Merry Christmas to all of the incredible supporters, staff, volunteers, trainers and the phenomenal youth workers around the globe!

GYMN Christmas

A favorite Christmas carol has begun to ring through my mind, especially as I think of the supporters, trainers and staff of GYMN. That carol is, O Come All Ye Faithful.

Consider the first verse of this carol:

O come all ye faithful joyful and triumphant
O come ye O come ye to Bethlehem;
Come and behold him born the King of angels;
O come let us adore him Christ the Lord.

Some keywords that make me thank of our GYMN particpants (supporters, staff and trainers) are, “faithful”, “joyful” and “triumphant”. We have faithful supporters, staff and trainers in this mission. These people  joyfully give to His work globally. In addition, they will see His triumph in the future as they see the impact face to face of the millions impacted through young Christian leaders globally.

So let us each one, “come”. Come to behold (not to just pass by), but to behold and adore the One who is eternally faithful, who provides us all joy and triumphs so that we may triumph as well.

We conclude our thoughts just as this grand carol concludes ” Jesus, to thee be all glory given”!

The word all, is quite amazing. We use this word frequently to describe something. Like, “all” encompassing, or to go “all” out. There is no misunderstanding when someone says “all”. It means “all”, nothing missing, left out or spared.

I am in awe of all that God has done and continues to do. First, I think of all of the GYMN family, its supporters and prayer teams. We all work together and give together to make all of this mission happen. All of the finances for this mission come from all of you: churches, businesses and individuals. For over 13 years now you all have listened to God’s leading to impact all of the 7700 participants in the trainings we have done to date!

God has enabled all of us together to impact young Christian leaders from 46 different countries! All of this is to bring God Himself all of the glory and honor He deserves. Each of us realize that this is all because of God and it is all happened by His strength and working in each of us.

Consider all of these 7,700 Christian youth leaders and all of the people that they have impacted over the 13 years. Think of all of the people that will be impacted for years and years to come by the work of these equipped leaders. Together, we are impacting all of eternity!

Let us be honest and admit that we are not all engrossed, all the time on eternally focused items. Thankfully God is all in! He has done an incredible work in this mission and will continue to do this well into the future. Let us pause and remember that we all get to do this! We get to pray, give, go and share to all the nations as He asked us to do. I keep saying this over and over lately, “We all get to do this eternal work! Wow…I am all in and in awe…how about you?

Jomesh - Youth leader, Host of GYMN in Nepal

Asia Director Ghie (left) pictured with Chris Davis (GYMN Intl Director) (middle) and Ghie's husband Ejaz (right)

…top level leaders from our Asian staff and volunteers will be coming to Ohio and the surrounding area from October 28th through November 18th.

Rey - GYMN volunteer from the Philippines

is one of those times. Email us at info@global-youth.com or call our office (419-756-4433) to find out where you can meet these fantastic young leaders!

Numerous youth leaders meet with Chris Davis after responding to God's call into full-time vocational ministry!

In the previous post I talked about our ministry in K countries, specifically South Korea and Kenya. I want to continue the postings here now as we go to look at Kenya.

In Kenya, we have an incredible team that is growing every week it seems. I (Chris Davis) just returned from a wonderful trip to Kenya and then into Uganda. During this trip I was able to spend some quality time with some key people within GYMN. I met with several volunteers who have given time in developing marketing materials (t-shirts, hats, logos, brochures, etc…). These items will promote GYMN and raise funds. 

Africa Director - Ken Aringo mentors youth leader in Uganda.

We also set up our GYMN Africa Board of Directors. This group of youth focused mature leaders will give input and guidance to the staff and provide additional links to ministry partners and supporters.

The training trip from Kenya to Uganda involved Ken, Jane, Annette and I (Chris Davis). In Uganda we put on a very strategic training. We were welcomed by the largest denomination within Uganda. The Church of Uganda has over 13,000 local churches with a membership of over 4 million people. That means that statistically 1/2 (or 2 million) of those in the churches would be youth! What a huge mission field and an incredible future army of laborers for Christ. These leaders are the leaders that will impact not only Uganda, but all of Africa!

Ugandan youth leaders laugh together with GYMN staff after completing their Level 1 training.

We trained leaders in the capital city of Kampala. In the future we are hoping to do follow up trainings as we develop local Ugandan’s to be trainers that can then spread the trainings throughout the country and to join with our Africa team to take the trainings around the continent of Africa!

We all get to do this work, through time, talent and treasures! Thank you for following God’s call of making disciples of all the nations as you do your part.

Rey Dorimon with the South Korean youth leaders

At GYMN we have been impacting several countries lately through our staff and trainers. One of the K (locations) has been South Korea. Here we just completed a great training. I love the fluid way that the training is being passed on in Asia. One of our long-time trainers, Rey Dorimon from the Philippines, was invited to do ministry in South Korea for several weeks. One of Rey’s immediate reactions was to see if the host churches would like to have him also train the youth leaders using the GYMN training system. What is so encouraging about this type of training is that it fits the model of the Great Commission, “Go and make disciples”, which literally states, “as you go, make disciples”. Listen to what a young leader said about the training:                

 “What I learned from the seminar motivated me to follow the Lord’s great commission. I thank God for sending pastor Rey for our youth group at the proper time. We really need what the seminar says to us.” - Kim Hyun-Sook (youth group of over 100)

Thank you for praying, supporting and sending our incredible GYMN family members to spread His love and care around the globe. Keep an eye on this site for more articles on Kenya, Uganda and Soccer Equipment given in the name of Christ to show His love. http://gymnintl.wordpress.com/support-us/

I (Chris Davis – GYMN Executive Director) just recently returned from a 2 week trip to Kenya and Uganda (east Africa)! I have to say that I am totally impressed with our GYMN – Africa team. They are doing some very creative and quality work there!

 Here are some of the highlights of the trip:

1. Set up GYMN Africa Board to give additional leadership for the African continent.
2. Trained 25 youth leaders with one of the largest denominations in Uganda. We trained in the capital city and look forward to seeing the training of youth leaders spreading!
3. Participated in a large youth conference with 250 youth as well as started interactions with leaders (potential future hosts) from Egypt, Burundi, Somalia and Rwanda.
4. In addition, I was able to help deliver over 100 soccer balls, also jerseys, shoes and pumps to young people in need of equipment. We partnered with Soccer Kicks 4 Kids to show and share God’s love in this tangible way. Equipment and balls went to several groups: one was a young offenders in take facility for children and youth who have committed crimes in Kenya. http://soccerkicks4kids.blogspot.com/
5. As a great side trip, I was able to visit with Keith McFarland (previous teen in my youth group from 18 years ago). Keith and his family serve orphaned children in Uganda and train other adults in the being “A Father to the Fatherless”.

Your support and prayers are continually needed and appreciated! http://gymnintl.wordpress.com/support-us/

It has been over a year since my last trip to Kenya (located on the east coast of Africa (central)). This time around I come with even more enthusiasm and and a busy ministry schedule than in the recent past. Our Africa Director, Ken Aringo, has set up several key events for the ministry in Africa to continue to expand and grow through this trip.

Key elements of the trip will include a 5 day seminar of our Level 1 trainings in Uganda. This country is important in East Africa and has the potential of impacting millions. We will be training youth leaders from one of the biggest denominations in Uganda. We are looking to establish a wave of locally trained youth leadership trainers that will continue to multiply.

During week 2 in Uganda, both Ken and I will be speaking at a youth conference to over 1000 youth! It will be exciting to see God move as we share His Word and as the young people respond to His Spirit’s leading in their life. We will also participate in teaching workshops for the youth as well.

We are also investing some important time in Kenya with our dedicated team of volunteers (both administrative and trainers). Setting up a GYMN Africa Board is also on our agenda as well to gain additional leadership and support for Africa by Africans!

We are also hoping to assist a partner ministry of GYMN called SoccerKicks4Kids (http://soccerkicks4kids.blogspot.com/)  that is run by a local young person in Ohio that attends my church. We are going to deliver new and gently used soccer equipment to needy teens through youth leaders. The prayer is that the youth leaders will be able to share Christ’s love in tangible and spiritual ways through the equipment provided!

Please keep me, Chris Davis, my family and our teams in prayer as we minister! If access is possible I will post updates here. At minimum I will be able to use Twitter, http://twitter.com/gymnintl.

It is hard to believe that I get to do this ministry. Thank you for being a key part in this trip and through your financial support and prayers. http://gymnintl.wordpress.com/support-us/

I love our GYMN trainings since they encompass all of the great elements of life and ministry: play, plan, prayer and preaching. Just recently (July 2nd-5th) our Kenya, Africa based staff provided an incredible youth leadership training for  twenty youth leaders. Of course we would call it incredible, since we created the materials and the seminars, but do not take our word for it,  listen to what the participants said…I think you will see that they loved the trainings as well.

“…now I know better that youth ministry is more than babbling and jumping around…”

“who would have thought that youth ministry requires strategic planning, prioritizing and evaluation?”

“I do not know how some of us made it in our youth without this kind of focused leadership empowerment, but you people are priveleged to have visionary ministries like Global Youth Ministry Network who are committed to equipping youth leaders internationally.” – Rev. Dr. Stephen Mutai – Senior Pastor of Eagles Christian Church, Karen (Nairobi), Kenya, East Africa

Kenyan Youth Leaders Discuss and Plan Together

At GYMN, we work with key youth  ministry leaders to teach them Biblical principles for ministry, but we also use teaching methods that are used in youth ministry as well…like, playing, planning,  praying and preaching.

Pastor Nick Korir Trains Youth Leaders in Nairobi

Ken Aringo - GYMN Africa Director - Models the GYMN Principal of Meeting Youth Where They Are

Another great element of GYMN around the globe is that key leaders of impact have stayed with our ministry for over 10 years. Take Nick Korir as an example. Nick started as a student of GYMN Level 1, then Level 2, then became a trainer. Later Nick became our Africa Director then went back to local church youth ministries as a pastor and a GYMN volunteer trainer. Nick has a passion for reaching the youth of all of Africa and has vowed partnership with Ken Aringo (current Africa Director) and our staff to see that happen. I love what Nick mentioned in his closing statement of a recent email to us. His quote speaks to the long-term impact we see in GYMN:  ”NICK Korir – Life Member – GYMN Africa Team”. Nick contues to volunteer his time in trainings and also in coordinating our first GYMN Africa Board.

Your prayers and support enable us to partner with great leaders like Ken Aringo, Nick Korir and the over 8000 youth leaders trained globally. To learn more about supporting these leaders see the link: http://gymnintl.wordpress.com/support-us/

Rey and GYMN Founder Chris Davis pose together while in the Philippines.

We just heard that one of our long-time trainers, Rey Dorimon is in South Korea for several months. Rey is an incredible guy who is extremely gifted in music, teaching, youth ministry and theology…wow!

Rey is from the Philippines, but he is now in South Korea and in typical Rey-like fashion, he decided to take the GYMN training materials along and set up a training while he is there.

This is the ultimate in my mind, to see leaders globally following the Great Comission to “…go therefore and make disciples of all the nations….teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.” – Matthew 28:19-20. The passage says go, and many translate this to say, “as you go”. As you go means that our action of taking the Good News, and in this case the great news that God cares about youth and leaders, is natural for us to share anytime we go somewhere. It is natural for Rey, because Rey gets it!

Rey gets it! And we can get it as well. We can be a part of this movement of God globally. Thank you for supporting us so that we can serve leaders like Rey!  http://gymnintl.wordpress.com/support-us/