October 2009 Guest Column - Gary Hartke
Each month, the Youth Ministry Academy blog will feature a guest column written by one of NYI’s seven global regions. The Guest Column will feature opinions on each month’s topic at the Academy. The inaugural Guest Column, on the topic of Global Ministry, comes to us from NYI Director Gary Hartke
By: Gary Hartke
In June 2009, 713 NYI delegates gathered for the 22nd Global NYI Convention. This was an historic event as delegates participated in the convention from 8 locations around the world including: South Africa, Germany, India, Philippines, Ecuador, Trinidad, Dominican Republic, and the United States of America. Throughout these days delegates participated via video conferencing technology in general sessions, regional caucuses, and partner region meetings. This was another “first” for NYI. Expanding the convention worldwide was another step in the NYI journey of being and becoming a global ministry.
Today NYI is working in over 150 countries of the world, in 13,706 local churches, 433 districts, 47 fields, and 7 regions. We are a worldwide family. Yes, we are divided by borders, languages, cultures and customs; however, we share a common belief in God and desire to journey together with other young believers that we may never meet here on earth.
