Youth Groups

Youth Groups have become a major part of our overall ministry in Honduras. In a booming metropolis like Tegucigalpa, with a population of over 1,500,000 and an unemployment rate over 50% (according to U.N. statistics), a young person is vulnerable to all sorts of influences. Because the children in most families come from different sets of parents, and because attending public school for most families is a financial hardship (they have to pay tuition, yes, to attend public school), young people find themselves in a desperate, if not hopeless, situation.

Michael and Glenda have been leading youth groups since 2005 and we are already serving 3rd generation youth!!!!! They have been on outings to the Pacific Ocean, to theme parks, doing zip-lines, battling it out with paint-ball scenarios, playing LOTS of futbol (soccer) and much more. Mike and Glenda plan and host picnics, birthday parties, Thanksgiving dinners and even graduation celebrations.

Glenda teaching Bible class

They have earned the trust and respect generations of young boys and girls, young men and women, mothers, fathers and entire barrios. Because of this they have been able to lead many hundreds of people, young and old, to a faith in Jesus Christ. They have been called upon to help families resolve issues, speak into the lives of the children, and have even earned the trust and respect of the schools – directors and staff – where the children attend.    

Big changes have taken place since 2020.

The focus is now on younger children. Reach them as children and guess what?  – Proverbs 22:6  “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it”.

Andrea teaches also

Focus has shifted away from teen boys’ classes, trips, soccer matches and fundraising.

We learned something when Michael started up Bible studies for children in Comayagua on weekends primarily to help the children to learn reading and writing. We used Sunday School books and discovered they loved it, and are memorizing scripture at the same time. Brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers have notice and are learning as well. Michael decided to expand and we are now at Arturo Quesada school on Fridays, and in 2025 another will start another class at Santa Margarita school. 

We have incorporated giving each child a homemade banana bread for their birthday, and they absolutely love the attention and the heart-felt gift. Here are two happy kids 🙂