Training the Next Generation

A few weeks ago on November 21st I (Justin) had the opportunity to be the keynote speaker at a one-day conference for the Albanian Youth Network. We even got to host the conference at our youth center ‘The Refuge’ here in Tirana. The conference went from 9:00am until 5:00pm with a few breaks. There were leaders from four different cities and I also asked 10 of our young leaders from our youth group to be there. It was a full day with a lot to take home and think about and apply in our youth ministries across the country.
The material that we worked through is called “Christ’s Strategies of Ministry” and it has been developed by SonLife Ministries in America and Josiah Venture here in Europe. This conference was our first Josiah Venture Training conference that we have done in the country. My prayer is that in the next year, from doing conferences like this and from meeting with key youth leaders from across the country that we will be able to develop a ‘School of Leaders’ which will help youth leaders throughout Albania build and develop a youth ministry that is biblical, God-Centered, multiplying and driven through the local church. We believe that the potential for us to impact the nation through young people is huge. Albania has around three million people in the country, and about one million of those people are between the ages of 15-25, so the time to train up and disciple a new generation is now, and the potential to impact this generation is great. We are praying that by God’s grace he will use us as a Josiah Venture Youth team to help set the standard for youth ministry training all across the country. We are praying that through this generation of Albanians that the Church will have a solid foundation laid for generations to come.
Thank you for your prayers!