April 06 Youth Commission News

WEA Youth Commission News

March 30, 2006

Greetings, Youth Commission!

Here’s the latest from the “news desk” located here in San Diego .

. Daryl left on Sunday for his annual mission trip to . There are over 60 students and adults from cities who are going over to host a large English Camp for young Russian students selected by public schools to attend. They have had a very strong response. The second week after the English camp, they will be visiting schools to build relationships and gather interested students for follow-up meetings. Daryl certainly would appreciate your prayers.

. The India Youth Commission that we helped start last November met on 15 February in Hyderabad to evaluate and plan. Plans were laid for an EFI Youth Leaders conference from 24-27 May in Tamil Nadu for about 200 youth leaders. The Youth Commission members are also networking other entities outside of EFI. Jacob Isaac has successfully brought together youth ministries in Bangalore for networking. John Amalraj leads the IMA youth ministries network, which unites leaders of youth ministries like YWAM, YFC, Campus Crusade, IFES and many others. There are another 100 member organizations of IMA who work with young people and teens.

Latin America . Jorge was not able to attend the India Youth Commission meetings but did want to send along his 2005 Youth Commission report for Latin America . See attached. We praise God for the steady progress there since the 2004 Youth Commission Training Consultation. Daryl and Kevin Brown continue to assist them in the development of a solid organization that can spawn more Networks.

Africa . The Africa Youth Commission held 4 Mini Regional Conferences in February and March, The most recent one was held last week (21-24) in Kampala, . These are strategic regional coalitions that conduct outreach through sports activities.

. The Finnish Youth Network had its annual gathering 26-28 March with approximately 100 in attendance. They are in a process of creating evangelism training for young people. New Networks have started in several new cities.

South Pacific. Graham Sercombe sent us all a detailed memo on 15 March bringing us up-to-date on the resolution of the two different entities in the South Pacific. At their meeting in 13-14 March in , they drew clear lines of separation between EFSP (Evangelical Fellowship of South Pacific) and APPA (All Pacific Prayer Assembly). EFSP is now the recognized South Pacific regional body under WEA. APPA has no official connection with WEA or EFSP. Geoff Armitage, who was Graham’s Associate Coordinator of Youth Arise, went with the APPA and is now their Youth Coordinator. They asked Graham and the Youth Commission to surrender the name of Youth Arise to APPA. To minimize confusion, they gave them the name and will seek a new name for the youth ministry of EFSP. Please pray for Graham and the Youth Commission leaders as they co-host a major national event in from 7-14th May to relaunch EFSP.

. It has been said that “If youth don’t help lead the church, they will soon leave the church.” The growing concern for the high percentage of youth that leave the church between high school and college has spawned the launch of a test model in Arizona involving all the college ministries and over 2,000 youth groups. Pray for insightful results and for the means to spread what is learned nationwide.

Paul was in Washington, DC early in March meeting with four different agencies of the federal government who are interested in working more closely with NNYM. Pray for guidance.

Global Day of Prayer (GDOP). Begun just a few years ago in , this year’s event is on June 4, Pentecost Sunday. Millions of people will gather in stadiums around the world for prayer and worship to the Lord. Find out more at www.globaldayofprayer.com. Encourages youth workers in each community to join local planning teams, making sure that youth and youth-related concerns find a place on the program.

Next Youth Commission Meetings. Preliminary discussions are being held to try to coordinate our next Youth Commission meeting and training for the Caribbean Youth Commission with NNYM’s Youth Mission Forum in Orlando . The date and location are still not firm, but it is likely that the dates will be adjusted one week later, January 14-20 for the entire series of meetings. Stay tuned!

Have a blessed April. Thanks for staying in touch.

Paul and Daryl