Joshua Benavides

Joshua began full-time church ministry in 1993, two years after responding to God’s challenge to start a youth ministry in his local church in Makati, a ministry that has existed up to now. He finished a degree in Aeronautical Engineering because he originally wanted to become a pilot, but a few months before graduating, he heard God calling him to full-time ministry. Right after graduation from college, he started serving on the pastoral staff of his local church and at the same time as a youth pastor. He did this for 11 years, spending most of his time coordinating evangelistic meetings, camps, youth concerts, and local mission trips and preaching. Then in 2004, he started a ministry called Youth Mobilization (YM). He saw how God powerfully used the youth both in local ministry and in cross-cultural missions, and how missions transformed both the youth and their church. So together with a friend and a couple of his young people, they started Youth Mobilization. For 7 years now, they have been involved in empowering churches by equipping and training young people and by giving them opportunities to experience dynamic missions. In 1994, Joshua married his best friend and co-worker in the Lord, Anne, who is in-charge of YM’s training department. God has blessed them with two beautiful children, Lois (born in 1998) and Josiah (born in 2001).