Please and Thank You

This weekend we will be in the southernmost city in the world - Ushuaia, Argentina. This cold, windy, port city is host to an extension campus of the Youth Leadership Institute (InstitutoEJ.com). Almost every month this year a professor from the main campus in Buenos Aires travels the 1476 miles (2375 kms) to the end of Tierra del Fuego to teach 50 to 100 youth leaders from the region. Annette and I are the professors this month.

Please pray that our workshop will provide the knowledge and tools they need to serve the families and youth of their community and to make disciples of Jesus Christ.

Two weekends ago, we got to be part of training 125 youth pastors and leaders from all over Latin America. That was a pleasant surprise because 10 days before we received an email saying that only 20 people had registered for the event, and the organizers asked for prayer. The feedback after the 5 day event was excellent . Here are some of the highlights:

• A young man from the jungle of Ecuador thanked us and then blessed us in his tribal language. It's fun to be part of reaching all of the "tribes" of the world. 
• An Ecuadorian missionary who had been kicked out of a Middle Eastern country explained that people have been asking her to coach them but she didn't have the tools to do it. After our training she was excited to have acquired coaching skills she can practice until she move to Europe to work with new immigrants there.
• A pastor explained that he had been very sick for a month, but made himself get out of bed for this event because back in 2000 he attended a Raices (the youth ministry training movement we’re part of) and it transformed his ministry. At the event he felt well enough to participate and through the training he realized that he had settled into a place where he thought he had all the tools he needed for his ministry. But in coaching, which makes people responsible for their growth and development, he found something that he believed would be as important in his ministry as Roots had been and he was so grateful that God healed him so he could participate. 
• A pastor congratulating us for the fact that as trainers we exemplified the “80/20” rule that we taught: speaking 20% of the time and letting them speak 80% of the time, in the various learning tasks and coaching practices. 
• A personal highlight was working with some of our favorite colleagues from Spain, Ecuador and Peru

Thank you for your prayers, encouragement and support that makes these training events possible.