Love and Hope Youth Ministry
SEPTEMBER 6, 2012

Our Mission: Fearlessly reaching the forgotten youth of El Salvador with Christ's love, restoring hope to their lives, and discipling them to become mature and responsible adults, leaders of healthy families, and authentic followers of Christ.
Our Vision: To see Salvadoran youth healed through Christ’s love and leading changed, productive, abandoned lives for His glory.
Our Core Values: 1. Authentic Followers of Christ 2. Family 3. Education 4. Hard Work 5. Community Service



Birthday celebrations
Happy Birthday, Bea! On September 1st Bea celebrated her 22nd birthday! She is keeping very busy these days with work, school, and her most recent endeavor…Arabela saleswoman. Arabela is like Avon, and Bea wanted to try her hand at this so that she could earn a little extra spending money on top of her already part-time job. She has been quite successful in her sales…but maybe not as successful at saving the money she is earning. Oh how hard it is for a young lady to sell makeup and jewelry and not buy any of it herself! Bea has been in our home for four years now and it has been amazing to watch God work in her life and her heart. We are very proud of her…Feliz cumpleaños Bea!



Radio Juventud 92.1
Elias has been busy this month becoming more and more involved with the radio. He has his normal shows on Wednesday and Friday and has also been helping out at other special events (such as the Balls of Fire Festival that occurred on August 31), as well as attending training events, and filling in for other DJs. With only a couple months left until graduation, he is trying to make the big decision that every youth faces…..What do I do with the rest of my life?!?! He loves the radio, but is interested in law also. With so many big decisions just around the corner for him, he could certainly use our prayers for wisdom over his life. We know that God already has a plan for this amazing young man, he just needs to be patient and trust that the Lord will direct his steps.

Iglesia Juvenil Amor y Esperanza
The past month has brought about many changes in the church ministry. Pastor Hector has decided to begin a new church plant and is no longer serving with us. As a result, Bobby has been teaching on Saturdays and will continue to do so until the Lord brings a new teaching pastor into the ministry. Our ministry is very unique to this culture in terms of the population of youth that we reach out to, and in our non-traditional style of outreach and grace-based doctrine. We know that God already has a teaching pastor chosen for this ministry, we need only to be patient and obedient. Your many prayers in this area would be greatly appreciated as well.
This month also brings with it an exciting opportunity for our worship band, and we would like to ask you to prayerfully considering helping us to make this happen. On September 21st and 22nd a two-day worship conference will be held at a major church in San Salvador. We would like to send five of our youth who are involved in the worship band and sound ministry to this conference. The cost of the two-day conference ticket, meals, and transportation is $35 per youth. If you feel like God has laid on your heart to bless one or more youth with this opportunity, please let us know!

Darwin being wishful!

Music Classes
After a brief break, music classes were begun again and English classes will be starting up again in October. Many of you have met Darwin, our outgoing music teacher! We are so happy to have him with us as he is incredibly blessed musically, is very friendly, and has a genuine love for the youth. He is a perfect fit in our ministry and we count ourselves blessed to have him with us. As always our music and English classes are offered free to anyone in the community who would like to come.




Bibles


A youth with his Bible

Over the past few months several of you have generously donated Bibles to the ministry, thank you! It has been quite exciting to present these to our youth as well as bless residents from other impoverished communities with God’s word! Thank you for making this possible!









Prayer Requests
As always, we covet your prayers more than anything! Below is a list of our most recent prayer requests:
1. Wisdom, direction, love, humility and compassion for and towards all
2. A new church pastor
3. Wisdom for Elias as he makes decisions for his future
4. New sponsors for Jonathan as his previous sponsor was a high school youth group that has now graduated
5. Safety

Blog: www.loveandhopeyouthministry.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LoveandHopeYouthMinistry
Email: loveandhopeyouthministry@yahoo.com

Our Mailing Address: Calle Principal Residencia Vílla Nejapa Casa 10 Poligono 1 Nejapa, San Salvador El Salvador Central America

If you feel led to support the ministry financially, you may send donations to: AME International PO Box 670631 Northfield, OH 44067 Please include a note with your donation stating that it is for Bobby and Britney Hibbs and it will get credited to our account. You can also make donations online via PayPal by visiting our blog. The PayPal link on our blog is now connected to AME, so all PayPal donations to us will now be tax-deductible.

Teach Them

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Deuteronomy 6:6-7

While visiting a website recently (http://familyreadingbible.com/) I came across some startling facts:
-Less than 10% of Christian families read the Bible together
-Our children are in church 40 hours a year and they are with us about 3000

I am very aware that the Bible clearly gives the responsibility of spiritual formation of children to the parents. We are all pretty familiar with the above verses from Deuteronomy, but the Bible is really filled with similar verses mandating us, as parents, to teach our children the ways of the Lord:

Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. Deuteronomy 4:9

Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, when he said to me, “Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children.” Deuteronomy 4:10

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth. Deuteronomy 11:18-21

he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. Deuteronomy 32:46

Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck. Proverbs 1:8-9

Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4

But as for you, hold on to what you have learned and know to be true. Remember where you learned them. You have known the Holy Writings since you were a child. They are able to give you wisdom that leads to being saved from the punishment of sin by putting your trust in Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy 3:14-15

And the list goes on and on....

Since our return from the United States we felt convicted that perhaps we weren't doing enough to spiritually form the children in our home. I know that might sound crazy I mean, we are missionaries, right?! We are leaders of a church, right?! But, the truth is, we weren't amongst the 10% of families who read the Bible together. Yes, we pray together before meals, or on occasion when there is a problem. We have our daily quiet times and have taught our youth to do the same. We talk about the Lord frequently and try our best to model what it means to live a life for Him, but we weren't actually in the Word on a regular basis with them. We would consult the Word with them when certain situations or questions arose, but we hadn't been setting down regularly and studying it with them. We began thinking and praying for how to begin this new study with our youth. There are tons of resources out there, and lots of ideas. There is even a family Bible that makes it all simple. What we decided, though, based on our youths' current spiritual level and maturity is to give them weekly questions to investigate and study. What we do is each Monday we present B and E with a question to investigate. The question can be theological (From where did Cain take his wife?), to apologetic (Explain how Noah got the dinosaurs on the ark), to life application (Is it okay for Christians to listen to non-Christian music?), to doctrinal (Is it okay for women to wear pants?), to controversial (Should Christians support the death penalty?). Then on Saturday after dinner, we all get together and discuss what we have found. It has been lots of fun discussing these topics with them and watching them dig deeper into the Word and other resources to discover answers. Our prayer is that through this they will learn how to answer some of the hard questions, that sometimes it's okay to say "I don't know," and how to defend their faith. We hope that they will be able to do just as Peter instructs..."Always be ready to tell everyone who asks you why you believe as you do. Be gentle as you speak and show respect." 1 Peter 3:15

If you are interested in studying the Bible with your children, here are some links to some great resources that we have found:

www.gotquestions.org   On this website you can even sign up for the question of the week which they will deliver to your inbox.

ww.answersingenesis.org Amazing resource and organization! Their Creation Museum in Kentucky is an absolute must for every family!

www.dividedthemovie.com Very thought-provoking movie. We can't say that we agree with 100% of what they say, but they certainly left us thinking.

The Law

While checking my Facebook account yesterday I noticed that a young lady from one of my English classes posted that she was sick.  Like most people do, I commented on her status and said that I hoped that she gets to feeling better soon and then I went on with my day as normal. This morning, however, I noticed that she responded back to my comment with something that caught me off guard, "it's not just that I'm physically sick...my heart is sick also." 

I recently came across a verse that stood out to me bodly. It's a verse that I have admittedly read a thousand times over,and understood well; but in this season of my life, the verse spoke to my heart.

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2 NIV

You see, the "law of Christ" is something that has been on the forefront of my mind lately.  What is it, exactly?  Religious leaders that surround me would lead me to believe that it is the mosaic law, or at least certain parts of it.  I, however, believe something different.  Christ said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40.  All of the law, all of it, not some of it, but ALL of it, is summarized in these two commandments.  It all boils down to one word...love. 

I recently found myself in an intense discussion with a religious leader over some trivial matters of the law. This leader felt that we were still under these laws, and I felt like we were only under the law of love. Ironically, in my quest to show this religous leader that I was right, I missed the whole point of what I was actually preaching myself. I failed to love him.  A journal that I am reading put it this way..."I know I am often tested when I tell the Lord I want His way - not mine.  Usually, these challenges come through relationships.  Someone else gets the glory for something I've done, or some other trivial event.  If I really think that other guy is better than I am, if I genuinely consider her better than myself, well, wouldn't I want that other person to receive the glory?" 

So, what does all this mean to me as a Christian? What does it mean to me as a missionary and ministry leader? I think that it means that in all my busyness of "ministry" I sometimes forget what real ministry is. I sometimes get so busy with daunting administrative tasks and the pressure of crossing things off my "to-do" list that I don't have time to set down with a hurting soul and talk. I often fail to bear others' burdens because I am too busy working for the Lord!

A couple of weeks ago a lost young man came to visit us early one morning. Normally I would have been bothered by his unannounced early morning visit because it would have slowed me down or interrupted my already too-busy day. This day, however, I happened to be free so I asked this young soul if he would like breakfast and I preceded to take the time to whip him up a great breakfast and even put it all together on a pretty plate and serve it complete with a cloth napkin. I then sat down and talked with him while he ate.  This, I later thought, is ministry. It's not my ability to write a great mission statement or to conduct a church leadership meeting well. It's not the color of the church walls, the type of music we listen to, what version of the Bible we use, or my ability to memorize scripture. These things, of course, aren't bad it's just that I lost perspective. 

We have found ourselves in a very reflective season of our ministry. One where we are asking ourselves to really define what our ministry is and to refocus on eternal things instead of bickering about the trivial. A time where we hope to learn what it truly means to love our enemies and, out of love and humility, give up the need to be right.  A time to learn more about what it means to die to ourselves and how to really carry each others' burdens.  I time where I hope to whip up more breakfasts and respond to more youth just the way I did to the hurting young lady on Facebook this morning..."would you like to talk?"

Ask, and I will give the nations to you

Stewart (far left, yellow shirt) at a youth activity. Ironically enough, two of the boys setting on the steps in this photo have also been murdered. 

So, a couple of Sundays ago we attended another funeral. Another funeral for another youth who had been murdered. Stewart, the young man who was killed, had been part of our church when we first arrived to Nejapa.  Ironically, his father was murdered 3 years ago, and his funeral was the first funeral that we attended here in El Salvador.  Since then, in the 3 1/2 years that we have lived in Nejapa, we have attended 6 funerals, 2 of which were for individuals who had passed away from "natural" causes and the other 4 have been victims of murder.  With a murder rate of 66 per every 100,000 people, El Salvador has the second highest murder rate in the world (click here to read the full article).  In the States everyone knows a family that has been affected by divorce. It's common and, although painful, divorce has lost the sting and stigma that it once had. The same is here for murder. Every family has been affected. Some multiple times.  And, it's starting to lose it's sting. 

So, where do we go from here? What do we do?  For many of the youth that we work with, hope has been lost.

Recently we learned of a young lady who had moved in with an MS-13 gang member and tattooed herself accordingly.  This story is all too common here. Young ladies from poverty-ridden broken homes seek love in "all the wrong" places and end up getting into a relationship with gang members. The girls may not actually join the gang, but they move into their homes and tattoo themselves to show loyalty and believe that this guy, and his gang, will provide the family/love/protection that she desperately desires.  The reality is that she will end up in the same place as her beloved....dead or jail.  If she tries to leave her boyfriend at some point, then she will be killed. Or, the most likely thing that will happen, is that she will be killed by the rival gang. Rival gangs love to kill the "other guy's" girlfriend.  In this situation, the difference with this particular young lady is that she used to be an active part of our church. She is a face, a name, someone that we loved, and now she is gone.  Gone in the sense that we have no access to her. Gone in that there is no way out in our worldly eyes. Gone in that there is nothing that we can physically do. We can't exactly go marching into their territory, ask to see this young lady, and then advise her to get out. That would be a death sentence for us. We are to live our mission without fear, but we can't be stupid either. 

So, what do we do?  We pray.  We pray without ceasing.  We pray for things and answers that we cannot see.  Our battle is not against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12). 

God can, and will be, gloried. His arm isn't too short. He knows better than we do what is going on in El Salvador. He loves this young lady, and every youth, more than we do.  He is sovereign, He will be exalted, and He will be glorified. He is the God of the impossibles.  He is the God of hope.  He is God. It's really that awesome and it's really that simple.

The day before Stewart's funeral Bobby and Elias went to Stewart's mother's home for the visitation (visitations are often held in the families' homes). While walking to her home, they were confronted by 3 gang members who angrily told them that they had entered into their territory and then demanded an account of who Bobby and Elias were and where they were going. After a lot of questioning, they were allowed to go.  God is still in control.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  Galatians 6:9

We ask that you would pray for us, and this ministry, today.  We need your prayers. The youth need your prayers. A nation needs your prayers. Not just a little "in passing" prayer. Prayer that is unceasing, persistent, united, penetrative, desperate prayer.  The prayer that takes hold of God and will not let Him go. Let us pray. 

As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you.  1 Samuel 12:23

Healing

The year 2011 was by far a challenging year for us, probably one of the most challenging since we have been on the mission field. One of the greateset challenges we faced last year came to us in the form of health problems. Many of you know that, for several years, Bobby had been battling a persistent cough and over the past year his cough had gotten progressively worse. Bobby's cough had actually gotten to the point where he was coughing every 1 to 2 seconds, especially after a long day, when under a lot of stress, when in the air conditioning, or when he was talking a lot. After several tests and visits to the doctor, he was diagnosed with lung calcifications that were believed to be caused by work exposure to dust, mold, and other particles during his time of working in construction while living in the United States. We were told that there was nothing that could be done for this.

Many people, from all over, were praying tirelessly for Bobby’s healing. During this time Bobby too was praying, but he was praying that God would increase his faith. And, as we know, the best way to increase one’s faith is through trials. In addition we had also been studying in-depth several verses on the relationship between gratitude and healing.

On the morning of Tuesday, November 15th Bobby was in the church praying once again for healing and asking for answers. During his prayer time he felt God nudging him inside and asking him, “what is different about today?” The answer….he hadn’t coughed and he also realized that he hadn’t taken his medication. God said, “trust me.” That afternoon Bobby came home and said that he felt like God wanted him to throw his medication away (he had been on Nasonex for about a month) and he asked if I recognized anything different about him. I immediately responded that he wasn't coughing!

Since that day, he hasn’t coughed. Not even to clear his throat. Not even when Sarah and I came down with a terrible upper respiratory infection that we passed along to the other youth. It has now been 2 months and Bobby hasn't even so much as clearned his throat. We can hardly believe it! We believe with all of our hearts that God has healed him.

 Since that day Bobby has had several meetings where he had to speak alot, and we also held a large (and quite stressful) youth event in another town where Bobby spoke. All of these things would have normally aggravated his already constant cough, but not anymore. He even sometimes gets into the car and turns the air conditioning on full blast just to see what will happen...and nothing does (except for the fact that the car gets really cold!). Normally he would not be able to have handled all of the cold air but now it isn't a problem.

The first week after his healing Bobby spoke at a youth service and he asked the youth if they recognized anything different about him. They immediately responded that he wasn't coughing. One of the leaders then began crying and said that in all the time that he had known Bobby he had never had a conversation with him where Bobby wasn't coughing. This, for us, for all of us, is a miracle.

 The past few months have been a true journey and test of faith. Bobby believes that God was wanting to teach him to have more faith and I believe that He was wanting to teach me that and a whole lot more! We are humbled that God chose to heal Bobby because we feel so undeserving, yet we are truly grateful. Admittedly, I even found myself surprised that God healed him and then ashamed of myself for being surprised. When I pray to God, shouldn't I pray believing that it is going to happen? I am a woman of so little faith sometimes.

 On that day God answered two prayer requests that had been brought before Him many times. The first was for healing, and the second….to increase his faith. However, it wasn't just Bobby's faith that was increased, but rather the faith of all everyone around him. Our God truly is an awesome God.

 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6-7