Leaders highlight youth leadership in compassionate ministries

Two years ago, while in a council meeting with Nazarene youth leaders from South Asia, Eurasia youth leader Diego Lopez was amazed at all the compassionate service projects the youth had organized and/or were leading.

“It became my vision that we work to write a very good quality magazine that showcased the great work they were doing,” he said.

Lopez shared the idea with his youth leaders in South Asia and India. With unanimous excitement, and commitment to the project, the group worked together against very short deadlines from September to November 2019 to interview Nazarene youth, write and edit articles, and collect photos for the magazine.

In November, the 40+ page edition of “Love, Care, Serve” went to print and debuted at the Eurasia Regional Conference in Cyprus, 14 November 2019. It will next be distributed at the regional conference in Hyderabad, India, 25 January 2020.

Writers participated from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, India and Bangaldesh.

“In record time we put this magazine together with the help of excellent professionals–designers, writers, photographers, as well as with the collaboration of Nazarene Compassionate Ministries International, and the Eurasia Region communications team.”

The magazine features stories about local Nazarene youth groups developing classes to empower women in their societies; to help communities fight an outbreak of dengue fever; to bring clean water wells to remote villages; to lead local child development centers for underprivileged children; and much more.

Magazine contributor and youth leader Oshan*, from Sri Lanka, had previously had an idea to create a magazine for Nazarene youth in Bangladesh, so he was excited and ready to help when Lopez proposed organizing an international team to write a magazine about compassionate youth leadership across India and South Asia.

“It’s a good opportunity to share our NYI thoughts and stories to our global church,” Oshan said. “Working as a team, it’s very important. Then we can share our ideas and get others’ ideas.”

“The heart of this magazine is to showcase powerful stories of youth doing compassion in South Asia and India,” Lopez said. “We hope youth around the world see themselves identified in the magazine and are able to connect in compassion.”

Read the magazine online: https://tinyurl.com/wksmuhy

*Full name omitted for security

This article is written by Gina Pottenger and previously published in the January 2020 edition of Where Worlds Meet.