YL Training in Latin America

The VJ clubhouse decorated for the 4th On the 4 th of July many people (maybe you even) celebrated by spending time with family, grilling hamburgers or hot dogs, eating watermelon, watching a parade, lighting up sparklers and viewing fireworks.   That’s actually how I’ve spent a lot of Independence Days over the years.   But this year Jenn and I spent the 4 th of July doing a lot of painting, eating rice and beans in a Dominican barrio, and holding a merengue dance party….I’m not much of a dancer, but I’ve got to admit, it was a pretty good way to celebrate. J            This all happened because Jenn and I were able to go ‘home’ to the Dominican Republic for ten days with 17 teens and 3 leaders from the youth group of Brookside CRC and experience the DR with them as we worked at Pico Escondido--Young Life’s camp in the DR-- and spent several days in one of the neighborhoods where Vida Joven does ministry.   It was a ver...

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...