December 2013

Dear Friends….    Happy Holidays! We’re excited to share with you some of what’s going on in Young Life in Latin America. Thanks for making all this possible. You’ll read here about growing ministry in Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico and throughout a region that really has so many deep needs. At times thinking about the problems of teens in these countries seems overwhelming—broken families, gangs, emotional issues, poverty, lack of education—the list goes on and on. But God has really been using Isaiah 40 to speak to me this year--“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. ²⁹ He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.”

    The reality is I do know and I have heard and I’m thankful for that-- thankful that we do not do this work alone or in our power, thankful for the YL leaders who do an amazing job of investing in these teens, and I’m reminded how much these teens need to know and hear the same gospel message that I’ve been blessed to hear. So thanks for taking time to read this note, for praying for the leaders and teens involved, and for your generosity that makes this ministry possible. Thank you for helping teens around the world come to know the everlasting God. 

Camp in Cuba….  It’s been a great encouragement to see our ministry in Cuba flourishing this year. Julia Veloz is an Area Director from the Dominican Republic and she has been helping me to train our Cuban leaders with three visits there this year. We’ve seen great growth in the leaders and kids involved in big part because of her investment in equipping our team there.  Wilder, and his wife, Gisela Maria, have brought together a growing team of leaders and are building a community that’s growing together. They are all getting more and more excited at the fruit they are beginning to see. This leadership team has really worked at connecting with teens this past year and they have spent a lot of time at the park, gym, and school and built some great friendships with some challenging kids. These students have begun to go to club and are hearing the gospel for the first time because of these relationships.

Teens who went to camp in Cuba

    They very recently had 30 teens go to camp with them, almost all of which were non-Christians! 27 of these teens made a commitment to the Lord and it’s exciting to see them responding. Another encouragement has been the reaction of parents. One mom in particular was at first very suspicious of the Young Life leaders and why they were spending so much time with teens she saw as ‘bad kids’ and she was worried for her son. So when she saw some Young Life leaders she yelled at them and even made some veiled threats about informing the government. She recently had a conversation with Wilder and other leaders where she began crying and then thanked them for the impact she saw in her son after camp. She admitted to feeling powerless to impact her own child and his decisions and then repeatedly thanked all the YL leaders for what they’re doing to help him. She’s begun to see a change in him and it’s making a change in her. It was a beautiful moment for our leaders there as they strive to overcome the challenges they face.             

Maria Carla, is 15 years old and was at the camp. She was challenging at first, but ended up accepting the Lord. 

   “I felt loved by my leader Yasmin; I know I am not an easy person and I gave her a really hard time with all of my misbehaving. I am sad that I am going home, I was really happy the whole weekend. I felt something that I cannot explain in my cabin time, also during the talk and the ten minutes alone with the Lord were great. Thank you for the invitation, I loved it.”

CHIAPAS, MEXICO   Jay and Amanda Miranda have lived in Chiapas for a little over a year now getting Young Life started there. Amanda leads a club in a private school there and is one of the missionaries Jenn mentors. Jay helped start that club last year and now has a team starting ministry in the public schools. They’re recruiting and training leaders and modeling how to enter the world of teenagers to demonstrate Jesus’ love to them. Jay and one of his leaders have started what they call Young Life ‘X’—which is a discipleship group with some of the teens they’ve gotten to know. Here’s what Gerardo, 14, said about this group after just a couple months:

Young Life X in Chiapas

       "This group is a family, I love them all so much. In this group you will find great friendship. With them we live life, have fun, share our stories, cry, laugh, and learn about God. It gives us direction to a better life, and reminds us to never forget that we have a special purpose and value. Even if everyone abandons us, God is with us, always protecting us and caring for us. I can trust the friends in this group in those times when I needed the most and always find the love of family. May God bless this group that is my family."

     I’ll be helping with the first training camp for Jay and Amanda’s leaders in Chiapas very soon and am very excited about it. A lot of Mexico’s struggles are tied into the problems of teenagers struggling to find value and a purpose in life. These YL leaders will help kids experience Jesus’ love and learn their real value in God’s eyes. Pray that YL in Chiapas continues to grow quickly!

Planning for new clubs in Ecuador

ECUADOR  We’ve had Young Life in Ecuador for about 18 months now and it’s great to see the progress that is happening there. We recently held our  second outreach camp with 36 teens and another 20 adults as leaders and work crew from 4 different cities. At this camp 33 teens made new commitments to the Lord and are now being discipled by their leaders. There are plans to start two new clubs this year and we’re seeing more and more impact on teens that come from some very difficult family situations. Here’s one example shared after the camp--   “Anabel is 16 years old. Before coming to Young Life, she was using drugs, having problems with her family, and being influenced by some poor examples. Anabel’s mother brought her to her first YL club because she was so worried for her daughter and some other adults suggested she might find some good role models in the Young Life leaders. One of the leaders met Anabel that night and took her under her wing— welcoming her, getting to know her, and introducing her around. Anabel liked it enough to come back the next week and then to start going to a girl’s time during the week. Each week her friendships grew.  Last week, Anabel came to YL camp and had an amazing time with her new friends and the leaders. She accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior and wants to change many things in her life”. Please be praying for our team there as they continue to walk with teens like Anabel and help them come to know the Lord who loves them.

PILAR   I’m really excited to tell you about some help I’ll have in 2014! Pilar Soto is from Costa Rica and has been an Area Director for over 15 years. She has a great passion for reaching teens with the gospel since she became a Christian through Young Life and also has a wealth of experience in ministry. So we’ve asked Pilar to work with me part-time in training leaders in Central America. I’m really excited about this; as the ministry keeps growing it’s important to share the training load AND the opportunity to work with a national leader who is gifted in this area is really great news. Pilar will be stepping into this role in January, so please pray for a great transition for her and a great blessing to the leaders and countries she’ll be working with.