Global Youth Ministry Network - Asia

A cord of three strands is not easily broken. One of the strands that makes youth ministry strong has to do with the church. By church, I refer in this article specifically to the local church—the group of believers that meet in a particular geographic location which the youth ministry springs from. Here’s what I want to emphasize: strengthening the youth ministry’s relationship with the local church makes it almost unbreakable.

But trying to describe what that relationship is exactly, is tricky because there is no one-size-fits-all description. Youth ministries and the churches they belong to differ from location to location and come in all sizes and shapes. Still, here are some ways I see, of what that relationship between youth ministry and the church should ideally be: Continue reading Youth Ministry and the Local Church

We have a youth ministry training in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines on the Saturdays of November 19, 26 and December 3.

At the local mall, we passed by a demon and a witch escorted us up the elevator. Okay, they were really ordinary people dressed up in costumes to the holiday theme known worldwide as Halloween. For some, this holiday celebration is quaint and almost harmless, while for others it is disturbing and needs to be opposed. Wherever you are on that spectrum though, spiritual warfare is a reality.

In Southeast Asia, the less urban the locale the more likely one will hear of spiritual encounters and many people in this region often take such things for granted. That being the case, there is a need for and a lack of practical resources for how one would deal with this in the youth ministry context, especially for Asia.

This reminded that we actually had one session in our Level 1 seminars “Cults and Occults” that we used to teach regularly. Past tense, since it no longer part of our basic curriculum. However, I still have the slides and I’d like to offer them as a resource to anyone who would find it useful:

Youth and Cults

If you’re in the Philippines, here’s one resource on Halloween by Ronald Molmisa a.k.a. Big Brother.

I found myself wrestling with a major ministry decision. I was sitting in a very peaceful location by a small lake of water in a wonderful atmosphere, but in my soul, I was far from being at peace. I was grappling over a big decision. Being highly analytical,  I was making my list of why I should or should not take the step laid before me. Finally, I set down my journal and got up from the table I was sitting at and took a walk. I had taken walks previously around this same lake, but this one was different. Instead of analyzing and wrestling, I simply said, “Lord, Jesus, let’s take a walk”. Within the first 10 steps I asked the Lord about this decision. In the time it would take to lift one foot and put it back down, He spoke to my heart (not audibly, but through His Spirit). The words short and simple yet profound, He simply said, “Feed my sheep”. Wow! He answered quickly and clearly. Of course, I then said, “but what about this area or that area?” Nothing…just “Feed my sheep”. I got it, plain and simple but profound and powerful:

Feed my sheep.

I have been following the steps to answer this call in my life. As I have been taking these steps, He has been teaching me that these three words are each critical in what I do and what you get to do in youth ministry. Let us look at each of these key words and their impact individually. Continue reading Feed My Sheep

It’s almost Christmas and GYMN-Asia is having a fund-raising activity for missions . Please leave a comment if you want to order.  Choose among the three designs: (1) Borden (2) Piper and (3) Morrison. We accept orders within the Philippines only (freight charges apply).

I used to take the farthest seat in the auditorium.

Unless I was tricked by my cousin from the church’s choir, chances for me to attend the youth ministry were slim to none. Youth Alive sounded like an organization you have in school. When I was invited to come, I imagined that it was a non-profit group that aims to protect the youth from drugs or from things of that sort that’ll do us harm. I read from a flyer that its “ALIVE” stood for “Attract young people, Lift up God, Inspire them to be Vessels of truth and Encourage one another.” The critic thought “Wow. You squeezed that in?” I concluded that it was good but I wasn’t sure if I liked it.

The day I fell hook, line and sinker to attend YA, I was in the “Let’s get this over with” mindset. So, I sat quietly, unsmilingly at the back, praying that they do not persuade newbies to introduce themselves in front. Observing everyone, I saw the place was filled with happy people. Too happy, I didn’t understand why. I groaned a bit when a quick ice-breaker was held. I reluctantly joined in, but it was so fun, I had trouble keeping my excitement to myself. They also have this “Love si Lord!” tagline which everyone exclaimed every time “Youth Alive” is mentioned. Which I dismissed as the effect of mass media, McDonald’s “Love ko ‘to” was a hit back then.

That day was the first-ever engaging worship I’ve experienced. I’ve been in the church for years, and it is good. But this was new for me. The intimacy was unmistakable. The excitement was thick in the atmosphere. The energy was on levels I didn’t know existed. It felt as if the ground was erupting to take you up to space. My heart was pounding. I felt like I could touch God’s face. The dancing, singing, jumping, shouts and cries assured you that behind it all was sincere worship. It was a huge wave slapping on the shores that were us. And it was contagious. Continue reading The View from The Seats

This post was written by Caress Escaña, a youth leader of Ablaze Youth of the Baptist Conference Church Iligan IKTHUS. The area of ministry is in the island of Mindanao in the Philippines, particularly Iligan City.

It’s got to be a Big Event for our youth group every last Sunday of the month. At this time, it is the only special event existing in our youth group. From the first to the third Sunday of every month, the youth leaders are active and busy after our Sunday service, preparing for the Big Event. All of us in the youth leadership team work hand in hand for the success of this affair—to enjoy the fellowship with other young people, to learn, and above all to give God the glory that belongs to Him alone.

Last July 30, we had our first Big Event. With the theme, “Statement Shirt Day: What’s on Your Mind?”. It was fantastic!  We were overwhelmed with the number of young people who were present. There were about 150 young people who attended the event. Most of us were wearing our statement shirts and we really had a great time reading different statements written on our shirts. Some were funny, some were inspiring and some just didn’t go well with the person wearing the shirt.

The event started at exactly 4 o’clock in the afternoon and ended just in time, 6 o’clock in the evening. The youth were being registered the moment they arrived. A craft which is a paper t-shirt with a statement written on it served as our waiting activity, so that they won’t get bored while waiting for others to arrive. An award was given to the best craft before the program ended. The program formally started with a welcome address. New sets of leaders of our youth group were introduced and the old ones were also called up. The youth leaders then gave a dance presentation to officially welcome all the guests and to show how glad we were to see them all. Each guest was assigned to a respective team for the games. There were four teams: Red, Blue, Green and Yellow.

After having much fun playing and energizing, we then listened to the Word of God—the most exciting part of the program. It was the highlight of the Big Event. Sharing God’s word is our main intention of having this kind of event in our youth group. We were so blessed with the message God has given us through His servant, our very own Kuya L.M. (Louis Mark Plaza). More meaningful information was being added to our learning. We’ve heard comments from some of our visitors that they liked the message which means they’ve been blessed!  And we really praise God for that. After the message, everybody intently listened to the response song “Walk on the Water” sang by Jonah Avelina.

The Lord our God is truly a great provider—He is Jehovah Jireh. If an activity glorifies Him, He provides. We’ve been amazed by how He worked with our finances. The budget for our food was really that small. It couldn’t feed 150 young people. But the God whom we serve is the owner of everything, He is sovereign… He is great! He was the God who fed the five thousand people. He was also the God who fed us that time. And like the story, there were plenty leftovers. The fellowship we had was really awesome!

We’re all excited for our next Big Event. We’re expecting more fun, more learning, more food, more surprises and more of our Lord Jesus Christ! It is our great pleasure to meet various young people from different places with diverse personalities and lives. All youth are invited and are welcome to join the Big Event as all are invited in our Lord’s Kingdom.