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A Spiritual Coup in South America: Convencion de Liderazgo Juvenil

In early September, there was a small but powerful revolution in South America. Youth Specialties partnered with LAGRAM (Liderazgo y Adolescencia, Grupo de Amigos), a grass roots Argentinean youth ministry training organization, to host the biggest ever international youth workers convention in Buenos Aires. From the beginning, it was evident that God was touching these Latin-American youth workers, and it was a crucial turning point in Spanish American church history.

The place was packed with more than 1200 youth workers from more than 10 countries. More than 30 speakers, including some of the best Latin-American orators (plus some gringos), represented an awesome lineup: Luis Palau, Tony Campolo, Dante Gebel, Mike Yaconelli, Pablo Deiros, Mark Oestreicher, Osvaldo Carnival, and Jeffrey De Leon, just to name a few. This wasn’t just the biggest Spanish youth ministry training event ever. It was a moment that will change the future of Spanish American youth ministry.

Hearing the Impact

Here are some comments from the delegates:

"The convention was excellent in every sense. I was really blessed by each of the speakers, and all the general sessions were unforgettable. We went back to our church full of new enthusiasm and ideas. We’re going to revolutionize the whole church."
—David Filimonczuck. Iglesia de la Fe Evangélica, Llavallol Argentina

"I’m very thankful to God for being able to attend the Convención de Liderazgo Juvenil. I belong to a very conservative church, where I always try to be innovative. I’ve had a hard time trying to work among the youth in my church, because the older people don’t want me to introduce any change. Before the convention I was ready to give up and conform to what they were telling me, but after this weekend I’m ready to go back and take the chances to do what’s necessary to disciple the teens in our church."
—Ariel Pérez Corvalán. Asambleas de Dios, Hermanos Libres, Miramar Argentina

"The convention helped me to dream about doing something great among the youth in my country. I got so many ideas that I’m praying to know where to start. I’m the president of the youth of my denomination and I will try to implement what I learned at the Convención in our denominational agenda."
—Saúl Coca. Unión Cristiana Evangélica, La Paz Bolivia

"I felt really privileged to be able to be at the Convención. I’m sure I saw history in the making. The way it was organized, the level of the speakers, and the atmosphere of service created by the organizing team and everybody on stage were really unique. I’m sure that the impact of this event will last for years. Move ahead with this ministry. All of us who love teens will be very grateful to you."
—Patricia Slachta. Iglesia Bautista, Martín Coronado Argentina

Lessons Learned

Things that U.S. youth workers would take for granted at a Youth Specialties Convention seemed radical in Argentina—casual clothes, no VIP chairs for the head honcho pastors, the diversity of speakers (even speakers who disagree with each other!), late-night forums where opposing ideas could be expressed and discussed, and the variety of dancing and worship styles.

The convention brought together so many local training institutions and was so significant, because it helped finally place youth ministry training issues at the top of the church agenda. It was the first time that all of the Christian media in the country were focused on how to train youth workers. While there were many issues reflecting how radical this event was, three challenges to youth worker training in Latin America stuck out as especially important.

1. Most senior pastors think that they’re youth ministry pros. Youth ministry is still seen as just a stage to practice on before graduating to "serious" ministry. Almost all of today’s Latin American pastors have a year or two of youth ministry experience. Therefore many believe that they already know what’s best for youth today. Partially because of this, there’s no youth ministry training available in most of Latin America; and seminary training in youth ministry is just a dream.

In fact, the media and even the speakers at the Convención had trouble understanding at first that this was a youth minister training event, not just another youth event. Most of them had never heard of youth worker training before this convention.

2. Most youth workers make short-term commitments. Many denominations still use a voting system in which the kids decide who is going to be their leader year by year. Continuity is a major problem; because, after a year, the leader and his or her team often changes. This kind of time frame leaves no room for leader mistakes or developing strong relationships with the kids. Most of the time, the team stepping down feels stung by the experience and has no desire to work with teens again.

3. Most youth workers in Latin America are students. This may sound like an advantage to an American church thirsty for volunteers, but it’s a burden in a continent that historically deals with financial stress. Statistics show that most youth leaders in Latin America share the following characteristics: they are full-time university students; they are full-time, underpaid, weekend youth workers; and they have additional full-time, underpaid, secular jobs. This time crunch leaves almost no opportunity to seek training.

Moving Forward

Of course these realities will remain challenges, but the convention in Buenos Aires provided a glimpse of a path to change. The Convención Internacional de Liderazgo Juvenil spread this vision and fanned the flame. It gave the media, the speakers, and the members of the establishment a chance to talk about the core elements of youth ministry and youth ministry training in an in-depth way.

I know that, like LAGRAM and Youth Specialties, many ministries will be moved by God to invest in Spanish youth ministry training in the future. The need is huge. In the next ten years almost 75 percent of the population of the major Latin American cities will be under 25-years old. What will be the biggest generation in Latin America is being born right now. This future will impact the continent and the whole world.

Our church desperately needs discernment to identify the right vehicles, structures, and resources to spread the gospel in this new reality. The question is, "How do we better equip youth trainers?" If we possess trained leaders and thoughtful resources, we’ll increase our opportunities to reach and disciple this new generation. This was the ultimate purpose of the Convención and the axis of a new revolution.

Please pray for those of us who are training Spanish-speaking youth workers.