Youth Leadership Training by David McKinney

I traveled to Caruaru with Samuel McKinney and three young ladies, Beliza, Thaís and Valeska. We went to a youth leadership training camp. This is the first camp of this nature in the Northeast of Brazil. The focus of the event was the need for youth ministers to care for their own spiritual lives and the importance of mentoring others to become future leadership. So many times, ministers in general use all their energy to care for others and invest very little in their own spiritual well-being. It is very common for church workers to be overloaded with work instead of teaching others and delegating responsibilities.

These subjects are very important for the kind of youth group that we want to build. To instill the idea that we need each other in the Kingdom, and yet caring for each other can be burden, we did the following activity: we were divided into pairs and told to race across a field carrying each other. Samuel ended up with a guy that was three times his size. I came very close to interrupting the activity for fear that Samuel might hurt his back, but I was amazed at his determination to do his part. This kind of attitude, in the hands of God, can go a long way. The four young people I took on this trip are devout Christians who have a passion for service, and love working with young people. I can see all of them growing spiritually in amazing ways. The camp had an impact on each one of us. May God teach us to always care well for our relationship with Him, and to use special time and resources to train others that can multiply our efforts.

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