God is moving in the hearts and lives of young people and leaders all across the United States and Canada. The clearest example is the lasting effects of the Nazarene Youth Conference 2007 – Water Fire Wind in St. Louis, Missouri in the United States. We continue to receive reports of God changing lives and Churches through His movement in lives at NYC.
One student wrote: “I don’t know where exactly to begin my story but the best place I can think of is the day we left for NYC. Everyone was telling us that this was going to change our lives forever and that there was no way we could go through that week without seeing God. I remember sitting in my chair thinking that there was no way."
"You see, I was raised in a Church environment, and always had God as a part of my life. However, I realized that even though I had asked Jesus into my heart as a child, it wasn’t necessarily something I believed. It was just something that I went along with because it was what I was raised to do. At that point I was angry with God, unable to let certain parts of my past go, and not wanting to go on some Youth retreat with my Church. If I had been given a choice, I would not have gone, but the money had been paid, and there was no getting out of it."
"So, off I went to Saint Louis, and I will admit, I had a wonderful time. But throughout the trip, I was still fighting God. I had done the shorter weekend retreats, always coming home 'changed' for a few days before returning to my prior self, and I did not want to do that again. I knew I would feel like I had let myself down if I accepted God and dropped Him again. I realized that if I was going to accept God, it would have to be with all of my being, and I wasn’t ready for that. Or so I thought."
"Throughout the week I watched people change. My roommate became one of my most respected friends, and as I watched her change and grow in Christ, I began to realize that if what she had was what a true relationship with God was, I wanted it. So, finally I began to pray, asking God to come back into my life."
"On one of the evenings my District was on the main floor, there was an alter call and my roommate, who I mentioned before, ran past me, tears streaming down her face, to go to the altar. I decided to go with her, and there I felt God. I felt Him like I have never felt Him before and wonder if I ever will again. I realized that I needed to give my life to Christ once and for all. And so I did."
"I asked God for forgiveness and to be a part of His holy Church, to be His completely. Then someone in the stadium started singing I Surrender All, and I can’t tell you how perfect that song was for me. Soon the whole stadium was singing, including me right along with everyone else. And you know what? I meant it. I did surrender all, and later I felt God’s call to be a missionary."
"I remember thinking 'Me, God? A new believer? I’m not ready!' and then remembering that I had just told God I’d give everything up for Him, so I agreed. I remember repeating over and over, 'God if you want me to go, find a way for me to get there, and I will.'”
Not only in this story, but in many others, we have seen God at work throughout our Region. This next summer we have a series of discipleship conferences throughout the month of July focused on holiness called FUEL. We’re so excited about what God is doing throughout the United States and Canada.
In this centennial time of the Church of the Nazarene, we are working for the BIG Regional NYI Congress in December 2008 (17 to 20) in Lima, Peru.
The purpose of this event is to give the new Centennial Youth generation of SAM the opportunity to celebrate, grow, and be challenged in sanctification for the future.
Con la participación de once distritos y cerca de 800 personas durante los cultos, se celebró el XVII Concurso Nacional de Esgrima Bíblico en Guadalajara, México.
Jóvenes de todo el país se dieron cita el 17 y 18 de noviembre de 2007 para competir con el libro de Hechos y convivir sanamente en este nacional que tuvo por lema "Recibiréis poder".
El distrito Occidente se levantó invicto con el triunfo en una reñida competencia, en tanto que el distrito Sur Fronterizo se quedó con el segundo lugar y Golfo con el tercero.
Los cinco primeros lugares individuales formarán el equipo que representará a México en el congreso Regional Ejumac 2008, a llevarse a cabo en Costa Rica del 22 al 26 de julio.
El Dr. Francisco Cardona, pastor de la Iglesia Getsemaní de Guadalajara, tuvo a cargo la predicación de los cultos misma que fue motivadora y de mucha inspiración. Los jóvenes fueron ungidos por el poder del Espíritu y recibieron poder para regresar a sus lugares de origen llevando la luz de la Palabra.
A este magno evento de la juventud mexicana asistieron los superintendentes del distrito Oriente y Occidente (anfitrión), Pbro. Rosario Vázquez y Dr. Jorge Córdova; el Coordinador de Estrategia de Área, Pbro. René Jiménez; el Director Global de Esgrima Bíblico, Dan Reinhart; el Presidente Regional de JNI, Josué Jiménez; el Coordinador de Jóvenes Regional, Benjamín Soria; el Presidente Nacional, Willians Vera; el Presidente de la Franja Centro, César Álvarez, y los Presidentes de JNI de los distritos asistentes además de los pastores locales.
La siguiente cita para el esgrima nacional será en Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas en noviembre de 2008. ¡Hasta entonces!
There are a number of us on the NYI leadership team in Eurasia, particularly in Europe, who have spent pretty much every New Year since 2002 together, most of the time with a different group of Eurasian young people joining us.
During those years, I have witnessed many unique moments in various locations.
Our photos don't begin to capture just how miraculous the 2001-2002 NYC for Europe in Germany was-the way everything looked so utterly impossible, but it happened, and happened well. God was definitely in control, and his presence was very real.
Photos, which we love to take a lot of, don't capture the snowball (and raw egg) fights at the following year's Northern Europe NYC in Denmark, or celebrating in Dublin another year, or the camaraderie among those at a certain Regional NYI Vice President's 31 December 2005 wedding, cleverly chosen so he'd never forget his anniversary.
Film doesn't begin to express just how cold and wet it was atop the hillside in Edinburgh, Scotland, where 150 young people from Northern Europe welcomed 2007 with fireworks and communion, gloved hands and paper cups.
Counting down the final seconds to 2008 on a city tram in Zürich goes in the memory books for the most randomly connected, though mostly through NYI, Germans-and-friends who ventured into the Swiss city for midnight fireworks this year. In most of Western Europe, New Years is just another excuse to party. In Switzerland, it's one of two times a year when fireworks get center stage, so it's worth the effort.
In India, most Christian young people gather on 31 December for a service that begins in the old year and ends in the New Year. Then they pick up traditional instruments and go from one home to the next celebrating, singing and wishing one another a Happy New Year until the morning. After a bit of sleep, most are back for a whole day, beginning with a Church service, followed by sport, fellowship and, naturally, a meal together.
Community and fellowship-that's the way we like our holidays as Eurasia NYI. It's true not only in Europe or India but also for the Middle East. On New Years, families get together for a big meal or a party with games, songs, dancing, gifts, and fireworks. But unlike the Europeans, who will be on the street for hours, no matter how cold it is, in the Middle East, not a lot of people will have an outdoor party because of the cold and problems with strangers crashing the party.
Listening to others' stories over the last week of how they ended the last year and began this one, it keeps coming up over and over again-community, fellowship, friendship. People from many different nationalities enjoying Arabic bread, pizza, brownies, and German sausage, someone who has shared in many of the last years' memorable moments welcoming a friend's friend whom we've never met before-these are not just wishful thinking, they are our reality. The circle is not exclusive. There will be text messages coming in throughout the night from others who are celebrating thousands of kilometers away.
May God be with us throughout this year. May he strengthen our relationships, help us to grow and be more Christlike, and add many more to the growing network of young people committed to serving him by serving the world he has placed them in. And above all, may he be glorified every moment of every day.
Greetings in the mighty name of Jesus from the Caribbean Region!
God is doing so many amazing things in the Caribbean these days! Wherever you look, you'll see God transforming the lives of young people, young people being discipled, Youth and leaders being trained for effective ministry, and ministry led by, and targeted toward, Youth that meet the needs of the Youth of our Region.
However, in spite of all the successes, I write this with a very heavy heart. My friend and Youth Ministry colleague, Sadrack Nelson, lost his wife and ministry partner this week to a totally unexpected death. This young couple has been vital for effective ministry in Haiti. Sadrack serves as the National NYI Coordinator for Haiti, the Director of Extension Education, the Central District NYI President, and pastor. On top of all of that, he's in the middle of an on-line master's program with NNU. More importantly, he's the father of a 1 year old son. His wife Omega was an unwavering support and help to him.
I'm grateful for the outpouring of love and support I've seen from our Caribbean NYI Ministry Team toward Sadrack. People have been calling and writing and visiting, to cry and pray and hurt and support our friend and colleague. We're all reminded that there are times when the ministers need to be ministered unto. And it is encouraging to see just that happening for Sadrack. I hope that is happening in the circles in which you minister.
We're also reminded that none of us knows how much longer we have with our loved ones, so take a little more time today to hug and kiss and talk with those special loved ones at home. Also, it's okay to say "no" a little more often to the myriad of requests you get to do this or that. I suspect that those loved ones of yours would like a little more of your time while they still have you and you still have them.
Blessings,
Monte
After the Philippines NYC last April, God seemed to open the doors to gather the District Presidents to discuss NYI and ministry to Youth. It was the wise comment of a Filipino leader who suggested, "Why not include the District Superintendents in these meetings and discussions?" This simple suggestion had a profound impact upon all that happened in our time together, and God also used it to begin to really speak to my heart.
Many times NYI can exist as a body off to the side, by itself, apart from the larger church. As an NYI Coordinator, I thought of my role as gathering NYI leaders to discuss NYI. But we are members of the larger body of the Church of the Nazarene and members of the larger body of Christ. How young people interact with the adults where they live, and how they lead and mentor the children, are critically important. To neglect this is to risk the health of believers and local Churches.
A second thing that I noticed is how hungry the young leaders were for someone to mentor them. This was an awesome time to have concentrated time with their immediate leader, the District Superintendent. It reminded me that as a member of a body, I need others to mentor and support me, and I am called to be mentoring and supporting others. We all need to be discipled and discipling. As a local Youth Pastor, the support, encouragement, and interaction with my pastor were so important. The District Presidents took a bold step and asked their DS, "What do you expect of me as an NYI President." And the beautiful thing was when the DS responded, "And what do you expect of me?" These young leaders were able to make a covenant with their leader for support, encouragement, prayer, and partnership as they worked together "to make Christlike disciples in the nations."
God used these Godly leaders to show me that while we work with Youth and are wanting "to call our generation to a dynamic life in Christ," we also need to be working to disciple the children in our local Churches and seek to be discipled by the elders. "For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are ONE body in Christ, and individually members one of another" (Rom 12:4-5 ESV, emphasis mine). We share ONE story, ONE hope, ONE mission, ONE justice. We are one.
To read the full story of this event, click here.
