A few samples of UYWI. The conference for urban youth leaders.

Now is the kingdom Podcast General Session of UYWI 07.
+Voice of Hope Video

Voice of Hope from UYWI on Vimeo.

About UYWI the conference for urban leaders:
>> CONFERENCE DATES:
May 15-17, 2008

The Legacy you leave depends on the life you live. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Theresa, Rosa Parks and many others lived with their eyes focused on the great crowd of witnesses presented in Hebrews. These men and women of faith lived and died without seeing the fruit of their faith on earth and yet, continued to believe. We continue their Legacy as we walk by faith.

Remember, the youth and families you serve may not know these past heroes, but they know YOU! God has given you the time and place to re-write the Legacy that these youth will leave. UYWI08 will challenge and inspire you to LIVE THE LEGACY.

Sample workshops: This year
+Leadership Excellence—Good Governance, Glen Peterson, Executive Directors
+Reaching All People With The Whole Gospel, John Lewis, Suburban Urban Blend
+Beginning With The End In Mind: Setting Your Ministry Up For Success!, Romanita Hairston, Executive Directors
+Bad Leadership: The Bad Examples Of Leadership In Ministry, Anthony Flynn, Leadership Development
+No Child Left Behind: How Does It Affect Your Center?, Joseph Parker, After School Programs
+Programming In The Schools: More Than A Ministry, Abel Lopez, Campus Life
+Helping Communities Heal From The Wounds Of The Past, Marvin Jacobo, Community Justice Issues

Join many kingdom urban leaders from West to East coast next week. Register info HERE

“and He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers,…” Malachi 4:6Malachi 4:6
English: World English Bible - WEB
6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”

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A picture of a generation being raised fatherless….(Will come to this laters.)+Children in
+Fatherless children
+Children growing up in a single-parent households are at a significantly at-risk
+More like this here

Boys in the Fatherless hood

Introducing 2 new websites.

Please visit them and check them out.

The website of Hope for Youth Alliance of Northern New Mexico.

www.Got Mentors.org the affiliate website of Hope for Youth Alliance serves as mentor support and resource for Mentor and youth mentoring organizations.

Thanks to Prestigous Car Club who came out strong in support of Jdubbs CD release party. The show was right outside The Rock Christian Fellowship located in Espanola, NM which prides itself as being the Lowrider Capital of the world. The car display is an easy bait to attract youth and the locals to attend a free hip hop event.

Here are some photos of a few of rides who came out.

View more here

TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - The Florida Senate wants public school students to pull up their pants. Lawmakers passed a bill Thursday that could mean suspensions for students with droopy britches.

It won’t become law unless the House of Representatives passes a companion measure.

Florida could join several southern U.S. towns and cities that have passed “saggy pants” laws aimed at outlawing what some teenagers consider a fashion statement — wearing pants half way down their buttocks, exposing flesh or underwear.

Despite being the butt of jokes, the bill’s sponsor, Orlando Sen. Gary Siplin, a Democrat, has said the fashion statement has a back-story — it was made popular by rap artists after first appearing among prison inmates as a signal they were looking for sex.

Read the full Article here

The last few days I have been working on some home repair projects, and I am no where near the final stages. Tomorrow I will take a break from the saw and nail gun and break away to the office to participate in a monthly co-hort with other urban leaders around the country on a phone conference hosted by UYWI. I am looking forward to discussing tomorrows agenda and being shaped and discussing our work with other kingdom urban leaders.

Because of my involvement with UYWI and other organizations that have helped shape and solidify my calling to work with youth, greater and bolder initiative such as Hope for Youth Alliance exists to bring Hope to the Hopeless.

UYWI Mentoring and Coaching

Who leads the leaders? Who influences the “influencers”? UYWI believes it is vital for us to provide ongoing encouragement, mentoring, counseling and development for urban leaders to continue to grow and remain effective as leaders. Urban leaders receive advanced training in strategic planning, fund development, board governance, grant writing, effective communication, organizational and leadership development as well as team building. The next generation of global urban leadership for transformational ministry is the result!

Urban Youth Workers Institutes National Conference for Urban Youth Leaders is coming up real soon. (May 15-17, 2008 Learn more or register here . here is the sample, you do not to miss this.

Voice of Hope from UYWI on Vimeo.

This is the kind of Collaborations and Coalition Group I been waiting for.

Tonight: I have been invited to Los Alamos to be the key note speaker to a group of kingdom leaders (Mentor New Mexico) with a heart for building transformational ministries for youth .

Come experience how it can transform your youth ministry, Tuesday March 18 , at 5:30-97 pm.

We will be discussing effective ministry models with todays youth, and the ingredients for highly effected mentoring ministries, recruiting mentors, and helping kids in our youth groups who need more than just games, pizza, pop, and popcorn.

Because of Jesus,

Daniel Arellano

Hope for Youth Alliance Value Highlight:

Collaborative- No one organization can reach and meet all the needs of the children, youth, and families, of our communities. Our strategy is to create collaborative efforts with neighboring churches, youth groups, businesses, schools, community agencies, faith based organizations locally, and nationally.

This is not your mommas party!!!

Jdubb Cd Release Party and Car Show at The Rock Christian Fellowship in Espanola, NM.
919 N. Riverside Dr Espanola, NM. Saturday March 29th 4-10 PM. For more info on this event Please visit Jdubb Here on Myspace or call/ 692-9904.

Event Sponsors:

The Rock Christian Fellowship
J&M Productions

Check out this video: Souled Out cd promo

Add to My Profile | More Videos

Souled Out Urban Ministry

Visit the Artist JDubb

Fuller’s Center for Youth and Family Ministry recorded an interview with Larry Acosta back in June of 2006. Kara Powell interviewed Larry about strategies for fund development.That recorded resource is still available at their website by clicking hereLarry has been a personal friend, mentor and big brother to me.Thanks for your coaching, mentoring and generosity to the ministry of Hope for Youth Alliance.UYWI BlogUYWI.ORG

Hope for Youth Alliance was invited to present a gang prevention and training for students and teachers at the Pueblo of San Juan (Okay Owingue Community School) Community Day School. HYA will be following up and continuing to provide services and outreach projects to OOCS.

G.O.E.S.T Gang Prevention and Resources

Testimony of Former Gang Member Here

The Legacy you leave depends on the life you live. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Theresa, Rosa Parks and many others lived with their eyes focused on the great crowd of witnesses presented in Hebrews. These men and women of faith lived and died without seeing the fruit of their faith on earth and yet, continued to believe. We continue their Legacy as we walk by faith.

Remember, the youth and families you serve may not know these past heroes, but they know YOU! God has given you the time and place to re-write the Legacy that these youth will leave. UYWI08 will challenge and inspire you to LIVE THE LEGACY.

Sample Workshops:

Executive Director//NEW
>> Beginning With The End In Mind: Setting Your Ministry Up For Success!//Romanita Hairston
>> Fundraising That Hits On All 8 Cylinders//Andy Bales
>> Lessons Learned: From Start-Up To Leading One Of The Largest Non-Profits In The U.S.//Andy Bales
>> Program Rich But Cash Poor//Dean Cowles

Sample Workshops

Leadership Development
>> Bad Leadership: The Bad Examples Of Leadership In Ministry//Anthony Flynn
>> Core Competancies Of The Next Generation Leader//Larry Acosta
>> DeFragmenting The Mind//Marvin Daniels
>> The Keys To Indigenous Leadership Development//Rudy Carraso, Jeremy Del Rio
>> Men And Leaders Empowering Women//Justine Conley

View all the workshops here
View this years trainers here

Attention: New Mexico youth workers, If you would like to attend UYWI 08, Get in touch with me so we can plan a road trip or make travel arrangements. The deadline for early reg ends Feb 29. Hit me up by Email here.

How Educators, community members and organizations can prevent gang involvement.

1. Outreach to the community and on school campus’ that have a genuine concern for at-risk and gang affiliated youth.
2. Connect with gang members and at-risk youth in order to develop a trust and working relationship with them.
3. Utilize our ex-gang member panel and other testimonials. This panel understands first hand the dangers of gangs and encourages families and children to avoid gang affiliation.
4. Assess your gang concern and assist you and your team in addressing why kids join gangs and what we can do about it.
5. Develop a community collaboration to discover and provide the necessary elements or tools that will assist youth in not joining a gang or to leave active gang membership.
6. Get parental involvement. This is most vital in helping youth avoid or leave gang membership. I put 100% of the responsibility on the parents of these destructive youth. The program I utilize is “The Parent Project: How to change destructive adolescent behavior”.

7. Develop a mentor program for the most at-risk gang youth.

8. Communicate and network with the police and other law enforcement agencies.

Out of Darkness is a Biographical Comic Series aimed at not only entertaining but educating youth. These true stories take an intricate look into inner-city gang life, revealing the hardships, pain and the constant struggle that comes with joining a gang. Another strong theme in the stories is that no matter how bleak things seem, that there is always an alternative; that there is always a way out of darkness. Pepe Montenegro Testimony Comics Available Here at G.O.E.S.T.ORG

Read Testimony of former Los Angeles Gang member Miguel Moreno here

I have been reading this book, its been the topic of discussion among youth workers and justice advocates throughout the country. I thought I would share my own excerpts from a chapter (How our check books can be a tool for justice) that was written by a good friend, mentor, of mine Dr. Larry Acosta. Get a copy here

Whether we live in an urban, rural, or suburban context, we are Now making either/or choices with our checkbooks and finances everyday. Yet we who have enough money to do what God is calling us to Now often take that for granted. We can easily slip into the cultural trap of feeling like we’re entitled to keep buying bigger and better. We spend more time thinking about what we want to do with “our money” then we spend considering how God wants us to use what we have for peace, reconciliation, and justice. We fixate on how we’re going to spend what we have, and our money consumes us.

Not only am I amazed by the courage of the many Micha 6:8Micha 6:8
English: World English Bible - WEB
8 He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does Yahweh require of you, but to act justly, To love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

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kingdom revolutionaries, I am also challenged by their rejection of our materialistic world-views. In a world that Now tempts us to follow the “American Dream”, where all that matter is the stuff we accumulate, their kingdom choice to be downwardly mobile both socially and finically as a way of righting wrongs is inspiring. Most people who have the educational or financial wherewithal to live in self focused comfort do. Most folk, even Christians spend their lifetimes trying to climb socially prescribed ladders of success, to prove they’ve made it.

I am speaking from experience. I grew up poor and, as a Latino, felt the pressure to prove myself by the dominant culture’s standards. Like so many who grow up feeling marginalized socially, economically, or otherwise, I compensated for feeling “less then” by excelling educationally. This eventually gave me access to a job as a youth worker in a thriving suburban church. Once I had enough degrees and the right youth ministry title on my business card, I felt like I- the son of a janitor- had finally made it.
After 10 years of youth ministry at that church, my wife, Jayme, and I sensed God calling us to leave the comforts of the church and reengage my Latino roots by launching KidWorks, a community development corporation that seek to holistically transform at-risk neighborhoods, and the Hispanic Ministry Center, an urban leadership development in Santa Ana, California. It was there that my theological beliefs about justice, my commitment to Gods kingdom, and my willingness to give up my selfish ambition were rigorously tested.

Principles to help us live justly

1. Trust God by giving Him the “first fruits.” 2 Cor. 8:7
2. Save Proverbs 6:6-8Proverbs 6:6-8
English: World English Bible - WEB
6 Go to the ant, you sluggard. Consider her ways, and be wise; ⁷ Which having no chief, overseer, or ruler, ⁸ Provides her bread in the summer, And gathers her food in the harvest.

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3. Create and live within a written budget.
4. Carve out kingdom giving that is sacrificial

Larry Acosta is the President and Founder of the Hispanic Ministry Center, Urban Youth Workers Institute & KIDWORKS. Larry is a pastor to young pastors providing these men and women not only with practical tools, resources and training, but the much needed encouragement and validation to the calling of God on their lives. With true visionary zeal, Larry connects, equips, and drives these leaders to the next level of ministry effectiveness and leadership.

Larry graduated from both Biola University and Talbot School of Theology and completed his doctorate in Leadership Development at Fuller Theological Seminary. He is President of Urban Youth Workers Institute, with a full-time staff of 17. However his claim to fame is that he is married to his lovely wife of 16 years, Jayme, and they have four wonderful children, Brock (11), Karis (10) and Malia (5) and Diego (3).

When we removed the Bible as our text book from all our public schools we imposed biblical illiteracy on many of Americas students, as once before prior the reformation of the Jonh Luther.

I thank God that where my children attend school (a private Christian academy), we are blessed to start them off with a reading from the sacred text, and prayer.
We live in the land of biblical idiots - Los Angeles Times