B e t h l e h e m – An online program for training volunteer European Baptist youth workers is in high demand, according to Canadian Jeff Carter (Prague), the creator of the “Horizons” course, and youth leader for the European Baptist Federation (EBF). Speaking at a meeting of the EBF Executive Committee on September 19 in Bethlehem (West Bank/Israel), Carter said that the program, launched in February 2010, is already being used in 23 European countries. “Nearly every day, there are new registrations,” he said. In the beginning, the course was offered in English, Russian and Arabic; since then, French and Spanish have been added. Currently, the program is being translated into German, Norwegian and Portuguese. In the future, plans are to add one additional language each year.

The study material consists of 24 modules. “Horizons establishes a common foundation for working within the EBF family,” as Carter reported to the European Baptist Press Service (EBPS). The program’s strength lies in the fact that, while it meets the challenges of the modern electronic world by using the corresponding technology, at the same time it supplements the computer course with specially trained local mentors. Carter has already trained 15 mentors. According to him, 30 candidates have already successfully completed the program and 80 more have signed up.

Carter considers the course offering indispensable. His reasoning is based on research that he himself conducted in 2003. At that point, there were about 500 full-time EBF youth workers in the member unions of the EBF. In addition, there were about 30,000 volunteer helpers supporting them. 90 percent of these volunteers were under 25. Most had no access to basic or advanced training in the field of youth work. Through the internet course, this problem has been solved, according to Carter. In addition, it was noticed that many youth workers were not in a position to pay for their training. Because of this, the EBF offers the Horizons program free of charge. The development of the program was subsidized by the church movement “Canadian Baptist Ministries” (Mississauga/Ontario).

55 national Baptist Unions in Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia, with about 800,000 members, belong to the EBF.