During our marathon of trainings in Southeast Asia I met an amazingly talented young man who calls himself Wakka. I was delighted to discover that not only was he a natural musician but he also seemed to be a natural writer. He provided our prayer partners and supporters with a view of our trainings during our stint in Southeast Asia by posting to our Facebook site during or after seminars. If you checked our Facebook page from May 5 to 17 you’ve read of him already.

For those who haven’t, I’ve reposted his paragraphs below to get you a glimpse into our last training outside the Philippines.

A note: This training there was far from Internet access so Wakka did these nightly rather than in real time. Aside from keeping folk updated Wakka also taught some of the sessions (having gone through the GYMN material and having used it in his youth ministry too).

The following takes place between May 10 and May 17, 2010. Everything in square brackets [and italicized] are my edits, the rest our all Wakka’s. Here goes:

[May 10 at 10:46pm] Everyone…. It’s me again Wakka. I will be your host posting of what is going on here in our stationary. Stay tuned and stay posted because I will be the one to update you all. Peace from the East. I’m not even sure if we are in the East. Oh well. Day 2 Begins 2m!

[May 11 at 8:48pm] Hi people, Day 2 of the Seminar. It was Hot, like hot sitting in a oven or Sauna HOT! We were all taking a bath in our sweat, we just needed some shampoo and soap we are complete. haha. We had level 1 and 2 simultaneously but separately of course. I attended and taught Level 1 which went pretty good….

(continuation)…. Our Lecturer/Teacher for Session 2 went pretty long, no pretty… too pretty long if that makes any sense. I felt that the group was not to interactive but according to RCD [That’s our trainer Rey, who did a training here two years ago], they were more active and interacting than before, so i guess that’s a good thing? I think so.

[May 11 at 8:55pm] The crowd are not as “youthee” as i expected, they were more calm, quiet, and focused which kind a scared me, but still they did participate we just got to allow them or forced in a nice way to bring them out. They all have good answers, they just needed an extra push. One main minor/major issue (depending on you), the “program statement” (goal statement but RCD wanted to call it the program statement. I guess they are Program Oriented, I am not sure why. Just letting you know).

The program/goal statement took awhile to understand but hopefully they will get it down and understand before the end of the Seminar. I explained as sweet, easy, understandable, slow as possible and i dont think they catched. but again, it’s the first day to do it. S.1-S.4 [The first four lessons of the seminar] is completed, i believe S.5-S.8 will begin. I will keep you posted. God bless. (too much info huh? hehe.. just wnt keep you guys informed)

[compounding Wakka’s hardship, we needed translators to assist us in teaching since many of the participants did not speak or understand English]

Wakka: If you want to know about L.2, you got ask Alvan, the man who is in charge of all the Chipmonks or Chickmunks (i’m not sure how to spell it, honestly.. no jks sry but u got the idea).

[May 13 at 7:37pm] Yo yo yo people wazz up in the Hizzy?! Nah jokes.. hehe. the last 24 hrs i was not here. I apologize. I was kinda busy doing some clothe cleaning

So far, the seminar is getting better and better. Maybe it’s because the are now understanding the materials or the seminar is almost done. ??? Btw, 2m will be a few sessions then the GRADUATION! We are going to PARTY!!!!!!

[May 16 at 8:50pm] Hello everyone, I’m tuning in on the last finished words of the Seminar. HALLELLUJAH, It is done. The Seminar was awesome and totally awesome. If all of you have enjoyed of the posts, thank for reading. If there are anything that would be improved, let me know, so I will be able to make more enjoyable for you. Peace out and GBU!

But I did enjoy most of the time there.

It was the people. Their gentle manner and smiles of greeting concealed a fire for the Lord.

This time we had three trainings, our youth ministry strategy seminar (Level 1),

a follow-up training (Level 2) for those who already took the Level 1,

and a trainer’s training were we taught others to teach the material.

All these taking place in a span of six days: May 11-15, 2010.

This was the first time for me to work with translators in a training since many here were not fluent in English and the words I could speak in their language could be counted with my fingers. Often times the idea I wanted to give was not the one the students got and I would only realize this later in their responses.

Despite this, their love to learn and to grow was made evident in their diligence toward the entire seminar. With the level 2 group I handled, we had finished all the lessons and were going toward graduation. I left them for a while to check on the preparations for the graduation ceremony.  When I returned to call them, they were still writing down the goals and programs they were going to do for the year ahead.

In the heat of summer, it was their fire for serving the King that blessed me a lot.

A good friend told me this would be a totally different experience. But for me it almost looks like the Philippines (my native land). There are buses and taxis,

jeepneys songtheaw,

and even unfinished train stations.

The climate though is a few degrees higher. Which means air conditioning here is more a necessity than a luxury.

Okay, the food is indeed different. Spicy delicious stuff unique to this culture. And English speakers have a harder time here than they would in the Philippines.

That being said, it’s been a great few days, five days in and we are done with the Thailand leg of our GYMN training. One of our volunteers, Wakka, has done a great job live-blogging it over on Facebook (click the Facebook link on the right side of our website to see his posts and some pictures).

A couple more training to go and that would be in another land. Right now, we are taking a pause to meet up with old and new friends, observe the culture and sample the cuisine.

Time to look for some Thai food.

God had given us favor to see Singapore first. We enjoyed an overnight stay in the beautiful and expensive house of Kuya Jeff and Ate Daisy. They are Filipinos working in Singapore. We had an opportunity to hear their stories of how God became real and personal to them. Once again I was amazed at the work of God’s hands by their testimonies. Hearing their stories, God reminded me that He has purpose for everything and He gives us faith to believe and challenges us to accomplish it with Him. While on the way to Nepal, I kept remembering these three words – purpose, faith and challenge. I believe God was preparing me for His purpose that He wanted to accomplish in Nepal. He has a purpose and He will accomplish it!

After a quick lunch at Jomesh’s house, we had to rush for an eight hour travel to Pokhara, where the training was held. Every evening we had to walk in the darkness from the venue through the fields to the place where we’re staying. I never felt tired but rather enjoyed the cool weather. There were 54 faithful youth leaders in Level 1 and 16 in Level 2. Some have traveled 2 to 4 hours just to get to the venue of the seminar. Ghie gave a powerful challenge in the first session. God is at work, and He never stops. It amazed me to personally witness how God is moving, working and calling people to work with Him on the other side of the world. 98% committed their lives to be the influencer of their faith where God had placed them to be.

Tears of the Saints video was shown on the graduation day. Once again God stirred my heart in missions. He reminded me of His great commission.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

He desires to see disciples in all the nations, for that He will be most glorified. He’s going to make this happen. He’s accomplishing it right now together with His chosen people. God will not stop revealing His purpose, giving faith and challenging us to go and work with Him.

How amazing to be able to know and see that, in just one training event, God is accomplishing His purpose in me, in Ghie, Ptr. Jik and Jomesh, in each of the youth leaders who attended the seminar, in the country of Nepal and in the whole world! What a big God we have, telling a big story beyond my comprehension!

It’s pretty amazing how God would use me to work with Him in Nepal in sharing the burden of strengthening the youth ministry. The passion of the youth leaders for God and their people made me realize how huge our role is in mentoring the youth and how little effort has been done and how so many ministers look past the potential of young people and demean their abilities.

Nonetheless, I still believe that God is raising up an army of young people who would work with Him in advancing His kingdom. The Bible is full of stories of how God raised young men like David, Jonathan, Josiah, Timothy, and John Mark to accomplish His purpose. This is the very reason why GYMN and other youth organizations are in the business of mobilizing the youth.

This is what I see in Nepal. The few who responded to the call are the very ones whom God will use to influence the society. God is raising up the young people towards a godly Nepal. The Nepali youths will be God’s arm for good governance in the public and private sectors. God will use them to bring glory to Nepal for the praise of His Name.

In the movie The Departed, Jack Nicolson said, “I don’t want to be a product of my society; I want my society to be a product of me.” Putting it in our context, if we want a brighter Nepal, the youth sector and all believers should work hand in hand to impact the society.

The challenge is now on the shoulders of those present at the training and to all believers who love Nepal. The baton has been passed on to you. What you make out of your life today will dictate the kind of Nepal we will have tomorrow. The choice is yours to make.

Nepal used to be the only Hindu kingdom in the world. But then two years back the Maoist-led government declared this country as a secular state which allowed every individual to practice their faith openly.

The church growth in Nepal is as rapid as in other Asian countries. God is moving so mightily in this little country to build and make His Kingdom lifestyle to each and every individual, raising and reviving His Church where there are lots of belief systems and people have many confusion about the spirit world and frustrated by their own belief systems. God is raising pastors, leaders, evangelists, bible teachers, speakers, women leaders, children ministers, youth leaders and worship leaders in this country to draw His dear children into His kingdom.

God allowed me to speak in many big youth conferences in the year 2006 and I asked the same question to the youth leaders who attended those conferences throughout the country “How is the youth ministry in your church?” Almost everybody replied. “I am a youth leader in the church not because I am trained and know how to lead youth but because there was no one…”

Those answers really caught my heart and I knew since then that most of the churches have no idea about youth ministry— this has been my passion since then to train youth leaders of the local churches to see their youth ministry become more effective in discipling young people in God’s way and their leaders to understand the value of youth ministry and trained youth leaders in the Church.

We praise God that He is raising God fearing young people in this country but then there is so much to do and to see Christian young people leading the change in the communities with Kingdom value so that the Kingdom taste will be tested by everyone in this little beautiful country. This is why there is a need for training youth leaders and the youth ministry in Nepal.

Be praying and be a part of what God is doing in this nation.

Jomesh Tamang
Youth Ministry Coordinator 
Himalayan Bible Study Academy, Nepal

I have been exposed to GYMN and its various mission-related ministries about six years ago. In the past years, I have offered some services for GYMN like writing an article for the blog and designing the promotional poster for the tenth anniversary. During the tenth anniversary at Boracay, I finally decided to become a volunteer. I was so excited to finally be part of the GYMN family here in Metro Manila. My primary function is to support the GYMN-Asia staff. I identified three areas that I can help with, namely, the Youth Connections, the blog and the bulletin board. My classes are scheduled in the evening so I am usually at the GYMN office during weekdays. For the last two months, I have done many things that I was more than willing to do. I was able to mail a hundred of Youth Connections to the post office, lay-out the June issue of Youth Connections, design birthday cards for GYMN trainers and staff and facilitate in GYMN events like the recent Coffee Consultations.

So far, my most memorable experience as a volunteer was when Ate Ghie, GYMN Asia Director, asked me to accompany two visitors from US to go shopping at Greenhills and meet a friend at SM Mall of Asia. The two were actually staying at GYMN’s staff house and they needed a tour guide in the city. The following day, they invited me to go with them as they travelled around Manila’s historical churches, the Intramuros and the Smokey mountains. Before lunchtime, we went to Tagaytay City and witnessed the breathtaking view of the Taal Volcano while eating Filipino dishes at Dencio’s.

My studying here in Manila would be for the next two to three years. I hope that I will have fruitful and meaningful stay here in the big city. I am excited to continually support GYMN, to be part of a family that is global in scope and eternal in purpose.