toluca, Mexico
Participated in 2 city-wide youth leaders conferences in downtown Mexico City
Preached at a local church youth camp for Spring Break
We’ve published 38 articles on

Received over 4800 visits and more than 11,000 pageviews on our ministry website. We receive emails from people all over Latin America asking for training because of the articles, resources, etc, that we put on the site.
Participated in a regional youth leaders conference in Cuba, teaching 2 training sessions and preaching in the opening service
Taught Contemporary Communication at the Bachelor’s level in Mexico
Taught Professional Orientation to Youth Ministry at the Bachelor’s level in Mexico
Taught Contemporary Communication at the Diploma level in Mexico
Taught Troubled Youth class at the Diploma level in Mexico
Taught a mentoring class in a local church (based on material used in Youth Discipleship)
Taught an informal YM philosophy workshop in Sonora at a regional camp
Taught an informal YM workshop in Toluca to youth leaders

We are excited to be a part of what God is doing in Latin America. Who knows what the next quarter holds!!!

Graduation in Santiago

April 16, 2010 in Center for YM, Latin America, YMI with 1 Comment

Last Saturday night I had the chance to be at the first graduation of youth ministry students from the Baptist Seminary in Santiago, Cuba. There were 19 graduates overall.

This class was one of the first graduating classes taught entirely by national professors trained by Youth Ministry International over a period of 3 years.

There’s a lot more to say about this, but for now, I’m just going to post the photo.

MinisterioJuvenil.com

January 12, 2010 in features, Global Youth Ministry, Latin America with 0 Comments

I just received a really great note of encouragement on our youth ministry blog in Spanish (www.ministeriojuvenil.com). The youth ministry resource site has received so many great comments and created so many incredible contacts for us. Here is what the comment said (translated into English):

Hi. It is a blessing to have the opportunity to have access to this space and receive refreshment. I am from the city of Cartagena in Colombia, and I serve with my husband as youth pastors in the youth ministry. It is very interesting and edifying to have the opportunity to receive from you all and to be able to bring renewal to our local church. I pray that God will continue filling you with His grace and presence. Congratulations on your work and dedication.

We also received an email from someone today interested in inviting us to teach our informal youth ministry training conference.

We are excited about the possibilities for 2010 as we plan on investing more time in this valuable tool for training youth workers all over Latin America.

November 2009 Ministry Update

November 6, 2009 in Family, features, Latin America, YMI with 1 Comment

Today is the start of the Youth Ministry International annual board meeting. They asked us to make a quick video updating about out ministry. I thought I would post it here for all to see.

It’s got an interview with one of our graduates and one of our current students. Check out what God is doing in Latin America!

If you want to download the video to show in your church or small group, here’s the download link.

If you would like to help support our ministry in Latin America, check out this page to see how you can help us financially. Also, you can support our family and ministry doing normal things you do all the time.

The Cuban Dream Team

July 17, 2009 in Center for YM, Global Youth Ministry, Latin America with 0 Comments

This ball sits on my office desk in Mexico to remind me of the dream team of youth workers we trained in Cuba.

They are absolutely knocking it out of the park when it comes to training other youth workers.

I love those guys and can’t wait to see them again.

Posted via email from Life and other things…

Youth Ministry graduates in Cuba 2009

July 2, 2009 in Center for YM, Global Youth Ministry, Latin America with 1 Comment

I feel like a grandfather, almost. The students we trained in the Cuba project who graduated last June have seen their first generation of students graduate from the Seminary in Havana.

It’s exciting to see how the ministry is multiplying. Here are some pictures from their graduation. Click one to see a larger version and a description.