When Jorge Rojas was 14 years old, his cousins invited him to go to a camp with Algo Nuevo – Young Life’s ministry in Peru. Jorge had rarely visited club and wasn’t super excited about camp, but his cousins were going so he decided to tag along. That turned out to be a life changing choice; at camp Jorge met Christ and his life has never been the same.
He spent the next five years faithfully involved in an Algo Bible study as he grew as a Christian. He became a volunteer leader with the ministry in high school and through college and has been a staff member for the last 5 years. Three years ago he was asked by the Algo leadership to consider moving from Lima to start their ministry in Arequipa. He and some leaders in Lima began taking bus rides to Arequipa to begin connecting with interested community members, doing contact work and hold the first clubs—which is really impressive since Arequipa is a 16 hour bus ride away!!
Jorge and his wife felt called to leave their home town of Lima and move to Arequipa and have been developing ministry there ever since. He now heads a team of 18 leaders who are working in 3 clubs with over 100 teens. Jorge is excited about Area Director school because he feels it will really benefit him as a leader. He wants to develop a better plan for developing leaders in Arequipa and ensuring they are committed to the vision of Algo Nuevo and reaching teens for Christ. He knows this training will help him do this in the best possible way. He also wants to learn more about how to connect to the adult community of Arequipa and invite and inspire them to get involved in supporting the ministry. Jorge wants to learn from the teaching and advice of others who have done this ministry for years and to use that knowledge and wisdom to best serve Christ in Arequipa.
It’s safe to say Alberto Martinez had a tougher childhood than most—he came from a broken family and at 8 years old he ran away and traveled across Mexico on his own until he was able to find his Uncle and Aunt who lived in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico. After a few years there he left again to find a sister who was living in the U.S.
As a teenager with very little guidance in his life he made some tough friends and poor choices. He was arrested while drug running and ended up in prison. It was in prison that he came to know the Lord and vowed to change his life. Alberto moved back to Puerto Peñasco, met and married his wife Loly, a Christian who helped him grow in his faith, and he became a youth pastor in their church. Alberto enjoyed working with the youth in the church, but always felt his real call was to reach out to teens like he had been-- NOT yet in the church and really lacking support.
Two years ago Alberto heard about Young Life, and he was hooked. Today, Alberto is the one Vida Joven staff member in Mexico and serves as our Area Director in Puerto Peñasco. He is training a team of volunteer leaders, many of whom were part of his church youth group, and they are running the first clubs and camps ever in the Peñasco area.
Alberto is doing a great job, but is struggling with the difficulty of being the only staff member in his country and feeling confident about leading the ministry when he still feels very new to Young Life. Area Director School will be vital for Alberto. It will help encourage him in his ministry, train him in how to recruit, equip and support leaders who can reach out to teens in Peñasco, and provide him with a chance to connect with experienced AD’s from other countries that can advise and mentor him as he works to serve the Lord and reach out to teens in Mexico.