Rev. Gary Hartke,
Director of Nazarene Youth International

27 May 2008

We are nearly a year away now from the Global NYI Convention which will be held in Orlando, Florida USA and several other sites around the world including South Africa, Ghana, Philippines, Haiti, Trinidad, Guatemala, Mumbai, and Busingen. Remember that NYI delegates must be elected by 31 December to be eligible to participate. Also, ff a district does not hold a district NYI convention then only one delegate is eligible to attend. It is important to plan well in advance for this gathering. It is going to be incredible!

21 May 2008

I am in the Atlanta airport on my way to Campinas Brazil for a Nazarene Youth Congress. This will be another great week as young people gather together for several days of worship, training, and fellowship. Several more youth events of this magnitude will take place in the next few months. The Mexico and Central America region will have their NYC, entitled EJUMAC, in July. The Spanish speaking field of the Caribbean will have their NYC, entitled CONCAR, in July. The Eurasia region will have a regional NYC in August. The South America region will have a regional NYC in December. The USA/CAN region is having FUEL events in Los Angeles, Orlando, and Toronto. The USA/CAN has a national Bible Quiz event in July. There is much happening around the world in these next few months. Take time to pray that God will work in these events in a mighty and powerful way and that our young people will be responsive and obedient! And, I hope that many of you will be participating in one or more of these great events. You can learn more about these under the events section of our home page.

9 May 2008

For seven years now we in NYI have been on a journey to truly internationalize our youth ministry. Part of that journey has been to create a strategy to communicate with NYI leaders worldwide recognizing that this desire is inherent with major challenges such as language barriers and limited internet access. However we have made progress as first an English web site was created in 2001. Then a Spanish website in 2004. Finally a Portuguese website in 2005. We are making some changes these days in our web strategy to continue that commitment to communicate worldwide. Plans for the future include Korean and French websites in additionl to the English, Spanish, and Portuguese websites. So in these days we are working on our web strategy . . . . you will see some changes very soon that will usher us into the next phase of our web ministry. . . . and, hopefully, even more effective communication.

27 February 2008

Now that the annual General Board meetings are over it is time to focus in on the future. I have come to realize during my 7 years as NYI Director that many of us in youth ministry lead with programs rather than with strategy. For me this is a good time to stop and ask "why" do we do the things we do. I don't want to simply manage programs; however, I do want to lead with strategy. . . that is to incorporate our three NYI strategies as the driving force for what we do. These three strategies being evangelism, discipleship, and leadership development. I think NYI at every level should be leading the same way. Let us not simply run a program but lead with these three critical strategies in mind. I hope you take time in the near future to evaluate each of these three areas and consider ways of being more effective in realizing them. I will be doing the same in the Global NYI office.

17 February 2008

The Global NYI Council meets this week here in Kansas City. Among the many agenda items is planning for the 2009 Global NYI Convention. This will be a history making week as we select the sites that will serve as "satellite sites" for delegates along with Orlando, Florida USA which is the central convention site. Our dream is that as many delegates that can attend Orlando will, but that the satellite sites will serve as extension locations to Orlando allowing duly elected delegates to participate fully in the '09 convention. Careful attention is going into the planning as we investigate ways to connect these sites with video and audio. This is a huge move for NYI - very exciting, yet quite challenging. Stay tuned to news in the upcoming months about all of this. The dates of the 2009 Global NYI Convention are 24-26 June. Hope to see you there!

25 January 2008

I am in Pilar Argentina today . . about 1 hour from Buenos Aires and where the Regional Office is for South America. Tomorrow about 1000 people will gather for the inauguration of the Bruno Radi Center . . . a beautfiul new convention center that will seat 3500 and house 1000. It is the culmination of many years of work . . . . and the involvement of hundreds of volunteers. On Monday I am flying to Chiclayo, Peru for a youth congress called EJUNAP where approximately 500 young people from across Peru will gather for four days of worship, inspiration, and training. This is a great week leading up to Fuel/Youth Week which begins on Sunday. NYI has created and translated resources to help young people all over the world participate in this annual week which focuses on youth. I hope you are planning to be a part.

17 January 2008

Japheth Opondo, East Africa Field NYI Coordinator, has identified 25 January as a day of prayer for Kenya. Please join NYI members worldwide to pray for Kenya on this day that peace would come to this land that has experienced difficult days.

8 January 2008

I am in the San Diego USA airport waiting for my flight back to Kansas City. These past two days I was on the campus of Point Loma Nazarene University with the USA/CAN NYI Council. What a great two days . . . . was able to enjoy the beauty of PLNU and talk about youth ministry with leaders from the United States of America and Canada. I am returning home encouraged by both.

1 January 2008

Welcome to 2008! We now have 15,000 more young people in NYI as a result of our youth ministries around the world in 2007 as our membership grew from 381,173 to 396,723. We are blessed with a global team of youth leaders committed to impacting this generation of young people for Christ. I am looking forward to another great year in 2008!