When
we arrived in Mexico we had a very clear picture of what we
hoped to accomplish; we wanted to provide resources and training
for youth workers. This vision has provided the target at
which we have focused our energy over the past 10 years.
There
have been lots of twists and turns along the road. Some things
that we didn't expect have become significant factors in the
fulfillment of that vision, like the web page www.ParaLideres.org
and our association with the RAICES training movement, while
things that we did expect haven't happened, like finding lots
of full-time youth workers to work with in Mexico and seeing
youth groups transformed as a result of the onsite training
seminars we've done.
But we
have reached the point where we can say that we are providing
resources and training to people who work with youth in Latin
America.
- Resources:
Through ParaLideres.org we offer over 13,000 pages of free
resources. These resources include five illustrated, interactive
e-learning classes and three animated stories, which model
principles of youth ministry through the life of a youth
leader. The web site is a collaborative effort so users
can upload and share their materials with other leaders.
An average of 90 new pages are added every month.
- Training:
Our distance education materials provide a complete course
that covers the basic elements of youth ministry. (It is
the equivalent of two-semester college or seminary level
class and is available on CD from a leader in our network
of trainers or online at www.ECCEL.org)
If you've
talked with us the past few years you know that we've been
sensing a change on the horizon. We're committed to the "working
ourselves out of a job" principal, but the actual leaving
part is harder than we imagined. We love our life in Mexico
(we've been here 1/4 of our lives) and it's hard to think
about leaving our friends. However, we can't avoid the facts...
the youth ministry in our local church is healthy and running
without us, and with the completion of the distance education
course we don't need to be based out of Mexico. So our plan
right now is to leave in 2006.
We don't
know to where we'll be moving, but we do know what we'll be
doing. Our new vision is to leverage what God has given us
in terms of relationships, experience and knowledge. To give
you an idea of what that means, here are some commitments
already on our calendar for 2006:
-
A visit to the OC International teams in Indonesia to train
them in what we know about distance training and Web course
design.
- An
onsite youth ministry training event in Ecuador where, along
with our RACIES partners, we will provide training for staff
and congregations associated with Compassion International,
Ecuador. We will also help them get situated for ongoing
training and follow-up using our distance education course
on Pastoring Youth.
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- A
meeting with the Latin American Youth Ministry Summit: a
close network of people also training youth leaders in Latin
America. Several of them are currently using our resources
and course in their ministries, including using it to teach
youth ministry in seminaries.
- Ongoing
maintenance and development of www.ParaLideres.org as well
as helping groups in other cultures create similar websites
in their language.
- Ongoing
development and distribution of the Pastoring Youth materials
and course.
Even though
our move is still about six months away we wanted you to know
because we depend on your prayers and so you can help us,
as you have done so faithfully throughout the past 10 years.
