Seeing leaders grow....


Dear Friends,
     Thanks for your prayers for Jenn and I’s trip to the Dominican Republic last week. We really enjoyed the time seeing old friends, training leaders and caring for Young Life staff. God is clearly at work in YL in the DR—since Jenn and I left our role there just a few years ago, the ministry has almost doubled in the number of clubs and students involved!  Seeing what is happening there is a great reminder that ministry isn’t our work, but God’s and we’re privileged enough to be invited to join in.


The DR staff and student staff

Jenn with Katie and Emily, two of the women
she coaches....and Emilio.
We were so blessed to see leaders we’ve known for years who are growing and maturing. When Jenn and I lived in the DR, Fernando and Esther were college students who were helping lead clubs ---- now they’re married and they were sent as missionaries to plant a new area for Young Life. They’ve done such a great job of developing leaders they now have 4 clubs started and growing. Orlin, Emilio and Abi were new Christians and high school students who I spent 3 weeks with as work crew for summer outreach camps in 2006-- they are now all in college and serve as club directors leading teams of volunteer leaders.  And those are just a few examples-- what a privilege to spend time with these leaders and many others who are growing and serving.  
RC Sproul says ‘I have had just enough taste of the majesty of God to want more. I know what it means to be a forgiven man and what it means to be sent on a mission. My soul cries for more. My soul needs more.’  I was struck by that during our time together in the DR—through YL each of us have seen God at work changing lives and we’ve glimpsed His majesty. We’ve each been forgiven and sent on a mission. We’re grateful for that--and it makes us long for more.
So thanks for helping make this time of training, coaching and renewal for these leaders possible.  Please be praying for the leaders in the DR—as they reach out each day to hundreds of teens who don’t yet know the Lord and join in with what God is doing in the barrios of the Dominican Republic.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Flat tires in Bogota

Image
The first flat tire isn’t a big deal—it’s the second one you need to be worried about.     A good friend once told me this Flat tire #2 while we were traveling over some extremely rough roads in Haiti. We only had one flat tire on that trip ( below average actually for those roads ), so no problem.   I hadn’t thought about that for a while until traveling in Colombia a couple weeks ago. Our bus there had a flat tire on our way to a leader’s retreat we were holding outside of Bogota.   A 2 ½ hour ride turned into 5 hours, but no real trouble, just more time to laugh, hang out at a gas station, play with some stray dogs and sleep on the bus. The second flat tire though (same bus, different tire) happened on our way back to Bogota, it shouldn’t have been too terrible except it was on a curvy mountain road…. with no shoulder.…at night….and the old tire wouldn’t budge….and I had to catch a redeye flight late that night. It’s the second one you need to be worrie...
Read more

Dominican Training Camp and Emilio's story

Image
How many campers would you put at a camp that has a capacity of 95? For most of us, that answer is pretty clearly 95 or less. But at our training camp for leaders in the Dominican Republic in March the answer was 157! It was our largest training camp ever and it meant people were sleeping in every available space-- on mattresses, sleeping pads, sleeping bags or whatever we could find. I ended up with a lovely space on our camp manager’s office floor. But it also meant a great deal of fun with a big group of potential leaders who were excited to learn and grow. The amazing thing about this is that well over half of that 157 are teenagers who accepted Christ in the last two years through Vida Joven and they’re now desiring to learn to share what they’ve come to know with their friends and classmates. This is the fruit of a lot of outreach and discipleship by our leaders in the Dominican Republic. They’ve really dedicated themselves to walking with these kids the last two years and helpi...
Read more

Scars and Grace

Image
Dear Friends,     The picture you see here is of my friend Noyo in Haiti. A recent visitor to Haiti wrote a great blog entry about Noyo and his experiences as Young Life leader in Haiti that you’ll be blessed to read. Click on  Scars  that tell of the good life   to read an amazing story of faithfulness, grace and a God-centered mission.      I’d love for you to be praying for the Haitian YL team especially this month.   Soon I’ll be spending 5 days in Haiti with Noyo and our Haitian leadership team as we’ll celebrate what God is doing through them and then evaluate and plan and pray about training more Haitian YL leaders. Pray God would give a lot of wisdom and insight into how to best support these amazing leaders. Right after that I’ll be in the Dominican Republic to get some time with key staff and be with a work team from Brookside CRC’s youth group. It’ll be a full and exciting month, thanks for praying for these trips an...
Read more