December 2015 Newsletter

 Equipping Leaders         
There are very few places in the world more broken than Haiti. It’s the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, the Global Hunger Index ranks it as one of the most undernourished countries in the world, and it’s considered one of the most corrupt countries by all accounts as well.

Our Haitian team that went to Kenya

      Some of these problems have only worsened despite the massive economic aid to Haiti following the devastating earthquake of January 2010. For example, the Red Cross raised over 500 million dollars to help Haiti and yet NPR says this resulted in “a string of poorly managed projects, questionable spending and dubious claims of success.” Many other aid attempts didn’t fare much better. Part of the reason many believe the aid has helped so little is an inability or unwillingness by organizations to equip and involve Haitians as part of the solution. This is also part of why I’m so excited about Young Life in Haiti.

      Young Life is focused on equipping local leaders as the best way to help more Haitian teenagers experience Jesus’ love. Our Haitian leaders need support and help in this (which is my role), but they are the

Bouzy presenting his drawing and experience

ones who determine how to apply this in Haiti and make it bear fruit. Many of our local leaders have struggled with how to handle YL’s focus on relational ministry inthe poverty of Haiti, so this fall we sent 6 leaders to be part of a hands-on training in Kenya. Kenya is more similar to Haiti culturally and economically than most of the rest of Latin America in a lot of ways and our Kenyan YL leaders face many of the same challenges our leaders in Haiti face each day. So our leaders spent 3 weeks there observing and participating in YL Kenya to see how they overcome many of these very difficult challenges. 

   

  The Haitian team came back thrilled with new ideas and renewed determination to help grow the ministry in Haiti. One of the leaders who went, Bouzy, said he went with a lot of knowledge about YL but in experiencing Kenya his eyes were opened by seeing ministry and Jesus-centered leaders in action in Africa. He saw “the best YL he’d never seen” and instead of giving him more knowledge it opened his eyes to more of what God wants to do through Young Life in Haiti.  Bouzy’s main focus in the months ahead is to use the experience to help enable and equip more leaders throughout Haiti. It was a beautiful picture to me of what it means to truly equip leaders- to prepare them, give them tools and most of all help them ‘see’ with open eyes what is possible and what God is calling them to.  Equipping leaders-- this is our prayer and our plan in Haiti and the rest of Latin America and the way God is going to continue to use Young Life to transform more and more lives there.

Transformed Lives     Over 4,800 kids made commitments to follow Christ this past year at camps in our Latin America/Caribbean Division. Here’s what a few of those teens said afterwards:

·        

        “Since childhood I grew up alone and thought I would always be alone, living a life without purpose. In this camp I realized I was not alone, that Jesus was with me...”

·         “My life was just a party – to drink, to smoke, and the person that suffers the most is my mother. But yesterday during those 20 minutes I cried like I have never cried, I gave my life to Jesus, and I know I have a purpose in my life. I have enjoyed these 5 days without the need for alcohol.”

“I have a new and clean heart and for the first time I felt the love of God in my life. I felt the presence of God. Jesus has done great things in my life and I am challenged and know the road is not easy, but with His love and help I am going to do it and will be able to know His purpose in my life.”

 Steeven  Steeven is one of the leaders I work with in Haiti and a great example of how God is at work there. Steeven grew up fatherless in Pele, a very poor neighborhood in Port-Au-Prince where YL in Haiti got its start. As an adolescent he had two key influences in his life—his gang (as Steeven says “every kid in Pele is part of a gang”) and Ona, a YL leader who worked at his school and who sought him out. For many years Steeven was two different people—one when he was with his gang friends, the other when he was with Ona. He didn’t really worry about this disconnect, it was just life. But when he was 17, Steeven was stabbed in a gang fight and began to question who he was and where he was going. In 2009 he was asked to share a little about his life at YL club and God used this to convict him deeply, as he says “my heart was touched and I was never the same”. His Young Life leaders discipled him and helped him figure out how to live as a follower of Jesus. 

Steeven

     In 2010 Haiti experienced a horrific earthquake and Steeven and his family left Port-Au-Prince to escape the devastation. Steeven knew he needed Christian mentors in his life so he sought out a local church and talked his mother into coming with him too. His mom was not very open to this, she was involved in voodoo quite deeply, but with Steeven’s influence she began to open up to the gospel and she was baptized in 2011! Steeven was thrilled at how his family had changed, but he really missed Young Life and he began to pray about starting YL in Mirebalais. The nearest Area Director was thrilled and he and Steeven began to work together to recruit and train leaders to help start the new club. Since then, Steeven has had a great impact on those around him. He now has 10 leaders he has trained who are running two clubs and working to open another. They are reaching out to teens who are a lot like Steeven was and introducing them to Jesus. Many of these kids are starting to attend church for the first time in their lives. Steeven says his goal is to ‘sacrifice to share the gospel’ like the role models he’s had in YL because it is Jesus who will help Haiti change, one teenager at a time.

Around the Division:    We’ve recently changed from being the YL Latin America region to being the Latin America and Caribbean Division. This means the Young Life ministries in the islands of the Caribbean have been added to our responsibilities. Puerto Rico, Bermuda, the Bahamas, and St. Thomas have active Young Life ministries we’ll now be helping supervise and train!

        Training with our Tri-color region
(The Venezuelan team is in front)

      My name is Roberth.  I thank God for having known this great family of Young Life. It has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. By chance I met them in February 2015. It was at an activity in the park. They made a great impression on me by who they were. They received me and the way they received me made me feel good.  I was accepted unconditionally. That had never happened to me in my life! Thank God for them. They spoke of Jesus like I had never heard before – Jesus was not boring, annoying, or about a bothersome religion. They spoke of something different. I met Jesus really. Infinite thanks to the leaders of Young Life, I have them in my heart. Thanks to them for inviting me to Super Camp 2015. After this camp my life changed. I hope that the lives of others can also change and that they will have the same wonderful opportunity that I had.” 

Jenn’s work with Young Life’s missionaries in Latin America has been going very well. She’s coaching and helping train 10 missionaries right now. She’s also been vital to helping some of our YL missionaries transition back to the U.S. as they’ve left the field and has helped others navigate the fundraising and deployment stages. She’s a huge blessing to them and our growing division.

Our family: Caroline, Jack and Reed are growing up! Caroline feels more comfortable in Spanish each day and Jack is improving in his understanding, but will still answer ‘sí’ (yes) to almost any question. (We don’t take advantage of that too often.J)  Reed is 16 months old and a bit of a monkey. He loves to climb tables, desks or bunk bed ladders if not watched closely! 

Matching Gift Opportunity!!      We are very excited to let you know that thanks to some generous ministry partners any new gifts given between now and the end of the year will be MATCHED, up to $16,000 dollars! So if you are a new donor, your donation will be worth twice as much! And if you do give monthly or a regular year end gift, any donation above and beyond that amount will be doubled! 

We’re very excited about this opportunity and the benefit to our ministry. Would you please prayerfully consider helping us meet our goal of raising the full amount? Thanks so much for your help. 

                  TO GIVE CLICK HERE!!!!!