European Baptists on a New Course: The Internet is Training Youth Workers
European Baptists on a New Course: The Internet is Training Youth Workers
Prague - The European Baptist Federation's youth worker training programme is introducing a new training course. It recently introduced its on-line training programme "Horizons" (www.ebfhorizons.com). Volunteer youth workers in Europe and the Middle East can now receive in English, Russian and Arabic the basic cues necessary for developing a modern and contemporary form of youth ministry. Canadian Rev. Dr. Jeff Carter (Prague), the EBF's Youth Leadership Training Coordinator, has in the course of the past three years developed a programme consisting of 24 modules.
Carter stated in a conversation with the European Baptist Federation Press Service (EBPS): "This comprehensive programme establishes the foundation for volunteer youth workers within the EBF family." The programme's strength lies in the fact that it engages the contemporary electronic world on the one hand while on the other hand utilising locally-trained mentors within the respective countries. In view of his own research since 2003, Carter views the programme as essential. Seven years ago, the EBF's member unions had roughly 500 professional paid youth workers with the balance being made up of some 30.000 volunteers. The average age of these youth workers was 25 years of age. Many of them were without any kind of specialised training in youth work. According to Carter, the Internet training programme will now offer a new resource for that problem. One has also noticed that many youth workers will not be in a condition to pay for the training. As a result, EBF will be offering the Horizons programme free-of-charge.
Carter is pleased that the programme had received much positive feedback even during its developmental stage. Baptist Unions such as the ones in the Czech Republic, Portugal, Hungary and Austria have already expressed interest in a translation into their own national tongue. Initial training courses for mentors in Ukraine and Lebanon have shown that the programme is eagerly awaited in Russian- and Arabic-speaking countries.
Carter thanked "Canadian Baptist Ministries"(Mississauga/Ontario) and web-designer Jeff Vanderwall for their financial and technical support. Without their help, this ground-breaking project would not have been possible.
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Carter stated in a conversation with the European Baptist Federation Press Service (EBPS): "This comprehensive programme establishes the foundation for volunteer youth workers within the EBF family." The programme's strength lies in the fact that it engages the contemporary electronic world on the one hand while on the other hand utilising locally-trained mentors within the respective countries. In view of his own research since 2003, Carter views the programme as essential. Seven years ago, the EBF's member unions had roughly 500 professional paid youth workers with the balance being made up of some 30.000 volunteers. The average age of these youth workers was 25 years of age. Many of them were without any kind of specialised training in youth work. According to Carter, the Internet training programme will now offer a new resource for that problem. One has also noticed that many youth workers will not be in a condition to pay for the training. As a result, EBF will be offering the Horizons programme free-of-charge.
Carter is pleased that the programme had received much positive feedback even during its developmental stage. Baptist Unions such as the ones in the Czech Republic, Portugal, Hungary and Austria have already expressed interest in a translation into their own national tongue. Initial training courses for mentors in Ukraine and Lebanon have shown that the programme is eagerly awaited in Russian- and Arabic-speaking countries.
Carter thanked "Canadian Baptist Ministries"(Mississauga/Ontario) and web-designer Jeff Vanderwall for their financial and technical support. Without their help, this ground-breaking project would not have been possible.