current events - youthHOPE

What would your teenager do for an iPad?

May 11, 2012 by Aaron Leave a Comment

Last month, I finally broke down and bought an iPad (refurbished iPad 2 for $349!!) as prices dropped with the release of the new model. I am really anal retentive about my electronics and have to make sure I need them and that they are going to serve the purpose that I expect from them. I know I probably should chill out, but that’s what happens when you have high expectations and not that much money. As I was doing research about the iPad and whether or not I could travel solo with it, I ran across some crazy news. 1. A 17 year old named Wang sold his kidney to buy the new iPad and the iPhone 4s that came out earlier this year. Five people were arrested including the doctor and “organ broker”. The youth received $3500 for the kidney, which was sold for $35,000. …
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Filed Under: General, Newsworthy Tagged With: adolescence, culture, current events, global needs, gospel, parents, poverty, relationships, youth ministry

“My first born daughter of Uganda”

May 9, 2012 by B Sue Leave a Comment

Deborah's life is a testimony to God's good work and a glimpse at the way He transforms lives. Deborah was young when Lena Pira sponsored her through African Renewal Ministries (ARM). Lina has a heart to train up a new generation of Christian leaders and she saw great potential in young Deborah. The two started to exchange letters back and forth. In 2006 Lina went to Uganda to work with ARM ministries and had the privilege of finally meeting Deborah face to face. "She was very shy, reserved, and not quite sure of herself or how to interact with me," recalls Lina. In 2007 Lina returned to Uganda to work near Deborah's school. They enjoyed each others company and began to form a unique bond. Deborah would visit her during the day and volunteer her time to work alongside Lina in her free time. Lina saw the potential in Deborah as God's daughter. "Over the years I have seen her transform from a shy 8 year old to a …
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Filed Under: Global Youth Worker Stories Tagged With: Christ, church, community, current events, education, global youth, global youth ministry, holistic needs, relationships, sponsorship, youth ministry

Impacting Business Leaders is as easy as 1,2,3!

April 18, 2012 by B Sue Leave a Comment

We have an exciting announcement to make at YouthHOPE for the youth of Myanmar! God has opened doors for three international business as mission trainers from Chiang Mai, Thailand to train our summer internship participants and the Myanmar business community on business as mission skills. Originally our summer interns were going to travel to a conference in Chiang Mai, Thailand before coming to Myanmar. However, due to lack of interest from college students there, the company was forced to cancel the training. Our interns still needed training before this summer so he asked the trainers if they’d come to Myanmar instead. Their calendars were free and they accepted! It gets better! In wanting to make their time in Myanmar worthwhile, Ryan talked with a couple of organizations in his network and the response was overwhelming. He approached the Myanmar Chamber of Commerce about doing a two hour session with some of their …
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Filed Under: Global Needs Tagged With: community, current events, education, global needs, global youth, global youth worker, holistic needs, Interns, job creation, opportunities, Southeast Asia, unemployment

Hope and Hunger: The Games We Play

April 17, 2012 by Aaron Leave a Comment

“Hope, it is the only thing stronger than fear. A little is effective, a lot is dangerous.” Those are the words of President Snow from the film Hunger Games (you can watch the actual clip here). I just went to see it with my family and some co-workers this weekend. I had read the trilogy last year after my youngest daughter, Sofi, started reading them. The publisher primarily targeted the teen/young adult literature market, but they have become the latest craze crossing generational lines, similar to the Harry Potter series. The books were by far some of the best fiction that I had read in a long time. Since I’ve become familiar with them, I have noticed that there has been a lot written about the underlying socio-political messages the books bring to the table. The gamut stretches from identifying the saga with the “occupy” movement, to Fox News talking about an anti big government message. Even the Christian …
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Filed Under: Media Reviews Tagged With: adolescence, Christ, culture, current events, global youth, Hope, Jesus, videos, youth

The future has arrived for the youth of Myanmar

April 11, 2012 by Ryan Leave a Comment

U.S. Moves to Normalize Relations with Myanmar What this means for holistic youth development? …
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Filed Under: Global Youth Worker Stories Tagged With: adolescence, business, current events, education, global needs, job creation, opportunities, youth

Youth Unemployment and a Challenge to the Church

March 21, 2012 by Katie Leave a Comment

Dozens of articles and reports by the UN, CNN, BBC, Unicef and others in the past few years have focused on the global youth unemployment crisis. As the global economy continues to waiver and bend, millions around the world fight the effects of unemployment. According to a report by the International Labor Office, there were approximately 81 million unemployed youth between the ages of 15-24 at the end of 2009--the highest ever. Many governments and organizations are establishing programs and schemes to fight this trend, to give hope to a generation trying to find their place. In the UK, the prime minister is planning an incentive that would give employers subsidies to employ 18-24 year olds for six-month periods. Throughout the world, programs are starting up to train youth for small business ventures and entrepreneurship opportunities. The world seems to be taking notice of this global youth crisis, slowly, but …
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Filed Under: Global Needs, Newsworthy Tagged With: adolescence, Christ, church, community, current events, education, global needs, global youth ministry, job creation, opportunities

Florida, Bulgaria, and to the Ends of the Earth

March 5, 2012 by B Sue Leave a Comment

What to say about the Key West Bike Ride? From our global youth workers Gabe and Melissa Hillman. It was a blessing, an encouragement, an ordained event. But the ride went beyond those things. It moved our ministry one step ahead in transforming lives of youth for God’s kingdom. It connected the hearts of real people to the needs and lives of teens here in Bulgaria. The riders prayed for us, labored for us, sacrificed for us and persevered all on our behalf and to God’s glory. We prayed for the riders while they prayed for us, and we felt a part of their experience too. Now that the ride is over, we’ve been able to hear testimonies of how God blessed, protected, and grew the riders. It is a testimony to God’s vastness. He spans across the oceans, around the world. He can move in the lives of 12 individuals in the U.S. and use it to make disciples in Eastern Europe. With the money raised we will be buying …
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Filed Under: Global Youth Worker Stories, Outreach Tagged With: Bulgaria, current events, encouragment, global youth ministry, global youth worker, gospel, kingdom stories, pray, relationships, support raising

What If you only had $1 a day?

February 16, 2012 by Ryan Leave a Comment

Did you ever see an episode of “30 Days” that aired from 2005 to 2008 on FX? If not you missed out on Morgan Spurlock (better known for the documentary “Super Size Me”) immerse himself in something for 30 days. Episodes ranged from living on minimum wage for 30 days to spending 30 days in prison. He actually only spent 25 days because most prisoners in Virginia serve only 85% of their sentence. Like Morgan Spurlock’s “30 Days” I’ll be living off $1 a day for food for the full 29 days of February. I will be joining 2.7 billion people in the world today who live on $2.50 or less a day. Last month I was traveling a lot raising support for Mary and my ministry in Myanmar. In the midst of my travels I visited one of my best friends, Matt Hickman, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Matt has a huge heart for the poor and is planning to start an organization in the next year and a half called “truth be told” that will …
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Filed Under: General, Global Youth Worker Stories Tagged With: current events, global needs, holistic needs, poverty, Southeast Asia, unemployment

“You will be my witnesses… TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH”

February 3, 2012 by B Sue Leave a Comment

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." -Acts 1:8 Tomorrow, our team of 12 riders will be cycling 300 miles to do what Jesus says we can do through the power of the Holy Spirit- to be witnesses of Christ in Florida, Bulgaria, and 'To the Ends of the Earth.' God has provided a way for YouthHOPE and youth ministers from 7 different churches throughout the Fort Myers area to come together for the same cause- to reach the unreached youth of Bulgaria with the love of Christ. Not only has God been faithful to provide riders, churches, and support for the ride,but He has also opened doors to share with the surrounding community the need for servants in youth ministry around the world. We pray that through this ride we glorify the Father on earth, having accomplished the work that he gave us to do …
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Filed Under: General, Outreach Tagged With: Bulgaria, Christ, church, community, current events, global needs, global youth, global youth ministry, global youth worker, outreach, prayer, support raising, unity, youth ministers, youth ministry

The secularization of America continues…

January 30, 2012 by Justin Leave a Comment

I love meeting new people and spending time with the elderly. They are never short on stories of "the way things once were." My former pastor, Gary Buchman, used to tell me stories about reciting the 23rd Psalm in public school every morning. Prayer in schools in America was common for decades and wasn't just something that the religious right endorsed. It's been 12 years since I surrendered my life to Jesus as a teenager. I was 17 when God gave me "eyes to see and ears to hear." Over time I began to develop a Christian worldview and have seen the secularization of America increase ever since. From businesses requiring their employees to say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas," to the countless debates and attempts by the ACLU to remove the 10 commandments from courthouses, surely "because lawlessness abounds, the love of many [has] grown cold." (Matthew 24:12) Recently I came across this article on msnbc …
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Filed Under: General, Gospel Tagged With: Christ, current events, gospel, prayer, youth, youth ministry

Global Youth Marketing Forum 2011

April 27, 2011 by Aaron Leave a Comment

Just read about this global youth marketing forum that took place in Mumbai, India. "The third edition of 'Global Youth Marketing Forum 2011' was organized for February 8th - 9th, 2011 at Taj Land's End in Mumbai. This year's theme was 'Tapping the power of the trend setting Hip Hop Mindset, Culture and Lifestyle'. The event is a platform for several youth obsessed brands coming from across the globe. It is the largest rendezvous of Youth Experts, Marketing Professionals, Cool Hunters & Brand Specialist who will offer insights on what keeps youth craving for the Brand? What Youth like? What Youth want? How to capture the Youths attention in an increasingly intriguing and "Multi-Tasking" youth segment of today." So here are some thoughts: How can we become the "youth experts and cool hunters" in global youth ministry in order to better reach the youth of the world with the transforming message of the gospel? What …
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Filed Under: Conferences, Newsworthy Tagged With: current events, global youth

Could global youth ministry be dangerous?

March 20, 2011 by Aaron 2 Comments

So far I have felt mostly safe wherever I have traveled to work in youth ministry. I am pretty much of the school of thought that there are bad people everywhere and so you need to be smart and not too careless, like counting hundred dollar bills in public on a crowded subway. I am pretty used to getting stared at in areas where there are not too many North American or European tourists. I also trust that God will protect me to do the work that He has called me to do and if something does happen to me, I will still trust that God is control. A recent event and an article that I read about the USA funding some youth activities has really got me thinking. Now the activities were political in nature and were aimed at helping youth to have a voice in needed reform. That doesn't seem anything like what global youth ministry does, or does it? If our aim is to transform the lives of global youth then there potentially are times …
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Filed Under: Newsworthy Tagged With: current events, global youth ministry, persecuted church

What would your teenager do for an iPad?

“My first born daughter of Uganda”

Impacting Business Leaders is as easy as 1,2,3!

Hope and Hunger: The Games We Play

The future has arrived for the youth of Myanmar

Youth Unemployment and a Challenge to the Church

Florida, Bulgaria, and to the Ends of the Earth

What If you only had $1 a day?

“You will be my witnesses… TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH”

The secularization of America continues…

Global Youth Marketing Forum 2011

Could global youth ministry be dangerous?

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