I am motivated by youth who serve humbly without complaining. I love to see young leaders serve the Lord with a passion for the lost. Not only do they give their best, they give everything they have to the Lord. They love the church and their friends more than anything. I see they have awesome aspirations for their leaders and for their church. Youth respect their leaders when they feel their leaders sincerely love them and care for them.
Finally, because of Jesus, my own teenage children motivate me. He doesn’t want this generation to be lost. The power and love of the gospel is how we will reach and prepare a new generation of leaders that will be strong and full of the Holy Spirit.
I have been serving the youth for 23 years at the district and local level in El Salvador. I have served as a missionary for 11 years — two as the coordinator and president of Regional NYI in Mesoamerica — and these have been the most wonderful years of my service for the kingdom of God.
As pastor and superintendent I always believe in the youth and their potential, which is why I continue to work to prepare, equip, and train youth to respond to the ministry, and show other leaders the potential the youth have to serve.
Work in a team: Do not work alone, and do everything with the right motive, which is bringing youth to Jesus and not to yourself.
Develop leaders: Form leaders and learn to work with a vision of being inclusive in sharing the ministry.
Be a coach: Be a good listener and help youth to build their own futures, empowering them in their lives and decisions.
To be involved in the life of their children and to be a part of the youth ministry. They can form a team with the pastor or youth leader and work together to develop the healthy spiritual lives of the youth.
To be models and mentors for the next generation and be a part of their formation in leadership and their spiritual life.
To support their children in their dreams and desires and help them reach their goals and objectives.
That this is their world and we need to understand them and help them know the love of God in their lives. I truly celebrate the youth who attend church and are responding to the call of God, because although it is true we haven’t been directly impacted by post-modernity, we have been influenced by this movement through the media and it is promoting values completely opposite from those values us adults have today. Therefore we ought to study and train ourselves with the youth ministry academy materials NYI has on the Mesoamerica Region to minister to youth and reach this new generation.
Even with all the difficulties the teenage years bring, the church ought to love them, care for them, believe in them, and challenge them, because they are the church of today, not of the future.
The church ought to give them space where they can develop and serve the Lord with meaningful responsibilities.
