Things continue to move in the right direction, regarding the relaunching of BIG’s Youth Network, a real and measurable progress already being noted.
From the latest update about the efforts of relaunching the Youth Network, the Trenckmanns, together with Cristi Petricioiu have continued their efforts to connect with as many local projects as possible, so they visited churches in Craiova, Pitesti, Curtea de Arges, Bucuresti, Deva, Arad, Iasi and Timisoara, trying to understand the opportunities, as well as the difficulties encountered by each project.
After meetings with youth leaders from churches of different evangelical denominations from all across the country, Bill and Bobbie said:
Many leaders have expressed their wish of receiving assistance in order to understand how to develop and turn their ministry into a mature one. Some have requested specific help about how to involve the youth in the study of God’s Word. The teenagers and the young people we have met have shown a warm spirit, which says a lot about their leaders. We truly desire to join these leaders and encourage them as they continue to express their love, serving these young people.
Diana Bocsa, youth leader in Metanoia Church, Arad, shared some insights about their visit there:
Knowing that these people have a lot of experience in working with young people, we were glad to have Bill and Bobbie with us and we wanted not just to let them taste what we do here in Arad, but also to allow ourselves to be enriched by them. Our time together has been very effective, rich and fruitful. We are very thankful to God for people like them who put their lives in the service of the Kingdom, serving the youth ministry in our country.
The first meeting of the coordination team took place on March 28-30, 2011 in Curtea de Arges. The objectives of the meeting were the drafting of the ministry philosophy and strategy, defining the roles of each team member and harmonizing the BIG perspective on the youth ministry with that of the Trenckmanns, as representatives of Josiah Venture.
”Presently the team dynamics do not have a maximum efficiency, although in the end we were happy to conclude that we reached our goals for the meeting, thus having a solid ground for what we will build in the future. We have realized that we need to bring a few more people into the team, so that it could be representative, effective and efficient. Each of us will identify pastors and youth leaders who can contribute in a profound and practical way to what we are trying to do” says Marius Mezin, one of the youth network coordinators.
The purpose and the importance of the meeting, connected with a family-like atmosphere similar to Francis Schaeffer’s L’Abri, had a pleasant, yet powerful impact on the participants.
While having, for many years now, a burden for the youth ministry and the youth leaders training, it was exciting for me to spend a few days with a team of friends who share the same burden and who are deeply interested in understanding the way God will use BIG Impact to develop a movement of youth ministries integrated in churches with a global impact. (Catalin Chiciudean, assistant to BIG Impact strategic coordinator)
In a family-like atmosphere, in the living room of Petriciou family, we have gathered together to understand God’s dream for the young people of our country and, more specifically, how He desires to use us in fulfilling his dream. We understood we cannot meet every need, but God is calling us to invest in leaders and youth pastors who may lead youth ministries integrated in the local church. I am thankful to see how God puts the same thought in the hearts of His people in different parts of the country. We serve a wonderful God! (Diana Bocsa, coordinator of the Young Women in Ministry network)
We were glad to be able to relate to one another in a much more personal way, Cristi having an extremely important part in this, by placing his entire home at our disposal. Along with his family he made us feel great. We are thankful to God for offering us contexts to serve and we pray that the youth ministry in this country may become a proper environment for helping young people become more like Jesus. (Marius Mezin, pastor, Metanoia church, Braila)